Here’s the Grand Rapids Griffins’ weekly notebook:
GRIFFINS WELCOME MANITOBA FOR HOME WEEKEND SERIES
This Week’s Games
GRIFFINS vs. Manitoba Moose // Fri., Oct. 18 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena
GRIFFINS vs. Manitoba Moose // Sat., Oct. 19 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel ArenaListen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 6:45 p.m.
Watch: AHLTV on FloHockey (Free Saturday on @FloHockey on X & YouTube, TheAHL on Facebook)
Season Series: First and second of eight meetings overall, first and second of four at Van Andel Arena
All-Time Series: 75-44-1-1-10 Overall, 40-19-1-1-7 Home
NHL Affiliation: Winnipeg Jets
Noteworthy: Manitoba won both games last weekend against the Iowa Wild, outscoring its opponent 9-6. The Moose were the only team in the Central Division to begin the season with a 2-0-0-0 record.
29th Season of Hockey: The Grand Rapids Griffins began the franchise’s 29th overall season of play, 24th as a member of the American Hockey League, and 23rd as the primary affiliate of the 11-time Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings last Friday when they defeated the Milwaukee Admirals, 3-0. The Griffins have competed in 2,135 games between the IHL and AHL and have amassed a 1,109-790-27-82-127 regular-season record (.581), to go along with 18 playoff appearances, seven division titles and two Calder Cups (2017, 2013).
The Watson Supercomputer: Dan Watson was named the 12th head coach in franchise history on June 14, 2023, and is in his second season at the helm. Last campaign, Watson became the ninth head coach in franchise history to lead the Griffins to the postseason during his first full season behind the bench, joining Dave Allison (1996-97), Bruce Cassidy (2000-01), Danton Cole (2002-03), Greg Ireland (2005-06), Curt Fraser (2008-09), Jeff Blashill (2012-13), Todd Nelson (2015-16) and Ben Simon (2018-19). On April 27, 2024 in a 3-2 overtime victory at Rockford, he also joined seven other head coaches who won their first postseason game behind the Griffins’ bench. Watson became the eighth of the last nine Griffins head coaches to win his first playoff series, defeating the IceHogs 3-1 in the 2024 Central Division Semifinals. In his first year at the helm, Watson led the Griffins to a second-place finish in the Central Division with a 37-23-8-4 record and 86 points, the team’s best finish since the 2016-17 campaign. As a head coach, the Glencoe, Ontario, native possesses a 310-136-30-17 (.676) ledger during the regular season and a 56-38 (.596) mark over only six playoff campaigns.
2023-24 Season in Review: The Griffins skated in their 28th season a year ago and concluded with a 37-23-8-4 record, 86 points and a points percentage of .597. Grand Rapids finished in second place in the Central Division, its best finish since 2017-18, and defeated the Rockford IceHogs in the Central Division semifinals before being bested 3-2 in a five-game series against Milwaukee in the division finals. The team enjoyed a franchise-record 19-game home point streak (14-0-3-2) and an overall 18-game point streak (13-0-3-2), which was one-game shy of tying the franchise record. Jonatan Berggren led the team in points (56), assists (32) and goals (24), and Carter Mazur led the roster’s rookies in points (37) and goals (17), while Amadeus Lombardi and Marco Kasper tied for the rookie lead with 21 assists. Defensively, former sixth overall pick Simon Edvinsson paced the team’s blueliners with 30 points (8-22—30). In net, Sebastian Cossa set a franchise record with a 19-game point streak (13-0-6), and tied both the franchise record home and road point streaks of 13 home games (9-0-4) and 10 road contests (8-0-2), respectively. As a rookie, Cossa ranked among the league leaders in GAA (2.41, T6th), save percentage (.913, T13th), and wins (22, 5th among rookies).
Back For More: Last season, Sebastian Cossa set a franchise record with a 19-game point streak (13-0-6), and tied both the franchise record home and road point streaks of 13 home games (9-0-4) and 10 road contests (8-0-2), respectively. Cossa continues to rewrite the record book, as he posted a 35-save shutout in the season opener last Friday against Milwaukee. He became the first Griffins goalie to post an opening-night shutout in 26 years, since Ian Gordon made 33 saves in a 2-0 win over Kansas City on Oct. 9, 1998. Through two outings this year, the 21-year-old has a 2.01 goals-against average and a .941 save percentage.
