Griffins announce 2018-19 schedule format, first six home games

From the Grand Rapids Griffins:

GRIFFINS ANNOUNCE 2018-19 SCHEDULE FORMAT, SIX GUARANTEED DATES

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Grand Rapids Griffins on Thursday announced their schedule format for the 2018-19 season, which is highlighted by inaugural meetings with the Ontario Reign and Belleville Senators, as well as continuing contests against the Eastern Conference’s Hershey Bears, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and Cleveland Monsters.

The Griffins will start the home segment of their schedule on Friday, Oct. 12 at Van Andel Arena with Opening Night presented by Huntington Bank, one of six home dates that have been confirmed by the American Hockey League.

Grand Rapids will host its 22nd annual New Year’s Eve Celebration presented by Farm Bureau Insurance on Monday, Dec. 31. In addition to hosting Girl Scout Night, the Griffins’ home date on Saturday, Jan. 19 will serve as a lead-in to the 2019 Great Skate Winterfest, one of the team’s annual fundraisers for the Griffins Youth Foundation. Grand Rapids’ home contest on Saturday, Feb. 9 will welcome Scout Night.

Other home games include Saturday, Jan. 26 and Saturday, Feb. 16.

Opponents for those six games will be revealed this summer, when the complete schedule for the AHL’s 83rd season is released. The 2018-19 campaign will mark the Griffins’ 18th year of AHL membership and 23rd season overall.

The Griffins and the Pacific Division’s Reign will match up in a home-and-home set in the two teams’ first-ever meetings. Grand Rapids has played 11 all-time regular season games in the state of California, while welcoming a Golden State club to Van Andel Arena 10 times. Ontario is the AHL affiliate of the Los Angeles Kings.

Grand Rapids and Belleville will face off four times, twice in West Michigan and twice in Canada, for their initial games. A member of the North Division, Belleville joined the AHL in 2017-18 and is affiliated with the Ottawa Senators.

For the second consecutive season, the Griffins will contest home-and-home sets against Hershey and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, both of the Atlantic Division. Cleveland, who Grand Rapids has met 92 times in the regular season since 2007-08, will remain on the Griffins’ schedule and the two teams will play four times.

As part of the AHL’s division realignment for next season, San Antonio and Texas will join the Central Division as Cleveland moves to the North. Colorado enters the AHL as its 31st active team and will compete in the Pacific Division.

Grand Rapids will face off against divisional opponents 58 times, including 10 games apiece against Rockford and Milwaukee, eight games each versus Chicago, Manitoba, San Antonio and Texas, and six games against Iowa.

The Griffins will play teams from the Pacific Division six times, with a pair against Ontario and four versus San Jose.

Single-game tickets will go on sale to the public in September. Fans can secure their full-season, select-season or group ticket packages by calling (616) 774-4585 ext. 2 or visit griffinshockey.com for more information.

Griffins 2018-19 Guaranteed Home Dates:
Fri., Oct. 12 – 7 p.m.
Mon., Dec. 31 – 6 p.m.
Sat., Jan. 19 – 7 p.m.
Sat., Jan. 26 – 7 p.m.
Sat., Feb. 9 – 7 p.m.
Sat., Feb. 16 – 7 p.m.

Red Wings at the World Championship: Larkin posts assist in Team USA win over Latvia

At the World Championship in Denmark,

Dylan Larkin had an assist, finishing even with 1 shot in 21:05 played as Team USA won 3-2 in overtime over Latvia.

Here are highlights from the game:

Team USA posted a recap as well:

HERNING, Denmark — Chris Kreider (Boxford, Mass.), Colin White (Hanover, Mass.), and Cam Atkinson (Riverside, Conn.) all scored as the 2018 U.S. Men’s National Team earned a 3-2 overtime victory over Latvia in preliminary round game play of the 2018 International Ice Hockey Federation Men’s World Championship.

The United States (2-2-0-0/W-OTW-OTL-L) will return to action Friday (May 11) when it faces Korea at 8:15 p.m. local time/2:15 p.m. ET. That game, along with all U.S. Men’s World Championship games, will be broadcast live on NHL Network.

Kinkaid made 17 saves on 19 shots in the victory.

