AHL Grand Rapids Griffins

Four games could determine Griffins' fate

Published on March 30, 2004 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release


For All the Marbles: While two weeks remain in the AHL's 2003-04 regular season, the Griffins' final standing within the West Division could well be decided by the outcomes of four critical games they'll play in a five-day span tomorrow through Sunday. With seven games remaining for each of the top three teams, the first-place Milwaukee Admirals lead the second-place Griffins by six points, who in turn lead the third-place Chicago Wolves by six points. The Griffins, who are gunning for their fifth straight division title, will host their final showdown with Milwaukee on Wednesday, followed by the last visit from the Wolves this Friday. Grand Rapids will then hit the road for games Saturday at Chicago and Sunday at Toronto, the team that handed it a 6-0 loss at Van Andel Arena on Mar. 17.

Friday Fun: Friday's game against Chicago is another Family Four Pack Night, offering fans four tickets, four hot dogs, four soft drinks, and either parking or a $10 Zone certificate for just $44. The first 5,000 fans will receive four Griffins trading cards as part of the final Shoe Carnival Trading Card Night, and the Griffins will wear their third jerseys, modeled after the Red Wings. Finally, through various contests, fans will have the opportunity to win free tans from Caribbean Mist, a freezer full of meat from Byron Center meats, and a new car from the Fox Motor Group.

Griffins/Wolves on the X: Saturday's crucial clash between the Griffins and Wolves at Chicago's Allstate Arena will be televised live throughout West Michigan at 8 p.m. on WXSP-TV, with Wolves broadcaster Judd Sirott and analyst Billy Gardner describing the action. To find WXSP over the air or on your local cable system, go to wxsp.tv.

Forced March: The Griffins have posted a 4-8-0-0 record during March, witnessing what was a six-point lead over Milwaukee at the start of the month turn into a six-point deficit. Heading into Wednesday's clash with the Admirals, the Griffins are assured of finishing a calendar month with a losing mark for just the third time in their five seasons of affiliation with NHL teams (covering 34 months). The 2002-03 squad went 1-2-0-0 during April, while the 2001-02 edition posted a 4-6-4-0 during March, breaking a streak of 19 consecutive months with a winning record.

Turn This Thing Around: The Griffins are trying to snap a losing skid that has seen them drop three straight and five of their last six. They've lost seven of their last nine outings along with nine of their last 13 (4-9-0-0), their worst stretch since a 3-9-0 run more than five years ago (Jan. 23-Feb. 17, 1999).

Three's Company: Despite winning just four of its last 13 games, Grand Rapids stands only six points behind Milwaukee in both the West Division and the overall AHL standings. In a three-way race for the division title, Milwaukee has the easiest remaining schedule, Grand Rapids has had the most success against its remaining foes, and Chicago has the most favorable balance of home games:

Team Points Games Left (Home/Road) Opponent. Win. % Win. % vs. Remaining Opp.
Milwaukee 96 7 (4/3) 0.523 0.627
Grand Rapids 90 7 (3/4) 0.524 0.667
Chicago 84 7 (5/2) 0.550 0.425 Playoff Positioning: The Griffins have secured no worse than third place in the West Division, earning an exemption from the qualifying round and an automatic berth in the division semifinals. Their magic number for clinching second place and home-ice advantage in the division semis currently stands at nine points over Chicago. Although the exact dates and opponent are yet to be determined, tickets for Grand Rapids' first two home games during the 2004 Calder Cup playoffs are now on sale. Single-game playoff ticket prices are $26, $21, $18, $13, $11 and $6 (advance purchase only), reflecting a league-wide increase of $1 over regular season prices. Playoff tickets may be purchased at The Zone and all Star Tickets Plus outlets, including West Michigan Meijer stores, or by calling (616) 222-4000.

Three-Peat: This weekend's schedule will mark the eighth time this season that the Griffins play three games in as many nights. For the sixth time, they'll conclude the stretch against a rested team that was idle the night before. They are now 13-4-4-0 when playing "three in three," including a 5-1-1-0 mark in the third game.

Great White North: During their eight-year history, the Griffins have played 33 games in Canada, posting an overall mark of 22-9-2-0 (0.697) when visiting the AHL Hamilton Bulldogs (4-1-0-0), the St. John's Maple Leafs (1-0-1-0), the Toronto Roadrunners (1-0-0-0), the AHL/IHL Manitoba Moose (11-6-0-0) and the IHL Quebec Rafales (5-2-1). Sunday's game at Toronto will mark their last border crossing of the regular season.

