Griffins vs. Bears
First of two meetings overall, first and last at Van Andel Arena…Now in its 81st season, Hershey began play in the AHL in 1938-39 and is the oldest franchise on the circuit…The Bears have made 23 appearances in the Calder Cup Finals, including their most recent in 2016 against champion Lake Erie, and have won 11 Calder Cups…Hershey earned its first victory against the Griffins last Oct. 21, in what was the Bears’ first visit to West Michigan since Dec. 22, 2005…Grand Rapids and Hershey split their two meetings last season as the Griffins won 3-0 in Pennsylvania on March 11...The Griffins and Bears are matching up in back-to-back seasons for the first time since the 2001-02 and 2002-03 campaigns…Hershey’s NHL affiliate, the Washington Capitals, claimed the franchise’s first Stanley Cup last June…Fourteen players on Washington’s playoff roster previously played in Hershey, including 10 former Bears who dressed in the Cup-clinching Game 5 win over the Vegas Golden Knights…Captain Matthew Ford played part of the 2011-12 season with Hershey, scoring 28 points (10-18—28) in 39 games…First-year Griffin Carter Camper scored 34 points (9-25—34) in 64 regular season games with the Bears in 2015-16, before leading the club with 17 points (6-11—17) in 21 postseason contests and helping Hershey reach the Calder Cup Finals…2017 AHL Hall of Fame inductee and former Griffin Bryan Helmer serves as Hershey’s vice president of hockey operations…Helmer played in every game during his two-year stay in Grand Rapids from 2004-06, compiling 81 points (19-62—81) in 160 games…He was named the Griffins’ Man of the Year and an AHL Second Team All-Star in 2005-06 while helping the Griffins capture that season’s regular season championship...A seventh-round selection by Detroit in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, Hershey defenseman Logan Pyett played in 288 games with the Griffins from 2008-12, scoring 93 points (23-70—93) and tallying 145 PIM...Pyett was teammates with Brian Lashoff during each of his four seasons in Grand Rapids...Dylan McIlrath and Pyett were teammates with the Connecticut Whale in 2012-13.

Last Game (Saturday): Griffins 0 at Rampage 4
Grand Rapids had its eight-game winning streak against San Antonio snapped, as the Rampage defeated the Griffins for the first time since March 22, 2016...Wade Megan tallied a team-high five shots...Ville Husso recorded 28 saves and notched his first career win against Grand Rapids.

Entering Friday
The Griffins have started the franchise’s 23rd season of play with a 0-2-0-0 mark after being defeated by Texas and San Antonio last Friday and Saturday, respectively. Grand Rapids hosts Hershey tonight to open the 38-game home portion of its schedule before wrapping up this week’s play at Chicago tomorrow.

Home Openers
The Griffins have sold out 22 consecutive home openers and post a 12-9-0-1 record (0.568) in those games. Grand Rapids has hosted its home opener on Oct. 12 twice previously (4-6 L vs. CLE in 2002, 2-3 L vs. MIL in 2012).

Sellouts
With a capacity crowd of 10,834 expected for tonight’s home opener, it will mark the 174th overall regular season sellout of Van Andel Arena. The Griffins show a 92-63-1-2-15 all-time record (0.584) in sold-out home games, having won five of their last six.

On This Date in Griffins History
2001: Grand Rapids claims its first AHL win with a 4-1 triumph at Hamilton.
2002: The Griffins debut their third jersey and uniform, modeled after the Red Wings, and christen their second AHL campaign with a 6-4 home loss to Cleveland. The crowd of 10,834 marks the Griffins’ seventh consecutive sellout of a home opener, and Dave Van Drunen’s goal 33 seconds into the contest is the fastest season-opening goal in the franchise’s seven seasons.

Few and Far Between
The Griffins will play only three home games in the season’s opening month, and all three will come in a nine-day span (Oct. 12-20). This season marks the seventh time in Grand Rapids history the team has hosted three or less contests at Van Andel Arena in October.

Z Debuts
The sixth overall selection in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft by Detroit, Filip Zadina is expected to make his Griffins home debut tonight. The 18-year-old Zadina is the highest Red Wings draft pick ever to suit up for the Griffins. Only three players in Griffins history were drafted higher than No. 6: Jason Spezza (No. 2 by Ottawa in 2001), Darrin Shannon (No. 4 by Pittsburgh in 1988) and Stephen Weiss (No. 4 by Florida in 2001). Dylan Larkin (selected 15th overall in the 2014 Draft) was the previous highest Red Wings draft selection to play for Grand Rapids.

Captains
The 12th captain in franchise history, Matthew Ford embarks on his second campaign wearing the “C.” The third-year Griffin will be joined by alternate captains Brian Lashoff, Dylan McIlrath, Wade Megan and Chris Terry.

On Our Side
Four newcomers to this season’s squad have previously taken to the ice at Van Andel Arena as adversaries. Chris Terry played in six games at Grand Rapids – all coming as a Charlotte Checker – and tallied six points (5-1—6). Carter Camper skated in three contests at Van Andel Arena as a member of the Cleveland Monsters and posted three points (1-2—3). Defenseman Jake Chelios recorded three points (0-3—3) in nine games at VAA, skating with Chicago and Charlotte. Wade Megan played 11 games at VAA, the most between the four players, while suiting up for San Antonio and Chicago and scored five points (2-3—5).

Only the Beginning
Grand Rapids has started a campaign with two regulation losses for the third time in franchise history. The 2015-16 team under first-year head coach Todd Nelson started 0-4-0-0 before finishing with a 44-30-1-1 mark and advancing to the division finals. In 2002-03, with first-year bench boss Danton Cole at the helm, the Griffins opened with consecutive regulation losses but bounced back to post 106 points (48-22-8-2), win the Central Division and advance to the conference finals.

New Griffins
Carter Camper, Jake Chelios, Marcus Crawford, Matt Finn, Trevor Hamilton, Wade Megan, Harri Sateri, Mackenze Stewart, Chris Terry and Filip Zadina all made their Griffins debuts last weekend.

Model Year
Picking up where he left off last season when he tied for seventh on the franchise’s all-time single-season list with 12 power play goals, captain Matthew Ford notched a tally on the man-advantage during Friday’s season opener.

Simon Says
Ben Simon is in his first season as Grand Rapids’ head coach after being named the 11th head coach in franchise history on June 5. Simon spent the previous three seasons as an assistant with the Griffins under Todd Nelson, who was hired by the Dallas Stars as an assistant coach in May. During Simon’s three seasons as a Grand Rapids assistant, the Griffins posted the third-most regular season victories in the AHL and won the franchise’s second Calder Cup in 2017. Appearing in 21 games and scoring nine points (4-5—9) with the Griffins in 2006-07 as part of an 11-year professional playing career, Simon is the third former Griffins player to serve as Grand Rapids’ head coach, joining Nelson and Danton Cole (2002-05).

Assistant to Head
Ben Simon is the fourth former Griffins assistant to then become the head coach. The previous three, Danton Cole, Greg Ireland and Todd Nelson, all qualified for the postseason in their first full campaign. After serving as an assistant from 1999-2001, Cole led Grand Rapids to a 48-22-8-2 record and a first-place division finish as the head coach in 2002-03. Ireland served as an assistant from 2003-05 before helping the club to a franchise-record 55 victories and the league’s best record in 2005-06. Nelson assisted the Griffins in 2002-03 and guided the team to a fourth-place finish in the Central Division in 2015-16.