Are you excited to discover everything to know about the Chicago Wolves? They are Chicago’s professional ice hockey team playing in the AHL and are the top minor-league affiliate of the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes. The Wolves play their home games out of Allstate Arena in the suburbs of Rosemont, Illinois.
History
The team was first founded in 1994 as a member of the IHL. Since then, the team made their mark on the league by winning the Turner Cup twice in 1998 and 2000 and later the Calder Cup in 2002 and 2008. The team had also qualified for all but five postseasons and appeared in seven league championship finals in their 22 year history.
Previously, the Wolves were the AHL affiliate of the Atlanta Thrashers from 2001 to 2011. But when the Thrashers moved to Winnipeg in June 2011 they added the St. John’s IceCaps as their new affiliate team. This left the Wolves and the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks to find new affiliates. They would later find one another On June 27, 2011 when the Wolves and Canucks agreed to a two-year affiliate agreement.
Then later, on April 23, 2013, the Wolves and St. Louis Blues reached an agreement that would last three years. The deal came after the previous affiliate agreement with the Canucks was not renewed. And later, the Blues were reported to have chosen not to renew their affiliation as they were planning to move their affiliation to Kansas City. But this was unconfirmed and denied by the announced potential owner in Kansas City.
Then, after the 2016-17 season, the Wolves became the first affiliate of the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights. During the first season of their affiliation with the Golden Knights, the Wolves set records in earning points in 14 straight games from December 9 to January 6 and then 13 consecutive home wins from December 6 to February 15. And in the 2018-19 season, the Wolves made the Calder Cup Finals.
Today, the team has recently continued their strong records and fans are excited to see how far they’ll go.
About Rosemont Allstate Stadium
Allstate Arena is the home of the Chicago Wolves and it can be found in Rosemont, Illinois. It is located near the intersection of Mannheim Road and I-90 and is adjacent to the city limits of Chicago. The facility first opened in 1980 as the Rosemont Horizon and has seats for 17,500 spectators for basketball and 16,692 for Ice Hockey games.
Besides Chicago Wolves home games, the arena is also used to host other professional and collegiate teams including the DePaul Blue Demons from 1980 through 2017.
History
Plans for the arena began after The Village of Rosemont issued $19 million in bonds to finance the cost of the arena. On August 13, 1979, the then uncompleted roof of the Rosemont Horizon collapsed. So it was then replaced with the timber roof, which is one distinctive feature of the arena. The roof is designed to muffle the sounds of passing aircrafts as the arena is close to O’Hare International Airport.
Originally, the venue was intended to be the home of the Chicago Horizons of the Major Indoor Soccer league as well as the home of the WHA’s Chicago Cougars. But the team folded in 1975 before the arena broke ground. Also, Fleetwood Mac played the first concert held at the venue on May 15, 1980. One interesting note is that the arena has been featured in multiple music videos including 1985’s “Big City NIghts” by Scorpions.
The Rosemont later signed a naming rights contract with Allstate on June 9, 1999. This $10 million contract gave the company naming rights to the venue as well as renovation rights.
Professional wrestling
Besides Ice Hockey and Basketball, the Allstate Arena has also seen use for professional wrestling events. For example, it has become the standard venue for the WWE events held in Chicago as well as one of two venues to host Wrestlemania three times (the other being Madison Square Gardens).
It has also been used to host The Wrestling Classic in 1985, two editions of Survivor Series (1989 and 2019), No Mercy 2007, Night of Champions 2010, and a whole host of other pay-per-view events.
Before that, it has also hosted American Wrestling ASsociation events when the venue was still called Rosemont Horizon.
Hockey Team Summary
The team has had many notable players, but one of the most notable Chicago Wolves player has to be Steve Maltais, who until his retirement after the 2004-05 season had played every season of the franchise. And he also held most of the team’s scoring records. He stands out as one of the most legendary of the Chicago Wolves.
Other notable players include goaltender Wendell Young, ex-Pittsburgh star Rob Brown and Chicago Blackhawks stars Troy Murray, Chris Chelios and Al Secord.
And their greatest season has been the 2007-08 season, where they won 13 out of their first 14 games. They later went on to score 111 points and place first in the Western Conference.
Achievements
In its short history, the Wolves have had an amazing history of award winning players, cup victories, and trophy wins. Here is a short list of the achievements they have earned.
- 2 Turner Cup
- 2 Calder Cup
- 1 Fred A. Huber Trophy
- 3 Robert W. Clarke Trophy
- 3 John D. Chick Trophy
- 3 Norman R. “Bud” Poile Trophy
- 1 President’s Award
- 2 Norman R. “Bud” Poile Trophy (IHL)
- 3 Leo P. Lamoureux Memorial Trophy
- 1 John Cullen Award
- 1 Ironman Award
- 3 IHL Man of the Year
- 2 Les Cunningham Award
- 3 John B. Sollenberger Trophy
- 2 Willie Marshall Award
- 1 Dudley “Red” Garrett Memorial Award
- 1 Yanick Dupre Memorial Award
- 2 Jack A. Butterfield Trophy