GRIFFINS HOST BARONS FOR SHOWDOWN BETWEEN TOP TWO TEAMS IN WESTERN CONFERENCE

This Week’s Games
Wed., March 4 Oklahoma City Barons at GRIFFINS 7 p.m. WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM / AHLLive.com
Fri., March 6 GRIFFINS at Milwaukee Admirals 8 p.m. WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM / AHLLive.com
Sat., March 7 GRIFFINS at Rockford IceHogs 8 p.m. WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM / AHLLive.com

Last Week’s Results
Tue., Feb. 24 GRIFFINS 6 at Iowa Wild 2 31-17-5-1, 68 pts. (1st, Midwest Division)
Fri., Feb. 27 GRIFFINS 4 at Milwaukee Admirals 0 32-17-5-1, 70 pts. (1st)
Sat., Feb. 28 GRIFFINS 5 at Chicago Wolves 0 33-17-5-1, 72 pts. (1st)

Like Butter: The Griffins are on a roll lately, posting three victories during their road trip last week, including two shutouts against Midwest Division opponents. On Tuesday, the Griffins traveled to Wells Fargo Arena and earned a 6-2 victory over the Iowa Wild, while allowing the only two goals against for the week. Marek Tvrdon potted two goals in the contest, including one on the power play, as the Griffins scored twice in three opportunities with the extra skater. Anthony Mantha earned the team’s other power play goal. On Friday, the Griffins blanked the Milwaukee Admirals, 4-0, at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Tvrdon notched the Griffins’ only goal through two periods, before Grand Rapids exploded for three tallies in the third period from Tomas Nosek (shorthanded), captain Jeff Hoggan (full-strength) and Landon Ferraro (empty-net). Goaltender Petr Mrazek posted a 25-save shutout and earned first-star honors in the contest. On Saturday, Mrazek continued his dominance with another shutout, this time a 27-save performance against the Chicago Wolves at Allstate Arena. Ferraro earned his third goal in as many nights, while the Griffins posted their eighth win in a row and seventh consecutive victory on the road.

Griffins Leaders: Right wing Teemu Pulkkinen leads the Griffins in scoring and ranks second in the league with 57 points (30-27—57) in 44 games. Center Andy Miele ranks second on the team, and third in the AHL, with 53 points (19-34—53) in 51 games, while third-place Mitch Callahan has 16 goals and 22 assists in 48 games. Callahan’s output is finished, however, as the left wing suffered a season-ending injury on Feb. 13. Landon Ferraro leads the Griffins in shots with 191 and ranks second in the AHL. Center Tomas Nosek leads the team in plus/minus with a plus-16 rating. Left wing Chris Bruton leads the squad in penalty minutes (102).

16/17: The Griffins have picked up points in 16 of their last 17 games (1/23/15-2/28/15) and have banked 30 of 34 possible points within that span (14-1-2-0). Grand Rapids is currently on an eight-game winning streak overall, a seven-game winning streak on the road and a 12-game point streak. Their seven-game road streak ties a Griffins franchise record, previously set from Oct. 16-Dec. 3, 2004.

Eight is Great: Grand Rapids his picked up eight consecutive victories from Feb. 14-28, preceded by two overtime losses. The Griffins franchise record for the longest winning streak is 11 games, set from March 5-31, 2006.

The Midwest: The Griffins (33-17-5-1, 72 pts.) sit atop the Midwest Division through 56 games, but the second-place Rockford IceHogs (32-18-4-2, 70 pts.) trail by only two points. The teams have played an equal amount of games and will square off this Saturday in Rockford. The Milwaukee Admirals (29-18-4-4, 66 pts.) have lost five games in a row and now sit in third, while the Chicago Wolves (28-21-5-1, 62 pts.) rank fourth. The Lake Erie Monsters (24-22-5-3, 56 pts.) round out the division in fifth place.

Goal Differential: The Griffins have outscored their opponents 183 to 136, giving the team a league-leading plus-47 goal differential. While the Manchester Monarchs (+44) and Hershey Bears (+42) follow closely behind, the next-closest Western Conference team is the Oklahoma City Barons with plus-23.