NOTES:  Alex DeBrincat was named U.S. Player of the Game with two assists … For complete game stats, click here … The initial 23-player roster can be found here … Jeff Blashill (Detroit Red Wings) is serving as head coach for the second straight year … The staff and players of the 2018 U.S. Men’s National Team are selected by Bill Zito (Columbus Blue Jackets), general manager of the 2018 U.S. Men’s National Team along with members of the U.S. Men’s National Team Advisory Group that includes Stan Bowman (Chicago Blackhawks), David Poile (Nashville Predators), Ray Shero (New Jersey Devils), Dale Tallon (Florida Panthers), and Jeff Gorton (New York Rangers) … For complete coverage of the U.S. Men’s National Team, visit teamusa.usahockey.com/2018mensworlds … The official online home of the 2018 IIHF Men’s World Championship is 2018.IIHFWorlds.com … The U.S. has finished in the top four of the world championship in three of the last five years … USA Hockey’s international council, chaired by Gavin Regan (Potsdam, N.Y.), has oversight responsibilities for all U.S. national teams … NHL Network is the exclusive U.S. rightsholder for the tournament.

 

Update: As the IIHF’s website is being a pain in the ass:

 

The New York Times looks at racist threats against Givani Smith

I’ve not revisited the Givani Smith story for two simple reasons: first, Smith’s family, through his agent, has asked for privacy in the matter, and second, I fear that Smith deals with racism in hockey on  far, far more regular basis than we are led to believe.

I’d like to believe that we can do way better as a society and as individuals to really promote the concept that “Hockey Is For Everyone”;  this morning, the New York Times’ Curtis Rush offers an article that causes significant concern regarding that hope:

For decades, black hockey players at all levels have experienced incidents of racial abuse. “A lot of players of color go through this,” Smith’s agent, G. P. Daniele, lamented. “It’s almost par for the course. It’s unfortunate.”

But the level of abuse directed at Smith so concerned the O.H.L. commissioner, David Branch, that he requested the police escort, a move he had not felt obligated to take before.

And in the aftermath, some members of the hockey community are calling for more to be done about racial harassment.

“I’ve lived in his shoes before,” said Kevin Weekes, 43, a black former N.H.L. goaltender and now a lead analyst at NHL Network who played in the O.H.L. in the 1990s. “It’s uncomfortable. It’s confusing.”

Smith received threats after he made an obscene gesture toward the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds’ bench after the Rangers’ overtime win in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals on April 29.

“There were definitely physical threats,” Rangers General Manager Mike McKenzie said. “I saw some of the stuff that was being sent in, and it was threatening in nature, and you could perceive it as death threats if you wanted to, and obviously the racial stuff as well.”

Continued, and both Red Wings GM Ken Holland and director of player development Shawn Horcoff weigh in:

Red Wings General Manager Ken Holland said. “We support Givani. He’s a tremendous young man. We think he’s a really good prospect for us. He had a tremendous playoff. It’s about what you do on the ice. He’s a committed athlete, and we’re thrilled to have him in our organization. We’ve talked to him since the incident and made sure he understands we’re there to support him.”

Prospect playoff round-up: Sambrook’s Greyhounds tie OHL championship at 2-2

In the OHL championship series, Jordan Sambrook finished even with 2 shots in the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds’ 3-2 OT win over the Hamilton Bulldogs.

The Greyhounds’ win ties the best-of-7 series at 2 games apiece; Kaden Fulcher stopped 28 of 31 shots for Hamilton.

You can read the recap and watch highlights of the game here.

Red Wings at the World Championships: Nielsen, Nyquist score goals for Denmark and Sweden (respectively)

At the World Championship in Denmark:

Frans Nielsen scored a goal, finishing at +1 in 15:31 played during Denmark’s 3-2 win over Finland:

And Gustav Nyquist scored a goal, finishing at +1 with 5 shots in 18:35 played during Sweden’s 7-0 win over Austria:

 

A bit about Vili Saarijarvi’s ‘numbers’

DetroitRedWings.com’s Dana Wakiji examines Vili Saarijarvi’s 2017-18 season “numbers” today, and as Wakiji notes, Saarijarvi’s got to improve upon his weight (listed at 178 pounds) and strength if he is to use next season as a springboard to the NHL. Saarijarvi’s 2017-18 season was split between the Grand Rapids Griffins and Toledo Walleye:

42 – Saarijarvi played in 42 games for the Griffins this past season.

11 – Saarijarvi played in 11 games for the Walleye in a couple of different stints this past season. He also recorded 11 assists with the Griffins.

7 – In his 11 games with the Walleye, Saarijarvi recorded two goals among seven points.

1 – In his AHL debut on Oct. 28, 2017 at Rockford, Saarijarvi recorded his first AHL point on Axel Holmstrom’s first-period goal, earning the second assist. Saarijarvi played in his first AHL playoff game on April 26, 2018 against the Manitoba Moose.

