MID-SEASON PUSH

This Week’s Games
Iowa Wild at GRIFFINS // Wed., Jan. 25 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena
Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 6:35 p.m.
Watch: AHLLive.com
Season Series: 2-0-0-1 Home, 4-0-0-1 Overall. Sixth of eight meetings overall, fourth of four at Van Andel Arena.
All-Time Series: 11-2-0-1 Home, 22-4-0-1 Overall.
NHL Affiliation: Minnesota Wild
Noteworthy: Four of five matchups this season between the teams have been decided by one goal.

San Jose Barracuda at GRIFFINS // Fri., 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: 0-0-0-0 Home, 0-0-0-0 Overall. First of two meetings overall, first and last at Van Andel Arena.
All-Time Series: 0-0-0-0 Home, 0-0-0-0 Overall.
NHL Affiliation: San Jose Sharks
Noteworthy: Friday will mark just the seventh time Grand Rapids has hosted a team from California (1-3 vs. Long Beach Ice Dogs in IHL, 1-0 vs. San Diego Gulls, 0-1 vs. Bakersfield Condors).

Stockton Heat at GRIFFINS // Sat., Jan. 28 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena
Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 6:35 p.m.
Watch: AHLLive.com
Season Series: 0-0-0-0 Home, 0-0-0-0 Overall. First of two meetings overall, first and last at Van Andel Arena.
All-Time Series: 0-0-0-0 Home, 0-0-0-0 Overall.
NHL Affiliation: Calgary Flames
Noteworthy: Seven-year Griffin and former first round draft pick by Detroit, Tom McCollum signed a two-year, two-way deal with the Calgary Flames on Oct. 15. McCollum has logged 39:54 of ice time with the Heat while showing a 1-0-0 record and a 1.50 goals against average.

Last Week’s Results
Wed., Jan. 18 GRIFFINS 3 at Iowa Wild 2 OT 25-10-1-2 (53 points, 1st Central Division)
Fri., Jan. 20 Chicago Wolves 2 at GRIFFINS 3 26-10-1-2 (55 points, 1st)
Sat., Jan. 21 Cleveland Monsters 0 at GRIFFINS 5 27-10-1-2 (57 points, 1st)

Opening Faceoff: The Griffins have won three straight games, six of their last seven, 13 of their last 16 and have points in 21 of the last 25 (18-4-1-2) to lead the Western Conference and place second in the AHL with a 0.713 points percentage. Grand Rapids concludes its season-high five-game homestand this week with games against Iowa, San Jose and Stockton before pausing for the all-star break. Friday’s game against San Jose will end a streak of 27 consecutive games played against Central Division opponents.

This Week’s Promotions: Wednesday against Iowa will be a Winning Wednesday presented by Farm Bureau Insurance. Every time the Griffins win at home on Wednesday, each fan in attendance will receive a free ticket to the next Wednesday game. All fans who were in attendance for the Griffins’ win against the Iowa Wild on Jan. 4 can redeem their ticket stub for a free ticket to this game. For Friday’s game against San Jose, fans can enjoy $2 hot dogs/$2 domestic drafts from 6-8 p.m., while supplies last. Saturday against Stockton is Social Media Night presented by Centennial Securities. Additionally, the first 2,500 fans in attendance will receive a Griffins beer stein, courtesy of Centennial Securities.

Last Week’s Recap: Facing a two-goal deficit with 11:06 left in the third period on Wednesday at Iowa, Grand Rapids used goals from Tyler Bertuzzi and Ben Street to tie the game before Martin Frk delivered the game-winner in overtime. Wednesday’s win marked the third time in the last six games at Iowa that the Griffins rallied from being down two goals or more to win. Squaring off against the Chicago Wolves on Friday, Evgeny Svechnikov was responsible for the game-winner, sending the Griffins home with a 3-2 victory. On Saturday, Grand Rapids shut out Cleveland 5-0 to earn its sixth win in nine games against the defending Calder Cup champions (6-1-1-1).

On the Power Play: The Griffins lead the league with a power play percentage of 28.2% (50/177) and have recorded at least one goal while on the man advantage in 10 straight games, 15 of the last 16 and 28 of the last 31. Since Nov. 4, the Griffins have not gone more than two games without a PPG. Grand Rapids has converted on the power play in the last seven home contests, going 9 for 33 (27.3%) during that stretch. The Griffins have relied on the power play for 36.5% of their goals (50 of 137), the highest percentage in the AHL. The power play has been keyed by Tomas Nosek (7-14—21), Matt Lorito (4-14—18) and Martin Frk (9-7—16) who lead the team in points. Nosek’s 21 points are fourth league wide while Frk ties for second in the league in power play tallies as nine of his 14 markers on the year have come with more skaters. Mitch Callahan has been on the ice 34 times during a power play goal, tops on the team.

Power Play Streaks: Following two power play goals last Saturday against Cleveland, the Griffins extended their streak of scoring on the power play to 10 games, which is the fourth-longest string in franchise history. Take a look at the longest power play streaks in club history:

Chasing PP History: To put in perspective the success of the Griffins’ power play thus far, the franchise record for highest power play percentage in a season is 21.8%, set in 2005-06. Through 40 games, the 2005-06 team stood at 22.2% while on the man advantage (60/270). The 2005-06 club, which played 80 regular season games, also scored 120 PPG, the most in team history. The Springfield Indians hold the AHL record for highest power play percentage in a season, finishing at 26.78% in 1993-94.

Start It Up: The Griffins’ 0.713 points percentage is tied with the 2013-14 (27-10-1-2, 0.713) team for the second-best record in franchise history after 40 games, trailing only the 2000-01 (30-7-3, 0.788) edition. For reference, the 2013-14 team concluded the season 46-23-2-5 (0.651) and lost in the Western Conference Semifinals to eventual Calder Cup champion Texas while the 2000-01 team finished the season 53-22-7 (0.689) and advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals before losing in six games to Orlando.

Follow the Leader(s): Ben Street (13-19—32), Matt Lorito (10-22—32), Tomas Nosek (14-17—31) and Mitch Callahan (11-17—28) lead the team in points…Street and Lorito are tied for 20th in the league in points...Nosek’s 14 markers tie for 19th...Kyle Criscuolo’s 24 points (10-14—24) are 14th among rookies…Robbie Russo’s 24 points (5-19—24) are the most among team defensemen and 12th among league blueliners…Dan Renouf has 40 PIM to pace the team while Russo has a +11 rating.

Specialty Teams: In addition to having the league’s top power play unit, the Griffins rank 10th in penalty killing at 83.6%. The Griffins have allowed three opponent power play goals in the last 30 chances spanning the previous eight games. Grand Rapids’ combined power play and penalty kill percentage of 111.8 leads the league.

Easy Street: First-year Griffin and seventh-year pro Ben Street had his season-high six-game point streak snapped last Saturday. He still has eight points (5-3—8) in the last seven games and 12 (7-5—12) over the last 10 contests. Since Nov. 5, Street has not had two consecutive games without a point.

Being Nosy: Third-year Griffin Tomas Nosek has 31 points (14-17—31) in 30 games, including 15 (7-8—15) in the last 10. He has already eclipsed his assist total from last season and is one goal shy of matching his output from 2015-16 when he skated in 70 contests. The Pardubice, Czech Republic, native is on pace to break his previous career high totals of 19 goals, 25 assists and 44 points that were set in 2013-14 – his last season in Europe – with HC Pardubice. Nosek’s 1.03 points/game are the most on the team while his seven power play goals place second.

Frk Fire: Martin Frk has points in five straight games with an assist in each contest (3-5—8). In the last seven games, he has 10 points (4-6—10), including four multi-point efforts.

Fast Starts: The Griffins are outscoring opponents 45-22 in the first period, and their plus-23 difference is the largest in the league. Grand Rapids’ 45 first-period markers and 27 first goals are both the most in the AHL and the Griffins are 22-3-1-1(0.852) when scoring first. The 22 goals given up in the first period represent the league’s lowest total of any team in any period.

