Griffins Game #37 * Road Game #17 * AHL Game #612

Season Series: 5-3-1-0 Home Series: 3-2-1-0 Road Series: 2-1-0-0
All-Time Series: 107-71-7-8-8 All-Time Home Series: 57-35-2-3-3 All-Time Road Series: 50-36-5-5-5

Griffins at Admirals
Tenth of 12 meetings overall, fourth of six at Panther Arena…Grand Rapids is 22-12-2-1 in the last five seasons against Milwaukee...Grand Rapids is 10-9-1-0 in the last 20 overall against the Admirals, including points in six of the last eight (5-2-1-0) outings…Dating back to the 2015-16 season, the Griffins are 15-9-0-0 against Milwaukee at Panther Arena with a +11 scoring margin (85-74)…The Admirals come into the contest with a 6-2-0-2 record in their past 10 contests and possess a 10-11-0-2 ledger at home this year...The Griffins are 8-7-4-1 on foreign ice this season...Five of the nine match ups this season have been decided by three or more goals, with an average of 6.56 goals scored in each contest...Grand Rapids has faced Milwaukee more than any other opponent in the regular season – 202nd meeting tonight – and the Griffins’ 107 victories against the Admirals are the most against any foe…Milwaukee ranks seventh in the league with a power play conversion rate of 21.6% while the Griffins come in at 30th at 12.9%. The Admirals’ penalty kill comes in at eighth in the AHL at 82.6%, and Grand Rapids ranks 26th at 77.4%...Kyle Criscuolo (2-6—8) and Taro Hirose (3-5—8) lead the Griffins against Milwaukee...Head coach Ben Simon skated in 18 games with the Admirals during the 2003-04 campaign and finished with four points (1-3—4).

Last Time Out
Three power play goals in the second period propelled the Chicago Wolves over Grand Rapids 4-1 on Friday at Allstate Arena. The Griffins have lost four out of their last five games overall (1-3-1-0) and are now 0-6-1-0 against the Wolves this season. The Chicago trio of Andrew Poturalski, Stefan Noesen and C.J. Smith continued their dominant campaign against the Griffins, as all three recorded multi-point outings. The Wolves’ top line has combined for a total of 42 points against Grand Rapids, as the rest of the team has just 30 points. Matt Berry scored the lone goal for the Griffins while Patrick Curry returned to the lineup for the first time since Nov. 24. Turner Elson appeared in his 450th game as a pro and Victor Brattstrom made his second straight start for the first time this season, recording a season-high 36 saves.

Roster Movement
- Jan. 26, 2022—G Kaden Fulcher reassigned by Detroit; G Calvin Pickard recalled by Detroit
- Jan. 27, 2022—F Justin Abdelkader and D Gordi Myer released from PTOs
- Jan. 28, 2022—F Gemel Smith recalled by Detroit; D Luke Witkowski recalled to Detroit’s taxi squad

Huffin’ and Puffin’
So far this season, the Griffins are 2-10-1-2 (0.233) against the Central Division-leading Chicago Wolves and second-place Manitoba Moose. The Griffins picked up their second win against either club on Jan. 14 against Manitoba, marking their first victory against Chicago or the Moose since Nov. 12. However, Grand Rapids is 13-4-4-0 (0.714) against the rest of the AHL.

This Date in Griffins History
2009: Aaron Downey becomes the 100th former Griffin to play in the NHL, as the Detroit Red Wings fall to the visiting Dallas Stars 4-2.

Busy Bodies
The Griffins have competed in 32 games over the first 99 days of the season between Oct. 15-Jan. 21. The calendar for Grand Rapids intensifies in the second half of the campaign, as the club is scheduled to play 43 contests over 96 days from Jan. 22-April 28. The Griffins are no stranger to a busy workload, as Grand Rapids played in 16 games in 30 days to conclude the 2020-21 season.

Beijing Bound
A record 14 former Griffins will represent seven different countries at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China. The group features four Calder Cup champions and all three goaltenders from the 2018-19 team that went 38-27-7-4 (0.572). Valtteri Filppula was selected to represent Finland for the second time, as he claimed a bronze medal at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. Tomas Jurco (2012-14; 15-17) also received his second selection on to Team Slovakia, after playing for his home country in the 2014 Sochi Games while competing for the Griffins that season.

Going with the Flow
It has been a busy season thus far for head coach Ben Simon and general manager Pat Verbeek, as players on professional tryouts have been plentiful for the Griffins this year. Ten PTO skaters have seen action so far this season and have totaled 89 games played; both numbers surpass any full season since Simon joined the team as an assistant coach in 2015-16. On average, 12.4% of Grand Rapids’ lineup has been tryout players, yet the team sits in a tie for fourth place in the Central Division with a 0.514 winning percentage through Jan. 28.

Jonny Apple Seed
Rookie Jonatan Berggren completed a four-game point streak (0-5—5) from Dec. 22-Jan. 8, which tied Kyle Criscuolo for the longest assist streak on the team this season. The Uppsala, Sweden, native 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 27 points (8-19—27) are tied for sixth among first-year players on the circuit and rank second on the Griffins’ roster.

Rarified Air
Brian Lashoff’s 541 games played for the Griffins ranks first among active AHL players who have spent their entire AHL career with the same club and fifth in league history among one-team players. Of the players ahead of him on that list, the most recent – and, coincidentally, the record-holder – last played during the 1970-71 season (Bill Needham of the Cleveland Barons, 981 games played). Lashoff overtook Pete Backor (Pittsburgh Hornets 1945-54) for the No. 5 spot on Jan. 14 against Manitoba and is now 29 games behind No. 4 Paul Larivee (Providence Reds 1952-62). Lashoff is still 114 games away from breaking the Griffins’ all-time games played record, held by Travis Richards with 655 games (1995-2006).

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 21 helpers in the opening 35 games, which is a team high and tied for 11th in the league. Ten assists have come on the power play, which is tied for 10th 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 30 points (9-21—30) this season pace the Griffins and are tied for 20th in the league. He was recalled by Detroit on Dec. 15 and made his NHL season debut on Dec. 18 against the Devils.

Cris-COOL-o
After being sidelined in the first four games due to an injury, center Kyle Criscuolo has made up for his lost time with 25 points (12-13—25) in 27 contests. The Harvard University graduate logged a two-game point streak (1-1—2) from Oct. 30-31 and surpassed that mark with a 10-game point streak (7-11—18) from Nov. 20-Jan. 5, which set a new career high for the forward. His point streak was the 17th-longest in Griffins history. Most recently, Riley Barber had a nine-game point streak from Feb. 5-March 11, 2021 that was the longest to ever start a Griffins season or career. Criscuolo’s 10-game streak also tied for the ninth-longest scoring run in Grand Rapids history and the longest since Matt Puempel’s 11-game tear from Oct. 23-Nov. 15, 2019. The sixth-year pro is third on the roster with 25 points while his 12 goals are tied for the team lead. Criscuolo made his NHL season debut with Detroit on Dec. 1 against Seattle, marking his first NHL game since March 5, 2018. Criscuolo then collected his first career NHL point on an assist against New Jersey on Dec. 18.

Calvin’s University
Goaltender Calvin Pickard is off to a fast start, as he has allowed two goals or less in 14 of his 27 appearances this season. The 10-year-pro currently ranks sixth in the AHL with a 2.40 goals against average while his 0.927 save percentage places third. The netminder made his sixth straight start on Nov. 28 and 10th consecutive appearance, both personal highs as a Griffin. In fact, Pickard has seen action in 27 of the 34 games this season, including 16 straight from Nov. 5-Dec. 22. Pickard made his 12th consecutive start on Dec. 22, which set a new career high for the goaltender and was only halfway to Joey MacDonald’s franchise record of 24, set during the 2004-05 season. The goaltender recorded his third assist of the season on Dec. 4 versus Rockford, which set a new AHL career high for assists in a season. Pickard recorded his first shutout of the year and fourth as a Griffin on Nov. 12 against Manitoba, moving him into a tie for 10th place in franchise history with Jani Hurme, Martin Prusek, and Eddie Pasquale.

AHL Leaderboard Tracker
Jonatan Berggren—27 points (8-19—27) are tied for sixth among first-year players
Taro Hirose—21 assists are tied for 11th, 10 power play assists are tied for 10th
Ryan Murphy—Six goals are tied for fourth among blueliners
Wyatt Newpower—39 penalty minutes are tied for sixth among rookies
Calvin Pickard—2.40 goals against average ranks sixth, 0.927 save percentage places third, 13 wins are tied for fifth
Dominik Shine—83 penalty minutes rank second

Milestones
Luke Witkowski recorded his 50th AHL point on Jan. 24 versus Toronto and Turner Elson skated in his 450th game as a pro on Jan. 28 at Chicago. Other upcoming milestones include:
Ben Simon—Two wins from 100 as Griffins head coach
Kyle Criscuolo—Five assists from 100 as a pro and 50 as a Griffin, six assists from 100 in the AHL
Taro Hirose—One game from 100 as a Griffin
Jon Martin—Four points from 100 as a pro
Brett McKenzie—Three goals from 50 as a pro
Ryan Murphy—Four goals from 50 as a pro

Photo by Nicolas Carrillo/Griffins