Griffins Game #3 * Home Game #3 * AHL Game #33

Season Series: 0-0-0-0 Home Series: 0-0-0-0 Road Series: 0-0-0-0
All-Time Series: 107-74-7-8-8 All-Time Home Series: 57-35-2-3-3 All-Time Road Series: 50-39-5-5-5

Griffins vs. Admirals
First of eight meetings overall, first of four at Van Andel Arena…Grand Rapids is 15-13-1-1 in the last five seasons against Milwaukee...After beginning the 2021-22 season series 5-1-1-0, Grand Rapids dropped the final five contests against the Admirals and finished 5-6-1-0...Dating back to the 2017-18 season, the Griffins are 9-8-2-1 against Milwaukee at Van Anel Arena with a minus-four scoring margin (53-49)…The Admirals came away with a 5-2 victory during their season opener at Chicago on Oct. 15...Grand Rapids has faced Milwaukee more than any other opponent in the regular season – 205th meeting tonight – and the Griffins’ 107 victories against the Admirals are the most against any foe…Milwaukee’s Jimmy Huntington, Mark Jankowski, Jordan Gross and John Leonard all recorded two points in the season opener...Head coach Ben Simon skated in 18 games with the Admirals during the 2003-04 campaign and finished with four points (1-3—4).

Last Time Out
Courtesy of an Austin Czarnik hat trick, the Griffins outpaced the San Diego Gulls in an 8-5 barnburner at Van Andel Arena on Saturday. Eight Griffins amassed two or more points, including two with three tallies. All three of Czarnik’s goals came on special teams with two on the power play and one shorthanded. Simon Edvinsson (1-2–3) joined Czarnik with three points on the night. Matt Luff and Joel L’Esperance each continued their hot start to the season with one goal in each of the first two games. Cross Hanas scored his first pro goal while Kirill Tyutyayev chipped in with his first goal in North America. Jared McIsaac, Taro Hirose, Tyler Spezia and Edvinsson all tallied two helpers. Victor Brattstrom made his season debut in net for the Griffins and finished the game with 33 saves.

Pour Me a Draft
Simon Edvinsson on Friday, Oct. 14 made his North American debut against the San Diego Gulls, collecting an assist in the process. He returned on Saturday with a three-point outing (1-2—3), which included his first AHL goal. Edvinsson tied Moritz Seider as the highest-drafted defenseman (6th overall) to ever play for the Griffins, and tied Seider and Filip Zadina as the fourth-highest drafted player to suit up for Grand Rapids (Jason Spezza No. 2, Darrin Shannon and Stephen Weiss No. 4). Through his first two AHL games, Edvinsson has four points (1-3—4), which is tied for first among rookies.

Michiganders
The Griffins’ roster is comprised of six Michigan natives in Austin Czarnik, Steven Kampfer, Joel L’Esperance, John Lethemon, Dominik Shine and Tyler Spezia. Seven players also played at five different Michigan universities: Michigan (Kampfer), Michigan State (Taro Hirose, Lethemon), Michigan Tech (Trenton Bliss, L’Esperance), Northern Michigan (Shine) and Western Michigan (Drew Worrad).

This Date in Griffins History
2005: Chris Osgood makes 22 saves in his Griffins debut and Jiri Hudler nets his second career hat trick, helping Grand Rapids take a 6-3 victory at San Antonio.

The Last Czar
Austin Czarnik made his presence known to begin his Grand Rapids career, as the Washington Township, Mich., native, bagged five points (3-2—5) in the first two games of the season. Czarnik notched his fourth AHL hat trick on Saturday, Oct. 15, which marked the earliest recorded by a Griffin to start a season, and it tied for the fastest hat trick to start a Griffin’s career (see chart below). The 29-year-old was named the Howies Hockey Tape/AHL Player of the Week for his efforts and became the first Griffins forward to win the award since Matt Lorito on Nov. 20, 2016.

