Wolves' own-goal one for the books
Opponents couldn't find a way to beat the Chicago Wolves for over two weeks, so the Wolves helped one out.
The Wolves were looking for their eighth consecutive win when they went into overtime with the Manitoba Moose on Wednesday.
Four minutes in, a delayed penalty was signaled against the Moose, prompting Wolves goalie Ondrej Pavelec to leave the ice and another skater to come on.
A moment later, Wolves center Steve Martins possessed the puck behind the Moose's net and tried to fire a pass to the point. The puck skidded past its desired target, traveled the entire length of the ice and ended up in the Wolves' empty net for the game-winner.
Billy Gardner, the Wolves' color analyst, summed it up on the telecast by saying, "Absolutely amazing."
Wolves general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff, who has been around the game his whole life, was just as shocked.
"If you're around the game long enough, you see everything," he said.
Because goalie Drew MacIntyre was the last Moose player to touch the puck, he was credited with the goal. It made him the ninth goalie in AHL history to score and the first ever against the Wolves.
"I'll take it," said MacIntyre to the Winnipeg Sun News. "That's the bounce, I guess."
Cheveldayoff and the Wolves weren't as interested in the fun facts.
"It looks great in the papers, but like anything else it's the same amount of points, it's the same amount of feeling whether you win or lose," he said. "It's one of those things; you lost in overtime and you move on."
Wheeling and dealing: Kevin Cheveldayoff will leave Chicago on Sunday and join the Atlanta Thrashers' front office staff until the NHL trade deadline at 2 p.m. on Feb. 26.
Depending on what changes the Thrashers decide to make, Cheveldayoff will see what moves the Wolves may also need to do. On Feb. 28, the Wolves will have to submit their Clear Day list of 22 players who are eligible for the postseason.
"I anticipate a lot of talking," Cheveldayoff said. "We're kind of on the sidelines when it comes to that. That's a decision that (Thrashers GM) Don Waddell has to make for the betterment of the Atlanta Thrashers, and we're affected by that.
"We're trying to be proactive rather than reactive. Sometimes the deals are done earlier. Sometimes they're done later. Sometimes you just don't make any deals at all. You don't make a deal to just make a deal."
In Cheveldayoff's 11 seasons with the Wolves, his trade for veteran defenseman Gord Dineen late in 2000 has been his proudest move. Cheveldayoff acquired Dineen from the Utah Grizzlies for Sean Berens, a local product, and the Wolves went on to the win the Turner Cup.
"We were fortunate to make that deal happen," Cheveldayoff said. "We felt at that time it was going to put us over the cup and it did. Gord played a huge part of that. He retired after that. He went out on top."