Midwest Road Trip

This Week’s Games

GRIFFINS at Iowa Wild // Fri., Nov. 5 // 7 p.m. EDT // Wells Fargo Arena

Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 6:35 p.m.

Watch: AHLTV

Season Series: First of eight meetings overall, first of four at Wells Fargo Arena

All-Time Series: 35-15-4-2 Overall, 18-9-1-0 Away

NHL Affiliation: Minnesota Wild

Noteworthy: The Griffins went 1-1-0-0 against the Wild last season at Wells Fargo Arena and finished the year with a 2-1-1-0 overall record against Iowa. 2017 Calder Cup champions with the Griffins, Joe Hicketts (2016-21) and Dominic Turgeon (2016-21) are now with Iowa after signing deals with the Minnesota Wild in the offseason. Ryan Kuffner (2019-20) is also featured on the Wild’s roster while Nate DiCasmirro (2005-06) is an assistant coach for Iowa.

GRIFFINS at Rockford IceHogs // Sat., Nov. 6 // 7 p.m. EDT // BMO Harris Bank Center

Listen: 96.1 The Game at 6:35 p.m.

Watch: AHLTV

Season Series: 1-0-0-0 overall, 0-0-0-0 road. Second of eight meetings overall, first of four at BMO Harris Bank Center

All-Time Series: 53-36-9-11 Overall, 19-25-4-6 Road

NHL Affiliation: Chicago Blackhawks

Noteworthy: The Griffins came away with points in seven of the eight games last season against the IceHogs with a 4-1-2-1 record. Dating back to the final meeting of the 2019-20 season, Grand Rapids now has points in nine of the last 10 meetings (6-1-2-1) against Rockford after defeating the IceHogs 6-1 in the season opener on Oct. 15.

Last Week’s Results

Wed., Oct. 27 // GRIFFINS 0 vs. Chicago Wolves 3 // 1-3-0-1 (3 pts., 0.300, 6th Central Division)
Sat., Oct. 30 // GRIFFINS 4 vs. Milwaukee Admirals 1 // 2-3-0-1 (5pts., 0.417, 5th Central Division)
Sun., Oct. 31 // GRIFFINS 3 vs. Chicago Wolves 6 // 2-4-0-1 (5 pts., 0.357, 5th Central Division)

Last Week’s Notes

Wednesday vs. Chicago (0-3 L) – The Griffins saw their winless streak extend to four games as they were shut out for the second time in the opening five contests of the campaign. Kyle Criscuolo suited up for the first time after being assigned to Grand Rapids by Detroit on Oct. 26.

Saturday vs. Milwaukee (4-1 W) – Chase Pearson’s two-goal outing and Calvin Pickard’s 37 saves propelled the Griffins over the Admirals during Go Orange Night presented by Kids’ Food Basket. After not having scored for 90:58, the Griffins broke their scoreless drought when Jonatan Berggren registered the first AHL goal of his career. Grand Rapids held its opponent to just one goal for the third time in six games. Jared McIsaac and Berggren each bagged a two-point night while Pearson picked up his 50th point as a Griffin. Kyle Criscuolo collected his first goal in his second outing of the year.

Sunday vs. Chicago (3-6 L) – Riley Barber’s two-goal performance proved not enough as the Griffins dropped their final game of the three-game homestand. Jonatan Berggren ended Grand Rapids’ 169:21 scoreless drought against the Wolves when he notched his second tally of the year. Taro Hirose added two more assists to his team-high seven helpers, which is tied for fifth in the AHL.

Rarified Air: Brian Lashoff’s 520 games played for the Griffins ranks first among active AHL players who have spent their entire AHL career with the same club and seventh in league history among one-team players. Of the players ahead of him on that list, the most recent – and, coincidentally, the record-holder – last played during the 1970-71 season (Bill Needham of the Cleveland Barons, 981 games played). Lashoff overtook Pete Kapusta (Providence Reds 1946-55) for the No. 7 spot on Oct. 27 against Chicago and is now 11 games behind No. 6 Roger DeJordy (Hershey Bears 1962-70). Lashoff is still 135 games away from breaking the Griffins’ all-time games played record, held by Travis Richards with 655 games (1995-2006).

