Here’s the Grand Rapids Griffins’ initial weekly press release ahead of tomorrow’s season-opening game against the Texas Stars:
GRIFFINS START 2018-19 CAMPAIGN IN TEXAS
This Week’s Games
GRIFFINS at Texas Stars // Fri., Oct. 5 // 8 p.m. EDT // H-E-B Center at Cedar Park
Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 7:35 p.m.
Watch: AHLTV
Season Series: First of eight meetings overall, first of four at the H-E-B Center
All-Time Series: 12-7-2-0 Road, 25-12-2-3 Overall
NHL Affiliation: Dallas Stars
Noteworthy: Texas lost in Game 7 of the Calder Cup Finals last June to the Toronto Marlies.GRIFFINS at San Antonio Rampage // Sat., Oct. 6 // 8 p.m. EDT // AT&T Center
Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 7:35 p.m.
Watch: AHLTV
Season Series: First of eight meetings overall, first of four at the AT&T Center
All-Time Series: 22-14-0-2-1 Road, 44-26-1-5-2 Overall
NHL Affiliation: St. Louis Blues
Noteworthy: After getting swept in all four meetings during the 2015-16 season, the Griffins have won the last eight against San Antonio.23rd Season of Hockey: The Grand Rapids Griffins begin the franchise’s 23rd overall season of play, 18th as a member of the American Hockey League and 17th as the primary affiliate of the 11-time Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings. They’ll open the 2018-19 campaign on Friday night when they travel to the defending Western Conference champion Texas Stars. Grand Rapids has competed in 1,742 games between the International Hockey League and AHL and has amassed a 927-629-27-51-108 regular season record (0.586), to go along with 16 playoff appearances, seven division titles and two Calder Cups (2017, 2013).
Season Openers: The Griffins own a 13-6-2-1 record (0.659) all time in season openers and a 14-6-2-0 (0.682) mark in road openers. When the season opener comes on foreign ice, the Griffins own a 6-2-2-0 record (0.700). Grand Rapids has opened the season on Oct. 5 twice previously, in 1996 at Indianapolis (1-0 W) and in 2001 vs. Utah (0-3 L).
Simon Says: Ben Simon begins his first season as Grand Rapids’ head coach after being named the 11th head coach in franchise history on June 5. Simon spent the previous three seasons as an assistant with the Griffins under Todd Nelson, who was hired by the Dallas Stars as an assistant coach in May. During Simon’s three seasons as a Grand Rapids assistant, the Griffins posted the third-most regular season victories in the AHL and won the franchise’s second Calder Cup in 2017. Appearing in 21 games and scoring nine points (4-5—9) with the Griffins in 2006-07 as part of an 11-year professional playing career, Simon is the third former Griffins player to serve as Grand Rapids’ head coach, joining Nelson and Danton Cole (2002-05).
Assistant to Head: Ben Simon is the fourth former Griffins assistant to then become the head coach. The previous three, Danton Cole, Greg Ireland and Todd Nelson, all qualified for the postseason in their first full campaign. After serving as an assistant from 1999-2001, Cole led Grand Rapids to a 48-22-8-2 record and a first-place division finish as the head coach in 2002-03. Ireland served as an assistant from 2003-05 before helping the club to a franchise-record 55 victories and the league’s best record in 2005-06. Nelson assisted the Griffins in 2002-03 and guided the team to a fourth-place finish in the Central Division in 2015-16.
Head Coaching Debuts: Head coaches in their first game behind the Griffins’ bench show a 4-4-1-1 record. Curt Fraser (2008-12) owns the best start to a Griffins’ coaching career, beginning his tenure on a seven-game point streak (4-0-2-1).
Z To Make Pro Debut in GR: The sixth overall selection in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft by Detroit, Filip Zadina is expected to make his professional debut with the Griffins this weekend. Zadina will be the highest Red Wings draft pick ever to suit up for the Griffins. Only three players in Griffins history were drafted higher than No. 6: Jason Spezza (No. 2 by Ottawa in 2001), Darrin Shannon (No. 4 by Pittsburgh in 1988) and Stephen Weiss (No. 4 by Florida in 2001).
Roster Turnover, I: With free agents Tom McCollum (Milwaukee Admirals) and Jared Coreau (Anaheim Ducks) joining different organizations in the offseason, the Griffins begin a season without their top two goaltenders (in terms of games played) from the previous season for only the third time in franchise history. The other instances came in 2002-03 during the club’s first affiliation year with Detroit, and in 1999-2000, the team’s first campaign affiliated with Ottawa.
