Roadrunners visit Chicago to face unique Wolves team

The Roadrunners (19-9-1-1) play at the Chicago Wolves on Friday and Saturday.

After the Wolves and Carolina Hurricanes had a falling out in the spring, Chicago became the first AHL team to go without an NHL partner since the Worcester IceCats in 1994-95.

Roadrunners head coach Steve Potvin said it was “unfortunate” that the Wolves don’t have an NHL affiliation.

“I guess it’s kind of a unique story and they went through some things,” Potvin said. “It was odd at first I thought to have an NHL team without having an American league affiliate but it sounds like things are starting to mend.”

Tony Androckitis of InsideAHLHockey.com has covered the split and possible reconciliation extensively.

“When the news first broke that the Wolves sent out an email to agents instructing them that they would be operating without an NHL affiliation for the 2023-24 season, I was certainly intrigued,” Androckitis said. “It hasn’t been done in the AHL in 30 years, and in terms of being able to be competitive in the AHL without an NHL partner it seemed like an uphill battle.”

The Wolves still had to adhere to AHL rules, like not loading up on veterans. Out of 18 skaters, only six can have over 260 games of pro experience, and one of those vets has to be under 320 games.

Chicago (9-15-3-2) is 31st out of 32 teams with just 23 points in 29 games.

The Wolves, founded in 1994, have won two International League championships and three AHL championships.

Center Vasily Ponomarev played two games for Tucson on loan from Carolina but asked to go back to Chicago, where he played last season. One of those games for the Roadrunners was a 3-2 Tucson win over Chicago.

“I think that Ponomarev might’ve been the icebreaker, so to speak,” Androckitis said. “Not long after Ponomarev’s move from Tucson to Chicago, discussions started up and eventually were successful in Carolina loaning some of the guys they had previously had to send to ECHL Norfolk because they didn’t have a place to send their AHL-level extras following Carolina’s NHL training camp.”

This season, the Roadrunners seemingly haven’t had to pick between prospects playing and wins. Forward Dylan Guenther, a 2021 first-round draft pick for the Coyotes, leads the Roadrunners with 28 points in 29 games, and right wing Josh Doan, a second-rounder in 2021 for Arizona, leads Tucson in goals with 13, including six game-winning goals.

“I think you cannot develop without trying to win because I think every NHL team — I don’t have to think — it’s their goal to win a Stanley Cup,” Potvin said. “So they have to learn how to win, they have to learn how to go through some trials and tribulations down here to figure it out, so it’s important that they play but it’s also important that they understand accountability and standards and trying to win games so I think they definitely coexist.”

Chicago general manager Wendell Young said to InsideAHLHockey.com about going independent, “no draft pick entitlement. Best player plays.”

There are three types of AHL teams: Ones owned by their NHL parent, such as the Roadrunners with the Arizona Coyotes; independently-owned teams with an NHL affiliation, like the Cleveland Monsters and Columbus Blue Jackets; and one completely independent team in the Wolves.

Since the IHL folded in 2001, the AHL took over as the sole AAA hockey league in North America and expanded to 32 teams to match the 32 NHL teams.

As one of the remaining 12 AHL teams that are independently owned, Androckitis said Chicago puts more of a focus on winning.

Young said to InsideAHLHockey.com that philosophical changes from Carolina led to the split dispute winning the 2022 AHL title.

Young said he was told, “don’t worry about winning,” from Carolina management.

Androckitis said though the Hurricanes declined comment, they didn’t dispute what Young said.

Young is the only player in hockey history to have won the Memorial Cup, Calder Cup, Turner Cup and Stanley Cup. He was a player, coach and now executive with the Wolves.

Slap shots

On Wednesday, the AHL announced that former Roadrunners captain Adam Cracknell will be one of two playing captains for the 2024 AHL All-Star Classic next month. Cracknell, who plays for the Henderson Silver Knights now, served as the Roadrunners’ captain last year.

The Roadrunners swept the two-game series with Chicago in Tucson in November and went 3-1-0-0 against Chicago last year. Tucson is 7-3-0-0 against Chicago in the last five seasons.

Tucson had its five-game winning streak snapped with a 6-4 loss at San Jose on Wednesday night. The Barracuda scored twice in the final three minutes to snap a 4-4 tie. Austin Poganski, Josh Doan, Cameron Crotty and Victor Soderstrom all scored for Tucson.