GRIFFINS WELCOME IOWA WILD TO VAN ANDEL ARENA FOR SATURDAY MATCHUP

This Week’s Games
Sat., Dec. 27 Iowa Wild at GRIFFINS 7 p.m. WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM / AHLLive.com

Last Week’s Results
Fri., Dec. 19 Toronto Marlies 7 at GRIFFINS 1 13-10-3-0, 29 pts. (T4th)
Sat., Dec. 20 GRIFFINS 4 at Lake Erie Monsters 3 SO 14-10-3-0, 31 pts. (T2nd)
Mon., Dec. 22 GRIFFINS 3 at Chicago Wolves 5 14-11-3-0, 31 pts. (T4th)

Keeping Up: The Griffins began their three-game week with a 7-1 rout of the Toronto Marlies at Van Andel Arena on Friday, setting season highs for goals, margin of victory and power play goals. Andy Miele scored an impressive five points (1-4—5) and Teemu Pulkkinen notched two goals of his own in the contest, which featured the season debut of Marek Tvrdon following his recall from the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye. Miele chipped in three assists in the second period alone, tying a franchise record that was last accomplished by captain Jeff Hoggan on Jan. 19, 2013 at Rockford (1-4—5). Saturday’s victory over the Lake Erie Monsters was less decisive, with Pulkkinen notching the game-winning shootout goal in the sixth round of the skills competition. The Griffins were aided by a 34-save performance from Jared Coreau, who earned his sixth straight victory and tied a franchise record for the most wins to begin a season, set by Petr Mrazek in 2012-13 and equaled by Tom McCollum last season. On Monday, Grand Rapids fell to the Chicago Wolves, 5-3, at Allstate Arena to end the team’s brief two-game winning streak. An action-packed first period saw the Wolves take off with a two-goal lead before Mark Zengerle notched his third goal of the campaign. Chicago went ahead, 3-1, 2:46 later until Tomas Nosek put home his first AHL goal at 18:09 to end the first period in favor of the Wolves, 3-2. After a scoreless second, Pulkkinen evened the score at three apiece 6:33 into the final frame, before Chicago scored two late goals to run away with the win.

2015 Griffins Team Calendar Giveaway: The first 5,000 fans that attend Saturday’s game versus the Iowa Wild at Van Andel Arena will receive a 2015 team calendar, courtesy of Fox Motors.

Saturday Promotions: Saturday’s game versus the Iowa Wild is a Friends & Family 4-Pack game. Available for all Saturday games, each pack incudes four tickets and $12 in concession cash for a great low price. Visit griffinshockey.com/f4p or call (616) 774-4585 ext. 2. In addition, children with Griff’s Reading Goals bookmarks who have completed the required three hours of reading can redeem their bookmark for two free Upper Level tickets to any one of the following games: Dec. 27 and Jan. 21. Chris Bruton, Jeff Hoggan and Teemu Pulkkinen will sign autographs following the game from the team’s bench, presented by Huntington Bank.

Griffins Leaders: Right wing Teemu Pulkkinen scored four goals over the course of last week and remains atop the Griffins’ scoring leaders with 30 points (15-15—30) in 28 games. Center Andy Miele (9-15—24) ranks second following his five-point performance on Friday, while left wing Mitch Callahan (9-12—21) ranks third. In terms of penalty minutes, Grand Rapids’ top three physical presences are Chris Bruton (47), Brennan Evans (37) and Anthony Mantha (27). Both Mantha and the injured Andreas Athanasiou rank first in plus/minus (plus-eight).

Nosey Moseys In: First-year Griffin Tomas Nosek has been producing a fair amount of points since his return from injury, picking up four points (1-3—4) in his eight most recent games. The 6-foot-2, 201-pound center earned his first AHL goal in Monday’s 5-3 loss to the Chicago Wolves. In all, the Pardubice, Czech Republic, native has earned six points (1-5—6) in 12 games with Grand Rapids.

