Wolves fall 3-1 in season finale

The Chicago Wolves concluded their 19th season Sunday with a 3-1 loss to the Grand Rapids Griffins at the Allstate Arena.

The Wolves finished at 37-30-5-4, which maintained their uninterrupted tradition of winning records since the franchise was founded in 1994. Chicago drew 312,732 to the Allstate Arena, good for second in the 30-team American Hockey League.

“You like to finish the year by winning the last one, but we fell short,” Wolves coach Scott Arniel said. “Looking back, this was such a wacky year with the lockout, injuries, and call-ups, and we couldn’t fight through it all to reach our goal.”

Midwest Division champion Grand Rapids (42-26-4-4) took a 2-0 lead in the first period as left wing Jeff Hoggan scored both goals, the second short-handed on an odd-man rush. The Griffins pushed the lead to 3-0 at 1:23 of the second on Landon Ferraro’s power-play goal.

Wolves forward Anton Rodin cut into the margin at the 12:19 mark of the third period with his fourth goal on assists from Michael Davies and Mark Matheson.

Grand Rapids goaltender Tom McCollum (18-11-2) posted 23 saves to pick up the win. Wolves goaltender Joe Cannata (6-6-0) stopped 34 of 37 shots.

Captain Darren Haydar led the Wolves in scoring with 57 points (20 goals, 37 assists). Brett Sterling paced Chicago with 24 goals, the third time in his five seasons with the Wolves he has done so.

Matt Climie, who did not play Sunday after making 13 consecutive starts, tied Wendell Young’s single-season Wolves record with 6 shutouts. Five came on the road, which set a franchise mark.