Wolf Pack 2000-2002 Seasons

It would be a difficult task to match that triumph, but the Wolf Pack followed up with another solid season in 2000-01, with Al Coates as the team's new Vice-President and General Manager. The Pack ended up 14 games over .500 and second only to league regular-season-champion Worcester in the New England Division. Once again, the club finished strongly, going 4-1-0-1 in the final six games of the regular season, but this time the positive results would not carry over into the postseason. The opening round would be another battle in the rivalry with Providence, and after winning the first two games at home, the Wolf Pack would have the tables turned on them. The Bruins battled back from a 3-1 deficit to win Game Three, and then would squeak out one-goal victories in Games Four and Five to triumph in the series. That marked the first time in their history that the Pack failed to get by the first round of the playoffs.

The Wolf Pack came back for the 2001-02 campaign and once again were strong in the regular season. The first 30 games were unremarkable, producing a 13-13-4 mark, but right after Christmas, the team took off. Led by the scoring exploits of the likes of Rico Fata and Jamie Lundmark and the puck-moving prowess of Mike Mottau, the Wolf Pack reeled off a 7-1-1-1 streak to get into the thick of the hunt for a division championship. Then in February and March, the Pack went more than a month without losing a game in regulation, ultimately losing out on the overall points championship on the final day of the regular season.

The playoffs carried plenty of excitement as well, with the Pack getting by Manchester in the first round by the slimmest of margins. The Wolf Pack fought off elimination after going down two-games-to-one in the best-of-five series, and the decisive Game Five at the Civic Center went into double-overtime. It took a goal by defenseman Marty Wilford (the first double-overtime tally in franchise annals) nearly halfway through the second extra session to sink the Monarchs. The Pack's luck ran out, however, in the second round against Hamilton. They won another double-OT contest (on another score by Wilford) to earn a split of the first two games, but then the Bulldogs reeled off three straight victories at home to deny the Pack another shot at the Conference Finals.