Having come this far, Chicago Wolves want to win one more series and reclaim the Calder Cup

After dropping Game 5 of the AHL’s Western Conference Finals at home, the Chicago Wolves faced a daunting challenge ahead of them. The squad had to win two consecutive games on the road against the Colorado Eagles to advance to the Calder Cup Finals.

Otherwise, its season would be over.

Chicago answered the call, winning Game 6 3-2 before a 4-3 victory in Game 7 to advance to its first Calder Cup Finals since 2022.

“We had our back there against the wall,” left winger Bradly Nadeau said. “Every shift there, we took it one shift at a time. We just made sure to do all those small things right, and focusing on those little moments helped us get those two games.”

The Wolves will face the Toronto Marlies with hopes of winning their sixth league title and fourth Calder Cup. Game 1 will take place inside Allstate Arena at 7 p.m. Friday, with Chicago possessing home-ice advantage for the first time in a series since the Central Division Semifinals.

During the regular season the two teams split 2-2. From those four games and a detailed pre-scouting report, Wolves coach Spiros Anastas and his team have a solid understanding of what Toronto will bring to the table.

“They’re extremely intelligent,” Anastas said. “It’s a high-IQ team. They have a lot more veterans, a lot more NHL experience than us. The coaching staff is a really intelligent coaching staff. … It’s going to be a lot of adjustments, a real chess match.”

For the first 14 games of the postseason, Cayden Primeau served as Chicago’s starting goaltender, but an injury sidelined him for Games 6 and 7 against the Eagles. Amir Miftakhov stepped into the starting role in Colorado and tabbed 36 and 39 saves, respectively.

Miftakhov had not started a game since April 18 before Game 6.

“He was phenomenal, and it really sparked our guys to play a lot harder in front of him as well,” Anastas said. “But (it was) not surprising at the same time. He’s won some big games for us this year. He has a winning record. He had good numbers. He’s a competitor every day at practice. It’s not that we were shocked, but it was just impressive because it is so hard to do.”

Anastas said that Miftakhov will stand between the poles in Friday night’s Game 1, but he expects Primeau to return from injury at some point in the series. At that point he will evaluate whom to start. Additionally, Anastas said that he expects right winger Felix Unger Sörum, who last appeared on May 30 in Game 2 against the Eagles, to return during this series.

For Miftakhov, the key to the team’s success will be sticking to what has worked all postseason long.

“We just got to play our game,” Miftakhov said. “They are great players. I think we have all the chances to get it. … I just focus on the next game, no matter what.”

Though he declined to go into detail, Anastas said that he feels that he and the coaching staff have identified ways to take advantage of weaknesses in the Marlies’ defensive zone.

He acknowledged the team’s offensive strength, noting that the team that spends more time in the offensive zone is likely to win the series.

“We’re going to have to alleviate the pressure that they put on from their speed and their attack, but it’s going to be hard to determine what they do day-to-day because they have such a great coaching staff and such an adaptable team,” Anastas said. “We think we’re the same way, so it’ll be a great series that could go the distance.”

The Wolves are looking to deny Toronto its first Calder Cup title since 2018. But more importantly, they are hoping to stamp themselves in the history books and create a bond that will last decades.

Anastas served as an assistant coach for the Grand Rapids Griffins when they won the AHL title in 2023, and he wants nothing more than to relive that feeling. One of the team’s youngest players, Nadeau, who is 21 years old and leads Chicago with 14 points this postseason, feels the same exact way.

“It would be a dream come true,” Nadeau said. “As a kid, winning the Stanley Cup, Calder Cup, any Cup you can win is a dream, and let’s hope we can get it done.”