The #MBMoose are just hours away from dropping the puck against Grand Rapids. Here’s play-by-play announcer Mitch Peacock to set up game one of the first round matchup #GoMooseGo#LetLoosepic.twitter.com/wcMV3W4C5p
GRIFFINS VS. MOOSE: The Griffins won six of eight against Manitoba, including all four in Winnipeg, and outscored them 26-17. One of the losses, however, was 7-2 at Van Andel Arena in October. It was the most allowed by the Griffins at home since April 18, 2015. On the flipside, the Griffins’ 5-0 win on Feb. 17 was Manitoba’s largest margin of defeat.
Individually, four players have six players against them: Turner Elson (2-4-6), Axel Holmstrom (2-4-6), Colin Campbell (1-5-6) and Evgeny Svechnikov (1-5-6).
The Moose are just 17-17-2-2 at home. They averaged just under 5,300 at the 8,812-seat Bell MTS Place in downtown Winnipeg.
GOAL SPREADER: Coach Todd Nelson looked around at his offense and it reminded the Griffins’ third-year coach of his Oklahoma City team from 2012-13.
“They scored by committee and that worked out,” he said of the Barons, who had eight players with at least 13 goals and the team made the conference finals.
The Griffins, without Matt Lorito and Dominic Turgeon for the postseason, still have the league’s fourth-leading goal scorer in Eric Tangradi (31-33-64), their top points leader in Ben Street (21-44-65) and two others with 20-plus goals in Matt Puempel (23-34-57 in 59 games) and Matthew Ford (22-16-38).
The Griffins took the third-most shots in the league with 32 a game.
Wallner continues, and he’s betting that Tom McCollum will start in goal today…
Sault Ste. Marie leads the OHL’s Western Conference Final 1 game to 0, and you can watch highlights of the game here;
And in the WHL, Michael Rasmussen scored a goal but finished at -2 on 4 shots, winning 2 of 4 faceoffs as his Tri-City Americans lost 3-2 to the Everett Silvertips.
Everett leads the WHL’s Western Conference Final 1 game to 0.
The Grand Rapids Griffins open their first-round, best-of-five playoff series against the Manitoba Moose tomorrow and Sunday in Winnipeg (both 3 PM EDT starts, on The AHL Live and ESPN 96.1 FM), and ahead of the series, three Wings pundits penned articles about the Griffins.
The Grand Rapids Griffins had to fight to make the AHL’s Calder Cup playoffs and they know it will be an equally difficult battle to defend their title.
On Dec. 21, the Griffins were five games under .500 at 10-15-1-3 and in seventh place in the Central Division, 23 points behind the first-place Manitoba Moose.
“Definitely there was a Calder Cup hangover,” Griffins coach Todd Nelson said on The Red and White Authority podcast on DetroitRedWings.com. “I think at the start of the year, the first two months we were trying to win games easy, not paying the price. Just stuff like that, not playing the game the right way, trying to take the easy way out. You pretty much expect that after a championship run but I didn’t expect it to last so long. But a few things happened. We were a bit banged up, we had guys out with injury, and at the middle of December we started to get guys back, they were healthy. Because during that span Ben Street was hurt, (Eric) Tangradi was hurt, (Matt) Puempel was hurt, key players to our offense. With that being said, right after that 21st game in Chicago, we lost, I think we were up in the game 3-0 and we lost, it was a tough pill for us to swallow.”
Wakiji continues, and she sources much of her material from Nelson and Griffins captain Matthew Ford’s interviews with Arthur J. Regner…
Can Hronek keep shining? Defenseman Filip Hronek shined in his first full year of pro hockey, scoring 11 goals among 39 points in 67 games and finishing second in scoring among AHL rookie defensemen. He ran one of the Griffins’ power play units, a good sign especially considering he is 20 years old. Can he keep doing it in the playoffs? He played only twice during last year’s run, so he doesn’t have much experience in the AHL playoffs.
X factors: The Griffins have reached at least the second round of the playoffs five years running. … One key returnee from last year is goaltender Jared Coreau. He went 15-4 in the 2017 playoffs, with a .909 save percentage and 2.84 goals-against average. In 12 games against Manitoba since 2015-16, Coreau is 8-3 with a 1.50 goals-against average. He shut out the Moose both times the Griffins played in Manitoba in February.
For what was an already great hockey market, last season’s championship run only solidified the Griffins’ standing in west Michigan and made the postseason party time around Van Andel Arena.
The weather helped, too.
“It was 80 degrees; this year’s there’s snow (outside),” defenseman Joe Hicketts said earlier this week.
But excitement over the possibility of another long playoff run trumps any kind of weather.
“We felt that fan support,” said Hicketts, a Griffins defenseman who was promoted to the Red Wings late in the season. “Whether it was the banners on restaurant walls or being recognized around town, this is a city that really supports its hockey, just like Detroit.”
