'HOG HUNTIN'

This Week’s Games
Rockford IceHogs at GRIFFINS // Sat., Jan. 27 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena
Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 6:35 p.m.
Watch: AHLLive.com
Season Series: 2-1-0-0 Home, 2-3-0-3 Overall. Ninth of 10 meetings overall, fourth of five at Van Andel Arena
All-Time Series: 25-10-1-2 Home, 38-29-3-8 Overall
NHL Affiliation: Chicago Blackhawks
Noteworthy: The Griffins have won six of the last seven meetings on home ice.

Last Week’s Results
Wed., Jan. 17 Milwaukee Admirals 4 at GRIFFINS 3 19-18-1-4 (43 points, 6th Central Division)
Fri., Jan. 19 GRIFFINS 5 at Milwaukee Admirals 2 20-18-1-4 (45 points, 6th)
Sat., Jan. 20 Rockford IceHogs 3 at GRIFFINS 4 21-18-1-4 (47 points, 6th)

Opening Faceoff: The Griffins have won 10 of their last 13 games and have points in 12 of the last 15 (11-3-0-1). Grand Rapids ranks sixth in a jammed Central Division, where 0.037 percentage points is all that separates the second- and sixth-place teams. The Griffins host the Rockford IceHogs on Saturday before the all-star break.

Follow the Leaders:
Points: Matt Puempel (16-21—37)
Goals: Puempel, Eric Tangradi, Matthew Ford (16)
Assists: Ben Street (24)
PIM: Dylan McIlrath (75)
Plus-Minus: Filip Hronek (+12)
Goaltender Wins: Jared Coreau (15)
Goals Against Average: Coreau (2.74)
Save Percentage: Coreau (0.907)

Last Week’s Notes:
Wednesday vs. Milwaukee: Milwaukee scored four unanswered goals after Grand Rapids jumped out to a 2-0 lead at 9:31 of the second period...Eric Tangradi scored with 5.2 seconds left in regulation to bring the Griffins to within one...Matt Puempel scored his 15th goal of the year to tie Matthew Ford for tops on the team...Grand Rapids’ six-game regular season point streak against the Admirals was snapped...Milwaukee earned its first regulation win at Van Andel Arena since March 29, 2017...Ben Street posted a goal and an assist, giving him 10 points (4-6—10) in the last six home games...Jared Coreau lost in regulation for only the second time in his last 10 appearances.
Friday at Milwaukee: Grand Rapids scored three times in the final 4:36 of the opening period...The Griffins have won seven of nine regular season meetings between the teams at Panther Arena…Grand Rapids has points in seven of the last eight regular season matchups against Milwaukee (6-1-1-0)…The Griffins finished 2-for-2 on the power play, 4-for-4 on the penalty kill and scored a shorthanded goal...Grand Rapids notched its third straight win on the road...Tom McCollum recorded 29 saves to earn his 109th career victory as a Griffin and tie Joey MacDonald for the most in franchise history...Eric Tangradi tallied his third multi-goal game of the season and his eighth as a Griffin…Matt Puempel contributed an assist to push his point streak to four...Matthew Ford scored his team-leading 16th goal of the season and ninth on the power play...Joe Hicketts scored his second goal of the season and it was the game-winner…In all, 11 Griffins found the scoresheet.
Saturday vs. Rockford: The Griffins received goals from four different scorers…Jared Coreau recorded 34 saves to earn his eighth win in his last 11 appearances…Eric Tangradi and Matt Puempel both scored goals to tie Matthew Ford for the team lead with 16…Grand Rapids has won two straight against Rockford after dropping the first six meetings of the season…Rookie Dominik Shine potted his fourth career goal.

Hicketts Debuts: Recalled by Detroit on Sunday, second-year defenseman Joe Hicketts became the 168th Griffins alumnus to play in the NHL when he made his debut with the Red Wings during their 3-0 victory at New Jersey last night. Hicketts blocked three shots, recorded one hit and finished with a plus-one rating in 15:13 of ice time. Hicketts is the seventh player from the 2017 Calder Cup championship team to play in the NHL this season, joining forwards Tyler Bertuzzi (Detroit), Kyle Criscuolo (Buffalo), Martin Frk (Detroit), Tomas Nosek (Vegas) and Dominic Turgeon (Detroit), and defenseman Brian Lashoff (Detroit).

Hicketts and Turgeon Assigned: The Detroit Red Wings today assigned defenseman Joe Hicketts and center Dominic Turgeon to the Griffins. Hicketts became the 168th Griffins alumnus to play in the NHL when he debuted in Detroit’s 3-0 win at New Jersey last night. Turgeon made his debut with Detroit on Jan. 14 at Chicago during the Red Wings’ 4-0 victory – becoming the 167th Griffins alumnus to play in the NHL. Turgeon appeared in four games with the Red Wings during his first stint in the NHL and averaged 9:36 of ice time while tallying two shots and two penalty minutes.

This Week’s Promotions: The first 2,500 fans on Saturday against Rockford will receive a replica Calder Cup championship ring, courtesy of Adventure Credit Union.

Wins Leader: Already Grand Rapids’ all-time leader in goaltender games played, minutes and saves, Tom McCollum’s victory last Friday at Milwaukee tied him with Joey MacDonald for the most in franchise history.

