Busy Schedule Continues

This Week’s Game

GRIFFINS vs. Chicago Wolves // Wed., March 9 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena
GRIFFINS at Chicago Wolves // Sun., March 13 // 4 p.m. EST // Allstate Arena

Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 6:35 p.m. on Wednesday and 3:35 p.m. EST on Sunday (Sunday’s broadcast will air on 96.1 The Game if Michigan plays in the Big Ten title game.)

Watch: AHLTV on Wednesday, My50 Chicago and AHLTV on Sunday

Season Series: 0-6-1-0 Overall, 0-3-1-0 Home, 0-3-0-0 Away. Eighth and ninth of 12 meetings overall, fifth of six at Van Andel Arena, fourth of six at Allstate Arena.

All-Time Series: 90-77-2-7-3 Overall, 44-35-2-5-2 Home, 46-42-0-2-1 Away

NHL Affiliation: Carolina Hurricanes

Noteworthy: The Griffins are winless in eight straight games (0-7-1-0) against the Wolves dating back to the 2020-21 season, getting outscored 34-9 in the process. Chicago’s winning streak is the longest ever for either team in this rivalry that began in 1996.

GRIFFINS vs. Cleveland Monsters // Fri., March 11 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena

Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 6:35 p.m.

Watch: AHLTV

Season Series: 3-0-1-0 Overall, 0-0-1-0 Home. Fifth of eight meetings overall, second of four at Van Andel Arena.

All-Time Series: 64-34-6-10 Overall, 35-17-2-2 Home

NHL Affiliation: Columbus Blue Jackets

Noteworthy: The Griffins are 10-3-1-0 against the Monsters over the last two seasons.

Last Week’s Results
Fri., March 4 // GRIFFINS 0 vs. Iowa 4 // 22-21-5-2 (51 pts., 0.510, T5th Central Division)
Sat., March 5 // GRIFFINS 3 vs. Iowa 0 // 23-21-5-2 (53 pts., 0.520, 4th Central Division)
Sun., March 6 // GRIFFINS 2 at Milwaukee 3 // 23-22-5-2 (53 pts., 0.510, 4th Central Division)

Last Week’s Notes
Friday vs. Iowa (0-4 L) - Zane McIntyre’s 40-save night powered the Iowa Wild to a 4-0 shutout victory against the Griffins at Van Andel Arena. Grand Rapids was unable to score a tally despite having 40 shots on net compared to Iowa’s 24. The Griffins are now 3-2-0-0 against the Wild this season, dropping two straight. After missing significant time due to recall and injury, Riley Barber made his return to the Griffins’ lineup for the first time since Jan. 1. Calvin Pickard’s 20 saves tied for the lowest this season by a Grand Rapids netminder. Barber saw his five-game point streak (3-3—6) come to an end. Recap | Highlights

Saturday vs. Iowa (3-0 W) - The Griffins defeated the Iowa Wild 3-0 courtesy of Victor Brattstrom’s first AHL shutout at Van Andel Arena. Brattstrom recorded 35 saves and his first-ever victory against the Wild. In his Grand Rapids debut, Alexis D’Aoust notched an empty netter on a power play and an assist for a multi-point game (1-1—2). Riley Barber received his first point since Jan.1 in his second game back from rehabbing an injury that kept him out for nearly two months. Grand Rapids has notched points in six of its last eight games against Iowa (5-2-1-0). The Griffins have now recorded points in nine of the last 11 home contests versus the Wild (5-2-3-1). Grand Rapids went 5-for-5 on the penalty kill and 1-for-3 on the power play. This was just the second shutout for the Griffins this season with the first coming on Nov. 12 against Manitoba. Recap | Highlights

Sunday at Milwaukee (2-3 L) - Cole Schneider’s last-minute goal lifted the Milwaukee Admirals past the Griffins 3-2 at Panther Arena. The Griffins suffered their fourth consecutive defeat against the Admirals after beginning the season series with a 5-1-1-0 record. Riley Barber scored his first goal since returning from rehabbing an injury. Taro Hirose’s third-period score tied him with Jonatan Berggren for the team high in tallies with 14. Barber now has three points (1-2—3) in three games since his return and Hirose has now lit the lamp in consecutive games for the third time this season. Barber’s tally also halted Grand Rapids’ 180:05-minute scoring drought against the Admirals, dating back to the third period on Jan. 22. Ben Simon completed his 350th game as a pro head coach while Hirose notched his 100th point as a Griffin and in the AHL. Recap | Highlights

Peaks and Valleys: Grand Rapids and Chicago have a storied history with each other, as the two franchises started competing against one another in 1996. Since then, each club has had its fair share of wins and losses. Chicago’s active eight-game win streak is the longest streak in series history. In fact, the Wolves have claimed 14 of the past 17 outings against the Griffins, dating back to the 2020-21 campaign. However, Grand Rapids went on a near identical 13-3 run from Oct. 14, 2016-Oct. 27, 2017 and held a nine-game point streak (8-0-1-0) against the Wolves from Feb. 15, 2015-April 8, 2016. Despite this cold stretch for Grand Rapids, it still holds a 90-77-2-7-3 overall record against Chicago.

