Griffins Game #32 * Home Game #15 * AHL Game #468

Season Series: 1-3-0-0 Home Series: 1-2-0-0 Road Series: 0-1-0-0
All-Time Series: 99-67-7-7-8 All-Time Home Series: 54-32-2-2-3 All-Time Road Series: 45-35-5-5-5

Griffins vs. Admirals
Fifth of 10 meetings overall, fourth of five at Van Andel Arena…The Griffins are 5-5-0-0 in the last 10 matchups overall…Grand Rapids has points in five of the last eight meetings at Van Andel Arena (4-3-0-1)…Despite their last two visits to Panther Arena resulting in 5-0 wins for the Admirals, the Griffins have won 10 of the last 13 matchups in Wisconsin…Since the Admirals moved to Panther Arena at the beginning of the 2016-17 campaign, the Griffins are 12-5 at Milwaukee in the regular season…Since 2013-14, the Griffins are 40-21-2-1 against the Admirals, including 21-10-1-1 at home and 19-11-1-0 away…As an Admiral, goalie Troy Grosenick, a Wisconsin native, is 6-3-1 with a 1.60 GAA, 0.951 save percentage and one shutout in 10 games against the Griffins…The Griffins and Admirals began their rivalry in 1996-97 in the International Hockey League and Milwaukee is Grand Rapids’ most frequent opponent as the two will clash for the 189th and 190th times this weekend…Head coach Ben Simon skated in 18 games with the Admirals during the 2003-04 campaign and finished with four points (1-3—4)…The Griffins own 99 regular season wins against the Admirals, the most of any foe…In its history, Grand Rapids has squared off against 57 different teams since 1996-97 and next in line in terms of wins versus opponents are Chicago (85-63-2-6-3) and Manitoba (63-33-1-1-7).

Last Time Out (Saturday): Griffins 3 at Wild 4 OT - Recap
Grand Rapids is 0-1-2-0 in the season series…Taro Hirose (4), Eric Tangradi (5) and Chris Terry (13) scored for Grand Rapids…Tangradi has goals in three straight games…By adding an assist, Terry extended his team lead in goals, assists and points…Matt Puempel has three assists in his first two games back after missing the previous four due to injury…The Griffins outshot Iowa 34-29, finished 0-for-4 on the power play and 6-for-6 on the penalty kill.

Status Update
The Griffins have points in five of the last seven outings (3-2-1-1) and concluded their 14-day, six-game road trip with a 3-2-1-0 record. Grand Rapids returns to Van Andel Arena tonight for the first time since Dec. 6 to host the league-leading Milwaukee Admirals in the first half of a weekend home-and-home set. The Griffins round out the 2019 calendar year with a New Year’s Eve date against the Chicago Wolves. The Griffins are 13-6-3-1 (0.652) all time in the first game after Christmas, including points in the last five years (4-0-1-0).

Rotating Roster
Including four goalies, the Griffins have used 36 players already before the halfway mark this season. Here is how the current usage stacks up to the final player counts in recent seasons: 2018-19 – 41 players, 2017-18 – 32, 2016-17 – 39, 2015-16 – 37 and 2014-15 – 39. Since the AHL’s season began on Oct. 4, the Red Wings have recalled or assigned a player from or to Grand Rapids a total of 60 times.

Red Wings Report
There have been 12 players who have played for both Detroit and Grand Rapids this season – Madison Bowey, Dennis Cholowski, Jonathan Ericsson, Jimmy Howard (conditioning), Joe Hicketts, Taro Hirose, Brian Lashoff, Dylan McIlrath, Calvin Pickard, Givani Smith, Evgeny Svechnikov and Filip Zadina.

Road Trippin’
The Griffins picked up seven out of a possible 12 points during their season-high six-game road trip. Eric Tangradi (4-2—6) and Taro Hirose (3-3—6) led the team in scoring during the tour. Including this most recent trip, Grand Rapids has now posted a 0.500 record or better during each of its last seven road trips lasting six games or longer: 5-1-0-0 in 2018-19 (March 16-26), 3-2-0-2 in 2016-17 (Feb. 28-March 12), 4-2-0-1 in 2013-14 (March 13-28), 4-2-0-1 in 2012-13 (March 23-April 6), 3-3-0-0 in 2010-11 (Jan. 6-18), 4-1-0-1 in 2009-10 (March 12-25). The Griffins only led for 42:03 during the trip but still posted a 3-2-1-0 record. Five of the six contests were decided by one, including three in overtime or a shootout, and Grand Rapids overcame a two-goal deficit twice.

Away for the Holidays
The Griffins play just four home games this month, their fewest in December in franchise history. Grand Rapids will make up for it in January as an eight-game homestand from Jan. 10-25 is the team’s longest since an eight-game stretch from Oct. 14-Nov. 4, 2006.

Lights Out
Since the third period at Chicago on Nov. 27, Grand Rapids’ penalty killers have gone 41 for its last 42 (97.6%), which includes fending off 30 consecutive penalties. On Nov. 28, the Griffins sat 30th in the league in penalty killing and have since climbed into a tie for 12th.

