Anastas guides the Wolves into the AHL playoffs

When Spiros Anastas was named the interim head coach of the Chicago Wolves in December, he didn’t have time to fully absorb the magnitude of what becoming a head coach meant to him.

He couldn’t take time to reflect on the 17-year coaching journey he had been on before being tabbed the interim head coach. He had to focus on practice because the team had a game just a day later. He had to rally the group of guys around him.

“It’s a tough day for the team,” Anastas said. “So for me, the biggest thing was to try to temper my excitement and the opportunity I had before me and really take stock of everyone’s personal emotions and feelings during that time.”

Through his coaching efforts over the ensuing five months, Anastas led the Wolves to their second consecutive American Hockey League postseason appearance, finishing the regular season with a 36-21-8-7 record (87 points), good enough for second in the Central Division.

But perhaps more notably, Anastas had the interim tag in his title dropped upon the regular season’s conclusion. He was named the team’s permanent head coach. This time, he allowed everything he felt to hit him right in the chest.

“The emotions that hit me right away was thinking of everyone it took for me to get this opportunity,” Anastas said. “The journey is a long one, and there’s lots of ups and downs in coaching. I’ve been all over the world at a lot of different levels, and you can never really predict where you’re going to be, but once things like this happen, it makes you reflect on them and makes you really grateful for the journey.”

Anastas stepped up from the assistant coach position in stride, unifying the locker room around him to assure the Wolves didn’t lose a beat midseason.

Around the Wolves’ locker room, there has been no doubt Anastas was the guy for the job.

“He’s really deserved it,” all-star forward Justin Robidas said. “It’s something he’s always wanted. He’s been around hockey for a long time. The way he’s gotten here is through his work ethic. He never really had anything given to him, and he’s had to work and has earned everything that he’s gotten.”

For Chicago, which begins the Division Semifinal series Tuesday on the road against the Texas Stars (37-29-4-2, 80 points), the path was far from linear. Beyond the coaching change, the Wolves’ roster is one of the AHL’s youngest.

However, the team’s youth has not derailed its success. The team had three all-stars, all with three or fewer years of AHL experience. As the season continues, there has been constant growth.

“We’re young, but towards the end of the year, we’re playing so much more mature hockey,” all-star defender Domenick Fensore said. “That’s going to help us in the playoffs. We’re really excited to get the opportunity to win a championship. Everyone dreams of winning a championship.”

The Wolves were far from perfect against the Stars during the regular season. In fact, Chicago won just one of eight contests.

But that doesn’t change the confidence Anastas and the Wolves bring into the best-of-five series. Anastas said in all eight of the previous games, the Wolves never brought a full roster into action. Now, they are.

“Now, with a full boat of guys and some detailed pre-scouting and learning from some of our mistakes, we think if we can slow their transition game and get to their goalie, we should give ourselves a good chance,” he said.

Chicago enters the postseason vying for its fourth AHL championship, last winning in 2022, and sixth total league title as a franchise. Anastas is urging his players to take the postseason one game at a time.

“If we do that, we’ll chip away toward our ultimate goal,” Anastas said. “It’s shining the light on the end goal, but keeping the lamp at your feet because you just got to be a day at a time.”