Home Sweet Home: The Griffins have points in 11 of their last 12 games on home ice (9-1-0-2), including wins in eight of the last nine. Grand Rapids will play eight games within friendly confines in January, tied for the most home games in a month this season (November). The Griffins are 15-4-0-2 at home this season and their 32 points are tied for most in the league.

Freezer on Fulton Fanatics: Last Saturday’s capacity crowd of 10,834 who were on hand to witness Grand Rapids’ 5-0 victory over Cleveland marked the 166th overall sellout at Van Andel Arena and the third this season. Over the course of their 21-year history at the “Freezer on Fulton,” the Griffins have enjoyed the raucous crowd support, showing an 87-61-1-2-15 record (0.578) while outscoring opponents 496-445 (2.99-2.68 average per game) in sold-out home games. Grand Rapids’ season average attendance of 7,764 represents an increase of 139 fans per game over its 21-game average from last season, when the Griffins went on to post an attendance increase for a franchise-record sixth straight season.

All-Star Coach: Head coach Todd Nelson has earned the honor to coach the Central Division in the 2017 AHL All-Star Classic presented by Capital BlueCross. Thanks to Grand Rapids’ 5-2 win on New Year’s Eve against Rockford, the Griffins clinched the best points percentage in the division through the end of play on Dec. 31, meriting Nelson’s accolade. In his seventh season as an AHL head coach, Nelson will be making his second trip to the AHL All-Star Classic as a coach, after he previously served as co-coach for the Western Conference at the 2012 All-Star Classic in Atlantic City, N.J. Nelson will become the third head coach in Griffins history to coach in an all-star game, joining Jeff Blashill in 2014 and Bruce Cassidy in 2002 (AHL) and 2001 (IHL).

Russo and Lorito Named All-Stars: Griffins forward Matt Lorito and defenseman Robbie Russo have been selected to play for the Central Division All-Star Team at the 2017 AHL All-Star Classic presented by Capital BlueCross, to be held Jan. 29-30 at the PPL Center in Allentown, Pa. Lorito ranks among the league’s leaders with 22 assists and 32 points. The 5-foot-9, 171-pound winger has been an integral component in the Griffins’ vaunted league-leading power play attack, as his 14 power play assists pace the team and his 18 power play points place second. Lorito has been selected to his first all-star game in his second year as a professional. Russo leads all Griffins defensemen in scoring and is 12th among AHL blueliners with 24 points (5-19—24). Russo is the first player in franchise history to be named to a year-end All-Star Team, an All-Rookie Team and an All-Star Classic. During a historic rookie campaign in 2015-16, Russo became the first player in the team’s 20-year history to earn both All-Rookie and All-Star Team accolades in the same season when he was named to the AHL Second All-Star Team.

Between the Pipes: With Jared Coreau on recall in Detroit, goaltenders Eddie Pasquale and Cal Heeter have stepped up their games. Pasquale has points in 12 of his 15 starts on the season, ranks 10th with a 2.31 goals against average and has two shutouts. Heeter has won seven of his eight starts for the Griffins this season and is a combined 17-2 between the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye and Grand Rapids. If he had enough minutes to qualify, Heeter’s 1.87 GAA would rank second and his 0.940 save percentage would lead the AHL. In fact, if Heeter’s minutes met the 780 minutes requirement, all three goalies who have played a game with the Griffins this season would rank inside the league’s top 10 in GAA.

January Heet: Cal Heeter recorded his fifth career AHL shutout and first since Jan. 4, 2014 when he was a member of Adirondack by making 35 saves in last Saturday’s 5-0 victory against Cleveland. Heeter joins Jared Coreau (Nov. 11 vs. Rockford) and Eddie Pasquale (Dec. 21 vs. Milwaukee and Jan. 13 at Milwaukee) as Griffins goalies with a clean sheet this season, marking the fifth time in club history the team has had three different goalies record a shutout (2014-15, 2010-11, 2001-02, 2000-01).