Duty Calls: Goaltender Jared Coreau’s winning streak ended at six with a 5-3 loss to the Chicago Wolves on Monday. After gaining serious momentum following his first start of the season on Nov. 29 at Adirondack, a 6-1 victory, Coreau is now playing the primary role between the pipes for the Griffins while both Petr Mrazek and Tom McCollum are on recall with Detroit. Coreau’s 2014-15 campaign is a turnaround compared to his rookie season, when he registered a 4.03 goals against average and a 1-12-6 record in 20 games with the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye and a 4.39 GAA and a 0-4-0 record in five games with the Griffins. In his second-year reincarnation, the 6-foot-5, 235-pound goaltender has turned out a 4-2-0 record with Toledo and a 6-1-0 record with Grand Rapids (1.81 GAA, 0.935 save percentage).

Best of the Best: After earning his sixth consecutive win to begin the season on Saturday with a 4-3 shootout victory at Lake Erie, Jared Coreau tied the franchise record that was set by Petr Mrazek in 2012-13 and equaled by Tom McCollum last season. Comparing the franchise-record 6-0 starts of Coreau, McCollum and Mrazek:

Mrazek vs. Pickard: Goaltender Petr Mrazek has recently seen more playing time with the Red Wings in light of Jimmy Howard’s injury on Friday. The Ostrava, Czech Republic, native has turned out a 3-2-1 record and 2.24 goals against average in six appearances with Detroit this season. Mrazek had an opportunity to show off his skills on Sunday at Joe Louis Arena against the Colorado Avalanche, when he stopped six shooters in a nine-round shootout for the Wings. Lake Erie goaltender Calvin Pickard, who is currently on recall with Colorado, earned the win with seven saves in the skills competition. Two former Griffins, Gustav Nyquist and Tomas Tatar, were the only skaters to beat Pickard. The last showdown between Mrazek and Pickard was in the AHL on Nov. 12 at Van Andel Arena. Pickard allowed four goals on 13 shots before he was pulled in favor of Roman Will. With Grand Rapids up by four goals to start the third period, the Monsters exploded for three unanswered tallies before Andreas Athanasiou netted the shorthanded, empty-net insurance goal with just 10 seconds remaining in the game.

The Midwest: It’s a tight race for positioning in the Midwest Division, with the Rockford IceHogs (18-9-3-1, 40 pts.) sitting in first despite a 3-5-2-0 record in their last 10 outings. The Chicago Wolves (16-11-3-0, 35 pts.) jumped up to second place following their 5-3 win over Grand Rapids on Monday, while the Milwaukee Admirals (15-10-0-3, 33 pts.) sit in third. The Lake Erie Monsters (13-10-2-3, 31 pts.) and Griffins (14-11-3-0, 31 pts.) once again tie for fourth place. Milwaukee, Lake Erie and Grand Rapids all have two games in hand to Chicago and three to Rockford.

Walleye World: The ECHL’s Toledo Walleye (19-4-2-1, 41 pts.) kept rolling along on Saturday with a commanding 4-1 victory over the Kalamazoo Wings at Wings Stadium. Walleye points leader and Griffins-contracted forward Tyler Barnes earned a goal and assist in the game, and Alden Hirschfeld posted an assist of his own on the first goal of the night by Justin Mercier in the opening frame. Toledo ranks second in the North division, just two points behind the first-place Fort Wayne Komets (21-4-1-0, 43 pts.).

Milestone: Defenseman Brennan Evans played in his 800th AHL game on Friday in the Griffins’ 7-1 victory over the Toronto Marlies at Van Andel Arena, making him the 36th player in history to reach that milestone.

