Wendell Young was a goaltender for the Vancouver Canucks, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins and Tampa Bay Lightning in the NHL. Wendell Young is the only hockey player to have won a Memorial Cup (1982 Kitchener Rangers), a Calder Cup (1988 Hershey Bears), a Turner Cup (1998 and 2000 Chicago Wolves), and a Stanley Cup (with the 1991 and 1992 Penguins).
Today Wendell Young is General Manager of the Chicago Wolves, AHL affiliate of the St. Louis Blues. The Chicago Wolves were previously an affiliate with the Vancouver Canucks. I had an exclusive with him to talk hockey, especially the Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks.
Paul M. Banks: a few years ago, the Wolves actually outdrew the Blackhawks on occasion. With the Blackhawks now surging, how does that change the game for you? Is there direct competition? Or does a rising tide lift all boats?
Wendell Young: when the Blackhawks were on the downside and we were outdrawing them, if you go back and see statements that we wanted them to draw better, we wanted them to do well. And with the renewed interest, hockey is on everyone’s mind, winning is on everyone’s mind, and that’s what were trying to get back to is winning championships.
We have felt the effects of the Hawks, it’s made us successful because more people are interested in hockey, it’s at the forefront and it’s great for us, we always want the Hawks to do well. Nothing would be better than if both of us won a championship in the same season.
Banks: what are the dynamics of the relationship with the Blackhawks?
Wendell Young: we have a great relationship with the Hawks. We’re on a great basis with them and vice versa. We go to their games, they go to our games we feel feel were in the hockey business together, we’re not in competition.
Banks: what’s the change like in affiliation from the Vancouver Canucks to the St. Louis Blues?
Wendell Young: with Atlanta being sold and we had to find a new affiliation, we had like ten NHL teams called and we took the best fit, we’re here to win, not just to develop. We’ll develop your guys but we’re here to win. When some people call we tell them we need to pick our coach. It’s our philosophy and it backs some of them off. They feel it’s their players, they should pick their coach. and we scare teams off that way.
When you have an affiliation it’s more than a partnership it’s a relationship and you need to need to be able to express your concerns. With the shirt to St. Louis, call-ups are easier for the players. Just a 45 minute flight and there’s so many flights. And it’s big advantage with the proximity of our organization.
Paul M. Banks is the owner of The Sports Bank.net, a Fox Sports affiliate. He is also an analyst for 95.7 The Fan, and writes on Chicago sports media for Chicago Now. President Obama follows his Twitter account (@paulmbanks). Like him on Facebook