Griffins Game #10 * Road Game #7 * AHL Game #140

Season Series: 0-0-0-0 Home Series: 0-0-0-0 Road Series: 0-0-0-0
All-Time Series: 58-38-9-11 All-Time Home Series: 36-12-5-5 All-Time Road Series: 22-26-4-6

Griffins at IceHogs
First of eight meetings overall, first of four at the BMO Center…Dating back to the final meeting of the 2019-20 season, Grand Rapids now has points in 14 of the last 17 games (11-3-2-1, 0.735) against the IceHogs...The Griffins are 20-14-6-6 since the 2017-18 season against Rockford and have outscored the IceHogs 126-121. However, on the road since 2017-18, Grand Rapids is just 7-11-2-3 against the IceHogs, being outscored 73-58...The Griffins have only one win in the past five meetings at Rockford (1-4-0-0)...Rockford comes into the contest with a 2-3-0-0 home record this season while Grand Rapids is 3-3-0-0 on the road...Rockford is Grand Rapids’ fourth-most frequent opponent (Milwaukee 204, Chicago 184, Cleveland 118), as tonight’s game marks the 117th meeting between the two franchises...Griffins head coach Ben Simon served as an assistant in Rockford for two seasons (2011-13).

Last Time Out
In dramatic fashion, the Griffins defeated the Iowa Wild 5-4 in overtime on the behalf of Jonatan Berggren’s penalty-shot goal at Wells Fargo Arena on Friday. Berggren was awarded a penalty shot when former Griffin Joe Hicketts knocked the cage from its foundation 1:16 into the overtime period. The Swedish forward took full advantage, shifting the puck from right to left and beating his fellow countryman Jesper Wallstedt in net with a shot over the diving goaltender for the 5-4 win. Pontus Andreasson recorded two assists in the Griffins’ victory and Taro Hirose extended his point streak to five with the game-tying tally in the final period. Berggren led the way for Grand Rapids with three points (1-2—3). The Griffins notched a season-high 40 shots and it was just the second time this season Grand Rapids has outshot their opponent (40-26). Givani Smith recorded his first goal of the season while Trenton Bliss made his AHL season debut.

Roster Shake Up
- Oct. 29—F Givani Smith recalled by Detroit
- Oct. 31—G Victor Brattstrom reassigned to Toledo (ECHL) by Detroit
- Nov. 1—F Matt Luff and F Givani Smith reassigned by Detroit
- Nov. 2—F Matt Luff recalled by Detroit; G Victor Brattstrom reassigned from Toledo by Detroit; G Sebastian Cossa reassigned to Toledo by Detroit
- Nov. 3—F Trenton Bliss recalled by Grand Rapids
- Nov. 5—F Austin Czarnik recalled by Detroit

This Date in Griffins History
2005: A capacity crowd of 10,834 at Van Andel Arena witnesses Grand Rapids’ 3-2 triumph over Syracuse, giving the Griffins their first November sellout since 1999 and the earliest date for their second sellout of the season since 1997.

Bobbing for Apples
Taro Hirose has been known for his passing abilities throughout four seasons with the Griffins. In fact, the former Michigan State Spartan has had at least 22 assists in each AHL campaign in his career. This season has been no different, as Hirose has totaled a team-leading eight helpers, which is tied for sixth in the league. Hirose is currently on a five-game point streak and has points in seven of the nine games thus far.

Road Trip!
So far, Grand Rapids is 3-3-0-0 in its eight-game road trip with a stop in Cleveland yet to come. The eight-game journey is the longest in franchise history during the first two months of a season, beating out a five-game trip in November of 2017. In that five-game road stand in 2017, the Griffins finished with a 2-2-0-1 mark.

Shine Bright
Sixth-year pro Dominik Shine had just one point (0-1—1) through the first four games of the season but has flipped the switch as of late. The Detroit native has recorded a goal in three of the last five games. During the 2021-22 campaign, Shine posted career-high numbers in goals (17), assists (15), points (32) and penalty minutes (141).

Getting Revved Up
After suffering an injury in the season opener on Oct. 14 that kept him sidelined for the next four games, Jonatan Berggren returned to action this past weekend with points in both contests against the Texas Stars. The former second-round selection is on a four-game point streak (4-3—7) and has consecutive multi-point outings. Berggren has seven points (4-3—7) and two penalty minutes in five games this season. A year ago, the Enkoping, Sweden, native broke the Griffins’ single-season rookie scoring record with 64 points (21-43—64) in 70 outings.