High-Flying Hirose: After leading the Griffins in assists a year ago with 23, Taro Hirose is off to a great start as he has bagged seven helpers in the opening seven games, which is a team high and tied for fifth in the league. Six assists have come on the power play, which is tied for first in the AHL.

Powerful Play: Following a 2019-20 campaign in which they finished sixth in the AHL’s power play rankings at 20.9%, the Griffins exceeded that mark in 2020-21 with a power play conversion rate of 21.5%, the fifth best on the circuit. Grand Rapids’ home power play ranked third-to-last in the AHL, converting 13.1% of its chances. However, the road power play was deadly at 30%, which was the second-highest percentage in the league a year ago. This season has been no different through six games as the power play is converting on 25.0% of its opportunities, which is tied for seventh in the AHL.

Blank You Very Much: The Griffins have been shut out in two of their first seven games (1-0 at Manitoba on Oct. 22 and 3-0 by Chicago on Wednesday). After falling 7-0 to the Wolves in last season’s final meeting on May 12 at Van Andel Arena, it marked only the second time that an opponent has posted shutouts in consecutive visits to Grand Rapids – Rochester and Tom Askey turned the trick March 1-30, 2002 – and just the seventh time that a team has blanked the Griffins in consecutive meetings overall. Askey’s Amerks stifled Grand Rapids in a record three straight clashes late in that 2001-02 campaign, when the Griffins claimed the AHL’s West Division title with a 42-27-11-0 slate.

Milestones Within Reach:
Brian Lashoff—Three assists from 100 as a pro
Luke Witkowski—Three points from 50 in the AHL, one game from 400 as a pro, one assist from 50 as a pro
Tyler Spezia—Three assists from 50 as a pro
Jonatan Berggren—Two assists from 50 as a pro
Jon Martin—Two assists from 50 as a pro

Under New Leadership: Pat Verbeek takes over as the new general manager of the Griffins, a position previously held by Ryan Martin. In addition to his new role in Grand Rapids, Verbeek retains his assistant general manager position with the Red Wings working under Detroit GM Steve Yzerman. Verbeek oversees all aspects of hockey operations for the AHL franchise, including player personnel decisions, player development, contract negotiations and player movement.

Voice of the Griffins Returns: On Feb. 8, the beloved 22-year Voice of the Griffins, Bob Kaser, underwent successful heart surgery at the Meijer Heart Center in Grand Rapids to repair several blocked arteries. Released from the hospital on Feb. 14, his recovery is now complete and has returned to the booth this season alongside fellow veterans Larry Figurski and Lou Rabaut. Kaser is the newest member of the Grand Rapids Sports Hall of Fame after he was awarded the Warren Reynolds Lifetime Achievement Award on Sept. 28, 2021. Everyone in Griffins Nation, the Griffins organization, the AHL, and the Michigan hockey community welcomes Bob back with open arms and are looking forward to hearing more of his historic soundbites this season.

Simon Says: Ben Simon, 43, begins his fourth season as Grand Rapids’ head coach. A year ago, he guided the Griffins to a 16-12-3-1 record (36 points, 0.563) and a third-place finish in the Central Division. Simon has only coached in one full AHL season as head boss, as his second and third campaigns were cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During his inaugural year at the helm in 2018-19, he became the eighth head coach in franchise history to lead the Griffins to the postseason during his first full season behind the bench. Simon served as an assistant coach in Grand Rapids from 2015-18 under Todd Nelson and helped the franchise win its second Calder Cup in 2017. He is the fourth former Griffins assistant to then become the head coach. Appearing in 21 games and scoring nine points (4-5—9) with the Griffins in 2006-07 as part of an 11-year professional playing career, Simon is the third former Griffins player to serve as Grand Rapids’ head coach, joining Nelson and Danton Cole (2002-05).

Griffins in General: The Grand Rapids Griffins began the franchise’s 26th overall season of play, 21st as a member of the American Hockey League and 20th as the primary affiliate of the 11-time Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings on Oct. 15, 2021 when they defeated the Rockford IceHogs, 6-1. This marked the first time the Griffins began their season at Van Andel Arena since 2017. Grand Rapids has competed in 1,917 games between the IHL and AHL and has amassed a 1,011-697-27-64-118 regular season record (0.575), to go along with 17 playoff appearances, seven division titles and two Calder Cups (2017, 2013).

Photo by Nicolas Carrillo/Griffins