ALL THE MOMENTUM

This Week’s Games
Fri., Dec. 4 Chicago Wolves at GRIFFINS 7 p.m. WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM / AHLLive.com
Sat., Dec. 5 Lake Erie Monsters at GRIFFINS 7 p.m. WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM / AHLLive.com

Last Week’s Results
Wed., Nov. 25 Iowa Wild 1 at GRIFFINS 5 6-8-0-1, 13 pts. (6th, Central Division)
Fri., Nov. 27 GRIFFINS 6 at Milwaukee Admirals 0 7-8-0-1, 15 pts. (6th)
Sat., Nov. 28 Lake Erie Monsters 2 at GRIFFINS 3 OT 8-8-0-1, 17 pts. (6th)

Giant Killers: Aided by Mitch Callahan’s game-winning overtime goal against first-place Lake Erie on Saturday, the Griffins pushed their winning streak to six games and leveled their season mark to an even 0.500. In fact, Grand Rapids’ current six-game run is the team’s longest in the regular season since posting a nine-game streak from Feb. 14-March 4, 2015, and is tied for the third-longest streak in the AHL this season (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, 11 games, Oct. 17-Nov. 15; Milwaukee, 10 games, Nov. 5-24; Chicago, six games, Oct. 25-Nov. 12). In addition to the six-game overall win streak, Grand Rapids also has racked up five straight victories inside Van Andel Arena’s friendly confines. The Griffins’ impressive 7-1-0-1 tally over the last nine outings has come at the expense of top Western Conference opponents as five of those wins have come against teams with winning records, including four against teams in front of Grand Rapids in the Central Division. A 3-2 victory over Rockford (9-3-1-1) on Nov. 18 broke the IceHogs’ 10-game point streak, and just two days later the Griffins enjoyed their biggest offensive performance of the season in a 7-4 win over San Diego (9-4-0-1) on Nov. 20. Grand Rapids has won each of its last two on the road, defeating Chicago (8-2-1-1) by a 2-1 count on Nov. 21 before earning a decisive 6-0 victory over Central-leading Milwaukee (12-4-1-0) on Nov. 27 that halted the Admirals’ 11-game point run and franchise-record 10-game winning streak.

Weekend Promotions: For Friday’s contest against Chicago, fans can enjoy $2 hot dogs and $2 domestic drafts from 6-8 p.m. while supplies last. On Saturday, the first 5,000 fans in attendance for the game versus Lake Erie will receive a 2016 Griffins calendar courtesy of Fox Motors that highlights some of the greatest records and players in franchise history. Following the game, three Griffins players will sign autographs from the team’s bench, thanks to Huntington Bank.

November to Remember: After a slow start to this year’s campaign that saw the Griffins finish 1-6-0-0 in October, Grand Rapids bounced back in November with a 7-2-0-1 record, marking its second-most successful November over the last 10 years. The Griffins’ November winning percentage of 0.750 under Todd Nelson was eclipsed in the last decade by only Jeff Blashill’s 0.833 mark (10-2-0-0) during his second month at Grand Rapids’ helm in 2012. Correlating with the team’s recent run has been an increase in offensive production. Posting just 10 goals in seven games in the month of October and getting outscored 24-10, the Griffins lit the lamp 35 times in 10 November games and outscored their foes 35-24. Over the last four games, Grand Rapids has surrendered just four goals.

Movin’ On Up: In terms of points within the Central Division race, Grand Rapids stood 12 points behind fourth-place Milwaukee and the division’s likely final playoff spot until Nov. 18 rolled around. Since that date, which marked the beginning of the Griffins’ current six-game winning streak, Grand Rapids has closed the playoff gap to just five points behind Charlotte.

Moving Around: The Detroit Red Wings recalled Tomas Jurco Nov. 28. Assigned to Grand Rapids on Nov. 17 for conditioning, Jurco made an immediate impact for the Griffins, contributing nine points (5-4) in five games and helping Grand Rapids to a 5-0-0-0 mark in that time. Jurco was named AHL Player of the Week for the period ending on Nov. 22 after he posted a league-best seven points (3-4) during that week. On Nov. 29, the Red Wings reassigned defenseman Richard Nedomlel to the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye while the Griffins recalled defenseman Derek Docken from Toledo.

Flying High: Mitch Callahan has found the back of the net in a team-high three consecutive games while finding the scoresheet in four of the last five overall (5-2—7)…Andy Miele and Mark Zengerle each recorded three assists against the Wild on Nov. 25, setting a Griffins season high. Miele made it back-to-back three-point efforts with his 2-1—3 night against Milwaukee on Nov. 27, while Zengerle has tied a team-best four-game point streak (1-6—7) after registering a goal against Lake Erie on Nov. 28…Andreas Athanasiou has been on fire since returning Nov. 19 from his NHL debut with Detroit, registering a four-game point streak (3-4—7) from Nov. 20-27 after having totaled just one goal and one assist in his first eight games with Grand Rapids this season. He eclipsed his previous point total in one night with Nov. 20’s three-point outburst (1-2—3) against San Diego, before accounting for both of the Griffins’ goals in their 2-1 win at Chicago on Nov. 21 and adding an assist against both Iowa (Nov. 25) and Milwaukee (Nov. 27)…Eric Tangradi has recorded points in five of the last six outings (4-3—6).

Getting Defensive: Blueliners Nathan Paetsch (1-4—5) and rookie Robbie Russo (1-5—6) have both documented points in four of the last six games...Jared Coreau made 22 saves against Milwaukee on Nov. 27 to post Grand Rapids’ first shutout of the season. He improved to 5-2-1-1 and has now won three straight and four of his last five...Tom McCollum stopped a season-high 41 shots in Grand Rapids’ 3-2 win over Lake Erie on Nov. 28. McCollum has authored three straight wins while stopping 96 of 100 shots in the process.

Griffins Leaders: Andy Miele (4-11—15) and Eric Tangradi (7-5—12) continue to pace Grand Rapids in scoring, just ahead of Mitch Callahan (6-4—10), Ryan Sproul (2-8—10), Andreas Athanasiou (4-5—9) and Tomas Jurco (5-4—9).

Seeing Cleary: Daniel Cleary scored his first goal as a Griffin Nov. 27 in Milwaukee, his first lamp-lighter in the AHL since the 2000 Calder Cup Playoffs with Hamilton and his first regular season tally since March 22, 2000 against Cincinnati.

Worth Celebrating: The Griffins’ 5-1 win over Iowa on Nov. 25 marked the 800th regular season victory in franchise history. Over 1,531 contests to date, Grand Rapids shows a record (W-L-T-OTL-SOL) of 802-559-27-47-96 (0.579).

Climbing the Charts: The Nov. 20 contest against San Diego marked Mitch Callahan’s 250th regular season game as a Griffin, making him just the 16th player in the franchise’s 20 seasons to reach that plateau. (He now stands at 254.) Louis-Marc Aubry is just two games shy of reaching that same milestone…Callahan also accomplished two other feats against the Gulls: his assist on Tomas Jurco’s third goal gave him 116 points as a Griffin, moving him past Evan McGrath into sole possession of 20th all time — now at 121 points, he’s tied with Teemu Pulkkinen for 19th and trails Ed Patterson by five for 18th place — and his delay of game penalty during the second period gave him 300 PIM for his Grand Rapids career, leaping teammate Triston Grant (299) to become the 17th Griffin to hit three centuries in the sin bin…Nathan Paetsch’s assist in overtime against Lake Erie on Nov. 28 gave him 89 as a Griffin, surpassing Glen Metropolit for 10th all time. Paetsch trails Gustav Nyquist for ninth place on the all-time assist chart by just one…Tom McCollum earned his 91st win for Grand Rapids behind a season-high 41 saves Nov. 28 against Lake Erie, surpassing Jimmy Howard (90) for second in franchise history and trailing only Joey MacDonald (109). McCollum, who needs five more appearances to equal MacDonald’s mark of 210, has broken the 5,000-save barrier this season and with 5,072 stops, stands behind only MacDonald (5,362) in club archives.

