Griffins Game #2 * Home Game #2 * AHL Game #16

Season Series: 0-1-0-0 Home Series: 0-1-0-0 Road Series: 0-0-0-0
All-Time Series: 4-3-0-0 All-Time Home Series: 2-2-0-0 All-Time Road Series: 2-1-0-0

Gulls at Griffins
Second of four meetings overall, second of two at Van Andel Arena...Last night’s contest was the first meeting between the two franchises in West Michigan since Jan. 25, 2020…Last night’s capacity crowd of 10,834 was the 26th consecutive opening-night sellout, excluding the 2020-21 COVID season...Grand Rapids holds a 28-13-2-0-0 all-time record (0.698) against Anaheim’s AHL affiliates, including 22-10-2-0-0 against the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks, 2-0-0-0 against the Iowa Chops and 4-3-0-0 against San Diego…San Diego made the postseason a year ago after taking seventh place in the Pacific Division with a 28-33-4-3 record (0.463), but were swept 2-0 in the first round against the Ontario Reign…Last season, San Diego goaltender Lukas Dostal tied for second among rookies with a 2.60 GAA and placed third with a 0.916 SV%...The Griffins are 14-18-2-3 (0.446) all-time against current Pacific-Division foes in the regular season, including 7-9-0-0 (0.438) at home...Grand Rapids is 12-15-2-3 (0.453) against current California teams...Grand Rapids will play three more games against the Pacific this season, all against the Gulls...San Diego’s 4-2 win on Oct. 10, 2015 against Grand Rapids came during its AHL debut…Grand Rapids will visit San Diego for a pair of contests on Nov. 18-19 at Pechanga Arena.

Home Sweet Home
Under fifth-year head coach Ben Simon, the Griffins began a 72-game schedule when they hosted the San Diego Gulls for Opening Night presented by Huntington Bank. During their last season opener at home, Grand Rapids was defeated by San Diego 6-2. This year marked just the ninth time since the 2004-05 campaign that Grand Rapids opened its season at home. Since 2004, the Griffins are 5-3-0-1 (0.611) in season openers at Van Andel Arena and have outscored their opponents 29-25. Also since 2004, Grand Rapids is 9-7-2-1 (0.553) in season openers at any venue. The Griffins have won five of the last seven home openers.

2021-22 Season in Review
The Griffins skated in their 26th season a year ago and concluded the campaign with a 33-35-6-2 record, 74 points and a point percentage of 0.487. Grand Rapids finished its first full AHL season since 2018-19 in seventh place in the Central Division, two teams away from a playoff spot. This halted the Griffins’ seven-year playoff run that dated back to the 2012-13 season when they lifted the Calder Cup for the first time. Jonatan Berggren finished his rookie season with 64 points (21-43—64), which was enough to pass Teemu Pulkkinen (2013-14) for the Griffins’ rookie single-season scoring title. Berggren led the team in points (64) and assists (43) while Riley Barber paced the franchise in goals (28) for the second straight campaign. Forward Riley Barber paced the club in points (34) and goals (20) while fellow forward Taro Hirose led the roster with 23 assists. In net, Calvin Pickard registered the lowest goals against average (2.58), the best save percentage (0.918) and the best record (21-16-5).

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 night 68 games behind Fraser in regular-season games coached, and is currently 31 regular-season wins behind Fraser (146 wins, 4th overall). Simon holds a 116-102-19-11 (0.528) regular-season record with the Griffins and a 2-3 (0.400) mark in the Calder Cup Playoffs.

This Date in Griffins History
2004: Before their ninth consecutive opening night sellout at Van Andel Arena, the Griffins rally for a 3-2 shootout win over Cleveland. It’s the first shootout decision for Grand Rapids since March 28, 2001, during the team’s final season in the IHL.

Fresh Faces
The Griffins’ roster features nine rookies including forwards Pontus Andreasson, Trenton Bliss, Cross Hanas, Kirill Tyutyayev and Drew Worrad, defensemen Simon Edvinsson, Albert Johansson and Eemil Viro, and goaltender Sebastian Cossa. Among those rookies, Andreasson, Cossa, Edvinsson, Hanas, Johansson and Viro will all make their Grand Rapids debuts this year. Newcomers to West Michigan that will skate in their first game as a Griffin include forwards Austin Czarnik, Cedric Lacroix, Joel L’Esperance and Matt Luff, defenseman Steven Kampfer, and goaltenders John Lethemon and Jussi Olkinuora.

O Captain! My Captain!
Captain Brian Lashoff’s 581 games played for the Griffins ranks 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 27 games behind No. 3 Howie Yanosik (Hershey Bears, 1957-67). Lashoff is still 74 games away from breaking the Griffins’ all-time regular-season games played record, held by Travis Richards with 655 games (1995-2006).

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).

Oldies but Goodies
The Griffins’ roster features five veterans including forwards Kyle Criscuolo, Austin Czarnik and Dominik Shine, and defensemen Steven Kampfer and Brian Lashoff. A player receives veteran status if he has competed in at least 260 games in the NHL, AHL or overseas. Lashoff leads all veterans on the team with 719 career-games played in the NHL and AHL, including 580 with Grand Rapids, which ranks first among active players who have spent their entire AHL career with the same club and fourth all-time in league history among one-team players. Kampfer has appeared in 551 outings, which ranks second on the roster while Czarnik places third with 369 contests.

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.

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.

Milestones
Matt Luff scored his 50th goal in the AHL and 200th as a pro during his Griffins debut on Oct. 14 against the San Diego Gulls.
Kyle Criscuolo—One point from 100 as a Griffin
Austin Czarnik—Four goals from 100 as a pro
Taro Hirose—One assist from 100 as a pro
Cedric Lacroix—One game from 50 in the AHL and 200 as a pro
Tyler Spezia—Four goals from 50 as a pro

Photo by Nicolas Carrillo/Griffins