The Last Czar
Austin Czarnik has made his presence known to begin his Grand Rapids career, as the Washington Township, Mich., native, has bagged a team-leading 10 points (5-5—10) in the first eight games of the season, with his five goals tied for 10th in the AHL. Czarnik has totaled a least one point in seven of the eight games and started the campaign with five points (3-2—5) in the first two contests. 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 on Oct. 17 for his efforts and became the first Griffins forward to win the award since Matt Lorito on Nov. 20, 2016. Czarnik was recalled by Detroit on Nov. 5.

Getting Busy
The Griffins will embark on their first three-in-three of the season this week, with games on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Since the 2017-18 season, Grand Rapids is 13-17-2-3 (0.443) when playing three games in three nights and been outscored 118-98. The Griffins will have one more three-in-three this campaign from March 10-12.

A Welcome Sight
The Griffins struggled out of the gate in 2020-21, as the team stood at 4-4-0-1 after nine games, having been held to two shutouts and just 26 goals scored. In 2022-23, Grand Rapids has looked improved with a 5-4-0-0 record and 33 total goals, which includes six games with three or more tallies. The Griffins struggled to score a campaign ago, but this season has already seen an eight-goal performance on Oct. 15 (8-5 W vs. San Diego), which tied for the fifth-highest scoring home game in franchise history. The power play for Grand Rapids stands at 29.3% (3rd in the AHL), which is leaps and bounds better than a season ago when the power play finished 28th on the circuit at 16.7%.

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, Oct. 15 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 eight AHL games, Edvinsson has eight points (1-7—8), which is tied for seventh among rookies while his seven assists are tied for first among first-year players. On Oct. 19, Sebastian Cossa tied Mathieu Chouinard (15th by Ottawa in 1998) as the highest-drafted goalie to play for Grand Rapids. The Griffins have had only one other first-round netminder in Tom McCollum (30th by Detroit in 2008), although Tyler Moss was taken 29th overall in the second round by Tampa Bay in 1993. Cossa made 21 saves during his debut against Milwaukee en route to recording his first professional victory in a 3-2 game.

Matty Ice
The Detroit Red Wings this past offseason signed sixth-year pro Matt Luff to a one-year contract. After totaling 31 points in 30 games with Milwaukee a season ago, Luff picked up right where he left off, as he has seven points (3-4—7) in five games to begin his career in Grand Rapids. Luff ranks third on the team in points. The Windsor, Ontario, native has three two-point outings in the first five contests and has been held off the scoresheet just once. Luff was recalled by the Red Wings on Thursday, Oct. 27 and made his season debut that same night at the Boston Bruins, becoming the 194th Griffin to compete in the NHL.

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. Every offseason signing has at least one point for the Griffins through nine games. Czarnik, L’Esperance and Luff all have at least seven points through the first eight games of the season, including 10 points Czarnik. New players on the team, including rookies, have accounted for 50 of the 89 points by Grand Rapids this campaign.

O Captain! My Captain!
Captain Brian Lashoff’s 587 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 21 games behind No. 3 Howie Yanosik (Hershey Bears, 1957-67). Lashoff is still 68 games away from breaking the Griffins’ all-time regular-season games played record, held by Travis Richards with 655 games (1995-2006).

AHL Leaderboard Tracker
Austin Czarnik—Five goals are tied for 10th, three power-play goals are tied for fourth
Simon Edvinsson—Eight points are tied for seventh among rookies, seven assists are tied for first among rookies
Cross Hanas—Four goals are tied for fourth among rookies
Taro Hirose—Eight assists are tied for sixth, six power-play assists are tied for first

Milestones
Donovan Sebrango competed in his 100th game as a Griffin and in the AHL at the age of 20, recording an assist in the process.
Austin Czarnik—One assist from 150 in the AHL
Joel L’Esperance—One point from 150 as a pro
Givani Smith—One point from 50 in the AHL and as a Griffin
Tyler Spezia—Four goals from 50 as a pro
Eemil Viro—One game from 150 as a pro

Photo by Todd Reicher/Rockford IceHogs