Chicago Wolves clear myriad obstacles en route to another division title

Nobody likes to be reminded of past failures.

Especially when you're member of the Chicago Wolves, a franchise that just won its third straight Central Division title and will open the Calder Cup playoffs in a best-of-five series against Grand Rapids on Friday at the Allstate Arena.

But because last season ended so abruptly for the Wolves after they were swept out of the playoffs by the Rockford IceHogs, the obvious question this April is: Have you learned from that experience?

"I hope we learned something, right?" forward T.J. Tynan said after the Wolves wrapped up practice Wednesday. "Last year was disappointing. You never want to clinch your division and get swept. That's horrible.

"But hopefully we learned how quickly things can change and every shift matters."

The 5-foot-9, 165-pound Tynan, who hails from Orland Park, led the AHL in assists with 59 and is part of an explosive Wolves team that piled up a whopping 250 goals. Only three other teams had more.

Seventy-six of those goals, however, were scored by players who may not be ready for this series.

• Daniel Carr, who racked up 30 goals in 52 games and may be named the league's MVP on Friday, has been out since March 5 after getting hammered by San Antonio's Jordan Nolan.

• Brooks Macek (26G, 34A) hasn't played since March 20.

• Curtis McKenzie, who is one of Tynan's linemates and has 20 goals, has missed two weeks.

Losing three big-time scorers like that may doom some squads, but the Wolves have overcome other obstacles as well. They lost Brandon Pirri when he was promoted to Vegas in early January; second-line center Reid Duke was lost for the season in early February; and stud defenseman Erik Brannstrom was sent to Ottawa on Feb. 25.

Through it all, the Wolves persevered, stayed strong and kept winning.

"It's never been a panic because somebody got injured," said goalie Oscar Dansk. "It's just like, 'Come to work and work your butt off.' "

Said 20-goal scorer Keegan Kolesar: "The more that guys went down, the tighter our group got."

Coach Rocky Thompson would not reveal his starting goalie for Game 1, but he has two solid options in Max Lagace and Dansk. Lagace played 16 games for the Golden Knights in 2017-18, but Dansk is 27-9-4 this season and 7-0-0 with a .949 save percentage and 1.57 goals-against average since March 22.

Grand Rapids enters the postseason on a nine-game losing streak, but the Detroit Red Wings assigned seven players to the Griffins to help bolster their chances. It's a move not uncommon in the AHL and one that helped the IceHogs advance to the Western Conference finals last season.

"We're expecting their best game," Thompson said. "They're very talented, but we're very confident in how we play and we've been preparing all season long.

"The dress rehearsal is over and now the real deal starts on Friday night."

Chicago Wolves playoff primer

<b>Series overview</b>• The Chicago Wolves are the minor-league affiliate of the Vegas Golden Knights. They won their third straight Central Division title by going 44-22-6-4.

• The Wolves will open the Calder Cup playoffs by playing a best-of-five series against the Grand Rapids Griffins, who are the Detroit Red Wings' minor-league affiliate. The Wolves went 5-2-1 vs. Grand Rapids and won the last four meetings.

<b>Lighting the lamp</b>• Offensively, the Wolves were led by Daniel Carr, Brooks Macek, Curtis McKenzie, T.J. Tynan, Keegan Kolesar and Gage Quinney. Carr (30 goals in 52 games), Macek (26 goals) and McKenzie (20 goals) are all injured, however, and may not be able to play in the series. Tynan (12G, 59A) played at Fenwick High School and collegiately at Notre Dame.

• Brandon Pirri had 18 goals and 24 assists in 29 games. He has been up with Vegas since early January.

<b>Getting defensive</b>• The Wolves' top defensemen are Dylan Coghlan (15 goals in 66 games), Nic Hague (13 goals) and Zach Whitecloud. Ten of Coghlan's goals have come on the power play. Hague was taken by Vegas in the second round of the 2017 draft. Whitecloud led the AHL with a plus-39 rating.

<b>Keep an eye on:</b>• Cody Glass. The Manitoba native was the first pick in Vegas Golden Knights history (6th overall in 2017). He had 3 goals and 2 assists in just five games after completing his fourth year playing in the Western Hockey League.

<b>In net</b>• Both Wolves goalies have been outstanding. Oscar Dansk, a second-round pick of Columbus in 2012, went 27-9-4 with a .913 save percentage and 2.46 goals-against average. Max Lagace, who played in 16 games with Vegas last season, went 16-10-6 with a .914 save percentage and 2.43 GAA.

<b>The opponent</b>• Grand Rapids' leading scorers are Chris Terry (29 goals) and Matt Puempel (24 goals). Filip Zadina, the No. 6 pick of last year's draft, scored 16 goals in 59 games and also played in nine games with the Red Wings. Three Griffins saw extensive time in the NHL: Defensemen Dennis Cholowski (7 goals in 52 games), Filip Hronek (5G in 46GP) and center Christoffer Ehn (3G in 60GP).

<b>Tickets</b>• Family 4 packs and Fan 4 packs are available. Visit tickemaster.com for more information. Single-game tickets are $15-$53.

• Anyone who attended the April 14 season finale will receive a free ticket to Game 1 or 2 by showing your ticket stub at the box office.

• Parking is free for all games