The Grand Rapids Griffins posted their game notes ahead of tonight’s season-opener against the Milwaukee Admirals (7 PM EDT start) at Van Andel Arena:
Griffins Game #1 * Home Game #1 * AHL Game #4
Season Series: 0-0-0-0 Home Series: 0-0-0-0 Road Series: 0-0-0-0
All-Time Series: 113-83-7-9-8 All-Time Home Series: 61-39-2-3-3 All-Time Road Series: 52-44-5-6-5Admirals at Griffins
First of eight meetings overall, first of four at Van Andel Arena…Tonight’s game is a rematch of last year’s Central Division Finals where the Admirals defeated the Griffins 3-2 in the five-game series…Last season, the Griffins went 4-3-1-0 against the Admirals…Grand Rapids is 11-15-2-0 (.429) against Milwaukee since the 2020-21 campaign…Dating back to the 2020-21 season, the Griffins are 7-6-1-0 (.536) against the Admirals in Grand Rapids with a plus-three scoring margin (40-37)…Grand Rapids has faced Milwaukee more than any other opponent – 221st meeting tonight – and the Griffins’ 113 victories against the Admirals are the most against any foe…Milwaukee has reached the Western Conference Finals in the last two postseasons, both times being defeated by Coachella Valley…Milwaukee head coach Karl Taylor enters his sixth season as head boss. Taylor has a 204-112-31-13 record (.628) with the Admirals that includes two division titles and three 40-plus win seasons, in addition to never finishing worse than third place in the Central Division…The Admirals return two of their top five scorers from last season in Zach L’Heureux (2nd) and Joakim Kemell (4th)…Austin Watson spent nine seasons within Nashville’s organization and logged 132 points (73-59—132) in 234 games with the Admirals.
This Date in Griffins History
1996: Griffins host their first-ever game at Van Andel Arena against the Orlando Solar Bears before a sold-out crowd of 10,834, but fall by a 3-1 score to the defending Eastern Conference playoff champions. Darin Smith scores the first Griffins goal in the new facility.
