GRIFFINS FACE PAIR IN CHARLOTTE BEFORE RETURNING HOME SATURDAY

This Week’s Games
Tue., March 10 GRIFFINS at Charlotte Checkers 7 p.m. WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM / AHLLive.com
Thu., March 12 GRIFFINS at Charlotte Checkers 7 p.m. WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM / AHLLive.com
Sat., March 14 Rockford IceHogs at GRIFFINS 8 p.m. WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM / AHLLive.com

Last Week’s Results
Wed., March 4 Oklahoma City Barons 1 at GRIFFINS 7 34-17-5-1, 74 pts. (1st, Midwest Division)
Fri., March 6 GRIFFINS 2 at Milwaukee Admirals 3 OT 34-17-6-1, 75 pts. (1st)
Sat., March 7 GRIFFINS 3 at Rockford IceHogs 2 OT 35-17-6-1, 77 pts. (1st)

Rolling: Last week, the Griffins extended their point streak to 15 games after collecting five of six possible points. On Wednesday, Grand Rapids hosted the then Western Conference-leading Oklahoma City Barons at Van Andel Arena and defeated the team by a commanding 7-1 margin. The victory tied the Griffins and Barons for first place in the Western Conference. Teemu Pulkkinen notched his second hat trick of the season, while the Griffins posted their ninth straight victory, tying for the second-longest winning streak in franchise history and marking their longest run under coach Jeff Blashill. Friday saw the Griffins’ franchise record-tying winning streak come to an end, as the Milwaukee Admirals defeated Grand Rapids 3-2 in overtime at BMO Harris Bradley Center. With the game seemingly in the hands of the Griffins, the Admirals applied heavy pressure in the waning seconds of the third period, resulting in a game-tying tap-in by Viktor Stalberg with just 0.4 seconds remaining. In overtime, the Griffins allowed their second hat trick of the season when Stalberg secured the winning goal just 15 seconds into the extra session, the fastest overtime goal against Grand Rapids in franchise history. The Griffins reversed their fortunes on Sunday with a 3-2 overtime victory against the Rockford IceHogs, extending their Midwest Division lead over the IceHogs to four points. Tom McCollum had his first start in net since Feb. 13 and his first victory since Jan. 10 behind a 29-save performance.

Griffins Cereal Bowl Giveaway/Saturday Promotions: With a special start time of 8 p.m., the Griffins will be giving away a Griffins Cereal Bowl on Saturday to the first 2,500 fans, courtesy of Flagstar Bank. Following the game, three Griffins players will sign autographs from the team’s bench, presented by Huntington Bank. Saturday’s game is nearing a sellout, with only single tickets remaining for purchase. Upon sellout, Griffins Access Tickets will be made available for sale at the box office. With this ticket, fans can sit in unused seats after 8:15 p.m. in all upper bowl sections and lower bowl sections except 107-109, 121-123 and all sections rows A-C. Should a ticket holder arrive at any time during the game with tickets for the occupied seats, that ticket holder has priority regardless of when they arrive. Griffins Access Ticket holders will need to vacate that seat. Then, simply find another seat or revisit the usher for assistance. No refunds or exchanges are available once Griffins Access Tickets are purchased.

Half-Snapped: The Griffins had their eight-game winning streak snapped by the hands of the Milwaukee Admirals on Friday, when Grand Rapids fell in overtime 3-2 at BMO Harris Bradley Center. A victory would have set a new Griffins franchise record for the longest road winning streak, but the team still has an opportunity to put its stamp on history. After securing a point against Milwaukee and defeating Rockford on Sunday, the Griffins are now on a 15-game point streak, the longest in the AHL this season and one game shy of the franchise record of 16 set during the team’s second AHL campaign, from Oct. 25-Nov. 30, 2002 (11-0-3-2 = W-L-T-OTL).