Roster Turnover, II: The Griffins begin the season without three of their top four scorers from 2017-18. Matt Puempel, who scored 54 points in 57 games with Grand Rapids, is the lone returner out of Ben Street (Anaheim Ducks), Matt Lorito (New York Islanders) and Eric Tangradi (New Jersey Devils). The last time Grand Rapids started a season without three of its top four scorers from the previous campaign came at the beginning of the 2015-16 campaign, when only Andy Miele returned out of a group of Teemu Pulkkinen, Landon Ferraro and Kevin Porter.
Reinforcements, I: Grand Rapids bolsters its lineup with a trio of new veterans who have been league leaders or are coming off career highs in recent years. Chris Terry took home the John B. Sollenberger Trophy as the AHL’s leading scorer last season with a career-high 71 points points in 62 games with the Laval Rocket. Wade Megan won the Willie Marshall Award as the circuit’s top goal scorer in 2016-17 with 33 in 73 appearances with the Chicago Wolves. Carter Camper posted a career-best 61 points in 68 games between Cleveland and Tucson last season.
Reinforcements, II: The Griffins solidified the back end of their defense with a pair of free-agent newcomers in net, Harri Sateri and Patrik Rybar. Sateri placed third and sixth in the AHL last season in save percentage (0.927) and goals against average (2.30), respectively, while appearing in 29 games with Springfield. In his first NHL action last season with Florida, Sateri finished with a 4-4 record, a 2.92 GAA and a 0.911 save percentage in nine games. Rybar led the Czech Extraliga in both GAA (1.73) and shutouts (7), while ranking second in save percentage (0.932) in 36 games with Hradec Kralove last season. This season marks Rybar’s first in North America.
Puemped Up: Sixth-year pro Matt Puempel is set for his first full season in the Red Wings organization. Acquired last Oct. 21 via trade, Puempel produced 54 points (22-32—54) in 57 games with the Griffins last season as part of a career-high campaign of 57 points (23-34—57) in 62 contests.
Model Year: Re-signed to a two-year contract in June, 11th-year pro Matthew Ford returns for his third season with the Griffins. Ford is Grand Rapids’ active leader in goals scored with 36. He’s notched 18 power play goals in a Griffins uniform, including a team-high 12 in 2017-18 that tied for seventh most in franchise history in a single season.
Mitten Ties: Several newcomers to the Griffins have previous ties to the state:
- Jake Chelios played college hockey at Michigan State from 2010-14;
- Marcus Crawford played with the Saginaw Spirit in the OHL from 2014-18;
- Trevor Hamilton was born in Grosse Pointe Farms and appeared in 76 games with the USHL’s Muskegon Lumberjacks from 2014-16;
- Chris Terry played with the Plymouth Whalers in the OHL from 2005-09.
Roster Breakdown: Thirteen players (forwards Axel Holmstrom, Wade Megan, David Pope, Matt Puempel, Givani Smith, Chris Terry, Dominic Turgeon and Filip Zadina; defensemen Jake Chelios, Dylan McIlrath and Vili Saarijarvi; goaltenders Patrik Rybar and Harri Sateri) on the roster are under contract with the Red Wings, while 10 players (forwards Colin Campbell, Carter Camper, Turner Elson, Matthew Ford, Dominik Shine and Trevor Yates; defensemen Marcus Crawford, Matt Finn, Trevor Hamilton and Mackenze Stewart) are playing with a Griffins contract.
Rookies: The Griffins have six players who are considered rookies this season including defensemen Marcus Crawford and Trevor Hamilton, and forwards David Pope, Givani Smith, Trevor Yates and Filip Zadina.
GRG → DRW: Eighteen former Griffins players begin the season on the Red Wings’ active roster, including: Justin Abdelkader, Andreas Athanasiou, Tyler Bertuzzi, Dennis Cholowski, Danny DeKeyser, Jonathan Ericsson, Martin Frk, Luke Glendening, Darren Helm, Joe Hicketts, Jimmy Howard, Filip Hronek, Nick Jensen, Niklas Kronwall, Dylan Larkin, Anthony Mantha, Gustav Nyquist and Libor Sulak.
Texas Notes: Former Griffins head coach Todd Nelson, who led Grand Rapids for the last three seasons and won the 2017 Calder Cup, was hired by Texas’ NHL affiliate in Dallas to be an assistant under first-year head coach Jim Montgomery…As part of the league’s realignment this summer, Texas and San Antonio joined the Central Division, while Cleveland moved to the Eastern Conference’s North Division…The Griffins and Stars, who lost to Toronto in Game 7 of the 2018 Calder Cup Finals, will match up eight times this season…Givani Smith, the 46th overall selection in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft by Detroit, is the younger brother of Gemel Smith, who has logged 63 career games with the Dallas Stars entering 2018-19 and skated in 186 contests with Texas from 2014-17…Grand Rapids has points in eight of the last 10 meetings at Texas (7-2-1-0)…Since the 2013-14 season, the Griffins are 15-5-1-1 in 22 games overall against the Stars.