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

Tvrdon on a Tear: Left wing Marek Tvrdon has certainly been earning his keep as of late, as the Nitra, Slovakia, native has earned eight points (5-3—8) in his last seven outings with Grand Rapids, including his game-winning tally in Friday’s 4-0 blanking of the Milwaukee Admirals. In all, he has turned out 21 points (7-14—21) in 31 games with the Griffins this season. Tvrdon’s 2014-15 campaign is the stuff of dreams compared to last season, when the 6-foot-2, 217-pound winger split his time between the Griffins (0-0-0, 1 GP), the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye (9-4—13, 22 GP) and the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets (11-16—27, 29 GP).

Shorthanded? No Problem: After scoring just three shorthanded goals in a matter of 54 games this season, the Griffins notched a shorthanded goal in back-to-back contests last weekend. In Friday’s 4-0 win at Milwaukee, Tomas Nosek put away an unassisted shorthanded goal at 4:34 of the third period. In Saturday’s 5-0 blanking of Chicago, Landon Ferraro earned his own shorthanded tally at 6:34 of the third period. Both Ferraro and Nosek now have two shorthanded goals this season, while the Griffins’ fifth belongs to Andreas Athanasiou.

Bernie’s Milestone: Now in his fourth season as Grand Rapids’ athletic trainer and 14th in the sport, Saturday’s game in Rockford will mark John Bernal’s 1,000th career game in professional hockey. Prior to joining the Griffins, the Pinckney, Mich., native spent three seasons as the assistant athletic trainer for the NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes (2008-11), following a four-year stint as head athletic trainer for the club’s AHL affiliates in San Antonio (2005-08) and Utah (2004-05).

In the Show: Teemu Pulkkinen earned his second NHL goal last Thursday in Detroit’s 3-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks. Pulkkinen tied the game, 1-1, at 3:53 of the second period, before San Jose retook the lead just 2:58 later. It wasn’t until late in the third period when the Wings took control of the scoreboard. Pavel Datsyuk nabbed the equalizer at 13:32, before former Griffin and Grand Rapids native Luke Glendening scored the game-winner with only 1:15 remaining. On Saturday, defenseman Alexey Marchenko scored his first NHL goal in the Wings’ 4-3 victory over the Nashville Predators. Pulkkinen was assigned to Grand Rapids on Tuesday afternoon.

Mrazek Named CCM/AHL Player of the Week: The American Hockey League announced on Monday that Griffins goaltender Petr Mrazek has been selected as the CCM/AHL Player of the Week for the period ending March 1. Last week, Mrazek backstopped the Griffins to three consecutive wins on the road, beginning with a 31-save performance in Tuesday’s 6-2 victory at Iowa. The Ostrava, Czech Republic, native then turned out consecutive shutouts against the Milwaukee Admirals on Friday (25 saves) and the Chicago Wolves on Saturday (27 saves). Mrazek’s shutout on Saturday was the Griffins’ fifth on the road this season, breaking the franchise record of four set in 2002-03. Just the third Griffin to ever record back-to-back road shutouts, Mrazek currently owns a shutout streak of 144:28. Mrazek’s run comes on the heels of a 26-save blanking of the Hamilton Bulldogs on Feb. 24, giving the third-year Griffin three shutouts in his last four games. He has allowed just two goals in his last 247:21 played for a 0.49 goals against average and a 0.983 save percentage (117-119) during that span.

Walleye World: The ECHL’s Toledo Walleye (34-12-3-2, 73 pts.) turned out a 1-2-0-0 record during their weekend three-in-three against the Kalamazoo Wings. On Friday, the Walleye fell on the road, 8-3. Griffins-contracted forward Alden Hirschfeld had a goal in the contest, but a four-goal second period for the home team was too much to overcome for Toledo. The Walleye bounced back on Saturday with a 7-4 victory, in which the team scored seven unanswered goals from the first to the third period. Sunday saw Toledo fall once again to Kalamazoo, this time by a 4-2 margin. Kyle Bonis notched Toledo’s first goal at 5:02 of the third period to make it a 2-1 game, but Kalamazoo capitalized on Toledo’s empty net to put the contest out of reach, despite a Walleye power play goal in the final minute of the game. Toledo ranks second in the North Division, five points behind the Fort Wayne Komets (36-12-2-4, 78 pts.) and has three games in hand.

