Patrick WilliamsAuthor of TheAHL.com features
There is change at the Chicago Wolves.
For one of the most successful AHL franchises of the last two decades, the 2024–25 season will bring a restored NHL partnership and a dramatically revamped roster.
After a year apart, the Wolves and the Carolina Hurricanes are back together. Hurricanes Associate General Manager Darren Yorke was appointed GM in Chicago and Cam Abbott will sit behind the bench as Carolina – whose affiliate teams won the Calder Cup championship in 2019 and 2022 – can conduct its own AHL operations after having to disband its junior players last season.
Abbott, 40, is a native of Sarnia, Ontario, who has spent most of his hockey career in Europe. He is one of the few AHL head coaches with no experience as a player or coach in the sport’s premier development league, and Abbott is excited about the challenge.
The Cornell University product played one season in North America’s lower minor leagues before heading overseas in 2007. Abbott played in Norway and Sweden before spending seven seasons as the highly regarded head coach of Rogle BK in the Swedish Hockey League. He was named SHL Coach of the Year in 2021-22 when he led Rogle to the Champions Hockey League title.
The Hurricanes have an influx of promising talent that could land with the Wolves in the fall, and they will count on Abbott to turn those young prospects into NHL talent. While Abbott was stationed in Sweden, he continued to keep an eye on North America. The Hurricanes and their head coach Rod Brind’Amour caught his attention.
“I’m a huge fan of Carolina and the way they play,” Abbott said. “(I have) a lot of admiration for Rod and his team and what they’ve accomplished there. I think they play exciting hockey. They play smart hockey. They’re very close-knit and it’s so obvious how the whole group in Carolina is committed to the team, responsible … yet offensively motivated. I think it’s really fun to watch hockey as a fan and understand it as a coach.”
Abbott also knows firsthand what it means to travel far to pursue his career goals.
“When you’re in a comfort zone, you can take things for granted, and when you’re forced out of that, you have to adapt and understand that things are different,” Abbott said. “Sometimes not better, not worse. Just different. And I think that’s allowed me to really understand the situation that some of the players are in. They’re young men, but they also have a lot of needs. I hope to bring some of that understanding to Chicago.”
Abbott’s job will be to help many new – and young – faces to harmonize on and off the ice and grow together as a team.
“What a great opportunity,” Abbott said. “What a great challenge.”
Patrick Williams, writer for TheAHL.com, has covered the American Hockey League for nearly two decades for NHL.com, Sportsnet, TSN, The Hockey News, SiriusXM NHL Network Radio and SLAM! Sports, and most recently co-hosted The Hockey News On The ‘A’ podcast. He was awarded the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award in 2016 for his outstanding coverage of the league.
