Feast Week

This Week’s Games
GRIFFINS at Chicago Wolves // Wed., Nov. 27 // 8 p.m. EST // Allstate Arena
Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 7:35 p.m.
Watch: My50 TV (Chicago), AHLTV
Season Series: 1-0-0-0 Road, 1-0-0-0 Overall. Second of eight meetings overall, second of four at Allstate Arena
All-Time Series: 43-34-0-2-1 Road, 85-61-2-6-3 Overall
NHL Affiliation: Vegas Golden Knights
Noteworthy: Grand Rapids won its season opener at Chicago by an 8-5 final on Oct. 5.

GRIFFINS vs. Manitoba Moose // Fri., Nov. 29 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena
Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 6:35 p.m.
Watch: AHLTV
Season Series: 1-0-0-0 Home, 1-2-0-0 Overall. Fourth of eight meetings overall, second of four at Van Andel Arena
All-Time Series: 33-13-1-1-5 Home, 63-32-1-1-7 Overall
NHL Affiliation: Winnipeg Jets
Noteworthy: After Grand Rapids claimed the first meeting of the season on Oct. 25 at Van Andel Arena, the Moose swept a weekend series in Winnipeg Nov. 2-3.

GRIFFINS at Rockford IceHogs // Sat., Nov. 30 // 6 p.m. EST // BMO Harris Bank Center
Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 5:35 p.m.
Watch: AHLTV
Season Series: 1-1-0-0 Road, 2-1-0-0 Overall. Fourth of 10 meetings overall, third of five at the BMO Harris Bank Center
All-Time Series: 15-22-4-6 Road, 45-33-7-8 Overall
NHL Affiliation: Chicago Blackhawks
Noteworthy: Grand Rapids won the first two meetings of the season before Rockford picked up its first victory on Nov. 16 in Illinois.

Last Week’s Results
Wed., Nov. 20 | San Antonio Rampage 3 at GRIFFINS 4 | 9-7-1-1 (20 pts., T3rd Central Division)
Fri., Nov. 22 | Milwaukee Admirals 3 at GRIFFINS 2 | 9-8-1-1 (20 pts., T4th Central)
Sat., Nov. 23 | GRIFFINS 0 at Milwaukee Admirals 5 | 9-9-1-1 (20 pts., T4th Central)

Status Update: Twenty games into the 2019-20 schedule, the Grand Rapids Griffins tie for fourth in the Central Division standings with a 9-9-1-1 record (20 points). The Griffins face three more divisional opponents this week as they travel to Chicago on Wednesday, host Manitoba on Friday and return to Illinois on Saturday to play Rockford.

Last Week’s Notes:

Wednesday vs. San Antonio – Turner Elson’s goal 23 seconds into the game was the fastest tally to open any period by a Griffin this season…Calvin Pickard recorded 27 saves to earn his 100th win in the AHL...Brian Lashoff played in his 600th game as a pro, 470 of which have been in a Griffins uniform...Rookie defenseman Moritz Seider recorded his first AHL goal as part of his first two-point outing...Rookies Ryan Kuffner (5) and Gregor MacLeod (3) contributed goals...Filip Zadina (five games) and rookie Joe Veleno (four games) both extended their point streaks...Grand Rapids has won five in a row against San Antonio and 15 of the last 17. Recap | Highlights

Friday vs. Milwaukee – Rookie Jarid Lukosevicius recorded his fourth pro goal and Filip Zadina scored his seventh of the season…Recalled earlier in the day from the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye, rookie Troy Loggins picked up an assist in his AHL season debut...Calvin Pickard had his four-game winning streak snapped...Grand Rapids outshot Milwaukee 36-24 and has outgunned the Admirals in all three meetings this season...The Griffins finished 0-for-5 on the power play and 3-for-4 on the penalty kill...Grand Rapids suffered its first loss of the season when leading after two periods (7-1). Recap | Highlights

Saturday at Milwaukee – Grand Rapids was shut out for the second time this season (Oct. 19 at Texas)…The Griffins’ last two visits to UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena have resulted in 5-0 wins for the Admirals. Recap | Highlights

Follow the Leaders:

November Notes: Grand Rapids concludes its November slate this week with three games. So far in the month, Chris Terry leads the team in points (5-7—12 in 11 GP), Terry and Matt Puempel tie for the lead in goals with five, and Terry and rookie Moritz Seider tie for tops in assists with seven. The Red Wings have recalled or assigned a player from or to Grand Rapids a total of 14 times this month. A total of 24 skaters have suited up for the Griffins in the month, marking the highest number of players to see action in the last 15 Novembers. (The next closest is Nov. 2011 with 23 players.)

