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Shooting for Three: IHL preview Chicago Wolves begin quest to win third Turner Cup By Sal J. Barry Webmaster
The Wolves were off to a rocky start at the beginning of this season, posting a 15-21-3 record—the second worst overall record at that time. But after the All-Star game, where the Wolves beat the IHL All-Stars 4-0, things turned around for them. Since the break, the Wolves posted a 28-11-4 record, which was the best of all the IHL teams during the second half of the season. Although the Wolves finished fifth overall, they were first in the Western Conference and will have home-ice advantage against their opponents in the first round. The Eastern Conference looks like it will be dominated by the Grand Rapids Griffins, who were the best team in the IHL this year. The Turner Cup finals could very well end up being a rematch of last year—another Chicago-Grand Rapids series. Should these teams meet in the finals this year, the Wolves will be hard pressed; the Griffins did well against the Wolves this season, winning six times and losing twice. Also, the Wolves will not have home-ice advantage should they make it to the finals. Here are my predictions for the first round of the IHL playoffs. All series are best of seven, and the first team listed in each pairing has home-ice advantage. The Match-Ups
The Griffins are by far the best team in the IHL, finishing with 113 points, and scoring the most goals during the regular season. Griffins’ forward Derek King led the league with 83 points, and goalie Mike Fountain had the most wins with 34. Plus, Fountain’s goals-allowed-average (GAA) was third best in the IHL at 2.08. While the Lumberjacks’ record wasn’t as good, they still may have a chance. The ‘Jacks were second overall in team scoring; forwards Brian Bonin and Kai Nurmien both finished within the top ten in scoring, while teammate Christian Matte lead the league in goals with 38. This series could go either way, but Grand Rapids is the better team, both offensively and defensively. The Lumberjacks will put up a fight, though.
Season Series: Orlando 6-4-0 Solar Bears’ goalie Norm Maracle was tops in the league with a 2.02 G.A.A. and 8 shutouts. He was second overall with 33 wins. While they did not finish with any scorers in the top 20, their goaltending and defense still led them to a second place overall finish. Orlando allowed the least amount of goals in the regular season, and had both the best power play and penalty killing records. The Cyclones were the third-highest scoring team in the IHL. Cyclones center Greg Koehler was the eighth overall-leading scorer in the IHL, while Byron Ritchie, Gilbert Dionne, and Brian Felsner placed among the top 20. If these guys can figure out how to beat Orlando goalie Maracle, then it could spell upset. Every year’s playoffs need an underdog to win, and this looks like the series for it to happen. Cincinnati is coming off a three-game winning streak, and has enough firepower to beat Orlando. Western Conference Semi-Finals
Season Series: Chicago 4-2-2 Chicago is the most improved team since the All-Star break, and center Steve Larouche tied for first overall in the IHL scoring race with 83 points. Wingers Rob Brown and Niklas Anderson both finished in the top ten with 77 and 72 points respectively, while team captain Steve Maltais—who spent half of the season with the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets—scored a 51 points in his 50 games for the Wolves. Goaltender Richard Sculmistra posted the second-best GAA in the league at 2.07, and for the third time this season was named IHL Goaltender of the Week. While Milwaukee lacks the explosive scoring power of the Wolves, they did boast the third best goaltending tandem in the league. Goalies Chris Mason and Jan Lasak could give the Wolves some headaches. However, it is more likely that Wolves’ forwards Brown, Maltais, Larouche, and Anderson cause headaches for the Admirals. If Sculmistra stays on top of his game, this series will be a cinch for the Wolves.
Season Series: Houston 7-3-2 Of the eight teams seeing postseason play, Houston has scored the second-least amount of goals this season. Their goaltending was nothing to write home about, but not horrible either. The team’s leading scorer—center Brett Harkins— led the IHL in assists, and was the third highest scorer in the “I” with 80 points. The Manitoba Moose scored less than Houston did during the season. Worse yet, they’ve lost their top two goalies; starter Johan Hedberg was recalled by the Pittsburgh Penguins, while backup Ken Wregget was recalled by the Detroit Red Wings. Hedberg had a record of 23-13-7 in the regular season and a better-than-average GAA of 2.56, while Wregget has over 18 years of experience—most of it in the NHL. Unless the Moose can get a better goalie loaned to them than current netminder Jeff Salajako, they don’t have a prayer. Expect to see the games end in very close scores. Both teams are bad at scoring, but it is Manitoba’s goaltending woes that will do them in. The Columbia Chronicle would like to hear your opinion on this topic. Note: If your browser does not support multiple windows, click here. Back to top | Home The Columbia Chronicle is a student produced publication of Columbia College Chicago and does not necessarily represent, in whole or in part, the views of Columbia College administrators, faculty or students. |
April 23, 2001
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