General manager Wendell Young succinctly summed up the 2010s for the Wolves.
“I think there was a lot of change, a lot of changes affiliate-wise with our partners,” Young said. “But there was a constant: We were winning. It was six division titles in 10 years, which is really, really hard to do, especially with different affiliates and different philosophies and players.
“I think it says something about our organization.”
In the last decade, the Wolves went through four affiliations: Atlanta Thrashers (2001-11), Vancouver Canucks (2011-2013), St. Louis Blues (2013-17) and Vegas Golden Knights (2017-present). They had six coaches (Don Lever, Craig MacTavish, Scott Arniel, John Anderson, Craig Berube and Rocky Thompson). And players came and went as affiliations shifted.
The one thing the Wolves didn’t do was win a championship. Their five-game loss to the Charlotte Checkers in the Calder Cup Finals last spring was the closest they came, representing a highlight and lowlight for Young.
“For me, just winning divisions, going far,” Young said of the decade’s highlights. “Last year, going to the Finals was huge. Probably my biggest disappointment at the same time. Biggest highlight but biggest disappointment. I think it’s always easier to lose early than go all the way and be that close.”
That said, the Wolves played a big part in a championship, albeit for a team that’s no longer their parent club.
Goalie Jordan Binnington spent parts of four seasons with the Wolves, going 59-40-12 with a 2.62 goals-against average and .912 save percentage before leading the Blues to the 2019 Stanley Cup title. Berube got his coaching career back on track in his lone season with the Wolves before joining the Blues’ staff in June 2017. He took over in November 2018 and led them on a historic run from last place.
Other championship Blues who played for the Wolves were Vince Dunn, Colton -Parayko, Ivan Barbashev, Jake Allen and Joel Edmundson.
“We’ve had a long list of players move on to the NHL,” Young said. “We take a huge sense of pride in that. We saw the St. Louis Blues win the Stanley Cup, and there were a lot of players on that winning team that put on a Chicago Wolves jersey.”
Young wants to see that pipeline continue over the next 10 years. They’re off to a good start, with players such as Cody Glass, Nic Hague and Erik Brannstrom skating in the NHL.
“You go through the list of players that have come through the Chicago Wolves organization in the last 10 years, there’s a whole [history] of putting players in the NHL,” Young said. “We’d like to continue that and do it the same way with winning.”
Developing players would make the 2020s a success for the Wolves. But something else would, too.
“I think we need to win some championships,” Young said. “That’s what would make any year, decade. The lifeblood of a franchise is winning championships. That’s what we want to do.”