0.4: On Friday, the Griffins allowed Milwaukee’s Viktor Stalberg to score with just 0.4 seconds left in regulation, leading to an eventual 3-2 overtime loss after Stalberg then again scored 15 seconds into the extra frame. The result was eerily similar, yet opposite, to the last time the two teams met at Van Andel Arena on Feb. 18, when Andy Miele scored the game-tying goal with 0.4 seconds left in regulation, before notching the overtime-winner 2:09 into the extra session.

Griffins Leaders: In between call-ups to the Detroit Red Wings, the AHL’s scoring leader, Teemu Pulkkinen, notched four goals in his two games with the Griffins last week, including his second hat trick of the season in Wednesday’s 7-1 rout of the Oklahoma City Barons. Center Andy Miele ranks second on the Griffins in scoring, and third in the league, with 56 points (20-36—56) in 54 games. Despite suffering a season-ending injury on Feb. 13, left wing Mitch Callahan still ranks third on the squad with 38 points (16-22—38) in 48 games, with Landon Ferraro (23-11—34) in pursuit. Grand Rapids’ best plus/minus rating goes to defenseman Nick Jensen with a plus-17 rating, followed by a three-way knot between Tomas Nosek, Nathan Paetsch and Mark Zengerle at plus-16.

Peppered: Grand Rapids fires an average of 31.27 shots per game, good enough for 10th in the league, while limiting its opponents to an average of just 28.36 (6th). The output of shots comes from two main sources on the team – Landon Ferraro’s 198 shots rank second in the AHL, while Teemu Pulkkinen’s 189 rank third. Their combined total of 387 shots account for 21% of the Griffins’ total of 1,845.

19/20: The Griffins have picked up points in 19 of their last 20 games (Jan. 23-March 7) and banked 35 of 40 possible points within that span (16-1-3-0).

Gone Streakin’: The team’s current 15-game point streak (12-0-3-0) is the longest in the AHL since Norfolk's record 28-0-0-0 streak in 2011-12.

The Midwest: The first-place Griffins secured three very valuable points over Midwest Division foes last the weekend, losing in overtime to the Admirals on Friday but defeating the IceHogs in the extra frame the following night. With the victory on Saturday, Grand Rapids (35-17-6-1, 77 pts.) extended its Midwest Division lead to four points over second-place Rockford (33-18-5-2, 73 pts.). Milwaukee (31-10-4-4, 70 pts.), which has produced a 3-6-1-0 record in its last 10 games, sits in third in the Midwest, while the Chicago Wolves (28-22-6-1, 63 pts.) rank fourth. Rounding out the division are the Lake Erie Monsters (26-23-5-2, 60 pts.).

Goal Differential: The Griffins have outscored their opponents 195 to 142, giving the team a league-leading plus-53 goal differential. While the Manchester Monarchs (+46) and Hershey Bears (+39) follow behind, the next-closest Western Conference team is the Rockford IceHogs with plus-22.

The Climb: Entering play on Jan. 23, the Griffins owned a 19-16-3-1 record (0.538), placing them fourth in the Midwest Division (12 points behind Rockford) and tying for eighth in the Western Conference (19 points behind Oklahoma City). Thanks to their 16-1-3-0 run (0.875) that began with that night’s 5-1 win over Utica, the Griffins now stand in first place in both the division (four points ahead of Rockford) and the conference (one point ahead of Oklahoma City), representing point swings of 16 points over Rockford and 20 points over Oklahoma City during just the last 20 games. Over that same span, Rockford has gone 9-5-1-0 (0.633) and Oklahoma City has gone 7-8-1-0 (0.469).

Blemish-Free: The Griffins finished the month of February without a regulation loss, posting a 10-0-2-0 record and earning 22 of 24 possible points during the month. Only twice before have the Griffins played a calendar month without suffering a regulation loss:

• Feb. 2015: 10-0-2-0
• Oct. 2008: 4-0-2-1 (not a full month, since opener was Oct. 11)
• Nov. 2002: 9-0-3-2

Red-Hot Rookie: First-year pro Mark Zengerle has been absolutely ablaze for the Griffins lately. After scoring just 11 points in the first half of his season (4-7—11, 34 GP), Zengerle has picked up 18 points (7-11—18) in his last 21 games. In his last 13 outings alone from Feb. 7-March 7, Zengerle has been held scoreless just one time (Feb. 27 at MIL) and has accumulated four goals and 10 assists within that span.