Continued

Crain’s Detroit Business’ Shea: JLA auction to raise at least $1 million for City of Detroit

According to Crain’s Detroit Business’s Bill Shea, the City of Detroit’s auction of Joe Louis Arena seats and other items will provide a significant windfall for the city:

The city of Detroit said it expects to net at least $1 million from the online sale of seats, equipment and fixtures from Joe Louis Arena.

The Detroit Red Wings’ estimated 7,000 season tickets holders since May 1 have been able to buy seats from the shuttered city-owned arena, and several thousand have been sold, according to the auctioneer hired by the city to handle the sale.

Detroit’s building authority hired Byron Center-based appraisal and auction firm Miedema Asset Management Group Inc. and Bloomfield Hills-based industrial asset auctioneer Robert Levy Associates LLC to handle the direct sale of the seats and fixtures.

They will get a buyer’s premium on each sale, which is included in the same price, according to information provided by Mayor Mike Duggan’s office. The premium varies based on the item being sold, but the minimum is 18 percent.

The general public can buy seats beginning Saturday, and about 16,000 seats in total are being made available ranging in price from $150 to $350. For the early sale period exclusive to season-ticket holders, seats range from $200 to $350 each.

The seats are only sold in pairs, because they’re linked by a shared armrest, which means a price of $300 for the cheapest purchase.

The sale site it thejoeseats.com.

In addition to season ticket holders and regular fans, companies that sell sports arena and stadium seats are expected to buy JLA seats in bulk, Robert Levy previously told Crain’s. Arena equipment and fixtures are expected to be sold to commercial and industrial buyers. Everything from HVAC to bars to urinals to the scoreboard will be sold.

Continued

HSJ’s mailbag: Bouchard may be the Wings’ ‘top pick’ at #6

Among the Free Press’s Helene St. James’ mailbag questions:

@HeleneStJames Which of the top Defensemen this draft besides Dahlin do you think the Wings like best? Is Wahlstrom a possibility?

— Joe Falzon (@jsfalzon) May 8, 2018

HSJ: From people I talk to in the organization, Evan Bouchard tops their post-Dahlin defensive depth chart. He has size (6-foot-2, 193 pounds), shoots right, has a heavy shot and a great first pass. He dominated in the Ontario Hockey League with 25 goals among 87 points in 67 games, tops among OHL defensemen. Beyond that, Adam Boqvist and Michigan’s Quinn Hughes are dynamic skaters, and Noah Dobson is another big guy (6-foot-3, 180 pounds) who shoots right, makes a good first pass and skates well.

Forward Oliver Wahlstrom (40 goals among 83 points in 54 games with National Team Development Program) is an elite goal scorer, but the Wings really need an top defensive prospect.

St. James continues…

ESPN’s Peters discusses a potentially transformative draft

ESPN’s Chris Peters penned an Insider-only article regarding the Red Wings’ 7 first-three-rounds-of-the-draft picks, and it’s a solid read:

It’s hard not to view the 2018 NHL draft as particularly crucial for the Detroit Red Wings. Now that Ken Holland knows his job is safe for a while longer, he has an opportunity to reshape the team a little bit. It’s probably going to end up taking longer than the Wings would like, but there is an opportunity to make some significant gains in their prospect system.

In what is considered a deep draft, particularly within the top 50, the Red Wings have two first-rounders and two early second-round picks. Add in three more third-rounders, and the Red Wings have seven of the first 90 picks in the draft. Of the years to have a surplus of early picks, this should be a particularly fruitful one. The Wings join the New York Rangers as the only two teams with seven picks in the first three rounds of the draft this year. To finish out the draft, Detroit additionally has a fourth-rounder, a pair of sixth-round picks and a seventh-rounder.

Of the picks, No. 6 overall is obviously the one they can’t miss on. This is a year in which the top 10 looks particularly strong. Not winning the draft lottery likely does not afford the Red Wings an NHL-ready asset next season, but they could still net a player who instantly becomes the top prospect in their system and a player with a great opportunity to have a lasting impact on the franchise. It all comes down to finding the right fit for the organization.

The rest of the picks have a chance to fill out a system that has some intrigue, but there are a lot of unknowns and longer-term projects for Detroit right now. There won’t be any quick-fix options in the draft, but there is enough here to aid the Red Wings a few years down the line when they’re a little further along in their transitional phase.

Peters continues, picking Quinn Hughes 6th overall…

A pair of World Championship Tweets of note from the Wings

FYI in terms of today’s World Championship schedule and a Dylan Larkin interview, per the Red Wings on Twitter: