From the Grand Rapids Griffins:
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Detroit Red Wings on Monday announced that Josh Chapman has been hired as the Grand Rapids Griffins’ new athletic trainer.
Chapman joins the Griffins after spending the previous three seasons as the head athletic trainer for the ECHL’s Orlando Solar Bears, managing all medical and training operations for the club. He replaces John Bernal, who served as the Griffins’ athletic trainer for eight seasons (2011-19) before recently accepting a position as a work strategies and sports medicine coordinator for West Michigan with NovaCare.
Chapman has also spent time as an assistant athletic trainer for the Tampa Bay Rowdies of the North American Soccer League (2015-16), an athletic trainer for CORA Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Centers that included overseeing Tampa Catholic High School (2014-15), an intern with the Tampa Bay Lightning’s medical staff (2014-16), and as an athletic training student for both the University of Tampa (2012-14) and Merrimack College’s hockey team (2011-12). He earned a bachelor of science in athletic training from the University of Tampa in 2014.
In addition to being a certified and licensed athletic trainer, Chapman is a certified Corrective Exercise Specialist through the National Academy of Sports Medicine, a certified Performance Specialist through EXOS, and an ImPACT Trained Athletic Trainer. He has emergency medical training and once held an EMT Basic national certification.
If you missed it, last week the Griffins named Western Michigan University assistant coach and former NHL’er Todd Kryger an assistant coach:
The Detroit Red Wings on Monday announced the hiring of Todd Krygier(KREE-ger) as an assistant coach for the Grand Rapids Griffins.
Krygier joins fellow assistants Matt Macdonald and Mike Knuble, goaltending development coach Brian Mahoney-Wilson, and video coach Bill LeRoy on second-year head coach Ben Simon’s staff.
“Combining his playing and coaching experiences, Todd understands what it takes to develop players to the next level,” Simon said. “He is extremely genuine and passionate about his work and is a great communicator and teacher. He has a creative mind for offense and has had a lot of success running the power play on the teams he has coached.
“I look forward to working with Todd as he will bring new ideas to challenge and support our staff. I believe his personality and work ethic will be a great addition not only to our staff, but also the great prospects we have in Grand Rapids,” he added.
Krygier, 53, spent the last three seasons as an assistant coach for Western Michigan University (NCHC), helping the Broncos total a 58-47-8 record (0.549), finish in the top four of the conference standings twice, and advance to the NCAA Tournament for the sixth time in program history in 2017. During the 2018-19 campaign, WMU posted a 21-15-1 record overall, tied for fourth in the NCAA with a 3.47 goals per game average – which ranked as one of the highest in team history – and boasted its third consecutive year with a power play operating above 18 percent. The Broncos’ 129 total goals in 2018-19 were the third most in team history since the 2000-01 season while the 133 tallies in 2016-17 were second most.