Milestones: With 11 goals this season, Mitch Callahan has 88 in his career to rank third all-time in franchise history…He trails only Francis Pare (102) and Michel Picard (158) in the record books…Callahan’s 171 career points (89-82—171) are eighth-most in team history, eight behind Jiri Hudler for seventh…Captain Nathan Paetsch has 116 career assists to rank sixth all-time in team history…Paetsch is 14 behind Derek King for fifth…Matt Lorito needs two points to reach 100 as a pro…Eighth-year Griffin Brian Lashoff needs three games played to reach 300 with Grand Rapids…Eighth-year pro Eric Tangradi needs one game played to reach 100 as a Griffin…Matthew Ford, a ninth-year pro, played in his 500th career AHL game last Saturday.

Showing Discipline: The Griffins are the second-least penalized team in the league, averaging just 10.35 penalty minutes per contest. In fact, Grand Rapids is on pace to log 787 PIM, which would break the franchise record for fewest PIM in a season set by the 2014-15 team with 869. Dan Renouf leads the team with 40 PIM and is on track for 76 this season, which would make him the first team PIM leader to not break the century mark (previous low: Brennan Evans, 111 PIM in 2013-14).

Magic Numbers: The Griffins are 22-3-1-1 when scoring the game’s first goal, 19-1 when leading after one period and 22-1-1-0 when leading after two periods…Grand Rapids is 27-1-0-1 when scoring three goals or more and 0-9-1-1 when scoring two or less.

As of Late: Over the last 16 games, during which Grand Rapids has collected 13 wins, the Griffins are averaging 3.75 goals and 32.44 shots for per game versus 1.75 goals and 27.06 shots against.

All About Chances: The Griffins are averaging the most shots in the league (33.70) and the third-most goals (3.43) while surrendering the fewest goals (2.33) and the 12th-fewest shots (29.30).

Spreading the Wealth: The Griffins have seven players with double-digit goal totals, the most in the league.

Rookie Production: The Griffins have played eight rookies this season, which already surpasses last year’s total of seven. Those eight rookies have combined for 88 points (37-51—88), which equates to 27.0% of the team’s goals (37/137), 22.4% of the assists (51/228) and 24.2% of the points (88/364).

Getting Wild: Since incurring a 3-1 loss to the Iowa Wild on March 8, 2014 at Van Andel Arena, the Griffins have points in 10 consecutive home games against Iowa (9-0-0-1) to improve their all-time series record within friendly confines to 11-2-0-1. Iowa snapped an eight-game winless streak at Van Andel Arena on Dec. 2 with a 4-3 shootout win. Including the two previous renditions of AHL franchises in Iowa – Stars (4-0-1-1 record from 2005-08) and Chops (1-0-0-0 record from 2008-09) – the Griffins post a 16-2-1-2 record (0.833) all-time at Van Andel Arena against foes from the Hawkeye State.

Prophetic Promotions: When Iowa comes to town on Wednesday, it will mark the seventh Winning Wednesday promotion of the season. The promotion, in which each fan in attendance receives a free ticket to the next Wednesday game if the Griffins win, has proved to be prophetic as Grand Rapids has won three straight Wednesday home contests. Tracing to last season, the Griffins have won 12 of their last 15 on a Winning Wednesday.

Reunion of Sorts: Former Griffins Jeff Hoggan and Teemu Pulkkinen are expected to be among Iowa’s contingent on Wednesday. Hoggan, whose unprecedented four-year run as the team’s captain began with the 2012-13 Calder Cup Championship, has 10 points (5-5—10), a plus-one rating and 21 PIM in 35 games with Iowa after beginning the season on a professional tryout. He was signed to a standard player’s contract and was named one of Iowa’s alternate captains on Dec. 9. Hoggan ranks among the Griffins’ all-time playoff leaders with 59 games played (T1st), 124 shots (2nd), 27 points (4th), 56 penalty minutes (5th), 16 assists (T7th) and 11 goals (T9th). He also places among the team’s all-time regular season leaders with eight unassisted goals (T3rd) and 557 shots (10th). In his first season with the Wild, Pulkkinen has been selected to the 2017 AHL All-Star Classic as he leads the team in goals (12), points (12-14—26) and power play goals (4). The league’s top goal scorer and an AHL First Team All-Star in 2014-15 with Grand Rapids, Pulkkinen ranks among the Griffins’ all-time playoff leaders with 22 goals (1st), nine power play goals (1st), 34 points (2nd), three first goals (T2nd), 123 shots (3rd), 40 games played (10th) and 42 penalty minutes (T10th). He also places among the team’s all-time regular season leaders with a 0.165 shooting percentage (4th) and 19 power play goals (T8th). Former Griffins goaltender Tom McCollum is expected to travel with Stockton for Saturday's contest. Detroit's first choice (30th overall) in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, McCollum spent seven seasons with the Griffins (2009-16) and is the franchise's all-time leader with 226 goalie games played, 12737:53 minutes and 5,653 saves. His 103 wins rank second while his seven shutouts are tied for sixth. McCollum also ranks among the club's all-time playoff leaders with 23 games played (3rd), 1330:31 minutes (3rd), a 2.53 goals against average (9th), 12 wins (T2nd), 608 saves (3rd) and a 0.916 save percentage (T6th).