Deep Well: The Detroit Red Wings on Saturday recalled goaltender Tom McCollum from the Griffins and assigned defenseman Xavier Ouellet to their AHL affiliate. In addition, the Griffins signed goaltender Cody Reichard to a professional tryout. The 25-year-old McCollum has appeared between the pipes in 16 games for Grand Rapids this season, turning out a 5-8-3 record, a 2.57 goals against average and a 0.903 save percentage. Detroit’s first choice (30th overall) in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, McCollum has played 175 career games with the Griffins since 2009-10 and has amassed a 74-75-13 record and a 2.91 GAA. Last season, the 6-foot-2, 215-pound netminder ranked fourth among AHL goaltenders with a 2.30 GAA, and he set career bests in games played (46), wins (24) and save percentage (0.922). A native of Bayonne, France, Ouellet has picked up seven points (1-6—7) in 20 games with Grand Rapids this season. The 6-foot, 200-pound defenseman has also skated in nine games with Detroit this season, scoring his first NHL point (assist) on Nov. 22 at Toronto and his first NHL goal on Nov. 28 at New Jersey. In 89 career games with the Griffins over the last two seasons, the 21-year-old Ouellet has accumulated 24 points (5-19—24) and 38 penalty minutes. Ouellet was Detroit’s second choice (48th overall) in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. Reichard, 27, has appeared in 15 games with the ECHL’s Indy Fuel this season, compiling a 5-6-2 record, a 3.35 GAA and a 0.889 save percentage. The 5-foot-11, 165-pound goaltender previously enjoyed two short stints in the AHL with the Houston Aeros (2012-13) and Iowa Wild (2013-14). Reichard earned a 3-1-1 record, a 2.41 GAA and a 0.910 save percentage in seven games with the Aeros and a 1-1-0 record, a 3.36 GAA and 0.913 save percentage in two games with the Wild.

Scouting Report

Sat., Dec. 27 vs. Iowa Wild (9-18-1-1) – 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: 8-2-0-0 Overall, 3-2-0-0 Home. Season Series: 0-0-0-0 Overall, 0-0-0-0 Home. First of four meetings overall, first of two at Van Andel Arena. NHL Affiliation: Minnesota Wild. Head Coach: John Torchetti (1st season). Notes: The Iowa Wild rank fifth in the West division, 15th in the Western Conference and 30th overall in the league…Forward Tyler Graovac ranks first among Wild scoring leaders with 22 points (10-12—22) in 29 games…Left wing Curt Gogol is the team’s enforcer with 96 penalty minutes in 17 games…Goaltenders John Curry (4-6-0, 3.02 GAA) and Johan Gustafsson (5-11-1, 3.26) have split time between the net for Iowa this season…Former head coach Kurt Kleinendorst was relieved of his coaching duties earlier this season and John Torchetti was named as his replacement…In terms of special teams, the Wild rank 21st in power play (15.0%) and tie for 26th in penalty killing (79.3%)…Iowa has been outshot by opponents by a measure of 971-803, while the Griffins have outshot opponents 887 to 763.

This Week’s Games
Sat., Dec. 27 Iowa Wild at GRIFFINS 7 p.m. WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM / AHLLive.com

Last Week’s Results
Fri., Dec. 19 Toronto Marlies 7 at GRIFFINS 1 13-10-3-0, 29 pts. (T4th)
Sat., Dec. 20 GRIFFINS 4 at Lake Erie Monsters 3 SO 14-10-3-0, 31 pts. (T2nd)
Mon., Dec. 22 GRIFFINS 3 at Chicago Wolves 5 14-11-3-0, 31 pts. (T4th)

Keeping Up: The Griffins began their three-game week with a 7-1 rout of the Toronto Marlies at Van Andel Arena on Friday, setting season highs for goals, margin of victory and power play goals. Andy Miele scored an impressive five points (1-4—5) and Teemu Pulkkinen notched two goals of his own in the contest, which featured the season debut of Marek Tvrdon following his recall from the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye. Miele chipped in three assists in the second period alone, tying a franchise record that was last accomplished by captain Jeff Hoggan on Jan. 19, 2013 at Rockford (1-4—5). Saturday’s victory over the Lake Erie Monsters was less decisive, with Pulkkinen notching the game-winning shootout goal in the sixth round of the skills competition. The Griffins were aided by a 34-save performance from Jared Coreau, who earned his sixth straight victory and tied a franchise record for the most wins to begin a season, set by Petr Mrazek in 2012-13 and equaled by Tom McCollum last season. On Monday, Grand Rapids fell to the Chicago Wolves, 5-3, at Allstate Arena to end the team’s brief two-game winning streak. An action-packed first period saw the Wolves take off with a two-goal lead before Mark Zengerle notched his third goal of the campaign. Chicago went ahead, 3-1, 2:46 later until Tomas Nosek put home his first AHL goal at 18:09 to end the first period in favor of the Wolves, 3-2. After a scoreless second, Pulkkinen evened the score at three apiece 6:33 into the final frame, before Chicago scored two late goals to run away with the win.

