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Grand Rapids Griffins

Griffins earn first invitation to 2004 Calder Cup Playoffs

March 8, 2004 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release


Clash of the Titans: After wrapping up a four-game Texas road swing tonight in Houston, the Griffins will return to Van Andel Arena this weekend for perhaps the season's most crucial game to date. The Milwaukee Admirals, whose 0.645 winning percentage ranks second in the AHL to the Griffins' 0.672 mark, will try to dent Grand Rapids' six-point lead in the West Division when they pay a visit this Friday at 7:30 p.m. The Griffins are 4-1-1-0 versus the Admirals this season, including a trio of 2-1 wins, and they've held Milwaukee's league-leading offense to just two goals per game, 1.54 below its average. Grand Rapids will conclude the week by hosting the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks on Saturday, looking to improve upon its 5-3-0-0 record in the season series.

Meet Mike Vernon: Two-time Stanley Cup champion and former Detroit Red Wings goaltender Mike Vernon will sign autographs for fans in the arena lobby prior to Friday's game against Milwaukee. The first 3,000 fans will receive a Griffins mouse pad, courtesy of Re/Max, and fans can purchase a Family Four Pack (four tickets, four hot dogs, four soft drinks and either parking or a $10 Zone certificate) for $44. A Stouffer's Family Fun Skate will follow the contest. Saturday's game versus Cincinnati is "Trading Spaces Night." One of the carpenters from the hit TLC television show "Trading Spaces," Traverse City native Carter Oosterhouse, will meet fans in the arena lobby before the game, thanks to Stock Building Supply. Additionally, one lucky fan that enters a contest on the concourse will win $1,000 in cash and prizes toward a room makeover.

Griffins First to Clinch: With their 2-1 win at San Antonio on Saturday, the Griffins became the first team to secure a spot in the 2004 Calder Cup playoffs and clinched a postseason berth on their earliest date ever, beating the 2002-03 squad by three days (March 9). In the new divisional playoff format, the top five teams in each division will qualify for the postseason. Grand Rapids currently stands at 86 points, guaranteeing it a higher place than both Houston and Utah in the final standings. Now, the Griffins' magic number for earning an exemption from the qualifying round (i.e. locking up third place in the West Division) is six points over both San Antonio and Cincinnati, a goal they could accomplish as early as this Friday, March 12.

View From the Top: The Griffins, who boast a 19-5-4-0 record (0.750) since Jan. 9, remain in the driver's seat for the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy, awarded to the AHL's regular season points champion. They currently possess a five-point lead over Hartford and a six-point advantage over Milwaukee. With a 39-17-8-0 record, Grand Rapids owns the most wins and points (86) and the highest winning percentage (0.672) among the AHL's 28 teams.

Lamothe and Myrvold Return: On Saturday, the Detroit Red Wings assigned goaltender Marc Lamothe and defenseman Anders Myrvold to the Griffins, prompting Grand Rapids to release goalie Doug Teskey. Both players paid immediate dividends in that night's 2-1 win at San Antonio, as Lamothe stopped 36 of 37 shots and Myrvold assisted on Michel Picard's game-winning power play goal.

Milestones: Derek King picked up his 200th point as a Griffin on Saturday by assisting on Michel Picard's first goal. Picard (371) and Travis Richards (225) are the only other players in Grand Rapids history to reach the milestone...King is now three points shy of 900 for his pro career (374-523-897 in 1,175 games)...Jeff Nelson needs five points to reach 500 for his AHL career (161-334-495 in 536 games), a plateau reached by only 69 other players (including Picard) in the AHL's 68-year history.

D.C. Climbs the Charts: The Griffins' 3-1 win at Houston on Friday marked their 86th regular season triumph under head coach Danton Cole (87-39-16-2 from 2002-present), moving him past Guy Charron (85-62-17 from 1998-2000) on the franchise's all-time list. Following Saturday's 2-1 victory at San Antonio, Cole now stands just eight wins behind leader Bruce Cassidy (95-49-18-0 from 2000-2002).

Three-Peat: With their 2-1 win at San Antonio on Saturday, the Griffins finished their seventh stretch of three games in as many nights this season; for the fifth time, they concluded the run 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.

