Griffins Game #47 * Road Game #23 * AHL Game #738

Season Series: 2-0-1-0 Home Series: 0-0-1-0 Road Series: 2-0-0-0
All-Time Series: 63-34-6-10 All-Time Home Series: 35-17-2-2 All-Time Road Series: 28-17-4-8

Griffins at Monsters
Fourth of eight meetings overall, third of four at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse…Grand Rapids is 9-3-1-0 against Cleveland in the past two seasons...In the past five years, the Griffins are 25-10-3-3 against Cleveland and have outscored them 136-112. On away ice during that span, Grand Rapids is 13-5-2-2 at the Monsters with a +14 scoring margin (77-63)...After finishing in second in the AHL a year ago with a 26.9% power play rating, Cleveland currently ranks 26th in the league with a conversion rate of 16.3%. The Monsters’ penalty kill places 26th with a kill percentage of 77.1%...Cleveland comes into the outing with a 2-7-1-0 record in its last 10 contests and a 5-12-2-1 ledger at home...The Monsters are the fifth most frequent opponent of the Griffins, as this game marks the 114th meeting between the two franchises...Defenseman Wyatt Newpower skated for Cleveland a season ago, logging 10 points (3-7—10) and 14 penalty minutes in 24 games...Netminder Calvin Pickard began his pro career with Cleveland and was with the team from 2012-15, posting a 60-54-21 record and a 2.64 goals against average...Griffins head coach Ben Simon is a native of the Cleveland suburb of Shaker Heights.

Last Time Out
The Griffins tallied five unanswered goals en route to a 5-2 victory over the Rockford IceHogs on Sunday at the BMO Harris Bank Center. Grand Rapids swept the weekend series against the IceHogs and now hold a 5-1 season-series record over Rockford. Grand Rapids has notched points in 13 of its last 15 matchups against Rockford (10-2-2-1), dating back to the final meeting of the 2019-20 season. Tyler Spezia (1-1—2) and Turner Elson (1-1—2) recorded multi-point outings. Joe Veleno continued his dominance, as he also notched a multi-point day, which extended his point streak to four games (3-4—7). With goals in the contest, Jonatan Berggren and Elson are now tied for the team lead with 13. Victor Brattstrom recorded 31 saves and captured his first road win of the campaign. Spezia notched his 100th point as a pro (42-59—101). Hayden Verbeek returned to the lineup for the first time since Nov. 25 after rehabbing an injury.

Roster Shake Up
- Feb. 18, 2022—F Erik Bradford released from PTO; F Joe Veleno reassigned by Detroit
- Feb. 19, 2022—D Gordi Myer released from PTO

Road Trip
The Griffins went on a four-game road trip from Feb. 10-16 and finished the trip with a 2-2 record. After making a short stop at home, the Griffins headed back out on the road for a quick two-game exchange. Grand Rapids will wrap up a stretch of six away contests in the span of seven games on Wednesday at Cleveland. During this run, the Griffins are 4-2-0-0. Grand Rapids is 10-10-1-1 away from West Michigan and 10-9-4-1 at home this season.

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 18-9-4-0 (0.645) against the rest of the AHL.

Not Your Average Joe
Joe Veleno has appeared in four games for the Griffins since Feb. 4 and has made the most of his time in the AHL. The former first-round draft pick has logged a season-high point streak in those four outings, registering three goals and four assists. From Feb. 4-25, the Griffins averaged 4.25 goals per game with Veleno in the lineup and 2.20 goals per contest without Veleno. Through 11 games with Grand Rapids this season, Veleno has 10 points (6-4—10) and four penalty minutes. The Kirkland, Quebec, native has spent much of the season in the NHL with Detroit, where he has totaled seven points (4-3—7) in 35 games with the Red Wings.

Immortalized Forever
On Feb. 19 during a first-intermission ceremony, the Griffins retired Michel Picard’s #7 jersey and raised it to the Van Andel Arena rafters. Picard joined longtime teammate Travis Richards (No. 24) as the only Griffins players to have their numbers retired in franchise history, with esteemed former captain Jeff Hoggan’s No. 10 set to join them on Saturday, April 2. Picard played 363 games over six seasons with Grand Rapids (1996-99; 02-04) and still ranks as the Griffins’ all-time leader with 158 goals, 222 assists, 380 points, 40 power play goals and 26 game-winning tallies.

Work in Progress
Following a 2019-20 campaign in which they finished sixth in the AHL’s power play rankings at 20.9%, the Griffins exceeded that mark in 2020-21 with a power play conversion rate of 21.5%, the fifth best on the circuit. The Griffins’ special teams have struggled this season after opening the campaign with high numbers. Despite converting on a power play in six of its last eight games, Grand Rapids still ranks 30th in the league at 13.6%. However, the power play has been much improved in the second half of the season, as the team has scored on 18.5% of its power plays (5-for-27). The penalty kill for the Griffins has also struggled a bit this season, killing off 77% of their penalties, which places 27th in the AHL.

This Date in Griffins History
2014: Four former Griffins earn silver medals with Sweden at the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, including Niklas Kronwall, who becomes the first GR alum with a pair of medals after having won gold in 2006 in Turin, Italy.

Bringing Home the Medals
The 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, which saw a record 15 former Grand Rapids Griffins represent eight different countries, marked the fifth consecutive Olympics in which at least one Griffins alum stood on the medal podium. Goaltenders Harri Sateri of Finland and Patrik Rybar of Slovakia, teammates on Grand Rapids’ 2018-19 squad, led their countries to historic results at the Winter Games. Sateri made 16 saves in a 2-1 win over ROC, backstopping Finland to its first-ever Olympic men’s hockey gold medal. Finnish captain Valtteri Filppula joined Niklas Kronwall as the only former Griffins to earn two Olympic medals, adding to the bronze medal he claimed in 2010 in Vancouver. Rybar, meanwhile, was named to the tournament’s all-star team following Saturday’s 28-save, 4-0 shutout of Sweden in the bronze medal game that secured Slovakia’s first Olympic medal in men’s hockey. Teammate Tomas Jurco joined the celebration while playing in his second Olympics (2014 Sochi), becoming the first player to medal after winning a Calder Cup with the Griffins (2013).

Murphy’s Law
Reigning AHL defenseman of the year Ryan Murphy has started to find a rhythm offensively for the Griffins. The nine-year pro is tied for fifth on the roster and leads all Grand Rapids’ blueliners with 23 points (10-13—23) in 42 outings. Murphy completed a season-high four-game point streak (3-2—5) from Feb. 11-19 and has climbed up the defensemen leaderboard in the AHL, as his 10 goals rank first. The Aurora, Ontario, native signed a one-year contract with Detroit on July 28, 2021 and is the midst of his inaugural season with the Griffins.

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 35 points (13-22—35) are tied for sixth among first-year players on the circuit and rank second on the Griffins’ roster. His 22 assists ranks ninth among league rookies while his 13 goals are tied for eighth. Berggren is also tied for third in the league with five game-winning goals, which places second among rookies.

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 27 helpers in the opening 45 games, which is a team high and tied for 11th in the league. Thirteen assists have come on the power play, which is tied for 11th 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 39 points (12-27—39) this season pace the Griffins and are tied for 19th on the circuit. He was recalled by Detroit on Dec. 15 and made his NHL season debut on Dec. 18 against the Devils.

Rarified Air
Brian Lashoff’s 550 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 20 games behind No. 4 Paul Larivee (Providence Reds 1952-62). Lashoff is still 105 games away from breaking the Griffins’ all-time games played record, held by Travis Richards with 655 games (1995-2006).

Going with the Flow
It has been a busy season thus far for head coach Ben Simon and Griffins general managers, as players on professional tryouts have been plentiful for the team this year. Ten PTO skaters have seen action so far this season and have totaled 111 games played; both numbers surpass any full season since Simon joined the team as an assistant coach in 2015-16. On average, 12.1% of Grand Rapids’ lineup has been tryout players.

AHL Leaderboard Tracker
Jonatan Berggren—35 points (13-22—35) are tied for sixth among first-year players, 22 assists ranks ninth among rookies and 13 goals are tied for eighth among rookies, five game-winning goals are tied for third and place second among rookies
Taro Hirose—27 assists are tied for 11th, 13 power play assists are tied for 11th, 39 points (12-27—39) are tied for 19th
Ryan Murphy—10 goals ranks first among blueliners
Wyatt Newpower—48 penalty minutes places ninth among rookies
Calvin Pickard—2.51 goals against average ranks 12th, 0.921 save percentage is tied for seventh, 16 wins are tied for fifth
Dominik Shine—100 penalty minutes rank second

Milestones
Tyler Spezia notched his 100th point as a pro on Feb. 20 at Rockford. Brian Lashoff appeared in his 550th game with the Griffins and in the AHL on Feb. 19 against Rockford while Spezia skated in his 100th AHL contest. Also on Feb. 19, Ryan Murphy potted his 50th goal as a pro. Other upcoming milestones include:
Jonatan Berggren—Five points from 100 as a pro
Kyle Criscuolo—One assist from 100 as a pro and 50 as a Griffin, two assists from 100 in the AHL, two games from 300 as a pro
Taro Hirose—Six points from 100 as a Griffin and in the AHL
Jon Martin—Two points from 100 as a pro
Brett McKenzie—Two goals from 50 as a pro
Luke Witkowski—Three games from 300 in the AHL

Photo by Cleveland Monsters