2015 Griffins Team Calendar Giveaway: The first 5,000 fans that attend Saturday’s game versus the Iowa Wild at Van Andel Arena will receive a 2015 team calendar, courtesy of Fox Motors.

Saturday Promotions: Saturday’s game versus the Iowa Wild is a Friends & Family 4-Pack game. Available for all Saturday games, each pack incudes four tickets and $12 in concession cash for a great low price. Visit griffinshockey.com/f4p or call (616) 774-4585 ext. 2. In addition, children with Griff’s Reading Goals bookmarks who have completed the required three hours of reading can redeem their bookmark for two free Upper Level tickets to any one of the following games: Dec. 27 and Jan. 21. Chris Bruton, Jeff Hoggan and Teemu Pulkkinen will sign autographs following the game from the team’s bench, presented by Huntington Bank.

Griffins Leaders: Right wing Teemu Pulkkinen scored four goals over the course of last week and remains atop the Griffins’ scoring leaders with 30 points (15-15—30) in 28 games. Center Andy Miele (9-15—24) ranks second following his five-point performance on Friday, while left wing Mitch Callahan (9-12—21) ranks third. In terms of penalty minutes, Grand Rapids’ top three physical presences are Chris Bruton (47), Brennan Evans (37) and Anthony Mantha (27). Both Mantha and the injured Andreas Athanasiou rank first in plus/minus (plus-eight).

Nosey Moseys In: First-year Griffin Tomas Nosek has been producing a fair amount of points since his return from injury, picking up four points (1-3—4) in his eight most recent games. The 6-foot-2, 201-pound center earned his first AHL goal in Monday’s 5-3 loss to the Chicago Wolves. In all, the Pardubice, Czech Republic, native has earned six points (1-5—6) in 12 games with Grand Rapids.

Duty Calls: Goaltender Jared Coreau’s winning streak ended at six with a 5-3 loss to the Chicago Wolves on Monday. After gaining serious momentum following his first start of the season on Nov. 29 at Adirondack, a 6-1 victory, Coreau is now playing the primary role between the pipes for the Griffins while both Petr Mrazek and Tom McCollum are on recall with Detroit. Coreau’s 2014-15 campaign is a turnaround compared to his rookie season, when he registered a 4.03 goals against average and a 1-12-6 record in 20 games with the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye and a 4.39 GAA and a 0-4-0 record in five games with the Griffins. In his second-year reincarnation, the 6-foot-5, 235-pound goaltender has turned out a 4-2-0 record with Toledo and a 6-1-0 record with Grand Rapids (1.81 GAA, 0.935 save percentage).

Best of the Best: After earning his sixth consecutive win to begin the season on Saturday with a 4-3 shootout victory at Lake Erie, Jared Coreau tied the franchise record that was set by Petr Mrazek in 2012-13 and equaled by Tom McCollum last season. Comparing the franchise-record 6-0 starts of Coreau, McCollum and Mrazek:

Mrazek vs. Pickard: Goaltender Petr Mrazek has recently seen more playing time with the Red Wings in light of Jimmy Howard’s injury on Friday. The Ostrava, Czech Republic, native has turned out a 3-2-1 record and 2.24 goals against average in six appearances with Detroit this season. Mrazek had an opportunity to show off his skills on Sunday at Joe Louis Arena against the Colorado Avalanche, when he stopped six shooters in a nine-round shootout for the Wings. Lake Erie goaltender Calvin Pickard, who is currently on recall with Colorado, earned the win with seven saves in the skills competition. Two former Griffins, Gustav Nyquist and Tomas Tatar, were the only skaters to beat Pickard. The last showdown between Mrazek and Pickard was in the AHL on Nov. 12 at Van Andel Arena. Pickard allowed four goals on 13 shots before he was pulled in favor of Roman Will. With Grand Rapids up by four goals to start the third period, the Monsters exploded for three unanswered tallies before Andreas Athanasiou netted the shorthanded, empty-net insurance goal with just 10 seconds remaining in the game.

