Marching Orders

This Week’s Games
GRIFFINS at San Antonio Rampage // Tue., March 3 // 8 p.m. EST // AT&T Center
Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 7:35 p.m.
Watch: AHLTV
Season Series: 1-2-0-0 Road, 2-4-0-0 Overall. Seventh of eight meetings overall, fourth of four at the AT&T Center
All-Time Series: 25-18-0-2-1 Road, 52-32-1-5-2 Overall
NHL Affiliation: St. Louis Blues
Noteworthy: San Antonio is on a five-game winning streak overall has won the last four meetings against Grand Rapids.

GRIFFINS at Rockford IceHogs // Fri., March 6 // 8 p.m. EST // BMO Harris Bank Center
GRIFFINS vs. Rockford IceHogs // Sat., March 7 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena
Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 7:35 p.m. on Friday, 6:35 p.m. on Saturday
Watch: AHLTV
Season Series: 2-2-0-0 Road, 2-0-0-2 Home, 4-2-0-2 Overall. Ninth and 10th of 10 meetings overall, fifth of five at the BMO Harris Bank Center, fifth of five at Van Andel Arena
All-Time Series: 16-23-4-6 Road, 31-11-3-4 Home, 47-34-7-10 Overall
NHL Affiliation: Chicago Blackhawks
Noteworthy: Grand Rapids is on a four-game point streak against Rockford.

Last Week’s Results
Fri., Feb. 28 // GRIFFINS 2 at San Antonio Rampage 4 // 26-25-3-4 (59 pts., T3rd Central Division)
Sat., Feb. 29 // GRIFFINS 2 at Texas Stars 4 // 26-26-3-4 (59 pts., T3rd Central)

Status Update: The Grand Rapids Griffins have lost four in a row and show 59 points with an even 26-26-3-4 record. In the Central Division standings, Grand Rapids is one point behind San Antonio, who is alone in third place. Tonight, Grand Rapids plays its third of a four-game road trip, which will conclude a stretch of facing seven of nine on foreign ice. The Griffins are at Rockford on Friday and then will turn around to host the IceHogs on Saturday to begin a four-game homestand.

Last Week’s Notes:
Friday at San Antonio – San Antonio has won four consecutive in the series for the first time since sweeping all four meetings in the 2015-16 season (Oct. 16, 2015-March 22, 2016)...Three of those victories have come in a six-day span...Recalled from the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye on Monday, Charle-Edouard D’Astous scored a power play goal in his AHL debut...Joe Veleno became the sixth Griffin with 10 or more goals this season...Grand Rapids finished 1-for-6 on the power play and has converted on the man advantage in the last four meetings. Recap

Saturday at Texas – Grand Rapids is 2-3-1-1 in the season series, which will wrap up on April 1 at Van Andel Arena...Joe Veleno netted the game’s first goal on the power play and has lit the lamp in consecutive contests…Veleno’s tally at 16:10 of the first period snapped Grand Rapids’ scoreless drought at the H-E-B Center at 150:47...Michael Rasmussen posted his second power play goal in the last three games...The Griffins finished 2-for-4 on the power play and 3-for-3 on the penalty kill...Patrick McCarron made his Griffins season debut after signing a professional tryout on Feb. 28...Grand Rapids finished February with a 6-5-1-0 record, its 10th consecutive season of posting a winning ledger in the month. Recap | Highlights

Follow the Leaders:

D’Astous and McCarron Debut: Recalled from the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye last Monday, defenseman Charle-Édouard D’Astous scored a power play goal in his AHL debut last Friday at San Antonio. Signed to a professional tryout on Friday, defenseman Patrick McCarron made his AHL season debut the next day at Texas. McCarron had previously skated in four games with the Griffins from 2016-18.

Red Wings Report: There have been 13 players who have played for both Detroit and Grand Rapids this season – Madison Bowey, Dennis Cholowski, Jonathan Ericsson, Jimmy Howard (conditioning), Joe Hicketts, Taro Hirose, Brian Lashoff, Gustav Lindstrom, Dylan McIlrath, Calvin Pickard, Givani Smith, Evgeny Svechnikov and Filip Zadina.

