Griffins' Bag Full With Weekend Three-in-Three

This Week’s Games
Iowa Wild at GRIFFINS // Fri., Nov. 2 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena
Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 6:35 p.m.
Watch: AHLTV
Season Series: First of six meetings overall, first of three at Van Andel Arena
All-Time Series: 14-5-0-1 Home, 29-10-0-1 Overall
NHL Affiliation: Minnesota Wild
Noteworthy: Grand Rapids finished 6-4 against Iowa in 2017-18 and seven of those games were decided by one goal.

Milwaukee Admirals at GRIFFINS // Sat., Nov. 3 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena
Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 7:30 p.m. (joined in progress)
Watch: AHLTV
Season Series: First of 10 meetings overall, first of five at Van Andel Arena
All-Time Series: 50-29-2-2-2 Home, 92-61-7-7-7 Overall
NHL Affiliation: Nashville Predators
Noteworthy: The Griffins are 9-3-1-0 in their last 13 regular season meetings against Milwaukee.

GRIFFINS at Cleveland Monsters // Sun., Nov. 4 // 5 p.m. // Quicken Loans Arena
Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 4:35 p.m.
Watch: AHLTV
Season Series: First of four meetings overall, first of two at Quicken Loans Arena
All-Time Series: 21-14-3-8 Road, 50-28-4-10 Overall
NHL Affiliation: Columbus Blue Jackets
Noteworthy: Grand Rapids finished 6-1-0-1 against Cleveland in 2017-18, including wins in the last three.

Last Week’s Results
Fri., Oct. 26 GRIFFINS 3 at Belleville Senators 5 2-5-0-0 (4 points, 7th Central Division)
Sat., Oct. 27 GRIFFINS 3 at Belleville Senators 1 3-5-0-0 (6 points, 7th Central)

Status Update: The Grand Rapids Griffins are 3-5-0-0 and place seventh in the Central Division. Grand Rapids split its two games at Belleville last weekend, its third straight 0.500 week after dropping a pair of contests in Texas during opening weekend. The Griffins play their first three-in-three of the season this week, as Iowa and Milwaukee come to town on Friday and Saturday, respectively, before Grand Rapids heads to Cleveland on Sunday.

Follow the Leader(s):
Points: Carter Camper, Matthew Ford, Matt Puempel (6)
Goals: Puempel (4)
Assists: Camper (5)
Plus-Minus: Puempel (+4)
PIM: Turner Elson (20)
Wins: Harri Sateri (2)
GAA: Patrik Rybar (3.00)
Save %: Rybar (0.870)

Last Week’s Notes:
Friday at Belleville – Belleville won the first-ever matchup between the teams...Chase Balisy’s penalty shot attempt in the first period was the first by a Griffins opponent since Alex Broadhurst on Jan. 21, 2017 vs. CLE (no goal)...Filip Hronek and Christoffer Ehn, both assigned by Detroit to Grand Rapids earlier in the week, made their Griffins season debuts...For Ehn, it was also his AHL debut...Turner Elson lit the lamp for the second consecutive game...Grand Rapids recorded a season-high 34 shots…Belleville marked the 52nd different road city and CAA Arena the 63rd different road venue the Griffins have competed in since the franchise’s inception in 1996.
Saturday at Belleville – Grand Rapids picked up its first road win of the season…In his second AHL start, goaltender Patrik Rybar made 21 saves to earn his first victory…Dominic Turgeon was unsuccessful in his penalty shot attempt at 13:51 of the second period…The Griffins have had two penalty shots attempts in eight games…Chris Terry scored his third goal of the season, which also marked the game-winner…Matt Puempel produced his team-leading fourth goal…Wade Megan registered his first multi-point game as a Griffin…Due to the AHL’s veteran rule, defenseman Dylan McIlrath did not dress, which snapped his streak of 103 straight games played since joining the Griffins (includes playoffs).

This Week’s Promotions: Friday against Iowa is Cancer Awareness Night presented by Michigan First Credit Union. The Griffins will wear special jerseys during warmups, which will then be auctioned off post-game to benefit the American Cancer Society. More information about the night, including ticket deals, can be found here. Fans can also enjoy $2 domestic drafts and $2 hot dogs from 6-8 p.m., while supplies last. On Saturday against Milwaukee, the first 2,500 fans will receive a Griffins tumbler, courtesy of Centennial Securities.

Friendly Confines: The Griffins have won two of their first three home games and are averaging 4.67 goals at Van Andel Arena, compared to 1.60 on foreign ice.

Wealth Distribution: Through eight games, the Griffins show nine players with four or more points, seven with two or more goals, and five with three or more assists.

No Shots For You: Grand Rapids has given up more than 30 shots just once (32 on Oct. 17 vs. Texas) and ranks third in the AHL in shots against (25.63). The Griffins have outshot six of eight opponents so far.

Add Rybar for Support: Goaltender Patrik Rybar (pronounced REE-bar) picked up his first victory on North American soil in his second career start last Saturday in Belleville after stopping 21 of 22 shots. The 24-year-old led the Czech Extraliga in both goals against average (1.73) and shutouts (7) in 36 games with Hradec Kralove last season.

Homer Run: Third-year Griffin Axel Holmstrom has collected points in a career-high five consecutive games, which is also the longest by a Grand Rapids skater this season. The 196th overall selection in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft by Detroit, Holmstrom ties for fourth on the team in scoring.

Happy Camper: First-year Griffin Carter Camper shows four assists in his last three games and paces the club with five assists.

Puemped Up: After tallying an insurance goal in last Saturday’s win, Matt Puempel leads the team in goals (4) and ties for the team lead in points (6). The sixth-year pro has points in four of eight games so far.

Saari, Not Saari: Second-year defenseman Vili Saarijarvi had his career-high four-game point streak come to a close in last Saturday’s victory. A third-round selection by Detroit in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, Saarijarvi ties with Jake Chelios for most points by a team blueliner (1-3—4).

What’s Cheli Cooking?: Speaking of Jake Chelios, he has at least one assist in three of the last four games and his four helpers pace team defensemen. Jake and his father, Chris, are the first father and son duo to both play for Grand Rapids during their careers. As part of his 26-year Hall of Fame career from 1983-2010, Chris appeared in two games with Grand Rapids during the 2008-09 campaign.

Sadowy to Griffins, Yates to Toledo: The Detroit Red Wings on Sunday reassigned forward Dylan Sadowy from the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye to the Griffins and the Griffins assigned forward Trevor Yates to Toledo. Playing in his third professional season, Sadowy has tallied eight points (6-2—8), a plus-three rating and 17 PIM in six games for the division-leading Walleye. Originally drafted by San Jose in the third round of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft and acquired by Detroit in May 2016, Sadowy has logged 51 career games with the Griffins since 2016-17. Yates has played in two games with the Griffins during his rookie campaign and recorded four PIM.

Veteran Presence: The Griffins are led in scoring by a trio of veterans – Matt Puempel (4-2—6), Matthew Ford (2-4—6) and Carter Camper (1-5—6).

Stepping Right In: Several players who have recently been assigned to Grand Rapids by Detroit have made positive impacts: defenseman Brian Lashoff, who missed the first five games due to injury, has one assist and a plus-one rating in his initial three games; defenseman Libor Sulak, assigned by Detroit on Oct. 17, has one assist and a plus-one rating in three appearances; defenseman Filip Hronek, assigned by Detroit on Oct. 23, has one assist in two games; and Christoffer Ehn, assigned on Oct. 25, shows a plus-one rating in his first two AHL games.

Z-Score: The sixth overall selection in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft by Detroit, Filip Zadina ties for third on the team in goals (2) and sixth in points (4). The 18-year-old 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.

Just Getting Started: The Griffins finished their eight October games 3-5-0-0, marking the fifth time since 2012-13 the team has concluded the first month at or below 0.500. However, a slow start in October does not appear to correlate to the team’s success in November or beyond.

Milestones Within Reach:
Brian Lashoff – needs one point to reach 100 as a pro
Carter Camper – needs two assists to reach 250 as a pro
Dominic Turgeon – needs two games played to reach 150 in the AHL
Chris Terry – needs five points to reach 450 in the AHL
Jake Chelios – needs three points to reach 100 in the AHL
Matthew Ford – needs two assists to reach 200 in the AHL

Iowa Notes: Current record – 5-2-0-0, 10 points, T3rd in Central Division…Grand Rapids finished 6-4 against Iowa in 2017-18 and seven of those games were decided by one goal, including four in a shootout…13 of the last 18 meetings have been decided by one goal…The Griffins won 20 of the first 24 all-time meetings against the Wild, but are 9-6-0-1 since…Tim Army is in his first season as Iowa’s head coach, taking over from Derek Lalonde, who was named an assistant coach with the Tampa Bay Lightning over the summer…Wild forward Landon Ferraro was a second-round draft selection by Detroit in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft…Ferraro tallied 140 points (75-65—140) in 270 games with the Griffins over parts of five seasons (2009-10; 2011-15) and helped the team win the 2013 Calder Cup...Ferraro became the 142nd Griffins alumnus to play in the NHL when he debuted with the Red Wings on March 18, 2014 vs. Toronto…Gerald Mayhew, in his second full pro season, is a Wyandotte, Mich., native and skated four seasons with the Ferris State Bulldogs (WCHA) and tallied 119 points (52-67—119) in 150 games from 2013-17.

Milwaukee Notes: Current record – 8-1-2-0, 18 points, 1st Central Division…Milwaukee leads the division by five points over Chicago…With a rivalry dating back to the International Hockey League days, the Griffins have faced the Admirals more than any other opponent in team history as the two clubs will meet up for the 175th time on Saturday…Grand Rapids posts a 33-15-2-0 (0.680) regular season mark against the Admirals since 2013-14, including a 17-7-1-0 (0.700) record in 25 games at Van Andel Arena…The Griffins are 9-3-1-0 in their last 13 regular season meetings against Milwaukee…Karl Taylor is in his first campaign behind Milwaukee’s bench after serving the last four seasons as an assistant with the Texas Stars.

Tommy Mac is Back (in different colors): Goaltender Tom McCollum, who played with the Griffins from 2009-16 and 2017-18, returns to Van Andel Arena on Saturday as a member of the Milwaukee Admirals. Selected 30th overall by the Detroit Red Wings in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, McCollum is Grand Rapids’ all-time goaltending leader in wins (123), games played (263), minutes (14900:25) and saves (6640). He helped Grand Rapids win the 2013 Calder Cup and is the team’s only four-time AHL Man of the Year nominee. McCollum also appeared in three career games with the Red Wings, showing a 1-0-0 record, a 2.98 GAA and a 0.879 save percentage. He became the 117th Griffins alumnus to play in the NHL when he debuted on March 30, 2011 vs. St. Louis. In his career facing Grand Rapids, McCollum is 0-0-2 with a 1.90 GAA and a 0.952 save percentage. His two appearances vs. the Griffins came on April 12 and 14, 2017, at Van Andel Arena as a member of the Charlotte Checkers.

Cleveland Notes: Current record – 6-3-1-0, 13 points, 2nd North Division…As part of the league’s realignment last summer, Cleveland moved to the Eastern Conference’s North Division, while San Antonio and Texas joined the Central…The Griffins and Monsters will meet four times this season, a stark decrease compared to recent years when the squads squared off eight times in 2017-18, 12 in 2016-17, 18 in 2015-16 (including playoffs) and 10 in 2014-15…Colin Campbell has two career hat tricks and both have come against Cleveland (12/26/15 and 4/14/18)…Grand Rapids finished 6-1-0-1 against Cleveland in 2017-18, including wins in the last three…The Griffins have points in 30 of 42 meetings (24-12-2-4) against the Monsters since the start of the 2014-15 season, including in eight of the last nine (6-1-0-2)…Head coach Ben Simon is a native of Shaker Heights, a Cleveland suburb…Captain Matthew Ford spent most of his first three pro seasons (2008-11) with the Monsters, totaling 69 points (39-30—69) in 126 appearances…First-year Griffin Carter Camper is a native of Rocky River, a Cleveland suburb, and appeared in 53 games with the Monsters last season, posting 42 points (13-29—42)…Despite being traded on Feb. 26 to Tucson, Camper still finished the season as Cleveland’s leading scorer.

Win Some, Lose Some:

Playing on Consecutive Nights:

Hitting the Snooze: Historically, the Griffins appear to benefit from the extra hour gained when daylight savings time ends, showing a perfect 5-0 record all time when playing on the date the clocks roll back. Four of those five victories have come on the road, including three when the team played the night before and had to travel. Daylight savings time in 2018 ends Sunday and the Griffins are in Cleveland that day.

Photo at top by Sam Iannamico/Griffins