Red Wings Report: Defensemen Dylan McIlrath and Jonathan Ericsson and forward Filip Zadina are on recall with the Red Wings. Since being summoned on Nov. 5, McIlrath is averaging 14:41 of ice time and has tallied 17 PIM in 10 games. Ericsson was recalled on Nov. 13 and has played in six games, averaging 17:08 of ice time. Zadina made his season debut with the Red Wings this past Sunday against Carolina and recorded one shot in 15:04 of ice time. In total, there have been six players who have played for both clubs this season – Ericsson, Joe Hicketts, McIlrath, Givani Smith, Evgeny Svechnikov and Zadina.

Knowing Our Own Power: The Griffins place fourth in the AHL in power play efficiency at 23.0% (20-for-87) and have scored in seven of the last 11 games. Grand Rapids has netted two or more PPGs in a single game five times already this season, compared to eight in all of 2018-19. Chris Terry (6-6—12), Matt Puempel (3-6—9), Filip Zadina (4-2—6) and Joe Hicketts(0-6—6) lead the way in power play points. The PP accounts for 30.8% of Grand Rapids’ goals.

Back Up, Terr: Chris Terry ranks second in the AHL in points (24) while pacing the Griffins in assists (15) and multi-point games (8) and tying for the team lead in goals (9). He has accumulated 18 points (7-11—18) in the last 15 games. In his 11th-year pro, Terry led the Griffins with 61 points last season and the most recent player to lead GR in scoring in back-to-back seasons was Andy Miele in 2014-15 and 2015-16.

Going Streaking: Four different Griffins have recorded a point streak of five games or longer this season: Matt Puempel (career-high 11 games), Chris Terry (8), Filip Zadina(6) and Moritz Seider (5).

Close Enough: Grand Rapids’ four one-goal games place as the second-fewest amount in the league behind San Diego and San Jose (3). Conversely, the Griffins have been involved in 11 games decided by three goals or more, which ties for the second-highest in the AHL.

Apple Seider: The team’s top-scoring defenseman with 11 points (1-10—11), Moritz Seider ties for second among rookie blueliners in scoring and 14th among all defensemen. Born April 6, 2001, Seider ties Ontario’s Tobias Bjornfot for the second-youngest player in the AHL this season. Only Bridgeport’s Simon Holmstrom (May 24, 2001) is younger.

Pick-ing His Shots: Calvin Pickard has started five of the last six games, showing a 3-2 record in that span. The eight-year pro collected his 100th AHL victory behind 27 saves last Wednesday against San Antonio.

First Things First: Grand Rapids’ roster currently features four recent Detroit first-round draft picks (Moritz Seider 2019, Joe Veleno 2018, Michael Rasmussen 2017, Evgeny Svechnikov 2015). Four of the Red Wings’ last six first rounders are on the west side of the state, with the exceptions being Dennis Cholowski (2016), who made Detroit’s roster following training camp, and Filip Zadina (2018), who was recalled on Sunday. From 2002-15, the Griffins had only seven Detroit first rounders total suit up for them: Jakub Kindl (2005-11; 14-15), Niklas Kronwall (2003-06), Dylan Larkin (2015 playoffs only), Anthony Mantha (2014-15), Tom McCollum (2009-15), Riley Sheahan (2011-14) and Brendan Smith (2010-13). The Griffins’ opening night lineup had five Detroit first rounders in it, far surpassing the previous record of two. The Griffins had never seen more than three Red Wings first rounders suit up for the club at any point in the same season until this year. Adding in Matt Puempel (24th overall by Ottawa in 2011), Grand Rapids’ roster boasts five former first-round draft selections.

Griffins in General: Grand Rapids is in the franchise’s 24th overall season of play, 19th as a member of the American Hockey League and 18th as the primary affiliate of the 11-time Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings…Grand Rapids is 974-665-27-59-113 (0.585) in the regular season since 1996-97 to go along with 17 playoff appearances, seven division titles and two Calder Cups (2017, 2013)…The Griffins have earned 40 or more wins and accumulated 90 or more points in six of the last seven seasons…Grand Rapids has qualified for the Calder Cup Playoffs in a franchise-record seven consecutive seasons and advanced to at least the second round on five occasions…The Griffins’ 8-5 season-opening win at Chicago on Oct. 5 marked the club’s 750th win in the AHL…Grand Rapids’ 314 regular season wins since the 2012-13 campaign are third behind Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s 315 and Toronto’s 330 while the Griffins’ 681 points in that span tie Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for third, trailing Providence (685) and Toronto (716)...Since the affiliation began in 2002-03, 90 Griffins have gone on to play for the Red Wings.

