GRIFFINS FACE THREE-GAME WEEK

This Week’s Games
Tucson Roadrunners at GRIFFINS // Wed., Oct. 25 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena
Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 6:35 p.m.
Watch: AHLLive.com
Season Series: First of four meetings overall, first of two at Van Andel Arena
All-Time Series: First meeting.
NHL Affiliation: Arizona Coyotes
Noteworthy: Grand Rapids last hosted a team from Arizona during its inaugural season on Jan. 11, 1997, when the IHL’s Phoenix Roadrunners defeated the Griffins 3-2 in a shootout.

Chicago Wolves at GRIFFINS // Fri., Oct. 27 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena
Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 6:35 p.m.
Watch: The U Too (Chicago), AHLLive.com
Season Series: First of eight meetings overall, first of four at Van Andel Arena
All-Time Series: 39-22-2-4-2 Home, 79-51-2-6-2 Overall
NHL Affiliation: Vegas Golden Knights
Noteworthy: Grand Rapids knocked out the Wolves, who won the 2016-17 Central Division’s regular season title, in five games in the Central Division Finals last spring en route to the Calder Cup.

GRIFFINS at Rockford IceHogs // Sat., Oct. 28 // 7 p.m. EDT // BMO Harris Bank Center
Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 6:35 p.m.
Watch: AHLLive.com
Season Series: 0-0-0-1 Road, 0-0-0-1 Overall. Second of 10 meetings overall, second of five at the BMO Harris Bank Center
All-Time Series: 13-17-2-4 Road, 36-26-3-6 Overall
NHL Affiliation: Chicago Blackhawks
Noteworthy: In the first meeting of the season last Friday in Illinois, Eric Tangradi scored the game-tying goal with 1:28 left in regulation, but the IceHogs came away with a 3-2 shootout victory.

Last Week’s Results
Fri., Oct. 20 GRIFFINS 2 at Rockford IceHogs 3 SO 2-2-0-1 (5 points, 3rd Central)
Sat., Oct. 21 Hershey Bears 4 at GRIFFINS 2 2-3-0-1 (5 points, 5th)


Off and Running: The defending Calder Cup champion Griffins are 2-3-0-1 to begin the 2017-18 campaign. Last Friday at Rockford, Eric Tangradi scored the game-tying goal with 1:28 remaining in regulation, but the Griffins fell 3-2 in a shootout as former Griffin Tomas Jurco delivered the decisive goal in the skills competition. On Saturday, Hershey’s Chandler Stephenson scored three goals and added an assist as the Bears beat the Griffins 4-2 in the first meeting between the clubs at Van Andel Arena since Dec. 22, 2005. Grand Rapids concludes its three-game homestand with Tucson on Wednesday and Chicago on Friday before visiting Rockford on Saturday.

Follow the Leaders:
Points: Turner Elson (3-4—7), Colin Campbell (2-5—7)
Goals: Elson, Dominic Turgeon (3)
Assists: Campbell (5)
PIM: Dan Renouf (15)
Plus-Minus: Campbell, Turgeon (+5)
Goaltender Wins: Jared Coreau (2)
Goals Against Average: Coreau (2.69)
Save Percentage: Coreau (0.910)

Last Weekend’s Notes: Eric Tangradi scored his first goal of the season at 16:21 of the first period on Friday...Tangradi potted both of Grand Rapids’ tallies on the night, marking his first multi-goal game since March 19, 2017, and the sixth multi-goal effort of his Griffins career...Dylan McIlrath chipped in two assists on Friday for his first multi-assist game since March 26, 2017...Grand Rapids allowed its first power play goal on the road against Rockford, as the Griffins are 12-for-13 (92.3%) on the penalty kill in away venues…Grand Rapids’ shootout loss against Rockford marked its first defeat in a skills competition since April 9, 2017…The Griffins are 96-102 all time in shootouts, including a 4-7 mark under Todd Nelson…On Saturday, Hershey earned its first win in seven all-time meetings against the Griffins.

