Reaching the conference finals is nothing new for the Wolves.  But for the Blackhawks, it's no small measure of how far their minor-league program has come that they sniffed a second-round victory and came within a bounce or two of winning it.

If Chicago Wolves goaltender Ondrej Pavelec's goalie mask could speak, it might have, it would have yelled, "Holy cow!" after his performance in Game 7 of the West Division Final on Tuesday.  Pavelec, who has Harry Caray painted on his mask, kept the Wolves' season alive as he stopped 38 shots -- many of the spectacular variety -- in a 4-1 win over the Rockford IceHogs in the decisive game of the series before a crowd of 5,128 at the Allstate Arena.