Big Mac: While Marc Lamothe was in Detroit most of the last month, Joey MacDonald proved his place among the AHL's best goalies as well, posting an 8-3-0-0 record with three shutouts, a 1.54 goals against average and a 0.948 save percentage (309-326). His 19-5-3 record overall (including 12-3-1 in his last 16 games) gives him the highest winning percentage of any AHL goalie (0.759), and he also ranks among the league's best with 19 wins (T5th), a 1.87 GAA (5th) and a 0.938 save percentage (T3rd). During MacDonald's recent eight-game winning streak at home, which fell one game shy of Mathieu Chouinard's franchise record, he compiled four shutouts, a 0.87 GAA and a 0.970 save percentage (224-231).

Any Place, Any Time: Grand Rapids has claimed the most home wins (21-6-6-0) and most road victories (18-11-2-0) in the league. No AHL team has lost fewer times before the home folks this season than the Griffins, who sport a remarkable 18-3-3-0 record at Van Andel Arena since Nov. 28. The three losses since that date were by a total of four goals.

Home Sweet Home: The Griffins' 5-3 loss to Philadelphia on Feb. 29 was their first defeat at Van Andel Arena since New Year's Eve, snapping both their team-record 16-game home unbeaten streak and their record-tying 10-game home winning streak. It also concluded the busiest two-month home slate in the Griffins' eight seasons, as they compiled an amazing 13-1-3-0 mark in 17 games within friendly confines during January and February.

Defense Never Rests: Over the last 22 games, the Griffins' defense has surrendered just 33 goals (1.48 GAA), helping Grand Rapids to third in the AHL rankings for goals allowed per game (1.92). The Griffins have shut-out five of their last 11 opponents at Van Andel Arena, while allowing just a single goal on two other occasions.

League Leaders: Five Griffins currently rank among the AHL's best in various categories: Danny Groulx - Plus-19 rating (T4th among defensemen); Marc Lamothe - 19 wins (T5th), 1.86 GAA (4th); Joey MacDonald - 0.759 winning percentage (1st), 19 wins (T5th), 1.87 GAA (5th) and a 0.938 save percentage (T3rd); Kevin Miller - Nine game-winning goals (2nd); and Nathan Robinson - 10 power play goals (T5th).

Top Guns: Jiri Hudler has points in 11 of the last 14 games (4-10-14)...Jeff Nelson has points in 12 of the last 16 games (5-10-15)...Kevin Miller has points in 10 of the last 16 outings (7-4-11)...Michel Picard has points in three of the last four games (2-2-4)...Tomas Kopecky had a three-game point streak (2-1-3) snapped on Saturday.

Rare Occurrence: The Griffins' 3-2 defeat at San Antonio last Thursday gave them their first two-game losing streak since they dropped three straight between Dec. 31 and Jan. 3. The Rampage trailed 2-1 after 40 minutes before scoring twice in the third period, marking Grand Rapids' first loss this season when leading after two (27-1-2-0) and just their third such defeat since joining the AHL in 2001-02 (91-3-8-0). In addition, the two goals allowed by the Griffins over the final 20 minutes fell just one shy of the total they had surrendered in the third periods of their previous 19 games combined.

By the Numbers: Where the Griffins rank among the AHL's 28 teams in various statistical categories:
* Power Play: 51-for-290, 17.6% (T2nd)
* Penalty Killing: 274-for-313, 87.5% (T6th)
* Penalty Minutes: 16.36 avg. (25th)
* Goals For: 2.56 avg. (13th)
* Goals Against: 1.92 avg. (3rd)
* Shots For: 26.97 avg. (25th)
* Shots Against: 28.38 avg. (10th)
* Attendance: 6,559 avg. (9th)

Eighty is Great: With their 2-0 win over Utah on Feb. 26, the Griffins reached the 80-point plateau in just their 59th game. Only the 2000-01 squad reached the mark faster, needing 55 games, while last season's AHL Western Conference finalists hit it in 60 games. Grand Rapids earned its 86th point in Saturday's 2-1 win at San Antonio.

