5 reasons the Wolves should be feared in playoffs
When the Chicago Wolves and the Utica Comets open the 2015 Calder Cup Playoffs on Wednesday night at Allstate Arena, it will be the first time in 11 years that the Wolves start a postseason series without home-ice advantage.
While the eighth-seeded Wolves only get two home games in this best-of-five Western Conference Quarterfinal against top-seeded Utica, there's ample recent evidence in hockey that seeds don't matter much.
Here are five reasons Utica won't take the Wolves lightly during this series:
<h3 class="leadin">Eights can be great:</h3>
In last year's American Hockey League playoffs, top-seeded Manchester lost in the opening round. In the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs, the eighth-seeded Los Angeles Kings never even faced an elimination game on their way to the championship. They "upset" the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds on their journey - losing just one game to those two teams.
<h3 class="leadin">Quarterfinals mastery:</h3>
This is the eighth time head coach John Anderson has led the Wolves into the AHL playoffs. In his previous seven Western Conference Quarterfinals, the Wolves emerged victorious every time. What's his secret?
"Good players," Anderson said. "Really good players."
The Wolves playoff roster, by the way, features 10 players who've played in the National Hockey League.
<h3 class="leadin">Playoff experience:</h3>
There's not a single player on the Wolves roster who has won the Calder Cup.
That's true, but there is a center who has won three Stanley Cups (Colin Fraser), a forward who has won one Stanley Cup and captained an NCAA champion (Adam Burish), another forward who has won an NCAA championship (Benn Ferriero) and two players who've won the Memorial Cup (captain Brent Regner and left wing Yannick Veilleux).
"The intensity ramps up a lot," said Fraser, who won the Stanley Cup with the Blackhawks in 2010 and the Kings in 2012 and 2014. "There's a lot more on the line. The microscope for mistakes is a little bit more magnified. You just play your same game, but they're harder games in terms of battles and physicality. Personally, that fits into my style. I'm strongest in games like that."
<h3 class="leadin">Why Game 1 matters:</h3>
The Wolves have played 41 postseason series in their 21-year history. During the 19 series in which they lost Game 1, they went on to win the series eight times.
But in the 22 series in which they claimed Game 1, the Wolves have gone on to win the series 21 times. That's a 95 percent success rate - and Game 1 only becomes more important in a five-game set.
<h3 class="leadin">Road-ice advantage?</h3>
Perhaps this year's Wolves have snookered the league by not earning home-ice advantage. Chicago is the only Western Conference playoff team to post a better points percentage on the road (. 592) than at home (. 553).
Moreover, the Wolves and San Antonio paced the 30-team AHL in goals on the road (3.24 per game) and the Wolves led everyone in power-play conversion rate on the road (23.1 percent).