Wolves win West Div game 7; 4-1 victory, on to Marlies

The Chicago Wolves defeated the Rockford IceHogs in game seven of the Western Division Finals of the Calder Cup Tournament 4-1, Tuesday at the Allstate Arena. The Wolves are scheduled to meet the North Division top seed and champion, the Toronto Marlies, Friday.

On-Ice play was lightly officiated, with only five total penalties given in the game. The IceHogs outshot the Wolves throughout the game. It appeared as though the Hogs were playing desperate hockey, with lots of shots on goal, whenever they had the opportunity. The Wolves, on the other hand, were using cross-ice passing, even when they had shots, to force Chicago Blackhawk goalie prospect Corey Crawford to move side to side.

Two of the Wolves goals were on the power play. Joe Motzko had three shots on Crawford in the first period and two assists in the game. The official game sheet only credits Motzko with one shot on goal. The potential shutout was broken by Kris Versteeg in the mid-third period. Crawford was pulled with about three minutes remaining. However, after Colin Stuart scored an empty net goal with about 90 seconds remaining, he returned to the net for the remainder of the game.

Kris Versteeg interviewed in McKeen's

McKeen’s Hockey Prospects interviewed the leading playoff scorer for the IceHogs, published here. Here’s a small sample of the great interview:

McKeen's: Down here in the AHL, are there any particular things that Chicago wants you to improve upon so that you can stick there full time?

Versteeg: When I'm down here, sometimes I try to do too much with the puck. I have "Havvy" (head coach Mike Haviland) and those guys on the bench, usually re-assuring me, but I do need to get better at moving the puck and probably using my line mates a bit more. I think it comes with trying to do too much and trying to help the team too much and do more than you actually can do.