No Time Like The Present

This Week’s Games

GRIFFINS vs. Cleveland Monsters // Wed., April 6 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena

Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM

Watch: AHLTV

Season Series: 4-0-1-0 Overall, 1-0-1-0 Home. Sixth of eight meetings overall, third of four at Van Andel Arena.

All-Time Series: 65-34-6-10 Overall, 36-17-2-2 Home

NHL Affiliation: Columbus Blue Jackets

Noteworthy: The Griffins are 11-3-1-0 (0.767) against the Monsters over the last two seasons, with points in all five contests this campaign (4-0-1-0).

GRIFFINS at Toronto Marlies // Sat., April 9 // 4 p.m. // Coca-Cola Coliseum
GRIFFINS at Toronto Marlies // Sun., April 10 // 4 p.m. // Coca-Cola Coliseum

Listen: 96.1 The Game at 3:35 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday

Watch: Leafs Nation Network and AHLTV on Saturday and Sunday

Season Series: 0-1-1-0 Overall, 0-0-0-0 Away. Third and fourth of four meetings overall, first and second of two at Coca-Cola Coliseum.

All-Time Series: 32-32-4-2 Overall, 13-17-2-1 Away

NHL Affiliation: Toronto Maple Leafs

Noteworthy: Grand Rapids has not competed at Toronto since April 2, 2016. The Griffins are 1-6-1-0 against the Marlies since the 2015-16 season, having been outscored 34-18.

Last Week’s Results
Fri., April 1 // GRIFFINS 1 vs. Texas 2 // 27-28-6-2 (62 pts., 0.492, T6th Central Division)
Sat., April 2 // GRIFFINS 2 vs. Texas 3 // 27-29-6-2 (62 pts., 0.484, 6th Central Division)
Sun., April 3 // GRIFFINS 1 at Milwaukee 3 // 27-30-6-2 (62 pts., 0.477, 7th Central Division)

Last Week’s Notes
Friday vs. Texas (1-2 L) – The Texas Stars defeated the Griffins 2-1 courtesy of Michael Karow’s first professional goal during his AHL debut at Van Andel Arena. Riley Barber extended his point streak to five games (4-2—6) after notching the Griffins’ lone goal. Netminder Victor Brattstrom appeared in his career-high fifth straight contest. Trenton Bliss made his pro debut, becoming the seventh Michigan Tech Husky to play for the Griffins. Hayden Verbeek skated in his first game with the Griffins since Feb. 23, due to rehabbing an injury. The Griffins saw their season-high four-game streak of scoring on a power play come to an end. Recap | Highlights

Saturday vs. Texas (2-3 L) - Texas’ Ben Gleason’s two-goal night helped lift the Stars over the Griffins 3-2 on at Van Andel Arena. After dropping the eighth and final meeting, Grand Rapids ended the season series 3-4-1-0 against Texas. Six of the eight games played between Texas and Grand Rapids this season were decided by one goal. Turner Elson notched his team-leading 19^th goal of the campaign while Riley Barber recorded his fifth tally in the last six contests. Barber also extended his point streak to six games (5-2—7), giving him 15 points (7-8—15) in as many games since being reassigned to Grand Rapids on March 2. Dominik Shine saw his career-high seven-game point streak (7-3—10) come to an end. During a first-intermission ceremony, the Griffins raised Jeff Hoggan’s No. 10 to the rafters. Hoggan became just the third player in franchise history to have his jersey retired, joining No. 24 Travis Richards and No. 7 Michel Picard. Recap | Highlights

Sunday at Milwaukee (1-3 L) - Two power-play tallies in the third period gave the Milwaukee Admirals a 3-1 victory over Grand Rapids at Panther Arena. The Griffins dropped the final five contests against the Admirals and finished the season series with a 5-6-1-0 mark. Riley Barber extended his point streak to seven outings (5-3—8) with a helper. After seeing his career-high seven-game point streak end on April 2, Dominik Shine returned with his eighth goal in his last nine games. Turner Elson pushed his point streak to three outings (1-2—3). The Griffins have two wins in their last 10 contests (2-7-1-0) and have not won in regulation since March 11 against Cleveland. Recap | Highlights

No Time to Waste: The Griffins currently sit in seventh place in the Central Division standings with a 27-30-6-2 (0.477) mark and only 11 games remaining. The top five teams from the division will qualify for the Calder Cup Playoffs, with the top three receiving a first-round bye. The Griffins’ magic number over Texas, who sits in the final playoff spot, is 28 points heading into the week. The Griffins have the fourth-toughest remaining schedule in the division with a remaining opponent win percentage of 0.563 while Texas has the toughest at 0.603. Grand Rapids has appeared in the last seven Calder Cup Playoffs, dating back to the 2012-13 season when it lifted the cup for the first time.