Championship or Bust: Newcomer Joe Snively joins the Griffins after a historic run with the Hershey Bears the last two seasons. Snively has won the last two Calder Cups with Hershey and has showed a combined 33 points (6-27—33) in 40 games during the postseason with a 28-12 record in the past two playoffs. In addition to winning the cup last year, Snively also aided the Bears to a regular-season title with a 53-14-0-5 mark (111 pts., .771), the second-best regular-season record in AHL history and the most wins by an AHL team in a 72-game season. The Fairfax, Va., native logged career-high numbers in 2023-24 in games played (69), assists (45), and points (59) to go with 14 goals. Throughout his six-year AHL career with Hershey, the 28-year-old amassed 172 points (58-114—172) and a plus-57 rating in 220 outings. Snively is in search of his third straight Calder Cup, which would put in rare AHL company, as only 11 players in league history have won three consecutive cups in the AHL and no one has reached this feat since the 1978 season.
Pure Michigan: Several Griffins will be competing in their home states this year, as the roster features four Michiganders in Sheldon Dries (Macomb), Carter Mazur (Jackson), Dominik Shine (Detroit), and Austin Watson (Ann Arbor).
Holy Goalies: The Griffins’ goalie room features veterans Ville Husso and Malcolm Subban,and prospect Sebastian Cossa. Cossa and Subban are former first-round draft picks, as Subban was the 24th overall selection by Boston in 2012 and Cossa was the 15th overall pick by Detroit in 2021. Last season, Cossa set a franchise record with a 19-game point streak (13-0-6), and tied both the franchise record home and road point streaks of 13 home games (9-0-4) and 10 road contests (8-0-2), respectively. As a rookie last year, Cossa ranked among the league leaders in GAA (2.41, T6th), save percentage (.913, T13th), and wins (22, 5th among rookies). Subban spent the most time last year with Springfield (AHL) and went 11-14-4 to go with a 2.94 GAA and a .907 save percentage in 31 games. Subban, 30, has spent eight seasons in the AHL and has suited up in 206 games, showing an 89-78-32 record with a 2.65 GAA and a .911 save percentage. Subban has also spent nine campaigns in the NHL and has logged a 36-34-9 mark in 87 games with a 3.10 GAA and an .898 save percentage. Husso made his Griffins debut last season during a conditioning stint, collecting a 25-save shutout over the Belleville Senators on Jan. 26. He was also limited to 19 NHL games with Detroit due to an injury and showed a 9-5-2 record with a 3.55 GAA and a .892 save percentage. Throughout 130 AHL games, Husso has produced a 51-54-16 mark with a 2.68 GAA and a .909 save percentage.
Home Sweet Home: Under second-year head coach Dan Watson, the Griffins began a 72-game schedule when they defeated the Milwaukee Admirals, 3-0, in a rematch of last year’s Central Division Finals during Opening Night presented by Huntington Bank last Friday. The shutout marked the third for Grand Rapids in 29 season openers and the first in an opener of any kind during its 24 AHL seasons. Since 2004, the Griffins are 7-3-0-1 (.682) in season openers at Van Andel Arena and have outscored their opponents 35-27. Also since 2004, Grand Rapids is 11-7-2-1 (.595) in season openers at any venue. The Griffins are 17-11-0-1 in home openers and have won seven of the last nine. The Griffins are 17-9-2-1 all time in season openers at any venue and have won three of the last four.
Roster Breakdown: Twenty players (forwards Nate Danielson, Alex Doucet, Sheldon Dries, Cross Hanas, Marco Kasper, Amadeus Lombardi, Carter Mazur, Jakub Rychlovsky, Joe Snively, Elmer Soderblom, and Austin Watson; defensemen Tory Dello, Justin Holl, William Lagesson, Brogan Rafferty, Antti Tuomisto, Eemil Viro and William Wallinder; goaltenders Sebastian Cossa and Ville Husso) on the roster are under contract with the Red Wings, while four players (forwards Hunter Johannes and Dominik Shine; defenseman Josiah Didier; and goaltender Malcolm Subban) are playing on a Griffins contract. Ten players are Red Wings draft picks (Cossa, Danielson, Hanas, Kasper, Lombardi, Mazur, Soderblom, Tuomisto, Viro, and Wallinder).