Lorito and Puempel Named 2018 AHL All-Stars: The AHL announced on Jan. 4 that the Griffins’ two leading scorers, forwards Matt Lorito and Matt Puempel, have been selected to play for the Central Division All-Star Team at the 2018 AHL All-Star Classic presented by Turning Stone Resort Casino, to be held this Sunday and Monday in Utica, N.Y. Lorito, in his third year as a professional, has earned his second All-Star bid in as many seasons in Grand Rapids, joining Gustav Nyquist (2012-2013) as the only Griffins forwards to earn back-to-back AHL selections. Puempel, who has 15 points (10-5—15) in 79 career NHL games between Ottawa and the New York Rangers, will be making his first AHL All-Star appearance.

Griffins in the Olympics: Seven former Griffins will be a part of the upcoming Winter Olympics in PyeongChang: Chris Kelly (2001-02), Canada; Chad Billins (2012-13, 2013 Calder Cup champion), USA; Jim Paek (assistant coach 2005-14, 2013 Calder Cup champion), head coach Korea; Chris Chelios (2008-09), assistant coach USA; Jan Mursak (2006-07; 08-13, 2013 Calder Cup champion), Slovenia; Brock Radunske (2006-07), Korea; Dick Axelsson (2009-10), Sweden.

Heating Up: In his last 11 appearances between the pipes, Jared Coreau sports an 8-2-1 record along with a 2.26 GAA and a 0.922 save percentage. Tom McCollum has won three of his last four starts and shows a 2.24 GAA and a 0.929 save percentage in that span.

Special Teams: In last Friday’s victory, the Griffins finished 2-for-2 on the power play, 4-for-4 on the penalty kill and scored a shorthanded goal. Grand Rapids is one of four teams to rank in the top 10 for both power play and penalty kill. Grand Rapids’ power play places third at 21.3% and has scored a goal in five of the last six games, including three straight. The penalty kill ranks ninth at 84.9% and has gone 21-for-23 over the last eight outings.

Repeat Opponents: The Griffins are in the midst of playing 28 straight games against Central Division foes, a stretch that began Dec. 2 at Chicago and will conclude Feb. 7 at Manitoba. Twenty-three games into the spell, Grand Rapids is 13-8-1-1. Under third-year head coach Todd Nelson, the Griffins are 94-50-3-7 (0.643) against the Central and hold a +100 scoring margin in those 154 games.

Home Ice: Grand Rapids has points in six of its last eight home games (5-2-1-0). The Griffins play at home on Saturday and then are not back at Van Andel Arena until Feb. 7.

Tangoal: Ninth-year pro Eric Tangradi notched his 16th goal of the season in last Saturday’s win to tie Matthew Ford and Matt Puempel for tops on the team. Tangradi is on a three-game goal streak, amassing four goals in that span, and has five goals in the last five games.

Puemped Up: Following his goal and assist performance in last Saturday’s victory, Matt Puempel extended his point streak to five games (3-4—7), which ties his season-high (Dec. 29-Jan. 5). Acquired by the Red Wings via trade on Oct. 21, Puempel has not gone more than three consecutive games in a Griffins uniform without recording a point. His 37 points tie for eighth in the AHL.

Russo Relates: Scoring the game-winning goal last Saturday, Robbie Russo is on a three-game point streak (1-3—4) and has totaled seven points (1-6—7) in the last six contests. The third-year pro’s 15 assists lead all team defensemen.

Model Year: Captain Matthew Ford scored his 16th goal of the season – which ties for the team lead – and 200th as a professional in last Friday’s triumph at Milwaukee. Ford’s goal production surpasses his 14-goal output in 51 contests from last season and he places fourth in the league with nine power play markers.

Rockford Notes: Grand Rapids has won two straight against Rockford after a seven-game losing streak (0-4-0-3 from April 1, 2017-Dec. 23, 2017)…The Griffins have won six of the last seven meetings on home ice…Since the start of the 2012-13 season, the Griffins are 19-4-1-1 (0.800) against the IceHogs at the Van…Rockford is 6-2 against Grand Rapids this season, facing the rest of the league the IceHogs are 16-14-2-3…Eric Tangradi has a team-high nine points (5-4—9) in the season series…In 23 games against the IceHogs as a member of the Griffins, Tangradi has 24 points (10-14—24) and a plus-15 rating…Ben Street has 15 points (7-8—15) in 17 games facing Rockford in a Grand Rapids uniform while Matt Lorito has 13 points (5-8—13) in 13 games…Rockford is second to last in the league in power play at 12.6% (23-for-182), but is 8-for-37 (21.6%) against Grand Rapids.

Rockford Connections: 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.

Up and Down: With a 21-18-1-4 record through 44 games, take a look at how the statistics compare between the Griffins’ 21 wins and 23 (including overtime and shootout) losses.

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

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 continue to lead the Central Division with a 25-12-2-1 record (53 points). Erik Bradford (10-21—31) and Christian Hilbrich (15-14—29) lead the team in scoring, while Griffins-contracted Mike Borkowski (12-15—27) ties for third. Griffins-contracted and 2018 ECHL All-Star Pat Nagle ties for the league lead with 18 victories (18-4-2) while placing eighth with a 2.47 GAA and tying for 10th with a 0.914 save percentage. Red Wings-contracted Matej Machovsky paces the ECHL with a 2.08 GAA and ties for third with a 0.925 save percentage while showing a 7-7-1 record.