AHL Grand Rapids Griffins

Griffins Dance Texas Two-Step

Published on January 27, 2003 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release


Wild West Showdown: The Griffins carry a six-game unbeaten streak (4-0-2-0) and a four-game undefeated streak at home (3-0-1-0) into a pair of important games against Texas foes this week at Van Andel Arena. On Tuesday, Grand Rapids will try to rustle a win versus the Houston Aeros (32-11-4-0, 68 pts.), the only Western Conference team that sports a better record than the Griffins. On Wednesday, the Griffins will aim for their fourth win at home in as many tries against the San Antonio Rampage (19-19-8-2, 48 pts.). Faceoff each night is set for 7:00 p.m. Following a road tilt versus the Milwaukee Admirals on Friday at 8:12 p.m., the Griffins will commence a three-day break for the AHL All-Star Classic.

Central Issues: The Griffins' 3-1 win at Philadelphia on Saturday afternoon increased their lead atop the Central Division to 17 points, once again tying the largest margin they've enjoyed during their seven seasons. (Rochester's 1-0 win at Cincinnati later that day reduced the margin to 15 points.) The Griffins (26-11-7-2, 61 pts.) now possess divisional leads of 15 points over Rochester, 23 over Cincinnati, 26 over Syracuse and 29 over Cleveland.

Richie Ready for 500: Defenseman Travis Richards, Grand Rapids' all-time leader in games played, is scheduled to suit up for his 500th regular season game in a Griffins uniform this Friday at Milwaukee. The bedrock of the blueline has missed just 39 regular season games in his seven-year Griffins career, while appearing in each of the team's 40 playoff games. Only one AHL player, Chicago's Steve Maltais (648), has appeared in 500 or more regular season games with his current team.

Big Mac Attack: Rookie Joey MacDonald, who recorded his first AHL shutout on Jan. 17, has won his last six decisions to improve to 9-3-0 with a 2.21 GAA and a 0.918 save percentage. He has allowed only three goals in his last four outings (0.75 GAA, 0.974%, 112-115) and 10 total goals during his current winning streak (1.57 GAA, 0.946%, 174-184).

Smile for the Camera: Television crews from Toronto's Pyman Productions (Inside the AHL) and Fox Sports Detroit (Red Wings Weekly) are in Grand Rapids this week to tape features for upcoming episodes. Inside the AHL, the league's new magazine show that can be seen Saturdays at 2:00 p.m. on WXSP-TV, will profile rookie defenseman Danny Groulx during an episode to be televised in mid-February. Red Wings Weekly will devote nearly all of this week's edition to the Griffins, Detroit's primary affiliate. The show will air four times on FSN: Sat., Feb. 1 (11:00 a.m.), Sun., Feb. 2 (9:00 a.m.), Mon., Feb. 3 (7:00 p.m.) and Wed., Feb. 5 (2:00 p.m.).

Torrid Pace: The Griffins are on pace for 45 wins and 106 points, totals that would surpass those from all but two of the team's previous six seasons (53/113 in 2000-01 and 51/111 in 1999-00).

Road Warriors: With Saturday's 3-1 win at Philadelphia, Grand Rapids is now 7-1-2-0 in its last 10 road contests and 13-3-3-2 overall (0.738) in foreign buildings. The Griffins are on pace to record 24 wins away from home, a total one shy of the franchise record (25 in 1999-00).

The More Things Change...: After leading the AHL in goals allowed (2.23 per contest) and shots allowed (25.34) last season, the Griffins currently rank second (2.26) and fifth (27.74) in those respective categories. Grand Rapids has surrendered more than three goals in just seven of its first 46 games.

Best Behavior: Twice in the last five games, the Griffins' penalty killing squad has gotten the night off. Grand Rapids was not penalized during last Wednesday's 3-3 tie at Norfolk, and it incurred just a pair of fighting majors in a 2-2 tie with Binghamton on Jan. 15. The last time the Griffins finished a game without any penalty minutes was a 5-0 win against the Cincinnati Cyclones on Feb. 21, 2001, a game that also had been their last without a shorthanded situation prior to Jan. 15.