Saarijarvi Reassigned: The Detroit Red Wings last Sunday reassigned rookie defenseman Vili Saarijarvi from the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye to the Griffins. In his first full professional season, Saarijarvi has accounted for one assist and a plus-one rating in three games with the Walleye. Detroit’s second choice, 73rd overall, in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, Saarijarvi scored 31 points (11-20—31) in 34 regular season games with the OHL’s Mississauga Steelheads in 2016-17 before leading all team defensemen with 15 points (5-10—15) in 20 playoff appearances. Saarijarvi has represented his home country of Finland at the 2017 and 2016 World Junior Championships and won the gold medal in 2016.

Sproul Traded, Puempel Assigned: The Detroit Red Wings last Saturday traded defenseman Ryan Sproul to the New York Rangers in exchange for left wing Matt Puempel, who was then assigned to the Griffins. Puempel, 24, has logged three points (1-2—3) in five games with the Hartford Wolf Pack this season. A first-round draft selection, 24th overall, in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft by the Ottawa Senators, Puempel spent the entire 2016-17 campaign in the NHL, appearing in 13 games with Ottawa before tallying nine points (6-3—9) in 27 games with the Rangers. The 6-foot-1, 205-pound forward has appeared in 79 career NHL games since debuting with Ottawa during the 2014-15 season and has totaled 15 points (10-5—15) and 28 penalty minutes. Puempel has skated in 175 AHL contests since 2011-12 between the Binghamton Senators and Hartford, compiling 114 points (61-53—114) and 142 PIM.

Good Start: The line of Turner Elson, Colin Campbell and Dominic Turgeon continues to produce offensively through the season’s first four games, as the trio leads the Griffins in scoring. The three have combined to score 20 of the team’s 51 total points. Elson and Campbell tie for the team lead with seven points apiece while Turgeon sits one point behind.

Up and Down: With a 2-3-0-1 record through six games, take a look at how the statistics compare between the Griffins’ two wins and four (including overtime and shootout) losses. Five of the six games have been decided by two or more goals.

Back-to-Backs: The Griffins play back-to-back games a total of 24 times this season. Compare the statistics for when the Grand Rapids has played on consecutive nights:

On the Power Play: A season after leading the AHL with a franchise-record 24.4% efficiency on the power play, Grand Rapids has started the new campaign 5-for-25 (20.0%) on the man advantage to tie for 11th in the league.

Getting Back on Track: The last time the Griffins held a regular season mark below 0.500 was Nov. 27, 2015, when Grand Rapids stood 7-8-0-1 before knocking off Lake Erie the next day in overtime to improve to 8-8-0-1.

First Time for Everything: When Tucson visits Van Andel Arena, it will be the first-ever meeting between the two clubs. Grand Rapids last hosted a team from Arizona during its inaugural season on Jan. 11, 1997, when the International Hockey League’s Phoenix Roadrunners defeated the Griffins 3-2 in a shootout.

Tucson Notes: Tucson, the franchise formerly known as the Springfield Falcons, spent 22 seasons in Massachusetts before last season’s move west…Twelve players spent time with both the Arizona Coyotes and the Roadrunners during the 2016-17 season, Tucson’s inaugural campaign…Tucson is 2-1-1-0 this season and took three out of a possible four points in two games at Chicago last weekend…Rookie Nick Merkley paces the team with four points (2-2—4).

No Hard Feelings, Right?: Chicago overtook Grand Rapids in the Central Division standings on the final day of the 2016-17 regular season to claim its sixth division crown as an AHL member. The Griffins, however, would get the last laugh by knocking out the Wolves in five games in the Central Division Finals on their way to their second Calder Cup in the last five seasons. Chicago returns eight players this season who participated in the Central Division Finals while the Griffins bring back 15 players. Despite Chicago winning the regular season divisional crown, Grand Rapids was dominant against the Wolves in 2016-17, winning eight of 10 meetings and outscoring Chicago, 39-27.

Old Rivals Meet Again: The Griffins and Wolves will renew a rivalry that dates back to the International Hockey League days. Since Chicago’s founding in 1994-95 and Grand Rapids’ inception in 1996-97, the teams have met a combined 140 times in the regular season, with the Griffins possessing a 79-51-2-6-2 edge. The Griffins’ 140 meetings and 39 home victories against Chicago are both the second most of any opponent Grand Rapids has faced, trailing only 164 all-time games and 48 home-ice victories versus Milwaukee.

