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AHL Grand Rapids Griffins

Griffins Begin Heavy Dose of Central Division Opponents

November 14, 2023 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release


Grand Rapids Griffins battle the Chicago Wolves
Grand Rapids Griffins battle the Chicago Wolves
(Grand Rapids Griffins, Credit: Mark Newman/Griffins)

This Week's Games

GRIFFINS vs. Chicago Wolves // Wed., Nov. 15 // 11 a.m. // Van Andel Arena

Listen: 96.1 The Game at 10:45 a.m.

Watch: AHLTV

Season Series: First of eight meetings overall, first of four at Van Andel Arena

All-Time Series: 96-84-2-8-4 Overall, 46-38-2-6-3 Home

NHL Affiliation: None

Noteworthy: Chicago is a lone wolf this season, as it is the only AHL team without an NHL affiliate. The Wolves and Carolina Hurricanes had been in a partnership agreement since the 2020-21 campaign. The Wolves are the first AHL team without an NHL affiliate since the 1994-95 season, when the Worcester IceCats were independent.

GRIFFINS at Texas Stars // Fri., Nov. 17 // 8 p.m. EST // H-E-B Center at Cedar Park

GRIFFINS at Texas Stars // Sat., Nov. 18 // 8 p.m. EST // H-E-B Center at Cedar Park

Listen: 96.1 The Game at 7:45 p.m. EST on Friday, WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 7:45 p.m. EST on Saturday

Watch: AHLTV

Season Series: First and second of eight meetings overall, first and second of four at the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park

All-Time Series: 39-25-4-5 Overall, 19-14-3-1 Road

NHL Affiliation: Dallas Stars

Noteworthy: Texas' rookie Logan Stankoven has accumulated 15 points (8-7-15) in his first 12 games as a professional. Among first-year players in the AHL, the WHL product ranks first in points and goals and is tied for third in assists.

Stumbling Out of the Gate: First periods have been very unkind to the Griffins to begin the season, as they have been outscored 11-4 and outshot 115-84. Grand Rapids has a record of 1-4-0-0 when trailing after the first stanza, compared to a 2-1-1-1 mark when it is tied or leading after the first. The Griffins have won just one first period in the first 10 games of the season, a 2-0 advantage over Colorado on Oct. 14, which was the second contest of the campaign. Since beginning 2-0-0-0, the Griffins have gone on to win just one game in their last eight outings (1-5-1-1).

Patience is a Virtue: With plenty of highly touted prospects on the team, the Griffins have high expectations on the offensive side of the ice. However, things have not started out that way, as Grand Rapids ranks 31st out of 32 teams with just 2.20 goals per game, leading only Bridgeport (1.82 goals per game). The Griffins have been shut out twice in the past five contests and have averaged 1.60 goals during that span. Patience is a virtue, though, as the average age of Griffins forwards is 24, which includes five players who are 22 years old or younger. Forward prospects Jonatan Berggren, Cross Hanas, Marco Kasper, Amadeus Lombardi, Carter Mazur and Elmer Soderblom, who combined average an age of 21, are all still finding their groove at the professional level, showing a combined four goals to start the campaign.

Well, Well, Well, Look Who We Have Here: Starting this week, the Griffins' next eight games will be against Central Division rivals. Grand Rapids will face Chicago, Manitoba, Milwaukee and Texas all twice from Nov. 15-Dec. 2. Out of the remaining 62 games, only 12 of those will be against teams outside of the Central Division (Belleville - 4, Cleveland - 6, Toronto - 2). So far, the Griffins are 1-1-0-0 against the Central Division, 2-2-0-0 against the Pacific Division and 0-2-2-0 versus the North Division.

The Climb: Dominik Shine is just the third player in franchise history to reach eight seasons of service, while Tyler Spezia is the eighth player to compete in his sixth campaign. Last Friday, Shine passed Mitch Callahan for third with 367 career games played for the Griffins and currently stands ninth with 433 penalty minutes. Shine is behind only current assistant coach Brian Lashoff (629 GP) and Travis Richards (655) on the Griffins' all-time games played list. Taro Hirose also continues to climb the Griffins' all-time leaderboard, as he is currently ranked 10th in points (174) and tied for fifth in assists (130).

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Images from this story

Grand Rapids Griffins battle the Chicago Wolves
Grand Rapids Griffins battle the Chicago Wolves
(Mark Newman/Griffins)		   



American Hockey League Stories from November 14, 2023


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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