Pulkkinen’s Hatty: Teemu Pulkkinen scored his second hat trick in nine games in last Wednesday’s 7-1 rout of the Oklahoma City Barons at Van Andel Arena. The third-year Griffin nearly had a fourth goal in the latter half of the second period, but the referees ruled incidental contact with the goaltender. Pulkkinen’s previous hat trick came on Jan. 29 at Iowa, where he enjoyed a four-point (3-1—4) evening.

20/20 Vision: If his scoring production remains intact, right wing Teemu Pulkkinen would become just the third Griffin (and first during the team’s AHL tenure) to finish in the top 20 in league scoring in multiple seasons, and the second (and first during the team’s AHL tenure) to finish in the top 20 in consecutive seasons. Michel Picard did it in 1996-97 (IHL), 1999-00 (IHL) and 2002-03, and Slava Butsayev did it in 1999-00 (IHL) and 2000-01 (IHL).

Walleye World: The ECHL’s Toledo Walleye (36-13-3-2) secured four of six possible points in the team’s three-in-three last weekend. Friday saw Jared Coreau’s return to the Walleye after his extended, and impressive, stint with Grand Rapids. It was no different for the second-year goaltender in the ECHL, as he turned aside 44 of 46 shots, and 20 alone in the third period, to backstop Toledo to a 3-2 victory over Elmira. The Walleye traveled to Santander Arena on Saturday and earned a 5-3 victory over Reading, with Kyle Bonis earning the game-winning tally. In a Sunday rematch with Reading, the Walleye rallied back from a three-goal deficit, scoring twice in the third period to put the contest within reach. Martin Frk put the visiting team within one, but sturdy defense by the Royals proved to be too much to overcome for the Walleye, as the team fell 3-2 at the end of regulation. Toledo ranks second in the North Division, just three points behind the Fort Wayne Komets (37-12-2-4, 80 pts.), with one game in hand.

Mrazek Departs, Griffins Shift: The Detroit Red Wings on Monday recalled goaltender Petr Mrazek from the Griffins and reassigned right wing Martin Frk from the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye to Grand Rapids. In addition, the Griffins signed goaltender Jeff Lerg to a professional tryout and released defenseman Jared Nightingale from his professional tryout. A native of Ostrava, Czech Republic, Mrazek owns a 2.06 goals against average and a 9-2-1 record in 13 appearances with Grand Rapids this season. Since being assigned to the Griffins on Feb. 17, Mrazek has not suffered a regulation loss, turning out a 6-0-1 record, a 1.13 GAA, a 0.927 save percentage and three shutouts. The third-year goaltender was selected as the CCM/AHL Player of the Week for the period ending March 1 after earning three consecutive road victories, including two shutouts. Mrazek, 23, has spent a majority of his season with Detroit, accumulating a 13-5-1 record in 20 games, alongside a 2.55 GAA, a 0.909 save percentage and one shutout.

