Thrashers Minor League Notebook: Signing of Legace, Chelios skating caps off big week in minors

October 14, 9:26 AMAtlanta Thrashers ExaminerPhil Foley

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Agless defenseman Chris Chelios tries to prove that
he still has it by skating with the AHL's Chicago
Wolves on Monday.  It could be the first step towards
a professional tryout contract for the 47-year-old
Chelios, who hopes to make it back to the NHL.
(Chicago Wolves/Ross Dettman)

The Atlanta Thrashers are almost two full weeks into the regular season and have a whopping three games to show for it.

I do not know where the schedule makers were thinking when they came up with this monstrosity of a schedule, but something is definitely wrong when the Calgary Flames have played seven games thus far, the Washington Ovechkins six and the home team has played exactly half of the games that the Caps have.

It also wreaks havoc on your fantasy hockey team if you have a guy like, say Ilya Kovalchuk, like I do in our little Examiner fantasy league. Of course, if you have the goaltender combination of Miikka Kiprusoff and Chris Osgood going this week, you are pulling your hair out when both goalies put up six spots in consecutive nights. But don’t get me started on that.

The lull in the schedule has put the focus in Chicago of all places. That’s right folks -- Atlanta’s minor league team, which knows a lot more about winning than the parent club has made all sorts of news thus far this week with the signing of one veteran and is close to coming to terms with another.

Those familiar with Atlanta's top farm club know that the owners of the Chicago Wolves are probably the model ownership group for the entire American Hockey League.

Up until old man “Dollar Bill” Wirtz passed away in 2007, the only way you could see a Chicago home team televised was to watch the Wolves. That’s right -- in order to get more fans in the seats, the marketing strategy of the Chicago Blackhawks was the reverse of every other team in sports. No local TV for home games.

That gave the marketing folks at the Wolves an opening. Couple that with the horrendous traffic in the Windy City (and you know if you’ve ever been to Chicago that the Kennedy Expressway is a mess at 3 PM, more or less rush hour), Atlanta’s top farm team quickly became relevant in the hockey craved “Original Six” city.

Well, the Wolves have done it again.

Not only has the club struck a deal to broadcast some of its games on that antique thing we call “Broadcast TV,” now they have added two players to the mix that should generate some excitement in the arena over by O’Hare.

Manny Legace and the Wolves have finally agreed on a professional tryout contract. The 10-year veteran, who vied for a job with Atlanta in camp, will split time with Drew MacIntyre and Peter Mannino in net and should mentor both “kids” while trying to hitch a ride back to the NHL.

And Chicagoland is a buzz with the news that long-time blueliner Chris Chelios skated with the team and should be well on his way to signing some sort of deal with the Wolves.

The 47-year old Chelios, who broke into the league eight years before Evander Kane was even born, told the Chicago Sun-Times that he wants to break back into the show.

"Obviously, everyone in this league wants to get to the NHL, and ultimately, that's my goal," Chelios told the paper. "I bring leadership and experience and I want to help the team win. I'm not just here to teach.

"I never had a goal to play until I'm 50. I was lucky enough to be on a great team in Detroit and that is why I was able to play so long. Every team I talked to has good young skilled players. What I can do remains to be seen."

Part of the reason that Chelios is comfortable with Chicago is that he’s from there. Also, his son, Jake, is playing for the Chicago Steel of the USHL.

In other news from the farm:

• Thrashers properties Michael Forney (3rd Round (80th overall), 2006 draft) and Matt Siddall (9th round, 270th overall, 2004 draft) are moving closer to Atlanta after the Wolves assigned the pair of forwards to the ECHL’s Gwinnett Gladiators. Neither player has appeared in action for Chicago this season.
• Chicago has struggled thus far, dropping its first three games. The Wolves have scored only four goals in those contests. C Jason Krog and LW Brett Sterling share the team lead with two points each.
• MacIntyre is 0-3-0 for the Wolves, despite posting a 3.02 GAA.
• Gwinnett opens their season on Saturday, October 17 at the Gwinnett Center with back-to-back contests against Wheeling.
• C Eric O’Dell (2nd round (39th overall (Anaheim)), 2008 Draft) is off to a blistering start, tallying 16 points (seven goals and nine assists) for the Sudbury Wolves of the OHL. He picked up Boston Pizza OHL Player of the Week honors for the week ending September 27 by tallying three goals and four assists.
• RW Danick Paquette (3rd round (64th overall), 2008 draft) has 10 points (three goals and seven assists) in his first eight games for Quebec of the QMJHL.
• Goaltender Chris Carrozzi (6th round (154th overall), 2008 draft) is 3-2-0 with a sparkling 1.86 GAA in his first six games with St. Michael’s (OHL).