Goalie Giants
Each of the Griffins’ four goalies is listed at 6-3 or taller: Sebastian Cossa (6-6), Victor Brattstrom (6-5), Jussi Olkinuora (6-3), and John Lethemon (6-3). Cossa is tied for the tallest player to ever compete for the Griffins, which includes a list headlined by teammate Simon Edvinsson along with Jared Coreau, Francois Leroux, Brad Norton, Michael Rasmussen and Dan Turple. Olkinuora is the fifth player to win an Olympic gold medal (2022/Beijing) before joining the Griffins, joining Slava Butsayev (1992/Unified Team/Albertville), Curtis Joseph (2002/Canada/Salt Lake City), Stefan Liv (2006/Sweden/Turin), and Mikael Samuelsson (2006/Sweden/Turin).

Take Me to Your Leader
Ben Simon is the first Griffins head coach to return for a fifth season, passing Curt Fraser (2008-12). Due to the shortened COVID-19 seasons from 2019-21, Simon enters the week 67 games behind Fraser in regular-season games coached, and is currently 30 regular-season wins behind Fraser (146 wins, 4th overall). Simon holds a 117-101-19-11 (0.532) regular-season record with the Griffins and a 2-3 (0.400) mark in the Calder Cup Playoffs.

Preseason Acquisitions
The Detroit Red Wings and Grand Rapids Griffins had a fruitful offseason that brought in free-agent forwards Pontus Andreasson, Austin Czarnik, Cedric Lacroix, Joel L’Esperance and Matt Luff, and defenseman Steven Kampfer. Of that group, Andreasson and Lacroix are the only two players yet to record a point for Grand Rapids. Czarnik, Kampfer, L’Esperance and Luff all have at least two points through the first two games of the season. Not only does Czarnik pace the team with five points (3-2—5) but he also is tied for third in the league for points and tied for first in the AHL with three goals. L’Esperance and Luff have scored a goal in consecutive games to start out the campaign and Kampfer has chipped in with two assists.

O Captain! My Captain!
Captain Brian Lashoff’s 582 games played for the Griffins rank first among active AHL players who have spent their entire AHL career with the same club and fourth 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 Paul Larivee (Providence Reds, 1952-62) for the No. 4 spot on April 6, 2022 against Cleveland and is now 26 games behind No. 3 Howie Yanosik (Hershey Bears, 1957-67). Lashoff is still 73 games away from breaking the Griffins’ all-time regular-season games played record, held by Travis Richards with 655 games (1995-2006).

Joined Forces
Joel L’Esperance signed a two-year deal with the Griffins this past offseason after being a menace to Grand Rapids for the past four seasons with the Texas Stars. In the past four campaigns against the Griffins, L’Esperance has amassed 18 points (11-7—18) and an even plus-minus rating in 21 games. His stat line against Grand Rapids becomes even more impressive if you take out L’Esperance’s 2017-18 rookie season when he played just two games against the Griffins and totaled zero points. Throughout the last three years against the Griffins from 2018-22, the Brighton, Mich., native has accumulated 18 points (11-7—18) in just 19 appearances to go along with 10 penalty minutes and a plus-one rating. L’Esperance has scored a goal in both games to start his Griffins career.

How Swede It Is
The Detroit Red Wings have a rich tradition of possessing some of the top talent to come out of Sweden, such as Niklas Kronwall and Nicklas Lidstrom, and more recently Lucas Raymond. This year is no different, as the NHL franchise has sent down a handful of Swedes to the Griffins. In fact, five players hail from Sweden, including Pontus Andreasson, Jonatan Berggren, Victor Brattstrom, Simon Edvinsson and Albert Johansson. Grand Rapids also features one Russian, Kirill Tyutyayev, and two Finnish players in Jussi Olkinuora and Eemil Viro.

Milestones
Kyle Criscuolo bagged his 100th point as a Griffin with an assist on Oct. 15 versus San Diego while Cedric Lacroix appeared in his 50th game in the AHL and 200th as a pro.
Austin Czarnik—One goal from 100 as a pro
Albert Johansson—Two games from 150 as a pro
Matt Luff—Four points from 150 as a pro
Ben Simon—One game from 250 as head coach for the Griffins
Tyler Spezia—Four goals from 50 as a pro

Photo by Mark Newman/Griffins