Welcome Back, March: The Griffins have had a remarkable stretch of success during the month of March throughout their 25 seasons. Grand Rapids has earned a winning record in March for 13 straight years, in large part by going 0.500 or better on the road during each of those months and despite playing 62% of its games on the road. All time, the Griffins have only had a losing March record three times in 25 years. The last time Grand Rapids suffered a losing record in March was back in 2008. Things that were also happening in March of 2008: Jimmy Howard was playing his third of four full seasons in Grand Rapids; Ben Simon was an alternate captain for the Springfield Falcons, 2.5 years from starting his coaching career; Donovan Sebrango was six years old; President George W. Bush was serving his final year in the White House; and the Red Wings were three months from winning their most recent Stanley Cup.

Home, Sweet Home: The Griffins will have a lot of action in West Michigan during the first three weeks of March. Six of Grand Rapids’ first eight games of the month will be played at Van Andel Arena before closing out March with a season-long five-game road trip. The Griffins went 4-2-1-1 during an identical stretch of games in January. The Griffins will play half of their remaining 12 homes contests in the first three weeks of March. Grand Rapids is 12-11-4-1 on home ice this season while it is 11-11-1-1 on the road.

Huffin’ and Puffin’: So far this season, the Griffins are 2-10-1-2 (0.233) against the Central Division-leading Chicago Wolves and the second-place Manitoba Moose. However, Grand Rapids is 21-12-4-0 (0.622) against the rest of the AHL.

Victory for Victor: Rookie goaltender Victor Brattstrom captured his first AHL shutout of his career on March 5 against Iowa. The Goteborg, Sweden, native recorded 35 saves en route to a 3-0 victory. After beginning the season with a 2-6-1-1 mark, Brattstrom has came away with wins in three of his last four starts. In his last four outings, the 24-year-old has a 0.919 save percentage and a 2.75 goals against average.

Jonny Apple Seed: Rookie Jonatan Berggren registered a career-high four assists on Jan. 18 at Cleveland, which set a new single-game high for any Griffin this season. Berggren’s four helpers were one shy of tying the Griffins’ rookie single-game record of five assists set by Chris Bala (1/10/02). Berggren’s 37 points (14-23—37) are tied for eighth among first-year players on the circuit and rank second on the Griffins’ roster. His 23 assists rank ninth among league rookies while his 14 goals are tied for 10th. Berggren is also tied for fifth in the league with five game-winning goals, which also places second among rookies. Berggren is on pace for 54 points, which would place fourth in franchise-rookie history. The Uppsala, Sweden, native is also on pace for 21 goals, which would place him in a tie for sixth place with Josh Langfeld (2001-02) and Chris Bala (2001-02).

High-Flying Hirose: After leading the Griffins in assists a year ago with 23, Taro Hirose has picked off right where he left off as he has bagged 31 helpers in the opening 51 games, which is a team high and places 10th in the league. Fourteen assists have come on the power play, which is tied for 13th in the AHL. Hirose logged his second three-point night (2-1—3) of the season on Jan. 1 against Milwaukee, which tied a career-high for the forward. In that same game, he also tied a career-best two goals. The former Michigan State Spartan enjoyed a four-game point streak (3-3—6) from Jan. 1-8. Hirose’s 45 points (14-31—45) this season pace the Griffins and are tied for 18th in the league. He was recalled by Detroit on Dec. 15 and made his NHL season debut on Dec. 18 against the Devils.

AHL Leaderboard Tracker:
Jonatan Berggren—37 points (14-23—37) are tied for eighth among first-year players, 23 assists ranks ninth among rookies and 14 goals are tied for 10th among rookies, five game-winning goals are tied for fifth in the league and place second among rookies
Taro Hirose—31 assists places 10th, 14 power play assists are tied for 13th, 45 points (14-31—45) are tied for 18th
Ryan Murphy—10 goals are tied for first among blueliners
Calvin Pickard—2.47 goals against average ranks 12th, 0.923 save percentage is tied for third, 18 wins are tied for fifth, 2261:46 minutes played places second
Dominik Shine—102 penalty minutes rank third

Milestones:
Ben Simon completed his 350th game as a pro head coach on March 6 at Milwaukee while Taro Hirose bagged his 100th point (24-76—100) as a Griffin and in the AHL. Other upcoming milestones include:
Jonatan Berggren—Three points from 100 as a pro, two games from 150 as a pro
Kyle Criscuolo—One assist from 100 as a pro and 50 as a Griffin, two assists from 100 in the AHL, one game from 150 as a Griffin
Turner Elson—Three games from 450 in the AHL
Brett McKenzie—Two goals from 50 as a pro
Dennis Yan—One game from 200 as a pro

Photo by Ross Dettman/Wolves