California Love: Grand Rapids will host San Jose and Stockton on Friday and Saturday, respectively, in what will be the first-ever meetings between the Griffins and their Pacific Division counterparts. The Griffins have welcomed a team from California to Van Andel Arena six times previously, showing a 1-3 mark vs. Long Beach Ice Dogs in IHL, 1-0 vs. San Diego Gulls and 0-1 vs. Bakersfield Condors. Grand Rapids will make the return trip to San Jose on March 11 and Stockton on March 12 as the SAP Center and Stockton Arena will become the 60th and 61st road venues, respectively, the Griffins have played in during their 21-year history.

San Jose Connections: Roy Sommer, who is in his 19th season as bench boss of the Sharks’ AHL affiliate, appeared in 54 games with the Grand Rapids Owls across two seasons (1977-78, 1979-80) and amassed 43 points (21-22—43). Sommer also played two seasons with the Muskegon Lumberjacks (1985-87), totaling 40 points (19-21—40) and 328 PIM in 92 games. His coaching career began as an assistant with the Lumberjacks during the 1987-88 season. Sommer also served as an assistant coach for the Prince Albert Raiders of the Western Hockey League for one season (1988-89). During that year, a young defenseman by the name of Todd Nelson, playing in his third full WHL campaign, racked up 59 points (14-45—59) and 72 PIM in 72 games.

Stockton Connections: Ryan Huska is in his third season as head coach of the Heat’s AHL affiliate after spending the previous 12 years as a coach with the Kelowna Rockets including seven as bench boss (2007-14). Mitch Callahan played three seasons (2008-11) under Huska, accumulating 128 points (57-71—128) and 440 PIM in 204 regular season games. The Rockets claimed the WHL Championship in 2008-09, Callahan’s first year with the club.

Three in Detroit: Jared Coreau, Nick Jensen and Anthony Mantha remain on recall with the Detroit Red Wings. Coreau, the 158th Griffins alumnus to play in the NHL, shows a 5-1-2 record, a 2.79 GAA, a 0.904 save percentage and two shutouts. Jensen, the 159th Griffins alumnus to play in the NHL, has skated in 14 games, recording four assists, a plus-four rating and two PIM. Mantha totals 22 points (11-11—22), a plus-eight rating and 16 PIM in 32 contests.

Walleye Report: Under first-year head coach Dan Watson, the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye have won seven of their last 10 and continue to lead the league with a 30-8-0-1 record (0.782). Rookies Tyson Spink (18-22—40), Tylor Spink (14-25—39) and former Griffin Shane Berschbach (8-31—39) lead the team in scoring. Second-year pro Jake Paterson, Detroit’s second pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, is 20-6 while tying for fourth with a 2.48 goals against average and placing seventh with a 0.911 save percentage. Griffins-contracted Cal Heeter, who is on recall in Grand Rapids, is 10-1 between the pipes and shows a 3.03 GAA and a 0.898 save percentage.

Back-to-Backs: The Griffins will play back-to-back games a total of 27 times this season. Compare the statistics for when the Griffins have played on consecutive nights:

Win Some, Lose Some: Compare the statistics for the Griffins during their 27 wins and 13 (including overtime and shootout) losses: