Manchester Wolves
Encyclopedia : M : MA : MAN : Manchester Wolves
The Manchester Wolves are a professional arena football team, based at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire. They play in the East Division of the American Conference of the af2 league, which is the minor league of the Arena Football League. Coach Ben Bennett returns for his second season of coaching the Wolves in 2006. In 2005, Bennett led the team to a 12-5 record and the East Division championship.
Team History
On December 12, 2001, Mohegan Sun and Dr. Eric Margenau, President/Chief Executive Officer of United Sports Ventures, announced that the new Uncasville, Connecticut expansion af2 franchise will be named the Mohegan Wolves. At that time, the team was owned and operated by Dr. Eric Margenau; who introduced, earlier on that same day, Gary Porter as the head coach for the team that would first take the field April 5, 2002 at the Mohegan Sun Arena against the Albany Conquest. Gary Porter previously led the expansion Peoria Pirates to a 7-9 record in 2001.
The team name was selected through a “Name the Team” contest sponsored by WCTY, Mohegan Sun and X-Tra Mart. A Norwich, Connecticut resident, came up with the winning name. The winner won four season tickets for the 2002 Mohegan Wolves season, dinner for four on the night of the team’s first home game, and a team merchandise package.
For the expansion season in 2002, the team went 3-13 which included only one home win.
On February 6, 2003, the af2 league office announced that Big Win Ventures LLC would now be the operator of the Mohegan Wolves. Dr. Margenau, the former principal operator of the Mohegan Wolves, assumed the role of President of Big Win and remained a substantial shareholder. Big Win, which is privately held, also announced the same day that it has assumed operations of the Albany Conquest af2 franchise.
For the 2003 season, AFL veteran head coach Mark Stoute led the Wolves and dramatically improved their record. The team finished with a 10-6 regular season record (which included a 7-1 home record) and won their first postseason game on August 2, 2003 against the Atlantic Division Champion Cape Fear Wildcats 50-47. The season ended the next week on August 8, 2003 with a 47-30 loss to the Tennessee Valley Vipers.
On October 29, 2003, the league office approved the relocation of the Mohegan Wolves team to Manchester, NH. The Wolves’ move to Manchester was made possible through the efforts of a group of local businessmen and Dr. Margenau. The team of local investors was led by longtime area resident Steve Schubert, a former player for the New England Patriots and Chicago Bears .
During the first season in Manchester, NH, the new head coach, Rik Richards, was first fired midway through the season and replaced by his coordinator Ron Hil. The finished with a 5-11 record.
Things turned around in 2005 with new head coach, Ben Bennett. Bennett, a veteran coach and player with Arena Football and af2 transformed the Manchester team to a 12-4 regular season record and won the East Division. The regular season included a 10-game win streak. The season ended with a first round playoff loss at home on August 12, 2005 against the Louisville Fire 56-69.
Season-by-season
Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = TiesExternal Links
- [Manchester Wolves official site]
- [Official Manchester Wolves fan club]
- [at ArenaFan Online]
- [at OurSports Central]
| af2 |
| ||||
| AMERICAN CONFERENCE | |||||
| SOUTHERN DIVISION Birmingham Steeldogs Florida Firecats Macon Knights Memphis Xplorers South Georgia Wildcats Tennessee Valley Vipers | EASTERN DIVISION Albany Conquest Green Bay Blizzard Louisville Fire Manchester Wolves Quad City Steamwheelers Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers | ||||
|
| |||||
| NATIONAL CONFERENCE | |||||
| WESTERN DIVISION Bakersfield Blitz Central Valley Coyotes Everett Hawks Spokane Shock Stockton Lightning | MIDWESTERN DIVISION Amarillo Dusters Arkansas Twisters Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz Rio Grande Valley Dorados Tulsa Talons | ||||
|
| |||||
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.