Always one to stay in the moment, Wolves head coach Ryan Warsofsky’s next concern was the flight back home to Chicago for his team early this morning.
“I’m just worrying about right now,” Warsofsky said, perhaps only half-jokingly minutes after lifting the Calder Cup.
To the final moments of the season, Warsofsky stuck to the talking points that took the Wolves to a league-best 50-16-5-5 regular-season record and now to a Calder Cup celebration.
Chicago had already checked off two key tasks in Game 5. They had scored first, something that they did 50 times in 76 regular-season games. They also had a lead going into the third period, familiar territory for a team that went 32-0-1-1 in the regular season when leading after two periods (and 10-2 in the Calder Cup Playoffs).
So when the Wolves hit the second intermission up 2-0, Warsofsky went back to his tried-and-true message.
“I think the message has been the same,” Warsofsky recounted. “Pretty consistent all year. Simple, hard, direct, be predictable, play for each other, do all the little things, because the little things become big things.
“And then I think we want to just be us. The last part was, ‘Do your job. Worry about the shift in front of you, and do your job within your shift.’”
They listened once again, shutting down the Thunderbirds in the third period, adding two more goals, and winning the team’s third Calder Cup championship.
“Credit to these players,” Warsofsky said. “They’re something special.”
In the end, what else could Springfield head coach Drew Bannister say?
His Thunderbirds had just gone five games with the Wolves in wrapping up the first season of an affiliation with the St. Louis Blues. He was a proud coach after his players had just won three Calder Cup Playoff rounds, defeating Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Charlotte, and then Laval in an intense seven-game Eastern Conference Finals.
After taking time with his team in the Springfield dressing room to gather his thoughts, Bannister spoke.
“I just think it’s been such a great experience for everybody in this group,” Bannister said. “As an organization for our young players, this is going to go such a long way in their development, and the next step for them, being able to play in the NHL. Playing playoff games, meaningful playoff games, for these young players goes such a long way.
“As a staff, you want to see these young men be able to win a hockey championship. Not often do you get this opportunity, and they may never get one again.
“But for me, and I’m just talking about myself, I just had so much fun with this group this year.”
― Patrick Williams