Walleye World: Thanks to a recent 5-0-1-2 run, the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye now find themselves atop the standings in the North Division with a 9-5-1-3 record (22 points), ahead of second place Wheeling (10-8-1-0, 21 points). Red Wings prospect Marek Tvrdon (8-8—16), Grand Rapids-contracted Alden Hirschfeld (8-7—15) and former Griffin Shane Berschbach (5-9—14) continue to do the heavy lifting on offense. Rookie netminder Jake Paterson, Detroit’s second pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, shows a 3-3-1-1 record with a 2.60 GAA and 0.922 save percentage as an understudy to former Michigan State Spartan Jeff Lerg (6-2-0-2, 2.04 GAA, 0.924%).

Scouting Report

Friday, Dec. 4 vs. Chicago Wolves (9-6-1-1) – Van Andel Arena – 7 p.m.
Radio: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 6:35 p.m. Web Casts: Video web cast at AHLLive.com, free audio available through woodradio.com. All-Time Series: 32-21-2-3-2 Home, 66-48-2-5-2 Overall. Season Series: 0-0-0-0 Home, 1-0-0-0 Overall. Second of eight meetings overall, first of four at Van Andel Arena. NHL Affiliation: St. Louis Blues. Head Coach: John Anderson (14th season). Notes: The Chicago Wolves rank fourth in the Central Division, eighth in the Western Conference and 14th overall with a 9-6-1-1 record (0.588)…Chicago is 4-5-1-0 over its last 10 games including three straight losses…Center Pat Cannone, who ranked second in scoring on the Wolves last season, sits atop the team’s scoring leaders with 14 points (5-9—14) and a plus-9 rating in 15 games… With 11 points (1-10), Andre Benoit ranks 19th among AHL defensemen in point production…Griffins head coach Todd Nelson served as an assistant coach with the Wolves for two seasons (2006-08) and won the 2008 Calder Cup in his final season with Chicago…Griffins assistant coach Ben Simon spent three seasons playing for the Wolves (2001-03, 2004-05) and helped Chicago capture the Calder Cup in 2002…In the teams’ first meeting of the season, Nov. 21 at first-place Chicago, Grand Rapids came away with a 2-1 victory behind a pair of goals from Andreas Athanasiou and 27 saves from Tom McCollum.

Saturday, Dec. 5 vs. Lake Erie Monsters (12-4-1-2) – Van Andel Arena – 7 p.m.
Radio: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 6:35 p.m. Web Casts: Video web cast at AHLLive.com, free audio available through woodradio.com. All-Time Series: 19-10-1-1 Home, 32-21-3-7 Overall. Season Series: 1-0-0-0 Home, 1-1-0-1 Overall. Fourth of 12 meetings overall, second of six at Van Andel Arena. NHL Affiliation: Columbus Blue Jackets. Head Coach: Jared Bednar (1st season). Notes: The Monsters are tied for first in the Central Division, third in the Western Conference, and fifth in the AHL with a 12-4-1-2 record (0.711)…Monsters head coach Jared Bednar played for the Griffins during their 1998-99 IHL campaign, racking up 21 points (3-18—21) and a team-high 220 PIM in 74 games…Rookie goaltender Joonas Korpisalo is second among league backstops with a 1.80 goals against average and first with a 0.941 save percentage, while creasemate Anton Forsberg is tied for 15th with a 2.40 GAA…T.J. Tynan leads the Monsters with 13 points (0-13—13) while four players are tied with 11 points apiece … All four of the Monsters’ regulation losses have come on the road, where they are 6-4-1-0…Grand Rapids won the most recent matchup with Lake Erie on Nov. 28 at Van Andel Arena behind Mitch Callahan’s game-winning goal 2:02 into overtime.