Restocked: The Griffins lost six players who totaled 81 goals for the team last season in Jonatan Berggren (24 goals), Joel L’Esperance (16), Zach Aston-Reese (12), Matt Luff (10), Austin Czarnik (10), and Taro Hirose (9). General manager Shawn Horcoff is hoping that free agent signings and an up-tick in play from top prospects can replace that lost production. Joe Snively joins the roster after recording a career-high 59 points and 14 goals with Hershey last season, Michigan native Sheldon Dries showed 29 goals in 55 games with Abbotsford, and Jakub Rychlovsky paced the Tipsport Extraliga in Czechia with 26 goals in 51 outings. The Griffins also have seven prospects that they’ll look to for scoring in Nate Danielson, Alex Doucet, Cross Hanas, Marco Kasper, Carter Mazur, Amadeus Lombardi, and Elmer Soderblom.
Young Guns: The Griffins have four players who are considered rookies this season, including forwards Nate Danielson, Alex Doucet, and Jakub Rychlovsky, and defenseman Shai Buium.
Oldies but Goodies: The Griffins’ roster features six veterans including forwards Sheldon Dries, Dominik Shine and Austin Watson, and defensemen Josiah Didier, Justin Holl and William Lagesson. A player receives veteran status if he has competed in at least 261 games in the NHL, AHL or European elite leagues. Watson leads all veterans with 751 professional games played, while Holl (585) ranks second and Didier (456) places third.
The Unknown: Jakub Rychlovsky, 23, made his AHL debut last Saturday at Rockford after having spent the past four seasons in the top pro league in his home country of Czechia, in addition to playing his entire youth career with Bili Tygri Liberec. The left wing burst onto the scene last year when he paced the Tipsport Extraliga with a career-high 26 goals to go with a career-best 46 points in 51 outings. The seventh-year pro brings to North America 292 games of professional experience with 128 points (56-72—128).
Across the Atlantic We Go: The Detroit Red Wings have a rich tradition of possessing some of the top talent to come out of Sweden, such as Niklas Kronwall and Nicklas Lidstrom, and more recently Lucas Raymond. This year is no different, as the NHL franchise has sent down a handful of Swedes to the Griffins. In fact, three players are Swedish natives,including William Lagesson, Elmer Soderblom and William Wallinder. Grand Rapids also features Marco Kasper, who last season became the first-ever Austrian to compete for the Griffins, two Finnish players in Antti Tuomisto and Eemil Viro, and one player hailing from Czechia in Jakub Rychlovsky.
Pour Me A Draft: The Griffins’ roster is stocked with high-end draft picks from previous years. The roster features four former first rounders in Sebastian Cossa (15th overall in 2021), Nate Danielson (9th overall in 2023), Marco Kasper (8th overall in 2022), Malcolm Subban (24th in 2012), and Austin Watson (18th in 2010). In addition, Grand Rapids is highlighted with five former second-round picks,including Shai Buium (36th in 2021), Cross Hanas (55th in 2020), Justin Holl (54th in 2010), Antti Tuomisto (35th in 2019), and William Wallinder (32nd in 2020). The Griffins’ roster also includes two third-round picks from Detroit in Carter Mazur (70th in 2021) and Eemil Viro (70th in 2020), and 16 draft picks total.
Milestones:
Tory Dello—Two points from 50 as a pro and in the AHL
Sheldon Dries—Two games from 400 as a proGriffins in the NHL: Twenty-five former Griffins can be found on the season-opening rosters of 17 NHL teams, along with three players currently designated as injured reserve. The group includes four members of the Griffins’ 2013 Calder Cup team and three players from their 2017 championship squad, including each year’s playoff MVP. In addition, eight teams feature former Griffins on their coaching staffs, including two head coaches and six assistants. Only 11 of 32 NHL teams do not have a Griffins alumnus on either their roster or coaching staff.