Playoff FYI: Eight teams in each conference will qualify for the 2020 Calder Cup Playoffs. The top four teams in each division, ranked by points percentage (points earned divided by points available), will qualify for the postseason. Based on points percentage, Grand Rapids is currently positioned fifth in the Central Division.

Rotating Roster: The Red Wings have recalled or assigned a player from or to Grand Rapids 85 times this season and the Griffins have used 40 different players, including five goalies. In comparison, here is how the current usage stacks up to the final player counts in recent seasons: 2018-19 – 41 players, 2017-18 – 32, 2016-17 – 39, 2015-16 – 37 and 2014-15 – 39. Patrick McCarron became the 16th different blueliner to suit up this season when he made his Griffins season debut last Saturday.

V for Veleno: Joe Veleno has three points (2-1—3) in the last two games, including goals in back-to-back contests for the first time in his pro career. Veleno’s five goals in February tied for the team lead and nearly equaled his goal output from the season’s first four months combined (six goals).

Net Nagle: In eight February games, Pat Nagle finished with a 5-2 record to go along with a 2.01 GAA and a 0.931 save mark. Among goalies with 400 or more minutes in the month, he ranked third in both GAA and save percentage. After recently qualifying to rank among the Griffins’ all-time goaltending leaders by virtue of playing his 20th career game on Feb. 22, Nagle currently stands sixth in franchise charts with a 2.23 GAA and is tied for fourth with a 0.920 save percentage. (Twenty-five goalies have reached that 20-game plateau in team history.) He has appeared in 18 games for Grand Rapids this season after totaling only eight games in the AHL – including three with the Griffins – during his first eight pro seasons. If Nagle had enough minutes to qualify (about 120 shy), his 2.18 overall season GAA would be fifth in the AHL.

Russian Influence: Evgeny Svechnikov registered a team-high nine points (5-4—9) in 11 February appearances and tied for the club lead in goals. His production in February beat his returns from December (2-2—4 in 11 GP) and January (1-2—3 in 10 GP) combined.

Tar-Oh!: Taro Hirose’s 25 points and 21 assists in 31 GP are both team highs since Dec. 3 – the date of his first assignment by Detroit to GR. The former Michigan State Spartan had his four-game assist streak, which was his second this season of four or longer, snapped last Saturday. He has collected 15 helpers in his last 16 outings.

Road Kill: The Griffins rank second in road penalty killing efficiency at 86.8%. In fact, Grand Rapids has warded off its last 26 road penalties, last allowing a goal at the 16:47 mark of the first period on Jan. 31 at Iowa.

Lashoff 500: One of only three players in franchise history to be a part of Grand Rapids’ 2017 and 2013 Calder Cup championship teams, defenseman Brian Lashoff needs four more games to become only the second player in club history with 500 or more regular season games played (Travis Richards, 655). In fact, Lashoff’s 496 career regular season appearances rank first among active AHL players who have spent their entire AHL career with the same club and tie for ninth all time in league history.

Model Year: Captain Matthew Ford is fourth on the team in scoring. In his 12th year as a pro, Ford has banked 10 or more tallies in seven consecutive campaigns and his three multi-goal outings are his most since producing three during 2015-16 with Bakersfield.

Back Up, Terr: 2020 AHL All-Star Classic selection Chris Terry is bidding for his fourth consecutive AHL season of 20 or more goals. His 10 power play goals tie for sixth in the AHL and mark the third time in the last four campaigns he’s reached double figures. Overall, he places 10th in the AHL in points (48) while pacing the Griffins in goals (19), assists (29), multi-point games (14) and power play goals (10).

Hicks Mix: With an assist last Saturday, defenseman Joe Hicketts became only the sixth blueliner in team history to reach 100 points in a Griffins uniform and the third-fastest. Hicketts leads all team defensemen and ranks third overall on the club in scoring with 27 points (2-25—27) this season.