Recent Transactions: March 24 - RW David Brisson assigned to Muskegon (UHL). March 25 - G Marc Lamothe recalled by Detroit (NHL), RW David Brisson recalled from Muskegon (UHL), and G Greg Hewitt signed to a professional tryout. March 26 - LW Ryan Barnes and D Anders Myrvold assigned by Detroit (NHL). March 27 - D Nic Bilotto signed to a standard player contract under emergency conditions. March 28 - D Paul Ballantyne assigned to Louisiana (ECHL).

Truly Offensive: The Griffins' offense totaled only eight goals in a span of eight games (Mar. 8-26) before scoring three times in Saturday's 4-3 defeat at Utah. They've notched as many as three goals just three times in their last 12 contests. Over their last 13 games, a stretch in which they've posted a 4-9-0-0 record, the Griffins have been out-scored by a 36-21 margin.

Rarities: When Keith Aucoin solved Joey MacDonald during a Cincinnati power play at 14:36 of the second period last Wednesday, it marked Cincinnati's first goal at Van Andel Arena in a span of 216:59 that stretched back to Nov. 5. MacDonald finished with 22 saves, suffering his first career loss to his former team against seven wins.

Milestones: Travis Richards, Grand Rapids' all-time leader in games played, appeared in his team-record 600th regular season game last Friday at Utah...Derek King is one point shy of 900 for his pro career (375-524-899 in 1,184 games)...Jeff Nelson needs two points to reach 500 for his AHL career (163-335-498 in 545 games), a plateau reached by only 69 other players (including Michel Picard) in the league's 68-year history.

Century City?: A 0.714 record over their last seven games would secure the Griffins' fourth 100-point campaign in the last five years (106 in 2002-03, 113 in 2000-01, 111 in 1999-00).

Big Mac: Joey MacDonald has won nine of his last 11 decisions at Van Andel Arena, going 9-2-0 with five shutouts, a 1.23 GAA and a 0.955 save percentage (300-314) since Jan. 16.

Any Place, Any Time: Grand Rapids has the third-most home wins (22-9-6-0, tied) and the fourth-most road victories (19-15-2-0) in the league.

Accidents at Home: Following a franchise-record 16-game home unbeaten streak (13-0-3-0) and a record-tying 10-game home winning streak, the Griffins have dropped four of their last five games at Van Andel Arena, the first time that has happened since the 1998-99 season. Still, the Griffins, who have shut out six of their last 15 guests, sport a remarkable 19-6-3-0 record at Van Andel Arena since Nov. 28. Discounting a 6-0 loss to Toronto on March 17, the other five losses since that date were by a total of six goals.

By the Numbers: Where the Griffins rank among the AHL's 28 teams in various statistical categories:
* Power Play: 56-for-330, 17.0% (T6th)
* Penalty Killing: 310-for-356, 87.1% (8th)
* Penalty Minutes: 16.34 avg. (25th)
* Goals For: 2.40 avg. (19th)
* Goals Against: 2.04 avg. (4th)
* Shots For: 26.77 avg. (26th)
* Shots Against: 28.75 avg. (12th)
* Attendance: 6,650 avg. (9th)

League Leaders: Three Griffins currently rank among the AHL's best in various categories: Marc Lamothe - 2.01 GAA (8th); Joey MacDonald - 1.97 GAA (7th) and a 0.935 save percentage (5th); and Kevin Miller - Nine game-winning goals (3rd).

Griffins Earn Their Wings: Twelve members of the Griffins have contributed to the success of the Detroit Red Wings this season. Four of those players remain with Detroit:

Player GP G A PTS +/- PIM Avg. Ice Time
Mark Mowers 52 3 8 11 3 4 10:27
Jamie Rivers 47 3 4 7 10 41 10:08 Goalie GP W L T SO GAA Save %
Curtis Joseph 31 16 10 3 2 2.39 0.909
Marc Lamothe 1 0 1 1 0 0.92 0.967

Red Wings Update: The Griffins are in the second season of a five-year affiliation with the Detroit Red Wings. The Red Wings (46-20-11-2), who have clinched the Central Division title, defeated Minnesota 5-3 last night. They'll conclude their regular season slate this week with games at Columbus (Wed.), at St. Louis (Thu.) and versus Columbus (Sat.).