Roster Shakeup: The Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday assigned right wing Teemu Pulkkinen to the Griffins. In addition, Detroit reassigned goaltender Jared Coreau and right wing Martin Frk from Grand Rapids to the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye. Detroit’s fourth choice (111th overall) in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, Pulkkinen currently ranks second in scoring in the AHL with 57 points (30-27—57) in 44 games with Grand Rapids. Pulkkinen also ranks among league leaders with 30 goals (1st), 10 power play goals (T2nd) and 178 shots (4th). The 23-year-old forward has appeared in 12 games with the Wings this season, picking up his first NHL goal on Jan. 20 versus Minnesota and also scoring in Thursday’s 3-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks. Coreau, 23, ties for ninth among AHL goaltenders with a 2.15 goals against average, alongside a 13-6-1 record and a 0.926 save percentage. A native of Perth, Ontario, Coreau is currently on a seven-game winning streak with the Griffins, including back-to-back shutouts against the Iowa Wild on Jan. 29 (6-0) and the Milwaukee Admirals on Jan. 30 (3-0). The streak is one game longer than the six-game winning streak he ran to begin the season, which tied a Griffins franchise record for the most consecutive wins to begin a season. Detroit’s first choice (49th overall) in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, Frk has scored two goals in 16 games with the Griffins this season. The 21-year-old has spent a majority of the season with Toledo, where he owns 35 points (21-14—35) and a plus-14 rating in 26 games. Prior to his reassignment to Grand Rapids, Frk scored nine points (7-2—9) in five ECHL games from Jan. 25-Feb. 15. A native of Pelhrimov, Czech Republic, Frk earned 12 points (3-9—12) in 50 games with the Griffins and 13 points (5-8—13) in 15 games with the Walleye last season.

Scouting Report

Wed., March 4 vs. Oklahoma City Barons (34-15-3-3) – 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: 12-9-1-1 Overall, 6-4-0-1 Home. Season Series: 1-2-0-0 overall, 0-1-0-0 home. Fourth of four meetings overall, second of two at Van Andel Arena. NHL Affiliation: Edmonton Oilers. Head Coach: Gerry Fleming (1st season). Notes: The Barons rank first in the West Division, first in the Western Conference and tie for third overall…Oklahoma City is just two points ahead of Grand Rapids in the standings, but the Barons also have a game in hand…Right wing Andrew Miller ranks first on the Barons and ties for eighth overall in the league in scoring with 47 points (21-26—47) in 51 games. Former Stanley Cup champion (2002 Detroit) and Griffin (2002-03) Jason Williams ranks second on the team with 41 points (17-24—41) in 52 games. Williams is a 15-year pro and has played in 455 NHL games throughout his career. Third place belongs to defenseman Brad Hunt, who has 40 points (14-26—40) in 41 games. Hunt ranks third in scoring among AHL defensemen…Both Oklahoma City’s power play (18.5%) and penalty killing (85.2%) records rank 11th in the league…The Barons average 3.11 goals per game (T3rd), while allowing 2.69 goals against (T13th).

