Griffins Game #45 * Home Game #24 * AHL Game #712

Season Series: 3-1-0-0 Home Series: 2-1-0-0 Road Series: 1-0-0-0
All-Time Series: 55-37-9-11 All-Time Home Series: 35-12-5-5 All-Time Road Series: 20-25-4-6

Griffins vs. IceHogs
Fifth of eight meetings overall, fourth of four at Van Andel Arena…Dating back to the final meeting of the 2019-20 season, Grand Rapids now has points in 11 of the last 13 games (8-2-2-1) against the IceHogs...The Griffins are 19-11-6-6 in the last five seasons against Rockford. At home in the past five years, Grand Rapids is 16-4-4-3 against the IceHogs, outscoring them 83-56...Rockford comes to West Michigan with a 11-6-1-1 road record this season...The IceHogs are 6-2-2-0 in their last 10 games while the Griffins are 3-7-0-0 in their last 10...Rockford is on a four-game unbeaten streak and have outscored its opponent 16-10 during the run...Prior to their 9-4 win at Rockford on March 3 last season, the Griffins’ last nine-goal outing was a 9-1 win at Rockford on Feb. 5, 2016. They came within two goals of matching of their team record, set in an 11-6 victory at – you guessed it – Rockford on Jan. 19, 2013…Rockford is Grand Rapids’ fourth-most frequent opponent (Milwaukee 202, Chicago 179, Manitoba 115), as tonight’s game marks the 113th meeting between the two franchises...Both Grand Rapids’ (13.5%, 30th) and Rockford’s (18.4%, T20th) power play percentage rank in the bottom half of the AHL. In addition, the penalty kill for Grand Rapids places near the bottom (76.9%, T26th) while the IceHogs come in at seventh (83.3%)...Jonatan Berggren (1-4—5) and Ryan Murphy (1-4—5) lead the way for the Griffins against Rockford with five points in four games...Griffins head coach Ben Simon served as an assistant in Rockford for two seasons (2011-13).

Last Time Out
The Griffins completed their four-game road trip with a 3-1 defeat at the Texas Stars on Wednesday at the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park. The Griffins finished the trip 2-2 against the Stars and the Iowa Wild. The loss marked the first time the Griffins have not came away with points against the Stars this season (2-1-1-0). Kyle Criscuolo (0-2—2) has now recorded points in back-to-back contests while Ryan Murphy’s goal crowned him the league leader in tallies among defensemen with nine on the year. The Griffins concluded the road season series against Texas with a 2-1-1-0 record, which marked the first time Grand Rapids finished above the 0.500 mark at Texas since the 2015-16 campaign. The Griffins have now scored on the power play in five of the last six contests.

Roster Shake Up
- Feb. 11, 2022—D Dan Renouf recalled by Detroit
- Feb. 12, 2022—D Dan Renouf reassigned by Detroit
- Feb. 18, 2022—F Erik Bradford released from PTO; F Joe Veleno reassigned by Detroit

This Date in Griffins History
2018: Jared Coreau is named AHL Player of the Week after leading the Griffins to consecutive road shutouts of Western Conference-leading Manitoba, stopping all 66 shots he faced.

Huffin’ and Puffin’
So far this season, the Griffins are 2-10-1-2 (0.233) against the Central Division-leading Chicago Wolves and the second-place Manitoba Moose. The Griffins picked up their second win against either club on Jan. 14 against Manitoba, marking their first victory against Chicago or the Moose since Nov. 12. However, Grand Rapids is 16-9-4-0 (0.621) against the rest of the AHL.

New Leader
Shawn Horcoff was named Red Wings assistant general manager and the fifth general manager of the Grand Rapids Griffins on Feb. 4, 2022, after the departure of former GM Pat Verbeek, now the GM of the Anaheim Ducks. Horcoff will work alongside Steve Yzerman on all hockey operations matters for the Red Wings, in addition to being responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Griffins, including personnel decisions, contract negotiations and player movement. Horcoff, 43, spent six seasons as the Red Wings' director of player development - in addition to the last three seasons as assistant director of player personnel - after joining the Red Wings prior to the 2016-17 season following a 1,008-game NHL career.

Keep it 100
Head coach Ben Simon became the sixth coach in franchise history to reach 100 wins with the Griffins with a 4-3 overtime victory over Iowa on Feb. 10. Simon joined Danton Cole (2002-05), Greg Ireland (2005-07), Curt Fraser (2008-12), Jeff Blashill (2012-15) and Todd Nelson (2015-18) as the only coaches to reach the 100-win mark in the regular season with the Griffins.