The Midwest: It’s a tight race for positioning in the Midwest Division, with the Rockford IceHogs (18-9-3-1, 40 pts.) sitting in first despite a 3-5-2-0 record in their last 10 outings. The Chicago Wolves (16-11-3-0, 35 pts.) jumped up to second place following their 5-3 win over Grand Rapids on Monday, while the Milwaukee Admirals (15-10-0-3, 33 pts.) sit in third. The Lake Erie Monsters (13-10-2-3, 31 pts.) and Griffins (14-11-3-0, 31 pts.) once again tie for fourth place. Milwaukee, Lake Erie and Grand Rapids all have two games in hand to Chicago and three to Rockford.

Walleye World: The ECHL’s Toledo Walleye (19-4-2-1, 41 pts.) kept rolling along on Saturday with a commanding 4-1 victory over the Kalamazoo Wings at Wings Stadium. Walleye points leader and Griffins-contracted forward Tyler Barnes earned a goal and assist in the game, and Alden Hirschfeld posted an assist of his own on the first goal of the night by Justin Mercier in the opening frame. Toledo ranks second in the North division, just two points behind the first-place Fort Wayne Komets (21-4-1-0, 43 pts.).

Milestone: Defenseman Brennan Evans played in his 800th AHL game on Friday in the Griffins’ 7-1 victory over the Toronto Marlies at Van Andel Arena, making him the 36th player in history to reach that milestone.

Deep Well: The Detroit Red Wings on Saturday recalled goaltender Tom McCollum from the Griffins and assigned defenseman Xavier Ouellet to their AHL affiliate. In addition, the Griffins signed goaltender Cody Reichard to a professional tryout. The 25-year-old McCollum has appeared between the pipes in 16 games for Grand Rapids this season, turning out a 5-8-3 record, a 2.57 goals against average and a 0.903 save percentage. Detroit’s first choice (30th overall) in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, McCollum has played 175 career games with the Griffins since 2009-10 and has amassed a 74-75-13 record and a 2.91 GAA. Last season, the 6-foot-2, 215-pound netminder ranked fourth among AHL goaltenders with a 2.30 GAA, and he set career bests in games played (46), wins (24) and save percentage (0.922). A native of Bayonne, France, Ouellet has picked up seven points (1-6—7) in 20 games with Grand Rapids this season. The 6-foot, 200-pound defenseman has also skated in nine games with Detroit this season, scoring his first NHL point (assist) on Nov. 22 at Toronto and his first NHL goal on Nov. 28 at New Jersey. In 89 career games with the Griffins over the last two seasons, the 21-year-old Ouellet has accumulated 24 points (5-19—24) and 38 penalty minutes. Ouellet was Detroit’s second choice (48th overall) in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. Reichard, 27, has appeared in 15 games with the ECHL’s Indy Fuel this season, compiling a 5-6-2 record, a 3.35 GAA and a 0.889 save percentage. The 5-foot-11, 165-pound goaltender previously enjoyed two short stints in the AHL with the Houston Aeros (2012-13) and Iowa Wild (2013-14). Reichard earned a 3-1-1 record, a 2.41 GAA and a 0.910 save percentage in seven games with the Aeros and a 1-1-0 record, a 3.36 GAA and 0.913 save percentage in two games with the Wild.

Scouting Report

Sat., Dec. 27 vs. Iowa Wild (9-18-1-1) – 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: 8-2-0-0 Overall, 3-2-0-0 Home. Season Series: 0-0-0-0 Overall, 0-0-0-0 Home. First of four meetings overall, first of two at Van Andel Arena. NHL Affiliation: Minnesota Wild. Head Coach: John Torchetti (1st season). Notes: The Iowa Wild rank fifth in the West division, 15th in the Western Conference and 30th overall in the league…Forward Tyler Graovac ranks first among Wild scoring leaders with 22 points (10-12—22) in 29 games…Left wing Curt Gogol is the team’s enforcer with 96 penalty minutes in 17 games…Goaltenders John Curry (4-6-0, 3.02 GAA) and Johan Gustafsson (5-11-1, 3.26) have split time between the net for Iowa this season…Former head coach Kurt Kleinendorst was relieved of his coaching duties earlier this season and John Torchetti was named as his replacement…In terms of special teams, the Wild rank 21st in power play (15.0%) and tie for 26th in penalty killing (79.3%)…Iowa has been outshot by opponents by a measure of 971-803, while the Griffins have outshot opponents 887 to 763.