Fri., March 6 at Milwaukee Admirals (29-18-4-4) – BMO Harris Bradley Center – 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: 71-51-7-5-7 Overall, 32-27-5-4-5 Road. Season Series: 5-2-0-0 Overall, 3-1-0-0 Road. Eighth of 10 meetings overall, fifth of five at BMO Harris Bradley Center. NHL Affiliation: Nashville Predators. Head Coach: Dean Evason (3rd season). Notes: The Admirals rank third in the Midwest Division, sixth in the Western Conference and tie for 12th overall…In their meeting in Milwaukee last Friday, the Griffins shut out the Admirals 4-0…Rookie right wing Viktor Arvidsson ranks first on the team with 44 points (17-27—44) in 55 games. Arvidsson ranks third among league rookies in scoring and ties for 14th overall…Left wing Richard Clune posts the most penalty minutes for the Admirals with 156 in 42 games, and left wing Michael Liambas is the second-most physical presence with 119 PIM in 38 games…Former Griffin and Calder Cup Champion Triston Grant is a member of the Admirals this season. In 53 games, Grant has clocked 18 points (10-8—18), 82 PIM and a minus-six rating…Goaltender Magnus Hellberg ranks eighth overall among goaltenders with a 2.13 GAA, alongside a 14-6-4 record and a 0.921 save percentage...The Admirals only register 27.60 shots per game (28th) but limit their opponents to 27.87 shot per game (4th).

Sat., March 7 at Rockford IceHogs (32-18-4-2) – BMO Harris Bank Center – 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: 21-19-3-5 Overall, 7-12-2-3 Road. Season Series: 1-2-0-1 Overall, 1-1-0-0 Road. Fifth of eight meetings overall, third of four at BMO Harris Bank Center. NHL Affiliation: Chicago Blackhawks. Head Coach: Ted Dent (4th season). Notes: The IceHogs rank second in the Midwest Division, tie for third in the Western Conference and tie for sixth overall…T.J. Brennan, Rockford’s scoring leader, was traded by the Chicago Blackhawks to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Spencer Abbott. Now a member of the Marlies, Brennan led Rockford in scoring with 36 points (9-27—36) in 54 games...Center Cody Bass is the most physical presence on the team, having logged 118 penalty minutes in 42 games…Goaltender Michael Leighton ties for 12th overall with a 2.18 goals against average, alongside a 14-10-4 record and a 0.923 save percentage…Rockford’s power play (16.8%) ties for 16th overall and its penalty kill ranks seventh (86.0%)…The IceHogs pop off an average of 32.96 goals per game, good for second-best in the AHL, while they allow 29.46 shots against per game.

This Week’s Games
Wed., March 4 Oklahoma City Barons at GRIFFINS 7 p.m. WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM / AHLLive.com
Fri., March 6 GRIFFINS at Milwaukee Admirals 8 p.m. WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM / AHLLive.com
Sat., March 7 GRIFFINS at Rockford IceHogs 8 p.m. WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM / AHLLive.com

Last Week’s Results
Tue., Feb. 24 GRIFFINS 6 at Iowa Wild 2 31-17-5-1, 68 pts. (1st, Midwest Division)
Fri., Feb. 27 GRIFFINS 4 at Milwaukee Admirals 0 32-17-5-1, 70 pts. (1st)
Sat., Feb. 28 GRIFFINS 5 at Chicago Wolves 0 33-17-5-1, 72 pts. (1st)

Like Butter: The Griffins are on a roll lately, posting three victories during their road trip last week, including two shutouts against Midwest Division opponents. On Tuesday, the Griffins traveled to Wells Fargo Arena and earned a 6-2 victory over the Iowa Wild, while allowing the only two goals against for the week. Marek Tvrdon potted two goals in the contest, including one on the power play, as the Griffins scored twice in three opportunities with the extra skater. Anthony Mantha earned the team’s other power play goal. On Friday, the Griffins blanked the Milwaukee Admirals, 4-0, at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Tvrdon notched the Griffins’ only goal through two periods, before Grand Rapids exploded for three tallies in the third period from Tomas Nosek (shorthanded), captain Jeff Hoggan (full-strength) and Landon Ferraro (empty-net). Goaltender Petr Mrazek posted a 25-save shutout and earned first-star honors in the contest. On Saturday, Mrazek continued his dominance with another shutout, this time a 27-save performance against the Chicago Wolves at Allstate Arena. Ferraro earned his third goal in as many nights, while the Griffins posted their eighth win in a row and seventh consecutive victory on the road.

