VOTE GRIFFINS

This Week’s Games
Cleveland Monsters at GRIFFINS // Wed., Nov. 9 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena
Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 6:35 p.m.
Watch: AHLLive.com
Season Series: 1-0-0-0 Home, 1-0-0-0 Overall. Second of 12 meetings overall, second of six at Van Andel Arena
All-Time Series: 23-12-1-1 Home, 39-24-3-7 Overall
NHL Affiliation: Columbus Blue Jackets
Noteworthy: The Griffins defeat of the Monsters during the first meeting of the season on Oct. 22 at Van Andel Arena started the current spell of seven losses in eight games for the defending Calder Cup champs.

Rockford IceHogs at GRIFFINS // Fri., Nov. 11 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena
Listen: ESPN 96.1 at 6:35 p.m.
Watch: AHLLive.com
Season Series: 0-1-0-0 Home, 0-1-0-0 Overall. Second of 10 games overall, second of five at Van Andel Arena
All-Time Series: 19-9-1-2 Home, 29-24-3-5 Overall
NHL Affiliation: Chicago Blackhawks
Noteworthy: Since the start of the 2012-13 season, the Griffins are 13-3-1-1 in 18 regular season games against the IceHogs at Van Andel Arena and have outscored Rockford 62-41.

GRIFFINS at Milwaukee Admirals // Sat., Nov. 12 // 7 p.m. // UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena
Listen: ESPN 96.1 at 6:35 p.m.
Watch: AHLLive.com
Season Series: First of 12 meetings overall, first of six at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena
All-Time Series: 33-30-5-5-5 Road, 78-54-7-6-7 Overall
NHL Affiliation: Nashville Predators
Noteworthy: With a rivalry dating back to the International Hockey League days, the Griffins have faced the Admirals more than any other opponent in their history as the two clubs will meet up for the 153rd time on Saturday.

Last Week’s Results
Fri., Nov. 4 Iowa Wild 1 at GRIFFINS 4 5-3-0-0 (10 points, T2nd Central Division)
Sat., Nov. 5 Chicago Wolves 4 at GRIFFINS 2 5-4-0-0 (10 points, 4th)

Opening Faceoff: Following a split of last weekend’s games at Van Andel Arena, the Grand Rapids Griffins will wrap up a four-game home stand this week when they host defending Calder Cup champion Cleveland on Wednesday and Rockford on Friday before heading to Milwaukee on Saturday. All three opponents Grand Rapids will face this week participated in the 2016 Calder Cup Playoffs. Owning a 5-4-0-0 record (0.556), the Griffins rank fourth in the Central Division, ninth in the Western Conference and 16th in the AHL.

Last Week’s Recap: Last Friday, the Griffins stormed out to a 4-0 lead against the visiting Iowa Wild and secured a 4-1 victory to spoil the return of former Griffins Jeff Hoggan and Teemu Pulkkinen to Van Andel Arena. The next night, the host Griffins battled back from a 2-0 deficit to the Chicago Wolves, only to see Chicago pot two tallies in the third period and come away with a 4-2 decision.

This Week’s Promotions: Wednesday against Cleveland 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. On Friday against Rockford, fans can enjoy $2 hot dogs and $2 domestic drafts from 6-8 p.m., while supplies last. Friday will also mark the Second Annual Red Kettle Game presented by The Salvation Army. The Griffins will be wearing special Red Kettle jerseys for the game that will be auctioned off post-game at The Intermission Restaurant.

Prophetic Promotions: When Cleveland comes to town on Wednesday, it will mark the first Winning Wednesday promotion of the season. The promotion, where each fan in attendance receives a free ticket to the next Wednesday game if the Griffins win, proved to be prophetic last season as Grand Rapids showed a 7-2-0-0 (0.778) home record on Wednesdays.

Bertuzzi Recalled: Tyler Bertuzzi has joined the Detroit Red Wings after being recalled from the Griffins earlier this week. In his second full professional season, the 21-year-old Bertuzzi has appeared in all nine Griffins games this year and ranks among the team’s leaders with two goals (T3rd) and four points (T6th). Should he debut with the Red Wings, Bertuzzi will become the 157th Griffins alumnus to play in the NHL. Detroit’s third choice, 58th overall, in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, Bertuzzi has played in 23 Calder Cup Playoff games with Grand Rapids and is the franchise’s all-time postseason leader with six game-winning goals. Additionally, Bertuzzi is the active leader and ties for fourth overall on the club’s all-time playoff list with 14 goals.

