Wolf Prowl – October 26th, 2011

The Wolves picked up their first wins of the year, beating Rockford 2-0 and 4-1 in a home-and-away set on Friday and Saturday. They lost to Peoria 5-2 on Sunday. Despite the their positive results the defence continued to struggle, giving up more than 30 shots in all three games (including 48 on Saturday!). The powerplay looked to have found its groove on Friday, going 2-for-5, but was 0-for-9 over the rest of the weekend. The Wolves (2-3-0-2 15gf 20ga )are tied for third in the Midwest division, but are technically last on tiebreakers.

Matt Climie made 47 saves to backstop Saturday’s win, while Eddie Lack made 35 saves for the shutout on Friday, and 32 in a losing effort on Sunday. Mike Duco picked up a goal and an assist on Saturday. Over the course of the weekend, Kevin Connauton scored two goals and picked up an assist as well. Jordan Schroeder recorded an assist in every game this weekend.

Darren Archibald is really struggling. He hasn’t scored since the first game of the season and has just 8 shots in 7 games. Anton Rodin has been practising with the team but it’s not clear why he isn’t playing. Chris Tanev was injured in Friday’s game and didn’t play the rest of the weekend.

The trade which brought David Booth to the Canucks also brought Steve Reinprecht to the Wolves. He’s expected to line up as the Wolves’ first line centre.

After recovering from his pre-season foot injury, Nolan Baumgartner cleared waivers and was assigned to the Wolves, where he was immediately announced as 2011-12 captain. He’s reprising his role from last season for the Moose. Before Baumer’s re-assignment, Darren Haydar had worn the ‘C’ for the men in maroon. Haydar will wear an ‘A’, as will fellow veteran Kevin Doell. Ex-Canuck Jason Krog was the captain for the Wolves last year.

With the addition of Reinprecht and Baumgartner’s recovery from injury, the team’s veteran core is set and improvement in the club’s defensive play (usually a hallmark of MacTavish coached squad) should be expected. Scoring has been a problem, but last weekend the Wolves offense showed signs of life. The powerplay also needs to improve.

This week the Wolves will play home games against Milwaukee (4-0-0-1 15gf 8ga) and Texas (2-3-0-0 21gf 25ga). Milwaukee is leading the Midwest division, while Texas is bringing up the rear in the West division.