Griffins Leaders: Right wing Teemu Pulkkinen leads the Griffins in scoring and ranks second in the league with 57 points (30-27—57) in 44 games. Center Andy Miele ranks second on the team, and third in the AHL, with 53 points (19-34—53) in 51 games, while third-place Mitch Callahan has 16 goals and 22 assists in 48 games. Callahan’s output is finished, however, as the left wing suffered a season-ending injury on Feb. 13. Landon Ferraro leads the Griffins in shots with 191 and ranks second in the AHL. Center Tomas Nosek leads the team in plus/minus with a plus-16 rating. Left wing Chris Bruton leads the squad in penalty minutes (102).

16/17: The Griffins have picked up points in 16 of their last 17 games (1/23/15-2/28/15) and have banked 30 of 34 possible points within that span (14-1-2-0). Grand Rapids is currently on an eight-game winning streak overall, a seven-game winning streak on the road and a 12-game point streak. Their seven-game road streak ties a Griffins franchise record, previously set from Oct. 16-Dec. 3, 2004.

Eight is Great: Grand Rapids his picked up eight consecutive victories from Feb. 14-28, preceded by two overtime losses. The Griffins franchise record for the longest winning streak is 11 games, set from March 5-31, 2006.

The Midwest: The Griffins (33-17-5-1, 72 pts.) sit atop the Midwest Division through 56 games, but the second-place Rockford IceHogs (32-18-4-2, 70 pts.) trail by only two points. The teams have played an equal amount of games and will square off this Saturday in Rockford. The Milwaukee Admirals (29-18-4-4, 66 pts.) have lost five games in a row and now sit in third, while the Chicago Wolves (28-21-5-1, 62 pts.) rank fourth. The Lake Erie Monsters (24-22-5-3, 56 pts.) round out the division in fifth place.

Goal Differential: The Griffins have outscored their opponents 183 to 136, giving the team a league-leading plus-47 goal differential. While the Manchester Monarchs (+44) and Hershey Bears (+42) follow closely behind, the next-closest Western Conference team is the Oklahoma City Barons with plus-23.

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

Tvrdon on a Tear: Left wing Marek Tvrdon has certainly been earning his keep as of late, as the Nitra, Slovakia, native has earned eight points (5-3—8) in his last seven outings with Grand Rapids, including his game-winning tally in Friday’s 4-0 blanking of the Milwaukee Admirals. In all, he has turned out 21 points (7-14—21) in 31 games with the Griffins this season. Tvrdon’s 2014-15 campaign is the stuff of dreams compared to last season, when the 6-foot-2, 217-pound winger split his time between the Griffins (0-0-0, 1 GP), the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye (9-4—13, 22 GP) and the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets (11-16—27, 29 GP).

Shorthanded? No Problem: After scoring just three shorthanded goals in a matter of 54 games this season, the Griffins notched a shorthanded goal in back-to-back contests last weekend. In Friday’s 4-0 win at Milwaukee, Tomas Nosek put away an unassisted shorthanded goal at 4:34 of the third period. In Saturday’s 5-0 blanking of Chicago, Landon Ferraro earned his own shorthanded tally at 6:34 of the third period. Both Ferraro and Nosek now have two shorthanded goals this season, while the Griffins’ fifth belongs to Andreas Athanasiou.

Bernie’s Milestone: Now in his fourth season as Grand Rapids’ athletic trainer and 14th in the sport, Saturday’s game in Rockford will mark John Bernal’s 1,000th career game in professional hockey. Prior to joining the Griffins, the Pinckney, Mich., native spent three seasons as the assistant athletic trainer for the NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes (2008-11), following a four-year stint as head athletic trainer for the club’s AHL affiliates in San Antonio (2005-08) and Utah (2004-05).

