Griffins Game #43 * Road Game #20 * AHL Game #693

Season Series: 1-0-1-0 Home Series: 0-0-0-0 Road Series: 1-0-1-0
All-Time Series: 33-18-4-4 All-Time Home Series: 18-6-1-3 All-Time Road Series: 15-12-3-1

Griffins at Stars
Third of eight meetings overall, third of four at the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park...In the past five seasons against the Stars, the Griffins are 7-7-2-1 at the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park...The last time the Griffins were above .500 at Texas was in the 2015-16 campaign when Grand Rapids finished with a 2-0-0-0 record...The home team has points in all of the past nine clashes…The Stars’ power play ranks in the middle of the pack at 11th (20.5%) while the Griffins place 30th (12.9%). However, both penalty kills rank toward the bottom of the AHL with Texas coming in at 24th (78.8%) and the Griffins at 29th (75.8%)....Texas (17-18-3-0, 37 pts., 0.487, 5th) finished last season below .500 for the second straight year...This will be the third contest in the four-game road trip for the Griffins...Grand Rapids is 2-7-1-0 in its past 10 games while the Stars are 4-3-1-2...At home, Texas is 7-10-3-1 while the Griffins are 8-9-1-1 on foreign ice...Jonatan Berggren paces Grand Rapids against Texas with two goals in just as many outings...Riley Damiani leads the way for the Stars against the Griffins with three points (1-2—3).

Last Time Out
The Iowa Wild secured their first victory this season against the Griffins, winning 6-1, thanks to six unanswered goals on Friday at Wells Fargo Arena. Marco Rossi recorded two goals, including one on the man advantage, giving him five points (3-2—5) in just the last two meetings against Grand Rapids. Former Griffin Dominic Turgeon notched an assist, which gave him his third point in four games against his former team. The loss halted Grand Rapids’ five-game point streak (4-0-1-0) against the Wild. Ryan Murphy recorded the lone goal for the Griffins with his eighth of the season, which is tied for the league lead among defensemen. After three straight games with a power play goal, Grand Rapids went 0-for-3 on the man advantage. The Griffins were outshot for the first time in three contests.

Roster Shake Up
- Feb. 8, 2022—F Josh Dickinson and D Gordi Myer signed to PTOs; F Joe Veleno recalled by Detroit
- Feb. 11, 2022—D Dan Renouf recalled by Detroit
- Feb. 12, 2022—D Dan Renouf reassigned by Detroit

Road Trip
The Griffins’ 13-game schedule for January featured eight home contests. However, that will change in February, as the team plays just three home games in the remaining weeks of the month. Grand Rapids is in the midst of a four-game road trip and will be on foreign ice in four of its next five games. Grand Rapids is 8-9-1-1 away from West Michigan and 9-9-4-1 at home this season. The Griffins’ next home contest will be on Feb. 19 against Rockford.

This Date in Griffins History
2008: Darren McCarty provides one of the most memorable nights in Griffins history during his home debut, scoring a hat trick and earning the first four-point night of his 16-year career. He scores in each period – eliciting a five-minute ovation from the near-sellout crowd – of a 6-3 win over Lake Erie.

New Leader
Shawn Horcoff was named Red Wings assistant general manager and the fifth general manager of the Grand Rapids Griffins on Feb. 4, 2022, after the departure of former GM Pat Verbeek, now the GM of the Anaheim Ducks. Horcoff will work alongside Steve Yzerman on all hockey operations matters for the Red Wings, in addition to being responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Griffins, including personnel decisions, contract negotiations and player movement. Horcoff, 43, spent six seasons as the Red Wings' director of player development - in addition to the last three seasons as assistant director of player personnel - after joining the Red Wings prior to the 2016-17 season following a 1,008-game NHL career.

Keep it 100
Head coach Ben Simon became the sixth coach in franchise history to reach 100 wins with the Griffins with a 4-3 overtime victory over Iowa on Feb. 10. Simon joined Danton Cole (2002-05), Greg Ireland (2005-07), Curt Fraser (2008-12), Jeff Blashill (2012-15) and Todd Nelson (2015-18) as the only coaches to reach the 100-win mark in the regular season with the Griffins.

Not so Special
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 three of its last four games, Grand Rapids still ranks 30th in the league at 12.9%. The penalty kill for the Griffins has also struggled a bit this season, killing off 75.8% of their penalties, which places 29th in the AHL.

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 104 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.

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. 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 15-8-4-0 (0.630) against the rest of the AHL.

Beijing Bound
A record 15 former Griffins will represent eight 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.

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 31 points (11-20—31) are tied for eighth among first-year players on the circuit and rank second on the Griffins’ roster. His 20 assists are tied for eighth while his 11 goals are tied for ninth in the league 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 24 helpers in the opening 41 games, which is a team high and places 15th in the league. Eleven assists have come on the power play, which is tied for 14th 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 34 points (10-24—34) this season pace the Griffins. He was recalled by Detroit on Dec. 15 and made his NHL season debut on Dec. 18 against the Devils.

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 sixth on the roster and leads all Grand Rapids’ blueliners with 19 points (8-11—19) in 38 outings. Murphy has climbed up the defensemen leaderboard in the AHL, as his eight goals are tied for 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.

Rarified Air
Brian Lashoff’s 547 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 23 games behind No. 4 Paul Larivee (Providence Reds 1952-62). Lashoff is still 108 games away from breaking the Griffins’ all-time games played record, held by Travis Richards with 655 games (1995-2006).

AHL Leaderboard Tracker
Jonatan Berggren—31 points (11-20—31) are tied for eighth among first-year players, 20 assists are tied for eighth among rookies, 11 goals are tied for ninth among rookies
Taro Hirose—24 assists places 15th, 11 power play assists are tied for 14th
Ryan Murphy—Eight goals are tied for first among blueliners
Wyatt Newpower—44 penalty minutes are tied for ninth among rookies
Calvin Pickard—2.56 goals against average ranks 14th, 0.920 save percentage places seventh, 14 wins rank sixth
Dominik Shine—100 penalty minutes rank second

Milestones
Head coach Ben Simon notched his 100th win with the Griffins on Feb. 10 with a 4-3 overtime victory at Iowa. He became the sixth coach in franchise history to reach the 100-win plateau. Other upcoming milestones include:
Kyle Criscuolo—Four assists from 100 as a pro and 50 as a Griffin, five assists from 100 in the AHL
Taro Hirose—Two games from 150 as a pro
Jon Martin—Three points from 100 as a pro
Brett McKenzie—Two goals from 50 as a pro
Ryan Murphy—Two goals from 50 as a pro
Tyler Spezia—Two points from 100 as a pro, three games from 100 in the AHL

Photo by Andy Nietupski/TTL Sports Media