This Week's Scouting Report

Wed., Mar. 31 vs. Milwaukee Admirals (43-20-7-3) - Van Andel Arena - 7 p.m.

TV: None. Radio: WOOD 1300 AM/WHTC 1450 AM at 6:40 p.m. Season Series: 4-2-1-0 Overall, 2-1-0-0 Home. Eighth and final meeting overall, fourth of four in Grand Rapids. All-Time Series: AHL: 12-6-7-0 Overall, 7-3-2-0 Home. Total: 30-16-11-0 Overall, 18-6-2-0 Home. Milwaukee Affiliation: Nashville Predators. Head Coach: Claude Noel (1st season). Ships Ahoy: During March, the Admirals have turned a six-point deficit to the Griffins into a six-point lead...All three prior meetings at Van Andel Arena were decided by 2-1 margins, with the Griffins winning twice...Excluding the 7-0 anomaly in Milwaukee on Jan. 3, the Griffins have held the high-scoring Admirals to a total of seven goals in their other six meetings...Milwaukee is 14-3-1-0 in its last 18 games...The Admirals lead the AHL with 21 road wins (21-10-3-3)...They average the most goals (3.40) in the league, 0.36 more than second-place Syracuse and Chicago and a full goal more than 19th-place Grand Rapids (2.40)...Darren Haydar (21-36-57) and Mathieu Darche (28-28-56) rank among the top 20 scorers, while Wade Flaherty places 12th in the AHL with a 2.05 GAA.

Fri., Apr. 2 vs. Chicago Wolves (36-25-9-3) - Van Andel Arena - 7:30 p.m.

Sat., Apr. 3 at Chicago Wolves - Allstate Arena - 8 p.m.

TV: None locally on Fri., WXSP-TV at 8 p.m. on Sat. Radio: WOOD 1300 AM/WHTC 1450 AM at 7:10 p.m. (Fri.) and 7:40 p.m. (Sat.) Season Series: 6-2-0-0 Overall, 4-0-0-0 Home, 2-2-0-0 Road. Ninth and tenth (final) meetings overall, fifth of five in Grand Rapids, fifth of five in Rosemont. All-Time Series: AHL: 16-9-2-1 Overall, 9-3-2-0 Home, 7-6-0-1 Road. Total: 31-16-4-1 Overall, 16-5-4-0 Home, 15-11-0-1 Road. Chicago Affiliation: Atlanta Thrashers. Head Coach: John Anderson (7th season). Huffin' and Puffin': Dating back to the 2003 playoffs, the Griffins have won 10 of the last 12 against their fiercest rival, including six straight at Van Andel Arena...Chicago's 4-2 win over Milwaukee on Saturday broke a four-game winless streak (0-3-1-0)...The Wolves are 0-3-1-0 in their last four road contests, falling to 14-16-6-2 overall away from home...Conversely, they are 5-1-0-0 in their last six at Allstate Arena...Chicago's power play ranks fourth (17.3%) and its scoring average ties for second (3.04)...Eric Healey is fifth with 30 goals...All-star goalie Kari Lehtonen remains with NHL Atlanta.

Sun., Apr. 4 at Toronto Roadrunners (34-29-8-3) - Ricoh Coliseum - 5 p.m.

TV: None. Radio: WOOD 1300 AM at 4:40 p.m. Season/All-Time Series: 1-1-1-0 Overall, 1-0-0-0 Road. Fourth and final meeting overall, second of two in Toronto. Toronto Affiliation: Edmonton Oilers. Head Coach: Geoff Ward (1st season). Wile E. Bunch: The Roadrunners' 6-0 win at Van Andel Arena on March 17 tied a Griffins record for largest margin of defeat at home...Grand Rapids took a 3-1 win in Toronto on Nov. 23...The expansion Roadrunners sport an impressive 20-10-5-1 mark at home...They rank sixth in the AHL in scoring average (2.81)...Doug Lynch places among the top defensemen and rookies with 34 points (10-24-34)...Former Griffin Tyler Moss, acquired by parent Edmonton from Vancouver on Feb. 16, is 6-5 with three shutouts, a 2.22 GAA and a 0.937 save percentage since joining Toronto...Jamie Wright leads the club with 25 goals and 55 points.

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American Hockey League Stories from March 30, 2004


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