In the Show: Teemu Pulkkinen earned his second NHL goal last Thursday in Detroit’s 3-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks. Pulkkinen tied the game, 1-1, at 3:53 of the second period, before San Jose retook the lead just 2:58 later. It wasn’t until late in the third period when the Wings took control of the scoreboard. Pavel Datsyuk nabbed the equalizer at 13:32, before former Griffin and Grand Rapids native Luke Glendening scored the game-winner with only 1:15 remaining. On Saturday, defenseman Alexey Marchenko scored his first NHL goal in the Wings’ 4-3 victory over the Nashville Predators. Pulkkinen was assigned to Grand Rapids on Tuesday afternoon.

Mrazek Named CCM/AHL Player of the Week: The American Hockey League announced on Monday that Griffins goaltender Petr Mrazek has been selected as the CCM/AHL Player of the Week for the period ending March 1. Last week, Mrazek backstopped the Griffins to three consecutive wins on the road, beginning with a 31-save performance in Tuesday’s 6-2 victory at Iowa. The Ostrava, Czech Republic, native then turned out consecutive shutouts against the Milwaukee Admirals on Friday (25 saves) and the Chicago Wolves on Saturday (27 saves). Mrazek’s shutout on Saturday was the Griffins’ fifth on the road this season, breaking the franchise record of four set in 2002-03. Just the third Griffin to ever record back-to-back road shutouts, Mrazek currently owns a shutout streak of 144:28. Mrazek’s run comes on the heels of a 26-save blanking of the Hamilton Bulldogs on Feb. 24, giving the third-year Griffin three shutouts in his last four games. He has allowed just two goals in his last 247:21 played for a 0.49 goals against average and a 0.983 save percentage (117-119) during that span.

Walleye World: The ECHL’s Toledo Walleye (34-12-3-2, 73 pts.) turned out a 1-2-0-0 record during their weekend three-in-three against the Kalamazoo Wings. On Friday, the Walleye fell on the road, 8-3. Griffins-contracted forward Alden Hirschfeld had a goal in the contest, but a four-goal second period for the home team was too much to overcome for Toledo. The Walleye bounced back on Saturday with a 7-4 victory, in which the team scored seven unanswered goals from the first to the third period. Sunday saw Toledo fall once again to Kalamazoo, this time by a 4-2 margin. Kyle Bonis notched Toledo’s first goal at 5:02 of the third period to make it a 2-1 game, but Kalamazoo capitalized on Toledo’s empty net to put the contest out of reach, despite a Walleye power play goal in the final minute of the game. Toledo ranks second in the North Division, five points behind the Fort Wayne Komets (36-12-2-4, 78 pts.) and has three games in hand.

Roster Shakeup: The Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday assigned right wing Teemu Pulkkinen to the Griffins. In addition, Detroit reassigned goaltender Jared Coreau and right wing Martin Frk from Grand Rapids to the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye. Detroit’s fourth choice (111th overall) in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, Pulkkinen currently ranks second in scoring in the AHL with 57 points (30-27—57) in 44 games with Grand Rapids. Pulkkinen also ranks among league leaders with 30 goals (1st), 10 power play goals (T2nd) and 178 shots (4th). The 23-year-old forward has appeared in 12 games with the Wings this season, picking up his first NHL goal on Jan. 20 versus Minnesota and also scoring in Thursday’s 3-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks. Coreau, 23, ties for ninth among AHL goaltenders with a 2.15 goals against average, alongside a 13-6-1 record and a 0.926 save percentage. A native of Perth, Ontario, Coreau is currently on a seven-game winning streak with the Griffins, including back-to-back shutouts against the Iowa Wild on Jan. 29 (6-0) and the Milwaukee Admirals on Jan. 30 (3-0). The streak is one game longer than the six-game winning streak he ran to begin the season, which tied a Griffins franchise record for the most consecutive wins to begin a season. Detroit’s first choice (49th overall) in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, Frk has scored two goals in 16 games with the Griffins this season. The 21-year-old has spent a majority of the season with Toledo, where he owns 35 points (21-14—35) and a plus-14 rating in 26 games. Prior to his reassignment to Grand Rapids, Frk scored nine points (7-2—9) in five ECHL games from Jan. 25-Feb. 15. A native of Pelhrimov, Czech Republic, Frk earned 12 points (3-9—12) in 50 games with the Griffins and 13 points (5-8—13) in 15 games with the Walleye last season.