And ahead of the Grand Rapids Griffins’ first-round series against the Manitoba Moose, which begins tomorrow at 3 PM EDT (on the AHL Live and ESPN 96.1 FM), DetroitRedWings.com’s Arthur J. Regner spoke with Griffins coach Todd Nelson:
The question was posted to Martin: What are the predictive traits to look for from an AHL defenseman?
“They don’t make mistakes,” Martin said immediately. “You go to an OHL game and there’s mistakes all over the ice. The puck may not even end up on the goal — like it might not even be a scoring chance. Down here, a lot of times it is a scoring chance. In the NHL it’s in the net. So I think that’s the biggest adjustment for the defensemen — and especially guys that have offensive parts to their game. They might not be used to defending.
“I think Vili (Saarijarvi) has done a really good job this year. He was obviously a high-end point guy in the OHL. I think he’s done a really good job this year of figuring out, ‘I gotta play D first and then the rest will come.’ And I think he’s balanced that well, and so has Fil. I think that would be Libor’s adjustment, because it’s quicker, it’s faster, the guys are stronger up here. Plays happen differently.”
Martin also pointed out that, since the players are better at the AHL level, there are also some benefits for a defenseman. For one, you can rely more on your defensive partner being in the right spot. For some, he said, it can be easier to play at this level, for that reason.
“But they also have to balance the strengths of their game with the vulnerabilities that you have here when you’re young and you’re not used to it,” he said.
Of Red Wings and Toledo Walleye-related note this morning:
1. NHL Network analyst Brian Lawton spoke with WDFN’s Matt Sheppard this morning, discussing the playoffs and Ken Holland’s scouting status:
Former #1 pick and current @NHLNetwork Analyst @brianlawton9 joined @ShepMatt on @ShepMornings to discuss the surprise teams of the Playoffs and why Ken Holland isn’t the only GM to miss in the NHL draft.
Ever wanted to be a member of the Toledo Walleye? Test your skills at our Free Agent Tryout Camp prior to our main preseason camp.
The Free Agent Camp will be held August 4-5, 2018 at the Huntington Center in downtown Toledo. Success in this tryout camp will lead to an invitation to the main training camp in early October.
Cost of camp includes three separate ice sessions, a camp jersey and a pregame meal on Saturday between ice sessions. Participants are responsible for their lodging and meals. Hotel options will be sent out after the registration period is complete.
It is recommended that you register as soon as possible, as each free agent camp we have hosted has sold out.
A year ago, Bertuzzi finished the regular season with points in one of his final four games. That came after he battled an ankle injury that cut short his time with the Red Wings as he had a decent 12 goals and 37 points in 48 regular-season games.
Once the playoffs rolled around, however, Bertuzzi took off with two goals and four points in three games in the opening-round series against Milwaukee. He became the Griffins’ face of the postseason run as the Griffins topped Syracuse in six games to win the Calder Cup Trophy. Bertuzzi finished with nine goals and 19 points in 19 games.
Svechnikov played a significant role, too, in his first AHL postseason with five goals and 12 points. He also had four points in the opening-round series.
Now, with five games back with the Griffins, Svechnikov liked what he did in two games at Texas and San Antonio but not the regular-season finale at home against Cleveland.
“At Texas and San Antonio, I think those games went well and I did my best,” he said. “But I wasn’t happy with the way I played last game. That was not acceptable.”
His scoring hasn’t met expectations, but other parts of his game have. The 6-foot-3, 208-pound Svechnikov is stronger, wins most of the puck battles in the corners and is gaining net-front presence.
“I think anyone who comes down from the National Hockey League has that inner confidence,” Nelson said. “And it also gives him some hunger to know what he has to do to go up there in the future.”
Veronica Neilson’s Grade 3 class is often a lively place, but when the letters from Tyler Bertuzzi arrived, it was a hub of activity.
Neilson’s students at Queen Elizabeth II Public School had written to Bertuzzi, a first-year NHL player with the Detroit Red Wings, as part of a project. With help from Angela Bertuzzi, Tyler’s mother and an educational assistant for the class, students learned the player’s back story, from his childhood and early days of minor hockey to his time with the OHL’s Guelph Storm to his pro turn with the Wings organization.
The also learned about hard work, perseverance and about being a good sport. Then they wrote to congratulate him on his first NHL goal, scored against the Chicago Blackhawks on Jan. 14.
The students were overjoyed recently when they realized Bertuzzi had written back not just to the class, but to each of them, individually.
“It was actually quite nice,” beamed eight-year-old Darius Larcher.
“It was awesome,” added nine-year-old Landon Pamser. “He is a kind person.”
The Grand Rapids Griffins play the Manitoba Moose starting Saturday and Sunday in Winnipeg, and as both games start at 3 PM EDT, the Griffins have posted a video previewing the series ahead of this weekend’s matinee games:
