New Year, New Me

This Week’s Games

GRIFFINS vs. Cleveland Monsters // Wed., Jan. 4 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena

Listen: 96.1 The Game at 6:45 p.m.

Watch: AHLTV

Season Series: 0-1-0-0 Overall, 0-0-0-0 Home. Second of eight meetings overall, first of four at Van Andel Arena

All-Time Series: 68-35-6-10 Overall, 38-17-2-2 Home

NHL Affiliation: Columbus Blue Jackets

Noteworthy: This game was originally scheduled for Dec. 23 but was postponed due to a serve winter storm. Cleveland forward Trey Fix-Wolansky has 31 points (14-17—31) in just 23 games this season, which is tied with Emil Bemstrom for first on the roster.

Promotions: Winning Wednesday presented by Michigan First Credit Union

GRIFFINS vs. Texas Stars // Fri., Jan. 6 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena
GRIFFINS vs. Texas Stars // Sat., Jan. 7 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena

Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 6:45 p.m. on Friday and Saturday

Watch: AHLTV on Friday and Saturday

Season Series: 1-3-0-0 Overall, 0-2-0-0 Home. Fifth and sixth of eight meetings overall, third and fourth of four at Van Andel Arena

All-Time Series: 36-25-4-4 Overall, 19-11-1-3 Home

NHL Affiliation: Dallas Stars

Noteworthy: Thomas Harley, the former 18th overall pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, has four points (1-3—4) in two games this season against the Griffins.

Promotion: $2 Beers & $2 Hot Dogs on Friday, Hockey Without Barriers & Sensory Friendly Game presented by Comerica Bank on Saturday

Last Week’s Results
Wed., Dec. 28 // GRIFFINS 1 at Rockford 4 // 11-15-1-0 (23 pts., 0.426, T6th Central)
Fri., Dec. 30 // GRIFFINS 0 at Milwaukee 3 // 11-16-1-0 (23 pts., 0.411, 7th Central)
Sat., Dec. 31 // GRIFFINS 2 vs. Milwaukee 4 // 11-17-1-0 (23 pts., 0.397, 7th Central)

Last Week’s Notes
Wednesday at Rockford (1-4 L) - David Gust’s hat trick lifted the IceHogs to a 4-1 win over the Griffins on at the BMO Center. Taro Hirose scored the lone goal for Grand Rapids in the second period. The former Spartan has 10 points in his last eight outings (3-7–10). Austin Czarnik recorded an assist on the tally and has five points in two games (1-4–5) with Grand Rapids since his reassignment with the Detroit Red Wings on Dec. 20. Jakub Vrana played in the first game of his conditioning stint with the Griffins, firing two shots on net. Ben Simon served in his 400th professional game as a head coach and Hirose skated in his 150th game as a Griffin and in the AHL. Recap | Highlights

Friday at Milwaukee (0-3 L) - The Griffins were handed their second shutout loss of the season in a 3-0 contest against the Admirals at Panther Arena. With just 17 shots on goal, the Griffins matched their season low from Oct. 22 against the Toronto Marlies. Victor Brattstrom drew the start between the pipes for Grand Rapids, recording 36 saves on 39 shots. Recap | Highlights

Saturday vs. Milwaukee (2-4 L) - The Griffins suffered their third-consecutive loss in a 4-2 contest against the Admirals in a New Year’s Eve matchup at Van Andel Arena. Pontus Andreasson tallied his eighth goal of the season along with an assist, pushing him to first in goals scored by Griffins rookies this season and tying him with Simon Edvinsson in helpers by a Grand Rapids rookie. Brian Lashoff recorded his first goal of the 2022-23 campaign in the second period, the 32nd of his Griffins career. Recap | Highlights

O Captain! My Captain!: Captain Brian Lashoff competed in his 600th game as a Griffin and in the AHL on Saturday, Dec. 10 at Hartford. Lashoff’s 605 games played for the Griffins rank first among active AHL players who have spent their entire AHL career with the same club and is tied for third 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 tied Howie Yanosik (Hershey Bears, 1957-67) for the No. 3 spot on Dec. 31, 2022 against Milwaukee and is now 148 games behind No. 2 Arnie Kullman (Hershey Bears, 1948-60). Lashoff is still 50 games away from breaking the Griffins’ all-time regular-season games played record, held by Travis Richards with 655 games (1995-2006).

Nothing Like Some Home Cooking: The Griffins are in the midst of a season-high seven-game homestand that began on Dec. 31 and will conclude on Jan. 14. Grand Rapids began the stretch of game with a 4-2 defeat against Milwaukee on New Year’s Eve. The Griffins are 5-7-1-0 on home ice while they are 6-10-0-0 away from West Michigan.

Just Keep it Close: The Griffins have had an up-and-down start to the season, but they have excelled at winning close games. In fact, Grand Rapids is 7-0-1-0 (0.938) in games decided by one goal and 4-0-1-0 (0.900) in overtime contests. In comparison, the Griffins are just 4-17-0-0 (0.190) in games decided by two or more tallies. In the 2021-22 season, the Griffins finished with a 13-7-6-2 (0.607) mark in games decided by one goal.

Welcomed Offensive Production: On Wednesday Dec. 7, veteran Alex Chiasson made his Griffins debut against the Iowa Wild, collecting two helpers. Chiasson followed that performance with another two points (1-1—2) on Dec. 9 at Springfield. Through seven games, the 10-year pro has seven points (4-3—7) and a plus-two rating. Chiasson has secured two points in three of the seven contests. Through parts of 10 seasons in the NHL, Chiasson has 224 points (114-110—224) and 353 penalty minutes in 631 games. The Griffins signed the Montreal, Quebec, native to a professional tryout on Nov. 26.

History was Made: On Thursday, Dec. 22, the Griffins pulled of a miraculous four-goal comeback and defeated the Chicago Wolves 8-7 in overtime. After trailing 6-2 after the first period, Grand Rapids roared back with two goals in the second and three in the third before Austin Czarnik tallied the game-winner just 16 seconds into overtime. This was the Griffins’ first four-goal comeback in franchise history. The Detroit Red Wings also notched a comeback for the ages on Wednesday, Dec. 28 when they too came back from a four-goal deficit. After spotting the Pittsburgh Penguins four goals in the opening stanza, the Red Wings stormed back with two goals in each of the final two periods. Defenseman Jake Walman played the role of hero 2:13 into overtime and Detroit skated away with a 5-4 victory. This was the largest comeback victory for Detroit since 1984 and just the fourth ever in franchise history.

Power Struggle: After beginning the season with a 29.3% power-play conversion rate in the first nine games of the year, the Griffins have struggled as of late. Grand Rapids is 3-for-27 on the man-advantage in its last eight outings and have just six power-play goals in its last 13 contests (6-for-55, 10.9%). However, the Griffins did score three power-play tallies in their game on Dec. 22 at Chicago (3-for-5, 60%). The Griffins place 19th in the AHL on the power play with a conversion rate of 19.2%.

Take the Over: The Griffins averaged just 2.75 goals a game during the 2021-22 season while giving up 3.16. However, Grand Rapids is averaging 2.86 goals this season while conceding 4.10. Fifteen of its 29 games so far have had seven or more total goals scored, with 10 of those contests having eight or more tallies. The Griffins rank 29th on the circuit with 119 goals against while their 83 goals for are tied for 26th in the AHL.

AHL Leaderboard Tracker:
Pontus Andreasson—Four power-play goals are tied for sixth among rookies
Austin Czarnik—Three game-winning goals are tied for sixth
Taro Hirose—20 assists are tied for 12th, 12 power-play assists are tied for seventh
Joel L’Esperance—Seven power-play goals are tied for fifth

Milestones:
Simon Edvinsson skated in his 100th game as a pro on Dec. 31 against Milwaukee.
Austin Czarnik—Three games from 400 as a pro
Steven Kampfer—One assist from 100 in the AHL, one game from 300 in the AHL
Joel L’Esperance—Four goals from 100 as a pro
Dominik Shine—Two assists from 50 as a pro, as a Griffins and in the AHL
Tyler Spezia—Two goals from 50 as a pro
Jakub Vrana—Two goals from 150 as a pro, three assists from 150 as a pro

Photo by Mark Newman/Griffins