San Antonio Notes: The Rampage begin their first season as the primary affiliate of the St. Louis Blues…After getting swept in all four meetings during the 2015-16 season, the Griffins have won the last eight overall against San Antonio and outscored the Rampage 41-15 in that span…Grand Rapids has points in seven of its last 10 at the AT&T Center (5-3-1-1)…Second-year Griffin Turner Elson spent the 2016-17 season with San Antonio and scored three points (1-2—3) while being limited to 13 games due to injury…First-year Griffin Wade Megan made his AHL debut with the Rampage on March 28, 2013 versus Grand Rapids and went on to total 31 points (20-11—31) in 115 games with San Antonio from 2012-15.
Father-Son Combo: Should Jake Chelios make his Griffins debut this weekend, he and his father, Chris, will become the first father and son to both play for Grand Rapids during their careers. As part of his 26-year Hall of Fame career from 1983-2010, Chris Chelios appeared in two games with Grand Rapids during the 2008-09 campaign.
Longest Head/Assistant Coaching Tenures in Griffins History:
Rank Coach Seasons* Regular Season Games Position(s) 1 Jim Paek 9 708 AC 2005-14 2 Mike Knuble 6 380 AC 2013-19 3 Danton Cole 5 372 AC 1999-01, HC 2002-05 4 Curtis Hunt 4 328 AC 1996-00 Greg Ireland 4 320 AC 2003-05, HC 2004-07 Curt Fraser 4 316 HC 2008-12 Todd Nelson 4 308 AC 2002-03, HC 2015-18 Ben Simon 4 228 AC 2015-18, HC 2018-19 9 Jeff Blashill 3 228 HC 2012-15 Bruce Ramsay 3 228 AC 2015-18 *includes partial seasons and 2018-19
Winning Ways: The Griffins have earned 40 or more wins, accumulated 90 or more points and qualified for the Calder Cup Playoffs in each of the last six seasons.
Sustained Success: Since the 2012-13 season, Grand Rapids ranks among the league’s top-5 in regular season wins, points and points percentage.
Team Wins Toronto 278 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 268 Grand Rapids 267 Providence 260 Texas 243
Team Points Toronto 596 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 575 Grand Rapids 574 Providence 573 Texas 551
Team Points % Toronto 0.654 Manchester (2012-15) 0.647 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 0.630 Grand Rapids 0.629 Providence 0.628 Familiar Faces in Different Places: A number of key contributors to last season’s 42-win, 93-point team and the 2017 Calder Cup campaign now find themselves with new clubs for the upcoming season.
- Ben Street: team-high 65 points last season, 2017 Calder Cup champion – signed a one-year contract with Anaheim on July 2;
- Jared Coreau: ranks fourth-all time in franchise history in goaltender victories, 2017 Calder Cup champion – signed a one-year contract with Anaheim on July 1;
- Matt Lorito: led team with 56 points in 2016-17, 2017 Calder Cup champion – signed a two-year contract with the New York Islanders on July 2;
- Eric Tangradi: posted a career-high 64 points in 2017-18, 2017 Calder Cup champion – signed a one-year contract with New Jersey on July 25;
- Robbie Russo: Named to the 2016 AHL All-Rookie and Second All-Star Teams, 2017 Calder Cup champion – traded to Arizona on June 24 for a conditional seventh-round pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft;
- Dan Renouf: Accounted for 29 points and 183 PIM in 146 games from 2015-18, 2017 Calder Cup champion – signed a one-year contract with Carolina on July 2;
- Tom McCollum: Franchise’s all-time goaltending leader in wins, games played, saves and minutes, 2013 Calder Cup champion – signed a one-year contract with Milwaukee on July 17.
New Teams on Schedule: While 58 of Grand Rapids’ 76 games this season will come against the Central Division, the Griffins’ schedule features their inaugural games against the Pacific Division’s Ontario Reign (two games) and the North Division’s Belleville Senators (four games). Grand Rapids hosts Ontario on Nov. 16 and makes the return trip to Southern California on April 3. The Griffins head to Canada for a pair of late October games with the Senators (Oct. 26-27), before welcoming Belleville to Van Andel Arena for a Friday-Saturday set on Jan. 11-12. The Cleveland Monsters, who moved to the Eastern Conference’s North Division as part of this summer’s realignment, remain on the schedule and the two teams will play four times. Atlantic Division foes Hershey and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton return on the schedule with two contests against each.