Time to Tango
Signed to a one-year contract by Grand Rapids 90 minutes prior to the opening faceoff against Rockford on Dec. 6, Eric Tangradi has seven points (5-2—7) in his first seven outings during his return to a Griffins uniform. His seven points tie for the team’s most in the month and his current three-game goal streak ties for the longest by a Griffin in 2019-20. A 2017 Calder Cup champion with Grand Rapids, Tangradi ranks among the team’s all-time leaders with 171 points (9th), 81 goals (5th), 23 PPG (T8th), 14 GWG (4th), three OT goals (T3rd) and eight unassisted goals (T3rd) in 207 games since 2015-16. Tangradi posted nine points (5-4—9) in 22 games for Astana Barys of the KHL this season and spent the 2018-19 campaign in the New Jersey organization.

Tar-Oh!
Assigned by Detroit on Dec. 3, rookie Taro Hirose’s seven points (4-3—7) tie for the team lead in the month. He played hero twice on the recent road trip, notching the overtime-winner on Dec. 13 at Bakersfield and scoring the only goal in the shootout on Dec. 17 at San Diego.

Ford Named Playing Captain
AHL President and CEO David Andrews announced on Dec. 18 that Matthew Ford will serve as one of the two playing captains for the 2020 AHL All-Star Classic, to be held January 26-27 in Ontario, Calif. Hershey Bears forward Matt Moulson was also selected. A SoCal native, Ford is in his third season as the Griffins’ captain, fourth in Grand Rapids and 12th in the AHL. He becomes the fourth Griffin to be chosen as a playing captain for an AHL All-Star Classic, joining Jeff Hoggan (2016, West), Kip Miller (2007, PlanetUSA) and Travis Richards (2004, PlanetUSA).

Seider, Veleno Head to WJC
The Red Wings last Wednesday reassigned defenseman Moritz Seider from the Griffins to Germany’s U20 National Team and center Joe Veleno from the Griffins to Canada’s U20 National Team for the 2020 IIHF World Junior Championship. This marks the second consecutive year a player has left the Griffins mid-season to compete in the World Junior Championship after Filip Zadina represented the Czech Republic at the 2019 event. Tomas Tatar also suited up for Slovakia during his rookie campaign with Grand Rapids in 2009-10.

This Date in Griffins History
2003: Nathan Robinson’s second goal of the game, 10 seconds into the third frame, sets a franchise record for fastest goal to start a period and helps the Griffins claim a 4-1 win at Cincinnati.
2014: Teemu Pulkkinen’s four-point performance sparks an AHL season-high nine-goal explosion for the Griffins, who cruise to a 9-2 victory over Iowa before a sellout crowd. Combined with a 7-1 win over Toronto eight days earlier, Grand Rapids tallies at least seven goals in consecutive home outings for the first time ever and sets a record with 16 combined goals over back-to-back games at Van Andel Arena. Sixteen of the Griffins’ 18 skaters record at least one point.
2015: The Griffins’ franchise-record 15-game winning streak is snapped with a 3-2 defeat at Lake Erie.

Griffins in General
Grand Rapids is in the franchise’s 24th overall season of play, 19th as a member of the American Hockey League and 18th as the primary affiliate of the 11-time Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings…Grand Rapids is 977-671-27-60-114 (0.583) in the regular season since 1996-97 to go along with 17 playoff appearances, seven division titles and two Calder Cups (2017, 2013)…The Griffins have earned 40 or more wins and accumulated 90 or more points in six of the last seven seasons…Grand Rapids has qualified for the Calder Cup Playoffs in a franchise-record seven consecutive seasons and advanced to at least the second round on five occasions…The Griffins’ 8-5 season-opening win at Chicago on Oct. 5 marked the club’s 750th win in the AHL…Grand Rapids’ 317 regular season wins since the 2012-13 campaign tie Providence for third, behind Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s 319 and Toronto’s 335 while the Griffins’ 689 points in that span are fourth, trailing Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (691), Providence (701) and Toronto (726)…Since the affiliation began in 2002-03, 92 Griffins have gone on to play for the Red Wings.

$2 Beers and $2 Hot Dogs: Fans can enjoy $2 domestic drafts and $2 hot dogs from 6-8 p.m., while supplies last.

Get in the D-ZONE presented by Coppercraft Distillery: Every Friday night is a Griffins D-Zone night. Avoid the concession lines and get your $2 beers and $2 hot dogs served to you in your seats. Call (616) 774-4585 ext. 2 or visit griffinshockey.com/dzone today to purchase a package of four or more D-Zone tickets for any Friday night game.

College Night presented by Michigan First Credit Union: Presented by Michigan First Credit Union, college students can buy online using their school .edu email address or show their ID at every Friday game to purchase an Upper Level Faceoff ticket for $13 (or $12 in advance at The Zone) or an Upper Level Center Ice ticket for $16 (or $15 in advance at The Zone). Limit one ticket per ID if purchasing in-person. Visit griffinshockey.com/college to sign up for College Night alerts.

Free Ride Friday on the Rapid: Ride the Rapid to and from any Friday game and enjoy complimentary fare by showing your ticket to the game. Visit ridetherapid.org for schedule information, routes and maps.

Photo by Sam Iannamico/Griffins