Scouting Report

Tue., March 10 at Charlotte Checkers (23-30-5-1) – Time Warner Cable Arena – 7 p.m.
Thu., March 12 at Charlotte Checkers – Time Warner Cable Arena – 7 p.m.
Radio: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 6:35 p.m. (Tue. and Thu.) Web Casts: Video web cast at AHLLive.com, free audio available through woodradio.com. All-Time Series: 7-9-0-0 Overall, 4-4-0-0 Road. Season Series: 3-1-0-0 Overall, 2-0-0-0 Road. Fifth and sixth of eight meetings overall, third and fourth of four in Charlotte. NHL Affiliation: Carolina Hurricanes. Head Coach: Jeff Daniels (4th season). Notes: The Checkers rank fourth in the West Division, 14th in the Western Conference and 27th overall…Right wing Justin Shugg (16-15—31) and right wing Chad LaRose (16-15—31) lead the Checkers in scoring, while Brendan Woods (9-12—21) and rookie Phil Di Giuseppe (7-14—21) are tied for third place…The most physical presence on the team is left wing Kyle Hagel, who has amassed 137 penalty minutes in 56 games…Former Griffins goaltender Drew MacIntyre is a member of the Checkers this season. MacIntyre owns a 16-19-4 record, a 2.70 GAA and a 0.916 save percentage…Charlotte has seen an improvement in performance lately, as the team shows a 6-4-0-0 record in its last 10 games…The Checkers’ power play ranks 28th overall at 11.8%, but their penalty kill is much stronger, clocking in at 11th (85.5%).

Sat., March 14 vs. Rockford IceHogs (33-18-5-2) – Van Andel Arena – 8 p.m.
Radio: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 7:35 p.m. Web Casts: Video web cast at AHLLive.com, free audio available through woodradio.com. All-Time Series: 22-19-3-5 Overall, 14-7-1-2 Home. Season Series: 2-2-0-1 Overall, 0-1-0-1 Home. Sixth of eight meetings overall, third of four at Van Andel Arena. NHL Affiliation: Chicago Blackhawks. Head Coach: Ted Dent (4th season). Notes: The IceHogs rank second in the Midwest Division, fourth in the Western Conference and eighth in the league…Among active skaters, left wing Garret Ross ranks first in scoring on the team with 36 points (18-18—36), followed by center Phillip Danault (11-21—32) in second…Cody Bass leads the team in penalty minutes with 118 in 44 games…Rockford’s power play ranks 16th overall (16.7%) and its penalty killing record ranks eighth (86.0%)…The IceHogs have outscored their opponents 58-43 in the third period, their strongest period by far, and limit the opposing team to just 2.33 goals per game (4th).

This Week’s Games
Tue., March 10 GRIFFINS at Charlotte Checkers 7 p.m. WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM / AHLLive.com
Thu., March 12 GRIFFINS at Charlotte Checkers 7 p.m. WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM / AHLLive.com
Sat., March 14 Rockford IceHogs at GRIFFINS 8 p.m. WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM / AHLLive.com

Last Week’s Results
Wed., March 4 Oklahoma City Barons 1 at GRIFFINS 7 34-17-5-1, 74 pts. (1st, Midwest Division)
Fri., March 6 GRIFFINS 2 at Milwaukee Admirals 3 OT 34-17-6-1, 75 pts. (1st)
Sat., March 7 GRIFFINS 3 at Rockford IceHogs 2 OT 35-17-6-1, 77 pts. (1st)

Rolling: Last week, the Griffins extended their point streak to 15 games after collecting five of six possible points. On Wednesday, Grand Rapids hosted the then Western Conference-leading Oklahoma City Barons at Van Andel Arena and defeated the team by a commanding 7-1 margin. The victory tied the Griffins and Barons for first place in the Western Conference. Teemu Pulkkinen notched his second hat trick of the season, while the Griffins posted their ninth straight victory, tying for the second-longest winning streak in franchise history and marking their longest run under coach Jeff Blashill. Friday saw the Griffins’ franchise record-tying winning streak come to an end, as the Milwaukee Admirals defeated Grand Rapids 3-2 in overtime at BMO Harris Bradley Center. With the game seemingly in the hands of the Griffins, the Admirals applied heavy pressure in the waning seconds of the third period, resulting in a game-tying tap-in by Viktor Stalberg with just 0.4 seconds remaining. In overtime, the Griffins allowed their second hat trick of the season when Stalberg secured the winning goal just 15 seconds into the extra session, the fastest overtime goal against Grand Rapids in franchise history. The Griffins reversed their fortunes on Sunday with a 3-2 overtime victory against the Rockford IceHogs, extending their Midwest Division lead over the IceHogs to four points. Tom McCollum had his first start in net since Feb. 13 and his first victory since Jan. 10 behind a 29-save performance.

