We don't usually make it a practice to research enemies we've already played. However, the Chicago Wolves team that is coming to the Bradley Center Wednesday night is very different from the Chicago team that played the Ads on opening night.

For starters, Head Coach Don Granato and Assistant Coach Jason Christie got new titles. They are now Former Head Coach Don Granato and Former Assistant Coach Jason Christie. That's right - they got pink-slipped; terminated; axed; discharged; sacked; sh*t-canned.  

They were fired.

After missing the playoffs last year, management decided that a 1-5 start wasn't good enough. So they brought in Don Lever as Head Coach and Ron Wilson as his Assistant. Lever won the Calder Cup in 2007 with Hamilton and is 235-184-21-8-17 overall in 465 games as a head coach in the AHL.

Wilson served as an assistant coach on that Cup-winning Hamilton team. The Wolves are 3-1 since the duo took over, and have climbed from last place in the West Division to....well....they're still in last place, actually. And they have still failed to earn a single point on the road (one of only two teams in the AHL to do so).

Another major difference for the Wolves is on the ice. The team signed 87 year old* defenseman Chris Chelios to bring in some leadership and veteran presence - and he has already paid dividends. * age approximated

Chelios already has a goal and 4 assists in just 5 games, and the goal was a third-period game-winner against Rockford.

When you play professional hockey for nearly 30 years, you are probably going to cross paths with everyone eventually. Chelios and Lane Lambert have actually played against each other several times - and Lambert vividly remembers their first encounter:

"The first time we ever crossed paths I was 16 years old playing in Swift Current, Saskatchewan in Tier 2 in Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League and he was 20 playing in Moose Jaw and him and I actually had a fight."

How did that fight go?

"He beat the tar out of me" said Lambert with a chuckle.

"Of course, he was four years older than me, too."

He didn't say it - but I wonder if Lambert's been waiting for an opportunity like this. He can ambush Cheli in the Bradley Center parking lot. The dude would NEVER see it coming!

Revenge is a dish best served 30 years cold!