On the Horizon: Friday’s game against Rockford will conclude a four-game home stand for the Griffins. In fact, eight of the 11 November games for Grand Rapids will come within the friendly confines of Van Andel Arena. The plethora of home games bodes nicely as the Griffins are 18-5-0-0 (0.782) at home in November since the 2012-13 season. Saturday’s game at Milwaukee will mark the fifth road contest of the season and the first in two calendar weeks (Oct. 29 at Charlotte).

Adding to the List: Saturday’s game at Milwaukee will mark Grand Rapids’ first appearance at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panther Arena and the 59th road venue the Griffins have played in over the last 21 seasons. The Admirals are returning to Panther Arena for the first time since 1986-87 after having played at the Bradley Center for the last 28 years. Built in 1950, Panther Arena is also home to the UW-Milwaukee Panthers men’s basketball team, the Milwaukee Wave professional indoor soccer team and the Brewcity Bruisers amateur roller derby league.

Every Goal Counts: Since the Monsters joined the AHL in 2007-08, the Griffins have matched up against them 73 times. Thirty-seven of those 73 games have been decided by just a single tally, including 21 in overtime or a shootout. The Griffins hold the slight edge, having won 19 of 37 one-goal contests. Dating back to the start of the 2014-15 campaign, 14 of the last 23 meetings between the clubs have been decided by one goal, including the first encounter of this season on Oct. 22.

No Hard Feelings, Right?: Grand Rapids and Milwaukee will face off for the first of 12 matchups on Saturday. The last time the two former IHL rivals met came in the 2016 Central Division Semifinals as the Griffins swept the best-of-five series. The Admirals claimed the best record in the Central Division last season and were one of only three teams league-wide to amass 100 points.

Coreau Reaches 50: Behind 30 saves last Friday against Iowa, goaltender Jared Coreau picked up his 50th victory as a Griffin to rank seventh on the franchise’s all-time wins list. With just four more wins, the fourth-year Griffin can tie Petr Mrazek and Marc Lamothe for fifth. Coreau’s league-leading 223 saves this season brings his career total to 2,325, which is positioned fifth all-time in team history. The 6-foot-6 netminder places among the AHL’s leaders this season with 476:17 minutes (2nd), five wins (T4th), a 2.14 goals against average (9th) and a 0.929 save percentage (T12th).

100th Street: First-year Griffin Ben Street notched his second goal in a Grand Rapids uniform and his 100th in the AHL during last Saturday’s loss to Chicago. The seventh-year pro needs just one more game to reach 300 in the AHL.

Super Mantha: Anthony Mantha has cooled off from his hot start to the season that saw him register six goals in the first four games, but is still tied for second in the league in both overall goals (7) and power play goals (4).

Everything in Moderation: The Griffins may have one of the league’s top goal scorers in Anthony Mantha, but they have still displayed a balanced scoring attack thus far. Consider that of the 22 skaters who have played in at least two games this season, 19 have contributed at least one point.

Follow the Leader(s): Anthony Mantha (7-1—8) and Matt Lorito (2-6—8) lead the team in points…Lorito also has a team-high six assists…Evgeny Svechnikov paces the club with 14 penalty minutes and Robbie Russo owns a team-best +6 rating.

Falling Forward: In recent years, November has shown to be a particularly fruitful month for the Griffins as they are a combined 32-12-1-1 (0.717) in the calendar’s 11th month since the 2012-13 season.

Showing Discipline: The Griffins lead the league in fewest average penalty minutes per game with 9.67. Grand Rapids has committed only 36 minors and three majors for 87 total PIM.

Upcoming Milestones: Nathan Paetsch needs five games played to reach 300 as a Griffin…Paetsch can become the ninth player in club history, and the second this season (Mitch Callahan, 10/14/16 vs. Chicago), to reach that milestone…With five assists this season, Paetsch has 109 in his Griffins’ career and is tied with Tomas Tatar for seventh all-time in team history…Mitch Callahan needs one point to reach 150 as a Griffin…Goaltender Jared Coreau has played in 85 games in his Griffins career and needs two more to tie Petr Mrazek for eighth on the franchise’s all-time list.

Walleye Report: Under first-year head coach Dan Watson, the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye are second in the Central Division with a 7-2 record following last Saturday’s 5-2 loss against Wheeling. Rookie Tyson Spink paces the team in points (4-8—12) while former Griffin A.J. Jenks (5-5—10) is the leading goal scorer. Second-year pro Jake Paterson, Detroit’s second pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, is 3-2 with a 2.80 goals against average and a 0.913 save percentage. Griffins-contracted Cal Heeter is a perfect 4-0 between the pipes and shows a 2.93 GAA and a 0.915 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 five wins and four losses: