Griffins Game #41 * Road Game #18 * AHL Game #660

Season Series: 2-0-0-0 Home Series: 1-0-0-0 Road Series: 1-0-0-0
All-Time Series: 37-15-4-2 All-Time Home Series: 18-6-3-2 All-Time Road Series: 19-9-1-0

Griffins at Wild
Third of eight meetings overall, second of four at Wells Fargo Arena…The Griffins are 19-11-4-2 overall in the last five years against the Wild and have outscored Iowa 114-113...Grand Rapids is 10-7-1-0 at Iowa since the 2016-17 season with an even scoring margin (58-58)...The Griffins have points in the last four overall meetings (3-0-1-0) against the Wild and points in six of the last seven outings against Iowa (5-1-1-0)...Iowa is 12-6-1-1 at home this season while Grand Rapids is 7-8-1-1 on the road...This game will begin a four-game road trip for the Griffins...The Wild are 6-4-0-0 in their last 10 contests...The Griffins’ season series at the Wild has been tight affairs over the last handful of seasons, as just two goals or less have separated the two teams in four of the last five campaigns...The last time the Griffins had a losing record against Iowa in Des Moines was in 2019-20 (0-2-1-0)...Iowa is tied for 12th in the power play at 20.1% while its penalty kill places second at 86.4%...2017 Calder Cup champions with the Griffins, Joe Hicketts (2016-21) and Dominic Turgeon (2016-21) are now with Iowa after signing deals with the Minnesota Wild in the offseason. Nate DiCasmirro (2005-06) is an assistant coach for Iowa...Taro Hirose (2-2—4) and Chase Pearson (1-3—4) pace the Griffins against the Wild...Jon Lizotte and Mason Shaw lead the way for Iowa against Grand Rapids with two goals each.

Last Time Out
Five different Griffins scored to help power Grand Rapids past the Ontario Reign at Van Andel Arena. The Griffins snapped a season-high seven-game winless streak (0-6-1-0) with the franchise’s first-ever victory over the Reign (1-3-0-0). Joe Veleno continued his dominance, notching goals in back-to-back games and setting a new AHL career-high with three points (1-2—3). Luke Witkowski recorded his first goal as a Griffin while Patrick Curry got his first point of the campaign. Former Griffin Martin Frk also notched a tally for the second straight night. In the opening frame, Grand Rapids’ 23 shots were their most this season and just one shy of the franchise record for shots in a period. The Griffins, who scored two shorthanded goals in the second period, had totaled two shorthanded goals in their previous 74 games entering the night. Coming into the contest, Ontario had given up just one shorthanded tally in 36 outings. Ontario trailed by three goals or more in only two of its first 36 games of the season. Grand Rapids killed off all seven penalties against the AHL’s best power play. Tyler Spezia registered his fourth multi-point outing (1-1—2) of the campaign.

Roster Shake Up
- Feb. 7, 2022—F Matt Berry released from PTO
- Feb. 8, 2022—F Josh Dickinson and D Gordi Myer signed to PTOs; F Joe Veleno recalled by Detroit

Road Trip
The Griffins’ 13-game schedule for January featured eight home contests. In fact, the Griffins have played eight of their past 11 contests at Van Andel Arena. However, that will change in the coming weeks, as the team heads out on a four-game road trip and will be on foreign ice in six of its next seven games. Grand Rapids is 7-8-1-1 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:
2001: The Griffins sign 17-year NHL defenseman and two-time Stanley Cup champion Marty McSorley. He makes his IHL debut that same night in a 3-1 win over Utah.

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.

Busy Bodies
The Griffins 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.

Keep it 100
Head coach Ben Simon is one win away from reaching 100 victories as Griffins head coach. When he captures the 100th win, Simon will become the sixth head coach in Grand Rapids’ history to reach the 100-win plateau. Simon will join 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.

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 99 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 14-7-4-0 (0.640) 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 29 points (9-20—29) are tied for seventh among first-year players on the circuit and rank second on the Griffins’ roster. His 20 assists also place eighth 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 23 helpers in the opening 39 games, which is a team high and tied for 14th in the league. Eleven 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 32 points (9-23—32) 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 ranks seventh on the roster and leads all Grand Rapids’ blueliners with 18 points (7-11—18) in 36 outings. Murphy has climbed up the defensemen leaderboard in the AHL, as his seven goals are tied for second. 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 545 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 25 games behind No. 4 Paul Larivee (Providence Reds 1952-62). Lashoff is still 110 games away from breaking the Griffins’ all-time games played record, held by Travis Richards with 655 games (1995-2006).

Calvin’s University
Goaltender Calvin Pickard made his NHL season debut with Detroit on Jan. 26 in a relief role against Chicago, then made his first NHL start of the campaign on Jan. 28 at Pittsburgh. Against the Penguins, the netminder earned the game’s first star, logging 36 saves in a 3-2 shootout victory. The 10-year-pro is tied for 14th in the AHL with a 2.55 goals against average while his 0.922 save percentage is tied for fifth. Pickard has seen action in 29 of the 40 games this season, including 16 straight from Nov. 5-Dec. 22. 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—29 points (9-20—29) are tied for seventh among first-year players, 20 assists place eighth among rookies
Taro Hirose—23 assists are tied for 14th, 11 power play assists are tied for 11th
Ryan Murphy—Seven goals are tied for second among blueliners
Wyatt Newpower—39 penalty minutes are tied for 10th among rookies
Calvin Pickard—2.55 goals against average is tied for 14th, 0.922 save percentage is tied for fifth, 13 wins are tied for sixth
Dominik Shine—100 penalty minutes rank second

Milestones
Turner Elson skated in his 450th game as a pro on Jan. 28 at Chicago while Taro Hirose notched his 100th game as a Griffin on Jan. 29. Other upcoming milestones include:
Ben Simon—One win from 100 as Griffins head coach
Kyle Criscuolo—Four assists from 100 as a pro and 50 as a Griffin, five assists from 100 in the AHL
Jon Martin—Three points from 100 as a pro
Brett McKenzie—Two goals from 50 as a pro
Ryan Murphy—Three goals from 50 as a pro
Tyler Spezia—Three points from 100 as a pro

Photo by Nicolas Carrillo/Griffins