Griffins Cereal Bowl Giveaway/Saturday Promotions: With a special start time of 8 p.m., the Griffins will be giving away a Griffins Cereal Bowl on Saturday to the first 2,500 fans, courtesy of Flagstar Bank. Following the game, three Griffins players will sign autographs from the team’s bench, presented by Huntington Bank. Saturday’s game is nearing a sellout, with only single tickets remaining for purchase. Upon sellout, Griffins Access Tickets will be made available for sale at the box office. With this ticket, fans can sit in unused seats after 8:15 p.m. in all upper bowl sections and lower bowl sections except 107-109, 121-123 and all sections rows A-C. Should a ticket holder arrive at any time during the game with tickets for the occupied seats, that ticket holder has priority regardless of when they arrive. Griffins Access Ticket holders will need to vacate that seat. Then, simply find another seat or revisit the usher for assistance. No refunds or exchanges are available once Griffins Access Tickets are purchased.

Half-Snapped: The Griffins had their eight-game winning streak snapped by the hands of the Milwaukee Admirals on Friday, when Grand Rapids fell in overtime 3-2 at BMO Harris Bradley Center. A victory would have set a new Griffins franchise record for the longest road winning streak, but the team still has an opportunity to put its stamp on history. After securing a point against Milwaukee and defeating Rockford on Sunday, the Griffins are now on a 15-game point streak, the longest in the AHL this season and one game shy of the franchise record of 16 set during the team’s second AHL campaign, from Oct. 25-Nov. 30, 2002 (11-0-3-2 = W-L-T-OTL).

0.4: On Friday, the Griffins allowed Milwaukee’s Viktor Stalberg to score with just 0.4 seconds left in regulation, leading to an eventual 3-2 overtime loss after Stalberg then again scored 15 seconds into the extra frame. The result was eerily similar, yet opposite, to the last time the two teams met at Van Andel Arena on Feb. 18, when Andy Miele scored the game-tying goal with 0.4 seconds left in regulation, before notching the overtime-winner 2:09 into the extra session.

Griffins Leaders: In between call-ups to the Detroit Red Wings, the AHL’s scoring leader, Teemu Pulkkinen, notched four goals in his two games with the Griffins last week, including his second hat trick of the season in Wednesday’s 7-1 rout of the Oklahoma City Barons. Center Andy Miele ranks second on the Griffins in scoring, and third in the league, with 56 points (20-36—56) in 54 games. Despite suffering a season-ending injury on Feb. 13, left wing Mitch Callahan still ranks third on the squad with 38 points (16-22—38) in 48 games, with Landon Ferraro (23-11—34) in pursuit. Grand Rapids’ best plus/minus rating goes to defenseman Nick Jensen with a plus-17 rating, followed by a three-way knot between Tomas Nosek, Nathan Paetsch and Mark Zengerle at plus-16.

Peppered: Grand Rapids fires an average of 31.27 shots per game, good enough for 10th in the league, while limiting its opponents to an average of just 28.36 (6th). The output of shots comes from two main sources on the team – Landon Ferraro’s 198 shots rank second in the AHL, while Teemu Pulkkinen’s 189 rank third. Their combined total of 387 shots account for 21% of the Griffins’ total of 1,845.

19/20: The Griffins have picked up points in 19 of their last 20 games (Jan. 23-March 7) and banked 35 of 40 possible points within that span (16-1-3-0).

Gone Streakin’: The team’s current 15-game point streak (12-0-3-0) is the longest in the AHL since Norfolk's record 28-0-0-0 streak in 2011-12.