With an Added Storyline: Rocky Thompson was named the 10th head coach in Wolves history in June, succeeding Craig Berube, who is now an associate head coach with the St. Louis Blues. Thompson served on Todd Nelson’s staff as an assistant with the AHL’s Oklahoma City Barons from 2010-14. In those four seasons, the Barons posted a 161-105-10-32 (0.591) record and advanced to the postseason every year, including a trip to the 2013 Western Conference Finals. Thompson was elevated to an assistant with the parent Edmonton Oilers for the 2014-15 campaign, a season that saw Nelson take over the NHL club on an interim basis in Dec. 2014.

Chicago Connections: Former Griffin Teemu Pulkkinen is tied for the AHL lead in points with 11 (4-7—11) in five games with the Wolves…Pulkkinen was selected by Vegas in the expansion draft…From 2012-15, Pulkkinen skated in 119 games with the Griffins, scoring 121 points (65-56—121)…He led the league with 34 goals in 2014-15 and that total ties for the fourth most in a single season in franchise history…Pulkkinen’s career 0.165 shooting percentage ranks fourth all time in Griffins history…A 2013 Calder Cup champion with Grand Rapids, Pulkkinen appeared in 40 postseason games and tallied 34 points (22-12—34), which ties for third most in club playoff history…His nine playoff power play goals are the most in team history while his 22 goals are second most…Head coach Todd Nelson served as an assistant coach for the Wolves for two seasons (2006-08) and won the 2008 Calder Cup in his final season with Chicago…Assistant coach Ben Simon appeared in 196 games with the Wolves from 2001-03 and 2004-05 and was a part of Chicago’s first Calder Cup title in 2002.

Chicago Notes: After spending the last four seasons as the primary affiliate of the St. Louis Blues, the Wolves and Vegas Golden Knights, the NHL’s newest expansion franchise, announced a new affiliation over the summer…Chicago and Vegas also signed a multi-year ECHL partnership with Quad City, where longtime Griffins general manager Bob McNamara (1996-2011) serves as the Mallards’ president, GM and alternate governor.

Rockford Notes: Rockford sits atop the Central Division with a 5-1-0-0 record…Vinnie Hinostroza leads the team with eight points (4-4—8) in six games…Goaltender Jean-Francois Berube ties for the league lead with four wins while placing seventh with a 0.951 save percentage and ties for seventh with a 1.47 goals against average…Grand Rapids is 11-10-0-2 (0.522) in its last 23 games at Rockford.

Former Griffins Galore: Former Griffin Tomas Jurco has six points (1-5—6) in six games with the IceHogs this season. Detroit’s first choice, 35th overall, in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, Jurco appeared in 113 games with the Griffins from 2012-14 and 2015-17, totaling 71 points (33-38—71), a plus-20 rating and 46 PIM. He added 21 points (13-8—21) in 32 Calder Cup Playoff games and helped Grand Rapids win the 2013 Calder Cup. Jurco appeared in 159 games with the Detroit Red Wings from 2013-17 and tallied 39 points (15-24—39) before being traded to the Blackhawks organization in February 2017. Former Griffins Derek King and Sheldon Brookbank serve as assistant coaches on Jeremy Colliton’s staff. King, who played in Grand Rapids from 1999-01 and 2002-04, is the franchise’s all-time leading playoff scorer (16-25—41) and ranks fifth in regular season points (73-130—203). Brookbank skated in 75 games with the Griffins from 2001-03, scoring 14 points (2-12—14) and adding 160 PIM.

Championship Effects: Since 2001-02, the year Grand Rapids joined the AHL, nine Calder Cup champions have gone on to qualify for the postseason in the following season, including the Griffins, who reached the conference semifinals in 2014 after winning the franchise’s first championship in 2013. Only one team in this 16-year span repeated as champions (Hershey in 2009 and 2010).

Walleye Report: Under second-year head coach Dan Watson, the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye are 2-1-0-0 to begin the new season. Griffins-contracted Kevin Tansey leads the team with three points (1-2—3) from his blueline position. Griffins-contracted goaltender Pat Nagle has appeared in all three games and shows a 2-0-0 record. His 1.16 goals against average places fourth in the league while his 0.951 save percentage ties for fourth.