Milestones Within Reach:
Ben Simon – needs four games coached to reach 100 as head coach of the Griffins
Turner Elson – needs one game to reach 150 as a Griffin
Matthew Ford – needs one goal to reach 200 in the AHL, needs two games to reach 200 as a Griffin
Matt Puempel – needs two games to reach 400 as a pro

Chicago Notes: Current record 8-12-1-0, 17 points, 7th Central Division…In the season opener for both teams on Oct. 5, Grand Rapids tied a franchise record for most goals in a season opener (Oct. 4, 2013 at Rochester) by racking up eight in a three-goal victory at Allstate Arena…Grand Rapids’ eight goals were its most against Chicago since a 7-1 matinee win at Allstate Arena on Dec. 15, 2016…The Griffins’ win on Oct. 5 snapped a four-game regular season losing streak to the Wolves…Grand Rapids has faced Chicago 157 times in the regular season, the second-most of any Griffins opponent (Milwaukee, 188)…In the last 10 overall, the Griffins are 4-5-0-1…Calvin Pickard and Chicago netminder Garret Sparks were teammates with the Toronto Marlies in 2017-18 and helped Toronto capture the Calder Cup after winning the regular season’s Harry Holmes Memorial Award, which is awarded to the AHL’s goaltending tandem with the lowest goals against average (2.24)…Second-year head coach Ben Simon and Wolves’ third-year bench boss Rocky Thompson are both members of Todd Nelson’s coaching tree…Simon was an assistant under Nelson in Grand Rapids from 2015-18 and won the 2017 Calder Cup…Thompson served on Nelson’s staff in Oklahoma City from 2010-14 as an assistant…As part of his 11-year professional playing career, Simon registered 87 points (37-50—87) in 196 games with the Wolves from 2001-03 and 2004-05 and was a part of Chicago’s first Calder Cup title in 2002.

Manitoba Notes: Current record 10-10-0-0, 20 points, T4th Central Division…After Grand Rapids won the first meeting of the season on Oct. 25 at Van Andel Arena, the Moose swept a weekend series in Winnipeg Nov. 2-3…Since Manitoba rejoined the AHL in 2015-16, Grand Rapids is 19-8 against the Moose and outscored them 89-63…On home ice in that span, the Griffins are 10-3 with a 47-32 scoring advantage…Grand Rapids has claimed five of the last six meetings at Van Andel Arena…Matt Puempel recorded his first AHL hat trick and Joe Veleno netted his first pro goal on Oct. 25 vs. Manitoba…Chris Terry leads the Griffins with eight points (3-5—8) in three games this season vs. Manitoba…Jansen Harkins is the series’ top scorer with nine points in three appearances (2-7—9)…Grand Rapids’ power play has converted on 5 of 9 chances against the Moose (55.6%)…Calvin Pickard, who lives in Winnipeg during the offseason, is 1-1-0 with a 2.55 GAA and a 0.919 save percentage against the Moose this season…Moose forward Derek Hulak skated in 35 regular season games with the Griffins last season and tallied four points (1-3—4) before showing a goal and an assist in four games during the Central Division Semifinals against Chicago.

Rockford Notes: Current record 9-7-0-1, 19 points, 6th Central Division…Grand Rapids won the first two meetings of the season before Rockford picked up its first victory on Nov. 16 in Illinois…In the last matchup on Nov. 16, Evgeny Svechnikov recorded his first two-goal game since Dec. 31, 2017 and the Griffins fired a season-high 44 shots…As a member of the Griffins, Matt Puempel has 18 points (8-10—18) in 19 GP against the IceHogs...Since the 2016-17 season, the home team in the series has posted a 23-8-2-0 record (0.727)…Dating to April 1, 2017, Grand Rapids has points in seven of its last 13 games at Rockford (2-6-2-3)…Grand Rapids has points in nine of the last 10 meetings at Van Andel Arena (7-1-2-0)…In the last 10 overall, the Griffins are 4-3-3-0…In the first encounter on Oct. 12, Filip Larsson became the fifth Griffins rookie goalie in the team’s AHL era (since 2001-02) to pick up the win in his AHL debut after his 24-save performance, joining Petr Mrazek (Nov. 3, 2012 at Texas), Tom McCollum (Oct. 3, 2009 at Peoria), Jimmy Howard (Oct. 28, 2005 vs. Iowa) and Simon Lajeunesse (Dec. 12, 2001 at Utah)…Grand Rapids’ penalty kill is 9-for-10 against Rockford this season…Chris Terry leads the Griffins with four points (1-3—4 in 3 GP) in the series…Rookie Jarid Lukosevicius scored his first pro goal at Rockford in the initial matchup and two of his four tallies have come against the ‘Hogs…Alec McCrea tallied an assist while making his AHL debut against Rockford on Nov. 15…Head coach Ben Simon served as an assistant in Rockford for two seasons (2011-13)…Rockford head coach Derek King played in Grand Rapids from 1999-01 and 2002-04 and is the franchise’s all-time leading playoff scorer (16-25—41) and ranks fifth in regular season points (73-130—203).

Win Some, Lose Some: Compare the statistics between the Griffins’ nine wins and 11 (including OT and SO) losses:

Back-to-Back: This weekend will mark the eighth of 25 times total this season the Griffins will play on consecutive nights.

Photo at top by Sam Iannamico/Griffins