Fast Facts: Moose at Chicago – Oct. 25

The Manitoba Moose (1-4-0-0) meet the Chicago Wolves (2-0-1-0) for the first time in 2025-26 on Saturday evening. Manitoba lost a third straight contest to the Grand Rapids Griffins 4-0 on Friday. Chicago has been idle since Sunday, when they won a 6-5 thriller over the Rockford IceHogs. Coverage begins at 6:45 p.m. CT on cjob.com, the Winnipeg Jets App or AHLTV on FloHockey. Action from Allstate Arena begins at 7 p.m. CT.

Return of the Bob

Bob Nardella returns to Allstate for the first time on Saturday night. It’s the first time he’ll coach on the visitors’ bench following a long stint with the Wolves. As a player, the Melrose Park, Ill. native skated in 476 games with Chicago across seven seasons and two leagues (AHL and IHL), scoring 298 points (59G, 239A). The dual-national played professionally in Italy and represented the Italian National Team on many occasions. Nardella was hired by the Wolves as a Skills Coach in 2012-13, and remained with the organization until the end of the 2023-24 season. During that time, he served in several roles, including assistant coach and eventually head coach of the club in 2023-24.

Comfy in Chicago

The Friendly Confines are only about a 30-minute drive from Allstate Arena, but Fabian Wagner might feel right at home in Chicago. The Nyköping, Sweden native scored a pair of goals in his three trips to Rosemont in his rookie season, both of which came in his most recent appearance in the building. The night will stick out as a highlight for the 21-year-old. It was the first multi-point game in Wagner’s career, and pushed his goal streak at the time to four games, before it eventually ended two games later at five. In 50 games, Wagner scored 13 points (8G, 5A) in 2024-25. He ended the year with 15 penalty minutes, all of which came on Feb. 1 in Chicago.

Familiar Foe

Mason Shaw knows a thing or two about the Chicago Wolves. In 2024-25, the now Moose captain scored four points (1G, 3A) in eight contests against the Central Division foes. In his career, Shaw has 12 points (3G, 9A) against Chicago in his time with the Moose and Iowa Wild. Though not against the Wolves, Shaw’s first-career multi-point game in the National Hockey League came just down the road with the Minnesota Wild against the Chicago Blackhawks on Oct. 30/22

Making the Goalies Work

The Moose have recorded at least 30 shots on goal in three of their first five games of the season. Over the past two contests, the Moose posted 67 shots on goal while tallying at least 15 shots in three of six periods. Manitoba’s high on the season came Oct. 18 when they peppered Michal Postava with 37 shots in Grand Rapids. Phil Di Giuseppe led the way last night with six shots on goal. He paces the Moose with 18 shots on goal in five games. That mark ranks 12th among the league’s shooters.

Who's Trending?

Phil Di Giuseppe paced Manitoba with six shots on goal last night. That total represents the most by a Moose player so far this season. Di Giuseppe’s career high is 10 shots in a game. It’s a feat he has achieved three times in his career, most recently Jan. 4/20 as a member of the Utica Comets. Di Giuseppe has at least two shots in all five games this season.