The Midwest: The first-place Griffins secured three very valuable points over Midwest Division foes last the weekend, losing in overtime to the Admirals on Friday but defeating the IceHogs in the extra frame the following night. With the victory on Saturday, Grand Rapids (35-17-6-1, 77 pts.) extended its Midwest Division lead to four points over second-place Rockford (33-18-5-2, 73 pts.). Milwaukee (31-10-4-4, 70 pts.), which has produced a 3-6-1-0 record in its last 10 games, sits in third in the Midwest, while the Chicago Wolves (28-22-6-1, 63 pts.) rank fourth. Rounding out the division are the Lake Erie Monsters (26-23-5-2, 60 pts.).

Goal Differential: The Griffins have outscored their opponents 195 to 142, giving the team a league-leading plus-53 goal differential. While the Manchester Monarchs (+46) and Hershey Bears (+39) follow behind, the next-closest Western Conference team is the Rockford IceHogs with plus-22.

The Climb: Entering play on Jan. 23, the Griffins owned a 19-16-3-1 record (0.538), placing them fourth in the Midwest Division (12 points behind Rockford) and tying for eighth in the Western Conference (19 points behind Oklahoma City). Thanks to their 16-1-3-0 run (0.875) that began with that night’s 5-1 win over Utica, the Griffins now stand in first place in both the division (four points ahead of Rockford) and the conference (one point ahead of Oklahoma City), representing point swings of 16 points over Rockford and 20 points over Oklahoma City during just the last 20 games. Over that same span, Rockford has gone 9-5-1-0 (0.633) and Oklahoma City has gone 7-8-1-0 (0.469).

Blemish-Free: The Griffins finished the month of February without a regulation loss, posting a 10-0-2-0 record and earning 22 of 24 possible points during the month. Only twice before have the Griffins played a calendar month without suffering a regulation loss:

• Feb. 2015: 10-0-2-0
• Oct. 2008: 4-0-2-1 (not a full month, since opener was Oct. 11)
• Nov. 2002: 9-0-3-2

Red-Hot Rookie: First-year pro Mark Zengerle has been absolutely ablaze for the Griffins lately. After scoring just 11 points in the first half of his season (4-7—11, 34 GP), Zengerle has picked up 18 points (7-11—18) in his last 21 games. In his last 13 outings alone from Feb. 7-March 7, Zengerle has been held scoreless just one time (Feb. 27 at MIL) and has accumulated four goals and 10 assists within that span.

Pulkkinen’s Hatty: Teemu Pulkkinen scored his second hat trick in nine games in last Wednesday’s 7-1 rout of the Oklahoma City Barons at Van Andel Arena. The third-year Griffin nearly had a fourth goal in the latter half of the second period, but the referees ruled incidental contact with the goaltender. Pulkkinen’s previous hat trick came on Jan. 29 at Iowa, where he enjoyed a four-point (3-1—4) evening.

20/20 Vision: If his scoring production remains intact, right wing Teemu Pulkkinen would become just the third Griffin (and first during the team’s AHL tenure) to finish in the top 20 in league scoring in multiple seasons, and the second (and first during the team’s AHL tenure) to finish in the top 20 in consecutive seasons. Michel Picard did it in 1996-97 (IHL), 1999-00 (IHL) and 2002-03, and Slava Butsayev did it in 1999-00 (IHL) and 2000-01 (IHL).

Walleye World: The ECHL’s Toledo Walleye (36-13-3-2) secured four of six possible points in the team’s three-in-three last weekend. Friday saw Jared Coreau’s return to the Walleye after his extended, and impressive, stint with Grand Rapids. It was no different for the second-year goaltender in the ECHL, as he turned aside 44 of 46 shots, and 20 alone in the third period, to backstop Toledo to a 3-2 victory over Elmira. The Walleye traveled to Santander Arena on Saturday and earned a 5-3 victory over Reading, with Kyle Bonis earning the game-winning tally. In a Sunday rematch with Reading, the Walleye rallied back from a three-goal deficit, scoring twice in the third period to put the contest within reach. Martin Frk put the visiting team within one, but sturdy defense by the Royals proved to be too much to overcome for the Walleye, as the team fell 3-2 at the end of regulation. Toledo ranks second in the North Division, just three points behind the Fort Wayne Komets (37-12-2-4, 80 pts.), with one game in hand.