Work in Progress
Following a 2019-20 campaign in which they finished sixth in the AHL’s power play rankings at 20.9%, the Griffins exceeded that mark in 2020-21 with a power play conversion rate of 21.5%, the fifth best on the circuit. The Griffins’ special teams have struggled this season after opening the campaign with high numbers. Despite converting on a power play in five of its last six games, Grand Rapids still ranks 30th in the league at 13.5%. However, the power play has been much improved in the second half of the season, as the team has scored on 19% of its power plays (4-for-21). The penalty kill for the Griffins has also struggled a bit this season, killing off 76.9% of their penalties, which is tied for 26th in the AHL.

Going with the Flow
It has been a busy season thus far for head coach Ben Simon and Griffins general managers, as players on professional tryouts have been plentiful for the team this year. Ten PTO skaters have seen action so far this season and have totaled 109 games played; both numbers surpass any full season since Simon joined the team as an assistant coach in 2015-16. On average, 12.4% of Grand Rapids’ lineup has been tryout players.

Beijing Bound
A record 15 former Griffins are representing eight different countries at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China. Given the bronze-medal matchup between Sweden/Slovakia (8:10 a.m. today) and the gold-medal game between Finland/Russian Olympic Committee (11:10 p.m. tonight), a Griffins alum will earn a medal for the fifth straight Olympics. The group of former Griffins features four Calder Cup champions and all three goaltenders from the 2018-19 team that went 38-27-7-4 (0.572). Valtteri Filppula will earn his second Olympic medal for Finland, as he claimed a bronze medal at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. Tomas Jurco (2012-14; 15-17) 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.

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). Berggren’s 33 points (12-21—33) are tied for seventh among first-year players on the circuit and rank second on the Griffins’ roster. His 21 assists are tied for eighth among rookies while his 12 goals are tied for ninth.

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 25 helpers in the opening 43 games, which is a team high and places 15th in the league. Twelve assists have come on the power play, which is tied for 10th 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 36 points (11-25—36) this season pace the Griffins. He was recalled by Detroit on Dec. 15 and made his NHL season debut on Dec. 18 against the Devils.

Murphy’s Law
Reigning AHL defenseman of the year Ryan Murphy has started to find a rhythm offensively for the Griffins. The nine-year pro ranks fifth on the roster and leads all Grand Rapids’ blueliners with 21 points (9-12—21) in 40 outings. Murphy has climbed up the defensemen leaderboard in the AHL, as his nine goals rank first. The Aurora, Ontario, native signed a one-year contract with Detroit on July 28, 2021 and is the midst of his inaugural season with the Griffins.

Rarified Air
Brian Lashoff’s 549 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 21 games behind No. 4 Paul Larivee (Providence Reds 1952-62). Lashoff is still 106 games away from breaking the Griffins’ all-time games played record, held by Travis Richards with 655 games (1995-2006).

AHL Leaderboard Tracker
Jonatan Berggren—33 points (12-21—33) are tied for seventh among first-year players, 21 assists are tied for eighth among rookies and 12 goals are tied for ninth among rookies
Taro Hirose—25 assists rank 15th, 12 power play assists are tied for 10th
Ryan Murphy—Nine goals ranks first among blueliners
Wyatt Newpower—46 penalty minutes are tied for ninth among rookies
Calvin Pickard—2.53 goals against average ranks 13th, 0.921 save percentage places sixth, 15 wins are tied for fifth
Dominik Shine—100 penalty minutes rank second

Milestones
Taro Hirose skated in his 150th game as a pro on Feb. 17 at Texas. Head coach Ben Simon notched his 100th win with the Griffins on Feb. 10 with a 4-3 overtime victory at Iowa, becoming the sixth coach in franchise history to reach the 100-win plateau. Other upcoming milestones include:
Kyle Criscuolo—Two assists from 100 as a pro and 50 as a Griffin, three assists from 100 in the AHL
Brian Lashoff—One game from 550 as a Griffin and in the AHL
Jon Martin—Three points from 100 as a pro
Brett McKenzie—Two goals from 50 as a pro
Ryan Murphy—One goal from 50 as a pro
Tyler Spezia—Two points from 100 as a pro, one game from 100 in the AHL

Photo by Nicolas Carrillo/Griffins