Griffins Begin Three-Game Homestand

This Week’s Games

GRIFFINS vs. Toronto Marlies // Wed., Feb. 2 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena

Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 6:35 p.m.

Watch: AHLTV

Season Series: 0-0-1-0 Overall, 0-0-1-0 Home. Second of four meetings overall, second of two at Van Andel Arena

All-Time Series: 32-31-4-2 Overall, 19-14-2-1 Home

NHL Affiliation: Toronto Maple Leafs

Noteworthy: This season is the first campaign since 2015-16 that Toronto and Grand Rapids will play more than two games. The Griffins are 1-5-1-0 against the Marlies since the 2015-16 season, having been outscored 30-15.

GRIFFINS vs. Ontario Reign // Fri., Feb. 4 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena
GRIFFINS vs. Ontario Reign // Sat., Feb. 5 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena

Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 6:35 p.m. on Friday and 7 p.m. on Saturday

Watch: AHLTV on Friday, WXSP-TV and AHLTV on Saturday

Season Series: First and second of four meetings overall, first and second of two at Van Andel Arena

All-Time Series: 0-2-0-0 Overall, 0-1-0-0 Home

NHL Affiliation: Los Angeles Kings

Noteworthy: Ontario currently ranks second in the Pacific Division with a 23-7-3-2 (0.729) record, which is the fourth-best point percentage in the AHL. 2017 Calder Cup champion Martin Frk (2013-17; 18-19) will return to Van Andel Arena for the first time as a visitor.

Last Week’s Results
Wed., Jan. 26 // GRIFFINS 0 vs. Milwaukee 1 // 15-13-5-2 (37 pts., 0.529, 3rd Central Division)
Fri., Jan. 28 // GRIFFINS 1 at Chicago 4 // 15-14-5-2 (37 pts., 0.514, T4th Central Division)
Sat., Jan. 29 // GRIFFINS 0 at Milwaukee 5 // 15-15-5-2 (37 pts., 0.500, 6th Central Division)

Last Week’s Notes
Wednesday vs. Milwaukee (0-1 L) - The Admirals scored the lone goal on a power play to defeat the Griffins 1-0 at Van Andel Arena. Despite being on a four-game home winless skid, the Griffins have recorded points in nine of their last 11 contests (5-2-3-1) in West Michigan. Recap | Highlights

Friday at Chicago (1-4 L) - Three power play goals in the second period propelled Chicago over the Griffins 4-1 at Allstate Arena. The Griffins fell to 0-6-1-0 against the Wolves this season. The Chicago trio of Andrew Poturalski, Stefan Noesen and C.J. Smith continued their dominant campaign against the Griffins, as all three recorded multi-point outings. The Wolves’ top line has combined for a total of 42 points against Grand Rapids, as the rest of the team has just 30 points. Poturalski leads the way with 17 (7-10—17) while Noesen (5-8—13) and Smith (2-10—12) are close behind. Matt Berry registered the only goal for the Griffins. Patrick Curry returned to the lineup for the first time since Nov. 24 while Turner Elson skated in his 450th game as a pro. Victor Brattstrom appeared in consecutive contests for the first time this campaign, recording a season-high 36 saves. The eight penalties surrendered by Grand Rapids were the most incurred this season. Recap | Highlights

Saturday at Milwaukee (0-5 L) - Four different Admirals scored as Milwaukee defeated the Griffins 5-0 at Panther Arena. The Griffins have been shut out two out of the last three contests and dropped the last three meetings against the Admirals this season. Milwaukee’s Connor Ingram continued his dominance in net, notching 42 saves in the shutout. He now has a combined 72 saves and zero goals against in the last two games against the Griffins. Grand Rapids’ winless streak climbed to five contests, which is the longest this season. In his first start anywhere since Dec. 11, goaltender Kaden Fulcher made 21 saves in his AHL season debut. Taro Hirose suited up for his 100th game as a Griffin. Recap | Highlights

Welcome Back, Frky: Former Griffins star Martin Frk will return to Grand Rapids for the first time as visitor after spending five seasons with the Griffins from 2013-17 and 2018-19. Frk helped the Griffins capture a Calder Cup in 2017, recording 15 points (5-10—15) in 16 outings during the playoff run and scoring the Cup-clinching goal in game six. The Pelhrimov, Czech Republic, native appeared in 227 games for Grand Rapids, amassing 132 points (68-64—132) and 191 penalty minutes. Frk is tied for fourth in Griffins franchise history with 25 power play goals and tied for seventh with 17 playoff assists. Frk is currently tied for fourth in the AHL with 39 points (19-20—39) in 30 games.

Old Friends Reunited: Former teammates with the Toronto Marlies, Calvin Pickard and Ontario’s Garret Sparks, will return to the same ice this weekend. The goaltending pair won the AHL’s Harry “Hap” Holmes Memorial Award during the 2017-18 season, given to the goaltenders with the lowest combined goals against average. Pickard (2.31 GAA) and Sparks (1.79 GAA) combined for a goals against average of 2.02 en route to winning the 2018 Calder Cup with the Marlies.

No Champion Here: Martin Frk will be the 14th Calder Cup champion with the Griffins to return to Van Andel Arena as a visitor. Grand Rapids has taken care of business against former champions, as it holds an 11-2-0-0 record and a plus-15 scoring margin (36-21) against Griffins Calder Cup alumni in their first games back in West Michigan. Tomas Jurco (4-1 W vs. RFD, 12/8/17) and Andrej Nestrasil (2-1 W vs. CHA, 1/9/15) are the only two former players who have defeated the Griffins in their first appearance at Van Andel Arena since winning the Cup.

Beijing Bound: A record 14 former Griffins will represent seven different countries at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China. The group features four Calder Cup champions and all three goaltenders from the 2018-19 team that went 38-27-7-4 (0.572). Valtteri Filppula was selected to represent Finland for the second time, as he claimed a bronze medal at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. Tomas Jurco (2012-14; 15-17) also 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.

Busy Bodies: The Griffins competed in 32 games over the first 99 days of the season between Oct. 15-Jan. 21. The calendar for Grand Rapids intensifies in the second half of the campaign, as the club is scheduled to play 43 contests over 96 days from Jan. 22-April 28. The Griffins are no stranger to a busy workload, as Grand Rapids played in 16 games in 30 days to conclude the 2020-21 season.

Calvin’s University: Goaltender Calvin Pickard made his NHL season debut with Detroit on Jan. 26 in a relief role against Chicago, then made his first NHL start of the campaign on Jan. 28 at Pittsburgh. Against the Penguins, the netminder earned the game’s first star, logging 36 saves in a 3-2 shootout victory. Pickard he has allowed two goals or less in 14 of his 27 appearances this season with the Griffins. The 10-year-pro is currently tied for seventh in the AHL with a 2.40 goals against average while his 0.927 save percentage places third. Pickard has seen action in 27 of the 37 games this season, including 16 straight from Nov. 5-Dec. 22. The goaltender recorded his third assist of the season on Dec. 4 versus Rockford, which set a new AHL career high for assists in a season. Pickard recorded his first shutout of the year and fourth as a Griffin on Nov. 12 against Manitoba, moving him into a tie for 10th place in franchise history with Jani Hurme, Martin Prusek, and Eddie Pasquale.

Going with the Flow: It has been a busy season thus far for head coach Ben Simon and general manager Pat Verbeek, as players on professional tryouts have been plentiful for the Griffins this year. Ten PTO skaters have seen action so far this season and have totaled 93 games played; both numbers surpass any full season since Simon joined the team as an assistant coach in 2015-16. On average, 12.6% of Grand Rapids’ lineup has been tryout players.

Huffin’ and Puffin’: So far this season, the Griffins are 2-10-1-2 (0.233) against the Central Division-leading Chicago Wolves and 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 13-5-4-0 (0.682) against the rest of the AHL.

AHL Leaderboard Tracker:
Jonatan Berggren—27 points (8-19—27) are tied for sixth among first-year players
Taro Hirose—21 assists are tied for 13th, 10 power play assists are tied for 10th
Ryan Murphy—Six goals are tied for fourth among blueliners
Wyatt Newpower—39 penalty minutes are tied for eighth among rookies
Calvin Pickard—2.40 goals against average is tied for seventh, 0.927 save percentage places third, 13 wins are tied for fifth
Dominik Shine—83 penalty minutes are tied for second

Milestones:
Turner Elson skated in his 450th game as a pro on Jan. 28 at Chicago while Taro Hirose notched his 100th game as a Griffin on Jan. 29. Other upcoming milestones include:
Ben Simon—Two wins from 100 as Griffins head coach
Kyle Criscuolo—Five assists from 100 as a pro and 50 as a Griffin, six assists from 100 in the AHL
Jon Martin—Four points from 100 as a pro
Brett McKenzie—Three goals from 50 as a pro
Ryan Murphy—Four goals from 50 as a pro

Photo by Nicolas Carrillo/Griffins