Griffins Game #36 * Road Game #16 * AHL Game #592

Season Series: 0-5-1-0 Home Series: 0-3-1-0 Road Series: 0-2-0-0
All-Time Series: 90-76-2-7-3 All-Time Home Series: 44-35-2-5-2 All-Time Road Series: 46-41-0-3-1

Griffins at Wolves
Seventh of 12 meetings overall, third of six at Allstate Arena…Grand Rapids has faced Chicago 178 times in the regular season dating back to their IHL days, the second-most of any Griffins opponent (Milwaukee, 199)…The Griffins possess a 19-27-1-1 record against Chicago over the last five years...In the past five seasons, the Griffins are 10-13-0-1 against the Wolves on away ice and are being outscored 81-71...Grand Rapids has held a winning record at Chicago twice in the past five campaigns (2019-20, 2016-17)...Grand Rapids is winless in the last seven games against Chicago and have been outscored 30-8, dating back to the 2020-21 campaign...Grand Rapids’ penalty kill comes in at 78.4% (23rd) while Chicago is tied for sixth at 83.3%. In addition, the power play for Chicago is tied for 14th (18.7%) while the Griffins place 30th (13.1%)...The Wolves come into the contest with a 4-3-3-0 record in their past 10 games and a 10-3-2-1 home record...The Griffins are 4-3-2-1 in their last 10 outings and possess a 7-6-1-1 road record...Kyle Criscuolo paces the Griffins against Chicago with five points (2-3—5) in just as many games while Riley Barber (2-1—3) and Taro Hirose (0-3—3) are close behind...Chicago’s Andrew Poturalski has been Grand Rapids’ nemesis this season, as the forward has 15 points (7-8—15) in six games...As part of his 11-year pro career, Griffins coach Ben Simon registered 87 points (37-50—87) in 196 games with the Wolves from 2001-03 and 2004-05 and was a part of their first Calder Cup title in 2002.

Last Time Out
The Milwaukee Admirals scored the lone goal on a power play to defeat the Griffins 1-0 on Wednesday at Van Andel Arena. After starting the season series against Milwaukee 5-1-1-0, Grand Rapids has lost its last two contest against the Admirals. Despite being on a four-game home winless skid, the Griffins have recorded points in nine of their last 11 contests (5-2-3-1) in West Michigan. The Griffins held the Admirals to just 22 shots, which tied for the fewest allowed in a game this season by Grand Rapids.

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 2-9-1-2 (0.250) against the Central Division-leading Chicago Wolves and second-place Manitoba Moose. The Griffins picked up their first win against either club since Nov. 12 on Jan. 14. However, Grand Rapids is 13-4-4-0 (0.714) against the rest of the AHL.

Peaks and Valleys
Grand Rapids and Chicago have a storied history with each other, as the two franchises started competing against one another in 1996. Since then, each club has had its fair share of wins and losses. Chicago’s active seven-game win streak is the longest streak in series history. In fact, the Wolves have claimed 13 of the past 16 outings against the Griffins, dating back to the 2020-21 campaign. However, Grand Rapids went on an identical 13-3 run from Oct. 14, 2016-Oct. 27, 2017 and held a nine-game point streak (8-0-1-0) against the Wolves from Feb. 15, 2015-April 8, 2016. Despite this cold stretch for Grand Rapids, it still holds a 90-76-2-7-3 overall record against Chicago.

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.

This Date in Griffins History
2006: A 4-2 win at Peoria marks the 50th victory (50-25-2-3) for head coach Greg Ireland in 80 games – the equivalent of one full season – behind the Griffins’ bench.

Beijing Bound
A record 13 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 85 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, yet the team sits in third place in the Central Division with a 0.529 winning percentage through Jan. 27.

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). The former second-round draft pick is tied for 18th among league rookies with eight goals. 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 540 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 30 games behind No. 4 Paul Larivee (Providence Reds 1952-62). Lashoff is still 115 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 34 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 ninth 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 18th 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 26 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.

AHL Leaderboard Tracker
Riley Barber—Five power play goals are tied for 14th
Jonatan Berggren—Eight goals are tied for 18th among league rookies, 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 ninth
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 seventh, 0.927 save percentage places third, 1602 minutes leads the league and 13 wins are tied for fourth
Dominik Shine—83 penalty minutes rank second

Milestones
Matt Berry collected his first goal as a Griffin on Jan. 22 against Milwaukee while forwards Justin Abdelkader and Gemel Smith each made their season debuts. Luke Witkowski recorded his 50th AHL point on Jan. 24 versus Toronto and Smith earned his first point as a Griffin. 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
Turner Elson—One game from 450 as a pro
Taro Hirose—Two games 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 Ross Dettman/Wolves