Milestones Within Reach:
Turner Elson – needs four points to reach 150 in the AHL
Brian Lashoff – needs four games to reach 500 as a Griffin/in the AHL
Chris Terry – needs one point to reach 550 in the AHL
Michael Rasmussen – needs four games to reach 100 as a pro

Griffins in General: Grand Rapids is in the franchise’s 24th overall season of play, 19th as a member of the American Hockey League and 18th as the primary affiliate of the 11-time Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings…Grand Rapids is 991-682-27-61-116 (0.583) in the regular season since 1996-97 to go along with 17 playoff appearances, seven division titles and two Calder Cups (2017, 2013)…The Griffins have earned 40 or more wins and accumulated 90 or more points in six of the last seven seasons…Grand Rapids has qualified for the Calder Cup Playoffs in a franchise-record seven consecutive seasons and advanced to at least the second round on five occasions…The Griffins’ 8-5 season-opening win at Chicago on Oct. 5 marked the club’s 750th win in the AHL…Grand Rapids’ 331 regular season wins since the 2012-13 campaign tie Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for third, behind only Providence’s 332 and Toronto’s 345 while the Griffins’ 720 points in that span are third, trailing Providence (734) and Toronto (748).

San Antonio Notes: Current record 24-21-7-5, 60 points, 3rd Central Division…The Rampage have won five in a row overall and four consecutive against Grand Rapids…San Antonio claiming the last four matchups is its longest winning streak in the series since reeling off four straight from Oct. 16, 2015-March 22, 2016…Prior to San Antonio’s streak, the Griffins had won six in a row from Feb. 15, 2019-Jan. 3, 2020 and 16 of the last 18...The Griffins have won seven of their last 11 at the AT&T Center and three of the last five...Grand Rapids has scored on the power play in each of the last four meetings...Matt Puempel (3-2—5), Chase Pearson (2-3—5) and Chris Terry (1-4—5) lead the team in the series...Calvin Pickard – 9-8-4 record, 2.75 GAA, 0.917 save percentage and one shutout in 21 GP in 2015-16 – and Turner Elson – three points (1-2—3) in 13 GP in 2016-17 – both spent time with San Antonio...Zach Nastasiuk was a second-round draft selection, 48th overall, by Detroit in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft and skated in 65 games with the Griffins from 2013-18, tallying 14 points (4-10—14) and four PIM.

Remember the Alamo: The AHL announced last Friday that the AHL Board of Governors has approved the transfer of ownership of the San Antonio Rampage AHL franchise to the Vegas Golden Knights, as well as the relocation of that franchise from San Antonio, Texas, to Henderson/Las Vegas, Nev., effective with the 2020-21 season. In the regular season, the Griffins and Rampage have squared off 92 times – marking the sixth most frequent opponent for Grand Rapids – since 2002-03, and the series will conclude March 25 at Van Andel Arena. Grand Rapids’ first visit to San Antonio resulted in a 5-3 defeat on Dec. 2, 2002, and the Griffins’ 25 wins at San Antonio rank fourth in terms of most away victories against any team in team history.

Rockford Notes: Current record 28-29-1-2, 59 points, T4th Central Division…In the last clash on Feb. 18 at Rockford, Tyler Spezia scored the game-winner with 11:16 remaining…Grand Rapids has points in four straight meetings (2-0-0-2)…The Griffins have points in eight of their last 14 matchups at the BMO Harris Bank Center (3-6-2-3) and in 12 of the last 13 at Van Andel Arena (8-1-2-2)…Since the 2016-17 season, the home team in the series has posted a 25-9-2-2 record (0.711)…Dominik Shine (2-3—5 in 8 GP) and Chris Terry (2-3—5 in 7 GP) lead the team in the season series…The Griffins have killed off 23 consecutive penalties against the IceHogs and gone 29-for-30 (96.7%) in the series…Rockford’s lone PPG came during a 5-on-3 on Nov. 15…Ben Simon served as an assistant in Rockford for two seasons (2011-13)…Rockford head coach Derek King played in Grand Rapids from 1999-01 and 2002-04 and is the franchise’s all-time leading playoff scorer (16-25—41) and ranks fifth in regular season points (73-130—203)...Saturday's game at Van Andel Arena will be the 100th all-time regular season meeting between the teams.

Win Some, Lose Some: Compare the statistics between the Griffins’ 26 wins and 33 (including OT and SO) losses:

Back-to-Back: This weekend will mark the 20th of 25 times total this season the Griffins will play on consecutive nights.

Photo at top by Sam Iannamico/Griffins