This Week’s Games
Fri., Dec. 4 Chicago Wolves at GRIFFINS 7 p.m. WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM / AHLLive.com
Sat., Dec. 5 Lake Erie Monsters at GRIFFINS 7 p.m. WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM / AHLLive.com

Last Week’s Results
Wed., Nov. 25 Iowa Wild 1 at GRIFFINS 5 6-8-0-1, 13 pts. (6th, Central Division)
Fri., Nov. 27 GRIFFINS 6 at Milwaukee Admirals 0 7-8-0-1, 15 pts. (6th)
Sat., Nov. 28 Lake Erie Monsters 2 at GRIFFINS 3 OT 8-8-0-1, 17 pts. (6th)

Giant Killers: Aided by Mitch Callahan’s game-winning overtime goal against first-place Lake Erie on Saturday, the Griffins pushed their winning streak to six games and leveled their season mark to an even 0.500. In fact, Grand Rapids’ current six-game run is the team’s longest in the regular season since posting a nine-game streak from Feb. 14-March 4, 2015, and is tied for the third-longest streak in the AHL this season (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, 11 games, Oct. 17-Nov. 15; Milwaukee, 10 games, Nov. 5-24; Chicago, six games, Oct. 25-Nov. 12). In addition to the six-game overall win streak, Grand Rapids also has racked up five straight victories inside Van Andel Arena’s friendly confines. The Griffins’ impressive 7-1-0-1 tally over the last nine outings has come at the expense of top Western Conference opponents as five of those wins have come against teams with winning records, including four against teams in front of Grand Rapids in the Central Division. A 3-2 victory over Rockford (9-3-1-1) on Nov. 18 broke the IceHogs’ 10-game point streak, and just two days later the Griffins enjoyed their biggest offensive performance of the season in a 7-4 win over San Diego (9-4-0-1) on Nov. 20. Grand Rapids has won each of its last two on the road, defeating Chicago (8-2-1-1) by a 2-1 count on Nov. 21 before earning a decisive 6-0 victory over Central-leading Milwaukee (12-4-1-0) on Nov. 27 that halted the Admirals’ 11-game point run and franchise-record 10-game winning streak.

Weekend Promotions: For Friday’s contest against Chicago, fans can enjoy $2 hot dogs and $2 domestic drafts from 6-8 p.m. while supplies last. On Saturday, the first 5,000 fans in attendance for the game versus Lake Erie will receive a 2016 Griffins calendar courtesy of Fox Motors that highlights some of the greatest records and players in franchise history. Following the game, three Griffins players will sign autographs from the team’s bench, thanks to Huntington Bank.

November to Remember: After a slow start to this year’s campaign that saw the Griffins finish 1-6-0-0 in October, Grand Rapids bounced back in November with a 7-2-0-1 record, marking its second-most successful November over the last 10 years. The Griffins’ November winning percentage of 0.750 under Todd Nelson was eclipsed in the last decade by only Jeff Blashill’s 0.833 mark (10-2-0-0) during his second month at Grand Rapids’ helm in 2012. Correlating with the team’s recent run has been an increase in offensive production. Posting just 10 goals in seven games in the month of October and getting outscored 24-10, the Griffins lit the lamp 35 times in 10 November games and outscored their foes 35-24. Over the last four games, Grand Rapids has surrendered just four goals.

Movin’ On Up: In terms of points within the Central Division race, Grand Rapids stood 12 points behind fourth-place Milwaukee and the division’s likely final playoff spot until Nov. 18 rolled around. Since that date, which marked the beginning of the Griffins’ current six-game winning streak, Grand Rapids has closed the playoff gap to just five points behind Charlotte.

Moving Around: The Detroit Red Wings recalled Tomas Jurco Nov. 28. Assigned to Grand Rapids on Nov. 17 for conditioning, Jurco made an immediate impact for the Griffins, contributing nine points (5-4) in five games and helping Grand Rapids to a 5-0-0-0 mark in that time. Jurco was named AHL Player of the Week for the period ending on Nov. 22 after he posted a league-best seven points (3-4) during that week. On Nov. 29, the Red Wings reassigned defenseman Richard Nedomlel to the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye while the Griffins recalled defenseman Derek Docken from Toledo.

Flying High: Mitch Callahan has found the back of the net in a team-high three consecutive games while finding the scoresheet in four of the last five overall (5-2—7)…Andy Miele and Mark Zengerle each recorded three assists against the Wild on Nov. 25, setting a Griffins season high. Miele made it back-to-back three-point efforts with his 2-1—3 night against Milwaukee on Nov. 27, while Zengerle has tied a team-best four-game point streak (1-6—7) after registering a goal against Lake Erie on Nov. 28…Andreas Athanasiou has been on fire since returning Nov. 19 from his NHL debut with Detroit, registering a four-game point streak (3-4—7) from Nov. 20-27 after having totaled just one goal and one assist in his first eight games with Grand Rapids this season. He eclipsed his previous point total in one night with Nov. 20’s three-point outburst (1-2—3) against San Diego, before accounting for both of the Griffins’ goals in their 2-1 win at Chicago on Nov. 21 and adding an assist against both Iowa (Nov. 25) and Milwaukee (Nov. 27)…Eric Tangradi has recorded points in five of the last six outings (4-3—6).

Getting Defensive: Blueliners Nathan Paetsch (1-4—5) and rookie Robbie Russo (1-5—6) have both documented points in four of the last six games...Jared Coreau made 22 saves against Milwaukee on Nov. 27 to post Grand Rapids’ first shutout of the season. He improved to 5-2-1-1 and has now won three straight and four of his last five...Tom McCollum stopped a season-high 41 shots in Grand Rapids’ 3-2 win over Lake Erie on Nov. 28. McCollum has authored three straight wins while stopping 96 of 100 shots in the process.

Griffins Leaders: Andy Miele (4-11—15) and Eric Tangradi (7-5—12) continue to pace Grand Rapids in scoring, just ahead of Mitch Callahan (6-4—10), Ryan Sproul (2-8—10), Andreas Athanasiou (4-5—9) and Tomas Jurco (5-4—9).

Seeing Cleary: Daniel Cleary scored his first goal as a Griffin Nov. 27 in Milwaukee, his first lamp-lighter in the AHL since the 2000 Calder Cup Playoffs with Hamilton and his first regular season tally since March 22, 2000 against Cincinnati.

Worth Celebrating: The Griffins’ 5-1 win over Iowa on Nov. 25 marked the 800th regular season victory in franchise history. Over 1,531 contests to date, Grand Rapids shows a record (W-L-T-OTL-SOL) of 802-559-27-47-96 (0.579).

Climbing the Charts: The Nov. 20 contest against San Diego marked Mitch Callahan’s 250th regular season game as a Griffin, making him just the 16th player in the franchise’s 20 seasons to reach that plateau. (He now stands at 254.) Louis-Marc Aubry is just two games shy of reaching that same milestone…Callahan also accomplished two other feats against the Gulls: his assist on Tomas Jurco’s third goal gave him 116 points as a Griffin, moving him past Evan McGrath into sole possession of 20th all time — now at 121 points, he’s tied with Teemu Pulkkinen for 19th and trails Ed Patterson by five for 18th place — and his delay of game penalty during the second period gave him 300 PIM for his Grand Rapids career, leaping teammate Triston Grant (299) to become the 17th Griffin to hit three centuries in the sin bin…Nathan Paetsch’s assist in overtime against Lake Erie on Nov. 28 gave him 89 as a Griffin, surpassing Glen Metropolit for 10th all time. Paetsch trails Gustav Nyquist for ninth place on the all-time assist chart by just one…Tom McCollum earned his 91st win for Grand Rapids behind a season-high 41 saves Nov. 28 against Lake Erie, surpassing Jimmy Howard (90) for second in franchise history and trailing only Joey MacDonald (109). McCollum, who needs five more appearances to equal MacDonald’s mark of 210, has broken the 5,000-save barrier this season and with 5,072 stops, stands behind only MacDonald (5,362) in club archives.

