The Grand Rapids Griffins swept their back-to-back slate of exhibition games against the Cleveland Monsters on Saturday and Sunday at Toledo’s Huntington Center, the rink which the Red Wings’ ECHL affiliate, the Toledo Walleye, calls home.
After Sunday’s game, Griffins coach Dan Watson, who coached Toledo for 7 seasons, spoke with the Toledo Blade’s Mark Monroe about coming back to his old stomping grounds:
“I know how unbelievable the fans are, and they support winning hockey,” Watson said. “That’s what they’ve come to expect here. Those are standards that have been set. Pat [Mikesch] and his staff have done a good job continuing what I feel I left. I’m here at playoff games when I can be and hope that they always do well. That first championship, I’ll be in that celebration with all the other fans.”
The Grand Rapids Griffins’ players were also impressed with playing in Toledo this weekend:
Grand Rapids goalie Trey Augustine, a second-round draft choice of the Red Wings and former Michigan State standout, earned the win with 23 saves on 25 shots.
“It was fun getting the group together these last couple days here. We’re starting to become a team,” Augustine said. “It was a good step for us.”
Most fans in the crowd of 3,421 at the Bank Tank supported Grand Rapids and celebrated goals from Ronnie Attard, Dylan James, Noah Dower Nilsson, Sutter Muzzatti, and Ondrej Becher. Cleveland’s goals came from Luca Pinelli and Dante Sheriff.
Grand Rapids defenseman Jacob Truscott, who played in 51 games for the Walleye last season, had an assist on the first goal. Truscott was Toledo’s third-leading scorer among d-men last season with 23 points. Truscott, who had four goals and 19 assists, then played in 12 playoff games for the Walleye. He is fighting for a roster spot in Grand Rapids.
“It was great in Toledo,” Truscott said. “Toledo’s a great organization, and they treated me unbelievably. The staff, players, and fans were all great to me. It’s such a great city. Obviously I’m trying to make Grand Rapids here, and we’ll go from there. That’s my main focus right now, but I had a great experience last year.”
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“It was awesome here,” [Griffins defenseman Ronnie] Attard said. “I had a couple of friends that played here before, and they said nothing but great things. So seeing their setup they have in here and their atmosphere, it was great.”