Mrazek Departs, Griffins Shift: The Detroit Red Wings on Monday recalled goaltender Petr Mrazek from the Griffins and reassigned right wing Martin Frk from the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye to Grand Rapids. In addition, the Griffins signed goaltender Jeff Lerg to a professional tryout and released defenseman Jared Nightingale from his professional tryout. A native of Ostrava, Czech Republic, Mrazek owns a 2.06 goals against average and a 9-2-1 record in 13 appearances with Grand Rapids this season. Since being assigned to the Griffins on Feb. 17, Mrazek has not suffered a regulation loss, turning out a 6-0-1 record, a 1.13 GAA, a 0.927 save percentage and three shutouts. The third-year goaltender was selected as the CCM/AHL Player of the Week for the period ending March 1 after earning three consecutive road victories, including two shutouts. Mrazek, 23, has spent a majority of his season with Detroit, accumulating a 13-5-1 record in 20 games, alongside a 2.55 GAA, a 0.909 save percentage and one shutout.

Scouting Report

Tue., March 10 at Charlotte Checkers (23-30-5-1) – Time Warner Cable Arena – 7 p.m.
Thu., March 12 at Charlotte Checkers – Time Warner Cable Arena – 7 p.m.
Radio: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 6:35 p.m. (Tue. and Thu.) Web Casts: Video web cast at AHLLive.com, free audio available through woodradio.com. All-Time Series: 7-9-0-0 Overall, 4-4-0-0 Road. Season Series: 3-1-0-0 Overall, 2-0-0-0 Road. Fifth and sixth of eight meetings overall, third and fourth of four in Charlotte. NHL Affiliation: Carolina Hurricanes. Head Coach: Jeff Daniels (4th season). Notes: The Checkers rank fourth in the West Division, 14th in the Western Conference and 27th overall…Right wing Justin Shugg (16-15—31) and right wing Chad LaRose (16-15—31) lead the Checkers in scoring, while Brendan Woods (9-12—21) and rookie Phil Di Giuseppe (7-14—21) are tied for third place…The most physical presence on the team is left wing Kyle Hagel, who has amassed 137 penalty minutes in 56 games…Former Griffins goaltender Drew MacIntyre is a member of the Checkers this season. MacIntyre owns a 16-19-4 record, a 2.70 GAA and a 0.916 save percentage…Charlotte has seen an improvement in performance lately, as the team shows a 6-4-0-0 record in its last 10 games…The Checkers’ power play ranks 28th overall at 11.8%, but their penalty kill is much stronger, clocking in at 11th (85.5%).

Sat., March 14 vs. Rockford IceHogs (33-18-5-2) – Van Andel Arena – 8 p.m.
Radio: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 7:35 p.m. Web Casts: Video web cast at AHLLive.com, free audio available through woodradio.com. All-Time Series: 22-19-3-5 Overall, 14-7-1-2 Home. Season Series: 2-2-0-1 Overall, 0-1-0-1 Home. Sixth of eight meetings overall, third of four at Van Andel Arena. NHL Affiliation: Chicago Blackhawks. Head Coach: Ted Dent (4th season). Notes: The IceHogs rank second in the Midwest Division, fourth in the Western Conference and eighth in the league…Among active skaters, left wing Garret Ross ranks first in scoring on the team with 36 points (18-18—36), followed by center Phillip Danault (11-21—32) in second…Cody Bass leads the team in penalty minutes with 118 in 44 games…Rockford’s power play ranks 16th overall (16.7%) and its penalty killing record ranks eighth (86.0%)…The IceHogs have outscored their opponents 58-43 in the third period, their strongest period by far, and limit the opposing team to just 2.33 goals per game (4th).