Walleye World: Thanks to a recent 5-0-1-2 run, the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye now find themselves atop the standings in the North Division with a 9-5-1-3 record (22 points), ahead of second place Wheeling (10-8-1-0, 21 points). Red Wings prospect Marek Tvrdon (8-8—16), Grand Rapids-contracted Alden Hirschfeld (8-7—15) and former Griffin Shane Berschbach (5-9—14) continue to do the heavy lifting on offense. Rookie netminder Jake Paterson, Detroit’s second pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, shows a 3-3-1-1 record with a 2.60 GAA and 0.922 save percentage as an understudy to former Michigan State Spartan Jeff Lerg (6-2-0-2, 2.04 GAA, 0.924%).

Scouting Report

Friday, Dec. 4 vs. Chicago Wolves (9-6-1-1) – Van Andel Arena – 7 p.m.
Radio: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 6:35 p.m. Web Casts: Video web cast at AHLLive.com, free audio available through woodradio.com. All-Time Series: 32-21-2-3-2 Home, 66-48-2-5-2 Overall. Season Series: 0-0-0-0 Home, 1-0-0-0 Overall. Second of eight meetings overall, first of four at Van Andel Arena. NHL Affiliation: St. Louis Blues. Head Coach: John Anderson (14th season). Notes: The Chicago Wolves rank fourth in the Central Division, eighth in the Western Conference and 14th overall with a 9-6-1-1 record (0.588)…Chicago is 4-5-1-0 over its last 10 games including three straight losses…Center Pat Cannone, who ranked second in scoring on the Wolves last season, sits atop the team’s scoring leaders with 14 points (5-9—14) and a plus-9 rating in 15 games… With 11 points (1-10), Andre Benoit ranks 19th among AHL defensemen in point production…Griffins head coach Todd Nelson served as an assistant coach with the Wolves for two seasons (2006-08) and won the 2008 Calder Cup in his final season with Chicago…Griffins assistant coach Ben Simon spent three seasons playing for the Wolves (2001-03, 2004-05) and helped Chicago capture the Calder Cup in 2002…In the teams’ first meeting of the season, Nov. 21 at first-place Chicago, Grand Rapids came away with a 2-1 victory behind a pair of goals from Andreas Athanasiou and 27 saves from Tom McCollum.

Saturday, Dec. 5 vs. Lake Erie Monsters (12-4-1-2) – Van Andel Arena – 7 p.m.
Radio: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 6:35 p.m. Web Casts: Video web cast at AHLLive.com, free audio available through woodradio.com. All-Time Series: 19-10-1-1 Home, 32-21-3-7 Overall. Season Series: 1-0-0-0 Home, 1-1-0-1 Overall. Fourth of 12 meetings overall, second of six at Van Andel Arena. NHL Affiliation: Columbus Blue Jackets. Head Coach: Jared Bednar (1st season). Notes: The Monsters are tied for first in the Central Division, third in the Western Conference, and fifth in the AHL with a 12-4-1-2 record (0.711)…Monsters head coach Jared Bednar played for the Griffins during their 1998-99 IHL campaign, racking up 21 points (3-18—21) and a team-high 220 PIM in 74 games…Rookie goaltender Joonas Korpisalo is second among league backstops with a 1.80 goals against average and first with a 0.941 save percentage, while creasemate Anton Forsberg is tied for 15th with a 2.40 GAA…T.J. Tynan leads the Monsters with 13 points (0-13—13) while four players are tied with 11 points apiece … All four of the Monsters’ regulation losses have come on the road, where they are 6-4-1-0…Grand Rapids won the most recent matchup with Lake Erie on Nov. 28 at Van Andel Arena behind Mitch Callahan’s game-winning goal 2:02 into overtime.