Scouting Report

Wed., March 4 vs. Oklahoma City Barons (34-15-3-3) – 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: 12-9-1-1 Overall, 6-4-0-1 Home. Season Series: 1-2-0-0 overall, 0-1-0-0 home. Fourth of four meetings overall, second of two at Van Andel Arena. NHL Affiliation: Edmonton Oilers. Head Coach: Gerry Fleming (1st season). Notes: The Barons rank first in the West Division, first in the Western Conference and tie for third overall…Oklahoma City is just two points ahead of Grand Rapids in the standings, but the Barons also have a game in hand…Right wing Andrew Miller ranks first on the Barons and ties for eighth overall in the league in scoring with 47 points (21-26—47) in 51 games. Former Stanley Cup champion (2002 Detroit) and Griffin (2002-03) Jason Williams ranks second on the team with 41 points (17-24—41) in 52 games. Williams is a 15-year pro and has played in 455 NHL games throughout his career. Third place belongs to defenseman Brad Hunt, who has 40 points (14-26—40) in 41 games. Hunt ranks third in scoring among AHL defensemen…Both Oklahoma City’s power play (18.5%) and penalty killing (85.2%) records rank 11th in the league…The Barons average 3.11 goals per game (T3rd), while allowing 2.69 goals against (T13th).

Fri., March 6 at Milwaukee Admirals (29-18-4-4) – BMO Harris Bradley Center – 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: 71-51-7-5-7 Overall, 32-27-5-4-5 Road. Season Series: 5-2-0-0 Overall, 3-1-0-0 Road. Eighth of 10 meetings overall, fifth of five at BMO Harris Bradley Center. NHL Affiliation: Nashville Predators. Head Coach: Dean Evason (3rd season). Notes: The Admirals rank third in the Midwest Division, sixth in the Western Conference and tie for 12th overall…In their meeting in Milwaukee last Friday, the Griffins shut out the Admirals 4-0…Rookie right wing Viktor Arvidsson ranks first on the team with 44 points (17-27—44) in 55 games. Arvidsson ranks third among league rookies in scoring and ties for 14th overall…Left wing Richard Clune posts the most penalty minutes for the Admirals with 156 in 42 games, and left wing Michael Liambas is the second-most physical presence with 119 PIM in 38 games…Former Griffin and Calder Cup Champion Triston Grant is a member of the Admirals this season. In 53 games, Grant has clocked 18 points (10-8—18), 82 PIM and a minus-six rating…Goaltender Magnus Hellberg ranks eighth overall among goaltenders with a 2.13 GAA, alongside a 14-6-4 record and a 0.921 save percentage...The Admirals only register 27.60 shots per game (28th) but limit their opponents to 27.87 shot per game (4th).

Sat., March 7 at Rockford IceHogs (32-18-4-2) – BMO Harris Bank Center – 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: 21-19-3-5 Overall, 7-12-2-3 Road. Season Series: 1-2-0-1 Overall, 1-1-0-0 Road. Fifth of eight meetings overall, third of four at BMO Harris Bank Center. NHL Affiliation: Chicago Blackhawks. Head Coach: Ted Dent (4th season). Notes: The IceHogs rank second in the Midwest Division, tie for third in the Western Conference and tie for sixth overall…T.J. Brennan, Rockford’s scoring leader, was traded by the Chicago Blackhawks to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Spencer Abbott. Now a member of the Marlies, Brennan led Rockford in scoring with 36 points (9-27—36) in 54 games...Center Cody Bass is the most physical presence on the team, having logged 118 penalty minutes in 42 games…Goaltender Michael Leighton ties for 12th overall with a 2.18 goals against average, alongside a 14-10-4 record and a 0.923 save percentage…Rockford’s power play (16.8%) ties for 16th overall and its penalty kill ranks seventh (86.0%)…The IceHogs pop off an average of 32.96 goals per game, good for second-best in the AHL, while they allow 29.46 shots against per game.