Immortalized Forever: On Saturday during a first-intermission ceremony, the Griffins retired Jeff Hoggan’s No. 10 jersey and raised it to the Van Andel Arena rafters. Hoggan joined Travis Richards (No. 24) and Michel Picard (No. 7) as the only three players to have their numbers retired in franchise history. Hoggan was the longest-tenured captain in franchise history (2012-16) and helped set the recent culture for Griffins hockey. Hoggan finished his Griffins career with an 8-3 playoff-series record and had a massive impact in lifting Grand Rapids’ first Calder Cup in 2013.

Shine Bright: Dominik Shine recorded a career-high seven-game point streak (7-3—10) from March 16-27 and has tallied eight goals in his last nine outings. Before this run, the Detroit, native registered just one tally and four assists in his previous 28 games. Shine scored in four straight games from March 22-27, which is a new career-high goal streak. The 28-year-old has set career-best numbers in goals (14), assists (14), points (28), penalty minutes (121) and shots (100) this campaign with 11 games remaining.

Welcome to the Barber Shop: Riley Barber has been on a tear as of late, with points in seven straight games (5-3—8). Since being reassigned by Detroit on March 2, Barber has notched 16 points (7-9—16) in as many games, including four multi-point outings. The Pittsburgh, Pa., native ranks fourth on the roster with 35 points (15-20—35) in 39 games. Last season, Barber paced the Griffins with 34 points (20-14—34) in 32 contests and finished second in the league with 20 goals. Through 71 games with the Griffins, the 28-year-old veteran has 69 points (35-34—69) and 42 penalty minutes.

Race to the Top: Jonatan Berggren has cracked the Griffins’ top-10 rookie single-season scoring list, as he currently places eighth with 45 points (15-30—45) in 58 games, which is also tied for the team lead this season. Berggren has logged two points in three of his last seven games, with one goal and six helpers during the run. The Uppsala, Sweden, native is tied for seventh among rookies with his 45 points, while his 30 assists are tied for fourth. Berggren is tied for third among rookies with five game-winning goals. Berggren is on pace for 53 points, which would place fourth in Griffins’ rookie single-season scoring history.

Traffic Jam: The Griffins have won just one game in their last six contests away from West Michigan, having been outscored 27-15. However, Grand Rapids has secured three out of six points in its past three outings away from home. Grand Rapids went on a season-high five-game road trip from March 19-27 and finished with a 1-3-1-0 mark. The Griffins are 13-15-2-1 this season away from West Michigan while they are 14-15-4-1 at home. Grand Rapids will play seven of its remaining 11 games on foreign ice.

AHL Leaderboard Tracker:
Jonatan Berggren—45 points (15-30—45) are tied for seventh among first-year players, 30 assists are tied for fourth among rookies, five game-winning goals are tied for third among rookies
Jared McIsaac—23 points (5-18—23) are tied for sixth among rookie defensemen
Ryan Murphy—11 goals are tied for third among defensemen
Calvin Pickard—2.58 goals against average is tied for 13th, 0.918 save percentage is tied for 10th, 21 wins are tied for fifth, 2534:30 minutes played ranks third
Dominik Shine—121 penalty minutes are tied for fourth

Milestones:
Riley Barber appeared in his 350th game in the AHL on March 26 at Bakersfield. Jon Martin skated in his 250th AHL game on March 25 at Bakersfield. Other upcoming milestones include:
Kyle Criscuolo—One game from 300 in the AHL
Victor Brattstrom—Three games from 150 as a pro
Jan Drozg—Three goals from 50 as a pro, two games from 150 as a pro, three games from 100 in the AHL
Turner Elson—Two goals from 100 as a pro
Jon Martin—Two games from 300 as a pro
Dan Renouf—Two games from 200 as a Griffin
Tyler Spezia—Four goals from 50 as a pro, two games from 200 as a pro
Dennis Yan—Two games from 200 in the AHL

Photo by Nicolas Carrillo/Griffins