Griffins End February Against Cleveland, Bakersfield

This Week’s Games

GRIFFINS at Cleveland Monsters // Wed., Feb. 23 // 7 p.m. // Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse

Listen: 96.1 TheGame at 6:35 p.m.

Watch: Bally Sports Great Lakes and AHLTV

Season Series: 2-0-1-0 Overall, 2-0-0-0 Road. Fourth of eight meetings overall, third of four at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse

All-Time Series: 63-34-6-10 Overall, 28-17-4-8 Road

NHL Affiliation: Columbus Blue Jackets

Noteworthy: Grand Rapids is 9-3-1-0 against the Monsters over the last two seasons.

GRIFFINS vs. Bakersfield Condors // Fri., Feb. 25 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena
GRIFFINS vs. Bakersfield Condors // Sat., Feb. 26 // 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: 1-3-0-0 Overall, 0-1-0-0 Home

NHL Affiliation: Edmonton Oilers

Noteworthy: This will be the first home meeting against the Condors since April 16, 2016, and the first overall meeting since Dec. 14, 2019, as two games scheduled at Van Andel Arena for March 13-14, 2020 were the first casualties of the COVID-19 pandemic. Bakersfield currently ranks third in the Pacific Division with a 0.600 points percentage (20-12-4-4).

Last Week’s Results
Tue., Feb. 15 // GRIFFINS 2 at Texas 1 // 18-18-5-2 (43 pts., 0.500, 6th Central Division)
Wed., Feb. 16 // GRIFFINS 1 at Texas 3 // 18-19-5-2 (43 pts., 0.489, 6th Central Division)
Sat., Feb. 19 // GRIFFINS 5 vs. Rockford 2 // 19-19-5-2 (45 pts., 0.500, 6th Central Division)
Sun., Feb. 20 // GRIFFINS 5 at Rockford 2 // 20-19-5-2 (47 pts., 0.511, T5th Central Division)

Last Week’s Notes
Tuesday at Texas (2-1 W) – The Griffins prevailed 2-1 against the Stars at H-E-B Center at Cedar Park. Grand Rapids improved to 2-1 in its four-game road trip and pushed its point streak against Texas to three games (2-0-1-0). Jonatan Berggren (1-1—2) and Taro Hirose (1-1—2) recorded multi-point games in the victory. Berggren (4-2—6) had points in four out of his last five outings while Hirose had scored (2-3—5) in three out of his last four. Calvin Pickard notched 26 saves in his 15th win on the campaign, which tied for fifth in the AHL. Recap | Highlights

Wednesday at Texas (1-3 L) – The Griffins completed their four-game road trip with a 3-1 defeat at the Texas Stars 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 did not came away with points against the Stars this season (2-1-1-0). Kyle Criscuolo (0-2—2) 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. Recap | Highlights

Saturday vs. Rockford (5-2 W) - Five different Griffins scored to push Grand Rapids over the IceHogs 5-2 at Van Andel Arena. During a first-intermission ceremony, the Griffins raised Michel Picard’s #7 to the rafters. Picard became just the second player in franchise history to have his jersey retired, joining the #24 of Travis Richards. Joe Veleno returned to West Michigan from Detroit and continued his three-game point streak with Grand Rapids (2-3—5). Defenseman Ryan Murphy scored his 10^th goal of the season, extending his lead over all AHL blueliners in goals scored. Murphy, Taro Hirose and Luke Witkowski recorded multi-point outings. With the victory, the Griffins halted Rockford’s season-high four-game unbeaten streak. Chase Pearson returned to the lineup for the first time since Jan. 24 after recovering from an injury. Brian Lashoff appeared in his 550th game as a Griffin while Tyler Spezia skated in his 100th AHL contest. Recap | Highlights

Sunday at Rockford (5-2 W) - The Griffins tallied five unanswered goals en route to a 5-2 victory over the IceHogs at the BMO Harris Bank Center. Grand Rapids swept the weekend series against Rockford and now hold a 5-1 season-series record over the IceHogs. Grand Rapids has notched points in 13 of its last 15 matchups against Rockford (10-2-2-1), dating back to the final meeting of the 2019-20 season. Tyler Spezia (1-1—2) and Turner Elson (1-1—2) recorded multi-point outings. Joe Veleno continued his dominance, as he also notched a multi-point day, which extended his season-high point streak to four games (3-4—7). With goals in the contest, Jonatan Berggren and Elson are now tied for the team lead with 13. Victor Brattstrom recorded 31 saves and captured his first road win in the AHL. Spezia notched his 100th point as a pro (42-59—101). Hayden Verbeek returned to the lineup for the first time since Nov. 25 after rehabbing an injury. Recap | Highlights

Bringing Home the Medals: The 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, which saw a record 15 former Grand Rapids Griffins represent eight different countries, marked the fifth consecutive Olympics in which at least one Griffins alum stood on the medal podium. Goaltenders Harri Sateri of Finland and Patrik Rybar of Slovakia, teammates on Grand Rapids’ 2018-19 squad, led their countries to historic results at the Winter Games. Sateri made 16 saves in a 2-1 win over ROC, backstopping Finland to its first-ever Olympic men’s hockey gold medal. Finnish captain Valtteri Filppula joined Niklas Kronwall as the only former Griffins to earn two Olympic medals, adding to the bronze medal he claimed in 2010 in Vancouver. Rybar, meanwhile, was named to the tournament’s all-star team following Saturday’s 28-save, 4-0 shutout of Sweden in the bronze medal game that secured Slovakia’s first Olympic medal in men’s hockey. Teammate Tomas Jurco joined the celebration while playing in his second Olympics (2014 Sochi), becoming the first player to medal after winning a Calder Cup with the Griffins (2013).

Not Your Average Joe: Joe Veleno has appeared in four games for the Griffins since Feb. 4 and has made the most of his time in the AHL. The former first-round draft pick has logged a season-high point streak in those four outings, registering three goals and four assists. From Feb. 4-25, the Griffins averaged 4.25 goals per game with Veleno in the lineup and 2.20 goals per contest without Veleno. Through 11 games with Grand Rapids this season, Veleno has 10 points (6-4—10) and four penalty minutes. The Kirkland, Quebec, native has spent much of the season in the NHL with Detroit, where he has totaled seven points (4-3—7) in 35 games with the Red Wings.

Immortalized Forever: On Saturday during a first-intermission ceremony, the Griffins retired Michel Picard’s #7 jersey and raised it to the Van Andel Arena rafters. Picard joined longtime teammate Travis Richards (No. 24) as the only Griffins players to have their numbers retired in franchise history, with esteemed former captain Jeff Hoggan’s No. 10 set to join them on Saturday, April 2. Picard played 363 games over six seasons with Grand Rapids (1996-99; 02-04) and still ranks as the Griffins’ all-time leader with 158 goals, 222 assists, 380 points, 40 power play goals and 26 game-winning tallies.

Road Trip: The Griffins went on a four-game road trip from Feb. 10-16 and finished the trip with a 2-2 record. After making a short stop at home, the Griffins headed back out on the road for a quick two-game exchange. Grand Rapids will wrap up a stretch of six away contests in the span of seven games on Wednesday at Cleveland. During this run, the Griffins are 4-2-0-0. Grand Rapids is 10-10-1-1 away from West Michigan and 10-9-4-1 at home this season.

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 six of its last eight games, Grand Rapids still ranks 30th in the league at 13.6%. However, the power play has been much improved in the second half of the season, as the team has scored on 18.5% of its power plays (5-for-27). The penalty kill for the Griffins has also struggled a bit this season, killing off 77% of their penalties, which places 27th in the AHL.

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 is tied for fifth on the roster and leads all Grand Rapids’ blueliners with 23 points (10-13—23) in 42 outings. Murphy completed a season-high four-game point streak (3-2—5) from Feb. 11-19 and has climbed up the defensemen leaderboard in the AHL, as his 10 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.

Jonny Apple Seed: Rookie Jonatan Berggren 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 35 points (13-22—35) are tied for sixth among first-year players on the circuit and rank second on the Griffins’ roster. His 22 assists rank ninth among league rookies while his 13 goals are tied for eighth. Berggren is also tied for third in the league with five game-winning goals, which places second among rookies.

California Dreamin’: The Griffins have not fared well against current teams in the Pacific Division, as the team holds a 12-14-1-3 (0.467) overall record against them and a 7-7-0-1 ledger at home. Narrowing it down even more, Grand Rapids is 10-12-1-3 all-time against AHL teams from California, including a 1-1-0-0 record this year.

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. However, Grand Rapids is 18-9-4-0 (0.645) against the rest of the AHL.

Photo by Cleveland Monsters