Griffins Game #4 * Road Game #1 * AHL Game #61

Season Series: 0-0-0-0 Home Series: 0-0-0-0 Road Series: 0-0-0-0
All-Time Series: 33-33-4-2 All-Time Home Series: 19-15-2-1 All-Time Road Series: 14-18-2-1

Griffins at Marlies
First of four meetings overall, first of two at Coca-Cola Coliseum…The Griffins and Marlies had met for 11 consecutive seasons from 2005-16 before taking a three-year hiatus (2016-19)…Since the 2017-18 campaign, the Griffins are 2-3-0-0 in their first road game of the season and have been outscored 21-20...The Griffins are 2-3-1-0 against Toronto since the 2019-20 season and have been outscored 23-20...Grand Rapids is 1-1-0-0 in Toronto since 2019-20 and have been outscored 9-8...The Marlies split their opening-weekend series against Rochester and have scored five goals in two games while conceding just as many...Last season, Bobby McMann placed fifth among rookie in goals scored with 24 while Alex Steeves ranked among the AHL’s rookie leaders in goals (23, T6th), assists (23, T17th) and points (46, 10th)...Ben Simon served as an assistant coach with the Marlies during the 2014-15 season (40-27-9-0 record).

Last Time Out
In his professional debut, netminder Sebastian Cossa collected 21 saves while the Griffins anchored the Milwaukee Admirals to secure a 3-2 win at Van Andel Arena on Wednesday. The former first-round selection became the seventh goaltender in Griffins history to win his debut. Austin Czarnik continued his hot streak with another goal, which put him at four tallies in three contests. Taro Hirose (1-1–2) and Matt Luff (0-2–2) each contributed with two-point outings, while Kirill Tyutyayev notched the game-winner. Ben Simon appeared in his 250th game as the Griffins head coach and improved to 118-102-19-11 (0.532).

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 fourth among rookies. 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.

Road Warriors
The Griffins have fared well during road openers to begin a season, as the franchise is 15-11-2-0 all time in road openers and have outscored their opponents 93-71. However, in the last five seasons, Grand Rapids is 2-3-0-0 (21-20) in its first game away from West Michigan and have dropped the past two road openers. The Griffins have not been shut out in a road opener since Oct. 9, 2015 at Bakersfield (0-1 L) and average a total of 3.32 goals scored while giving up 2.54. Grand Rapids has never begun its road portion of its schedule in Toronto.

This Date in Griffins History
2016: On the strength of Tyler Bertuzzi’s three-point night (1-2—3), the Griffins hand defending champion Cleveland its first loss of the season and continue their best start in eight years (4-1) with a 3-2 win.

The Last Czar
Austin Czarnik made his presence known to begin his Grand Rapids career, as the Washington Township, Mich., native, bagged six points (4-2—6) in the first three games of the season. Czarnik’s early-season scoring prowess puts him in the company of some of the most prolific and accomplished scorers in franchise history. His six points are tied for the fifth-most by a Griffin through the season’s first three games, while his four goals trail only the five-goal outputs of only Anthony Mantha (2016-17) and Jiri Hudler (2005-06). 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. Cossa made his pro debut on Oct. 19 versus Milwaukee and became just the seventh goaltender in Griffins history to win his debut, making 21 saves in the process. 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).

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).

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 weekend 66 games behind Fraser in regular-season games coached, and is currently 29 regular-season wins behind Fraser (146 wins, 4th overall). Simon holds a 118-102-19-11 (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 is the only player yet to record a point for Grand Rapids. Czarnik, Kampfer, L’Esperance and Luff all have at least two points through the first three games of the season, including five points for Luff and six for Czarnik. Not only does Czarnik pace the team with six points (4-2—6) but he also is tied for third in the league for points and tied for first in the AHL with four goals.

Winning Faces
This weekend’s games against the Toronto Marlies could feature two defensemen who won the 2013 Calder Cup with the Griffins. On Oct. 19, the Marlies signed former Griffin and Red Wing Danny DeKeyser to a professional tryout. DeKeyser joined Grand Rapids during the 2013 Calder Cup finals and helped the Griffins capture their first cup. Defenseman Brian Lashoff was also part of the 2013 cup-winning team and went on to win his second championship with Grand Rapids in 2017.

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 two of the three 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.

O Captain! My Captain!
Captain Brian Lashoff’s 583 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 25 games behind No. 3 Howie Yanosik (Hershey Bears, 1957-67). Lashoff is still 72 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—Six points (4-2—6) are tied for third, four goals are tied for first
Sebastian Cossa—2.00 goals against average ranks fourth among rookie goaltenders
Simon Edvinsson—Four points (1-3—4) are tied for fourth among rookies, three assists are tied for second among rookies
Steven Kampfer—Three assists are tied for fourth among defensemen
Jared McIsaac—Three assists are tied for fourth among defensemen
Kirill Tyutyayev—Two goals are tied for fourth among rookies

Milestones
Austin Czarnik registered his 100th pro goal in a 3-2 victory over Milwaukee on Oct. 19 while Ben Simon appeared in his 250th game as head coach for the Griffins.
Albert Johansson—One game from 150 as a pro
Matt Luff—Two points from 150 as a pro
Tyler Spezia—Four goals from 50 as a pro

Photo by Mark Newman/Griffins