Hot Hands: Stacy Roest, whose current four-game goal streak marks a season-high for a Griffin, now has points in 11 of the last 13 contests (8-12-20), including five multi-point games...Jason Williams owns a three-game point streak (1-4-5) and has eight points (3-5-8) in the last six games...Rob Collins has earned points in nine of the last 16 contests (6-4-10)...Tomas Kopecky has assists in four of the last six games.

League Leaders: Goalie Marc Lamothe stands among the AHL's leaders with 16 wins (T2nd), a 2.19 GAA (4th), three shutouts (T5th), 1,917 minutes (3rd) and 812 saves (5th)...Mark Mowers ranks sixth in the league with 47 points and is tied for fifth with 21 goals...Michel Picard is tied for seventh in the scoring race with 46 points (18-28-46), while Stacy Roest places tenth with 44 points (15-29-44)...Rob Collins is tied for second overall and paces all rookies with two game-tying goals...Dave Van Drunen is tied for fourth among defensemen with a plus-21 rating.

By the Numbers: Where the Griffins rank among the AHL's 28 teams in various statistical categories:
* Power Play: 40-for-278, 14.4% (21st)
* Penalty Killing: 198-for-234, 84.6% (15th)
* Penalty Minutes: 17.1 avg. (24th)
* Goals For: 2.93 avg. (13th)
* Goals Against: 2.26 avg. (2nd)
* Shots For: 29.28 avg. (19th)
* Shots Against: 27.74 avg. (5th)
* Attendance: 6,898 avg. (7th)

All-Stars: Two members of the Griffins have been selected to participate in the 2003 Dodge AHL All-Star Classic, slated for this coming Sunday and Monday (Feb. 2-3) at the Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland, Maine. Center Mark Mowers was named to the PlanetUSA All-Star team, while goalie Marc Lamothe was tabbed for the Canadian All-Star squad.

Red Wings Update: The Griffins are in the first season of a five-year affiliation with the Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings. The Red Wings remain in first place in the NHL's Central Division (27-14-7-2) despite Saturday's 4-1 loss at Calgary. They'll complete a four-game road trip tomorrow in New Jersey at 7:30 p.m. (FSN).

Boileau Nets First NHL Goal: Defenseman Patrick Boileau scored the first NHL goal of his eight-year pro career last Friday, helping Detroit to its 5-2 win at Vancouver. His tally at 1:59 of the second period, off assists from Sergei Fedorov and Brendan Shanahan, gave the Red Wings a 2-0 lead, and he finished the night with a team-high plus-three rating. Outside of a two-day reassignment to Grand Rapids on New Year's Eve, Boileau has been with Detroit since Dec. 14. He has appeared in 10 contests for the defending champs, notching two points (1-1-2), a plus-four rating and six shots, while averaging 10:59 of ice time. Boileau played seven games with Washington from 1996-02, recording one assist and four penalty minutes.

Griffins Alumni Report: Rookie NHL head coach Bruce Cassidy's Washington Capitals stand atop the Southeast Division with a 23-18-7-3 record...Kip Miller is fifth on the Caps with 37 points (10-27-37), Ivan Ciernik has totaled 11 points (4-7-11) in 26 appearances, Jason Doig has four points (1-3-4) in 24 games, and Joel Kwiatkowski has two assists in 25 games between the Caps and Senators...Florida's Jani Hurme (4-6-5) has a 2.70 GAA and a 0.915 save percentage...Ottawa's Patrick Lalime (23-12-6) owns a 2.11 GAA, a 0.914 save percentage and five shutouts, while Martin Prusek (9-0-0) shows a 2.49 GAA and a 0.910%...Todd White is tied for third on the Sens with 39 points (16-23-39), Petr Schastlivy is tied for tenth with 18 points (9-9-18) in 31 games, Karel Rachunek has 14 assists in 27 games since rejoining the team, and Chris Neil has chipped in four goals and a pair of helpers.

Get Your Tickets: Tickets for all regular season games at Van Andel Arena are currently on sale. Fans can visit either location of The Zone (Van Andel Arena store or Rivertown Crossings Mall kiosk) or any Tickets PLUS location (including Meijer stores), call 222-4000/800-585-3737 or visit www.griffinshockey.com. Full-season ticket packages, mini-plans and group tickets for all Griffins games are by calling 800-2-HOCKEY.

This Week's Scouting Report

Tue., Jan. 28 vs. Houston Aeros - Van Andel Arena - 7:00 p.m.

TV: None. Radio: WTKG 1230 AM at 6:40 p.m. Season Series: 1-3-1-0 Overall, 1-2-0-0 Home. Sixth of 10 meetings overall, fourth of five in Grand Rapids. All-Time Series: AHL: 5-6-6-0 Overall, 4-3-2-0 Home. Total: 13-10-10-0 Overall, 8-5-3-0 Home. Houston Affiliation: Minnesota Wild. Head Coach: Todd McLellan (2nd season). Battle Plans: Houston (0.723) and Grand Rapids (0.663) enter the week as the Western Conference's top two teams in terms of winning percentage...The Aeros have accounted for three of the Griffins' 11 regulation losses, but Grand Rapids took a 3-0 win in Houston's last visit on Nov. 15...These two teams last met nearly eight weeks ago, a 3-2 win for Houston on its home ice on Dec. 4...The Aeros have won five straight games overall and own a 16-6-1-0 record on the road...Jean-Guy Trudel stands third in the AHL with 50 points (21-29-50)...Derek Gustafson is tied for ninth with a 2.38 GAA...Houston ranks fourth in goals scored per game (3.40) and fifth in goals allowed (2.40).

Wed., Jan. 29 vs. San Antonio Rampage - Van Andel Arena - 7:00 p.m.

TV: None. Radio: WOOD 1300 AM at 6:40 p.m. Season/All-Time Series: 3-1-0-0 Overall, 3-0-0-0 Home. Fifth of 10 meetings overall, fourth of five in Grand Rapids. San Antonio Affiliation: Florida Panthers. Head Coach: John Torchetti (1st season). No Bull: If the playoffs started today, the expansion Rampage would hold the eighth seed in the Western Conference...The Rampage are just 4-14-4-2 on the road, including an 0-2-0-1 mark at Van Andel Arena...San Antonio enters the week on a 0-2-1-0 skid...The home team has won all four prior meetings...Chris Mason, ranked fifth in the AHL with a 2.20 GAA, is 1-10-1 all-time at Van Andel Arena, including his previous four seasons with the Milwaukee Admirals...Crease mate Wade Flaherty is 4-4 all-time in Grand Rapids, but has lost four straight decisions...Jim Campbell, brother of Griffins defenseman Ed, leads San Antonio with 36 points (9-27-36)...Former Griffins Sean Gagnon, David Gove and Jamie Rivers now play for the Rampage.

Fri., Jan. 31 at Milwaukee Admirals - Bradley Center - 8:12 p.m.

TV: None. Radio: WOOD 1300 AM at 8:00 p.m. Season Series: 1-2-2-0 Overall, 0-1-1-0 Road. Sixth and final meeting overall, third and final in Milwaukee. All-Time Series: AHL: 7-4-6-0 Overall, 2-2-4-0 Road. Total: 25-14-10-0 Overall, 9-9-8-0 Road. Milwaukee Affiliation: Nashville Predators. Head Coach: Peter Horachek (1st season). Smooth Sailing: Of the eight meetings between Grand Rapids and Milwaukee at the Bradley Center over the last two seasons, four have ended in ties...The Admirals are 10-3-4-2 at home, including a current six-game point streak (4-0-1-1)...Darren Haydar leads all AHL rookies and is tied for seventh overall with 46 points (19-27-46)...Goalie Brian Finley has taken over the starter's role with a 2.31 GAA.

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American Hockey League Stories from January 27, 2003


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