Mr. Clutch: Kevin Miller has factored in the scoring of the deciding goal in five of the Griffins' six overtime wins this season, notching a team-record three O.T. goals and contributing assists on two others. In addition, during the Griffins' 4-2 win over Chicago on Feb. 27, he collected his ninth game-winning goal of the season, giving him the second-highest total in the AHL this year and tying Mark Mowers (nine in 2002-03) for the franchise's second-highest single-season total, behind Michel Picard (12 in 1996-97).

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 41 3 7 10 4 2 10:15
Niklas Kronwall (inj.) 20 1 4 5 5 16 13:51
Jamie Rivers 35 2 2 4 10 24 9:54

Goalie GP W L T SO GAA Save %
Curtis Joseph 26 13 9 2 *2 2.44 0.905
* Leads team

Red Wings Update: The Griffins are in the second season of a five-year affiliation with the Detroit Red Wings. The Red Wings stand in first place in the NHL's Central Division (39-17-9-2), following their 3-1 win over Vancouver on Friday. They'll host Tampa Bay tonight at 7:30 (FSN).

This Week's Scouting Report

Mon., Mar. 8 at Houston Aeros (22-30-11-3) - Toyota Center - 8 p.m.

TV: None. Radio: WOOD 1300 AM at 7:59 p.m. Season Series: 5-3-0-0 Overall, 2-1-0-0 Road. Ninth of 10 meetings overall, fourth of five in Houston. All-Time Series: AHL: 14-10-6-0 Overall, 5-5-4-0 Road. Total: 22-14-10-0 Overall, 9-7-7-0 Road. Houston Affiliation: Minnesota Wild. Head Coach: Todd McLellan (3rd season). Aero Dynamics: In each of the last six meetings between Grand Rapids and Houston, the losing team has either been shut-out or held to a single goal...The Aeros have won three of their last four to emerge from a 1-8-2-0 skid, their only loss being Friday's 3-1 defeat to the Griffins...They own a respectable 14-11-5-2 record at the Toyota Center...Travis Roche ranks among the AHL's top blueliners with 28 assists (T3rd) and 34 points (T8th)...Reigning Calder Cup MVP Johan Holmqvist has 24 losses, tied for most in the league.

Fri., Mar. 12 vs. Milwaukee Admirals (35-17-7-3) - Van Andel Arena - 7:30 p.m.

TV: None. Radio: WOOD 1300 AM at 7:10 p.m. Season Series: 4-1-1-0 Overall, 2-0-0-0 Home. Seventh of eight meetings overall, third of four in Grand Rapids. All-Time Series: AHL: 12-5-7-0 Overall, 7-2-2-0 Home. Total: 30-15-11-0 Overall, 18-5-2-0 Home. Milwaukee Affiliation: Nashville Predators. Head Coach: Claude Noel (1st season). Ships Ahoy: Milwaukee's 0.645 winning percentage is second only to Grand Rapids' 0.672 mark...The Griffins have won four of six meetings with the Admirals thus far, despite being outscored by a combined 12-11 margin...Grand Rapids' two series home wins were by 2-1 scores...Except for the 7-0 anomaly in Milwaukee on Jan. 3, the Griffins have held the high-scoring Admirals to a single goal in each meeting...The Admirals are 15-3-1-1 in their last 20 games...Their 15-8-3-3 road record is among the AHL's best...The Admirals average the most goals (3.39) in the league, 0.42 more than second-place Chicago.

Sat., Mar. 13 vs. Cincinnati Mighty Ducks (23-30-8-1) - Van Andel Arena - 7:30 p.m.

TV: None. Radio: WOOD 1300 AM at 7:10 p.m. Season Series: 5-3-0-0 Overall, 2-1-0-0 Home. Ninth of 10 meetings overall, fourth of five in Grand Rapids. All-Time Series: 15-5-2-0 Overall, 7-1-2-0 Home. Cincinnati Affiliation: Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. Head Coach: Brad Shaw (2nd season). Quack Me Up: Prior to their 3-1 loss at Cincinnati on Feb. 7, the Griffins had won four straight versus the Ducks by a combined 10-1 margin...Cincinnati is just 9-18-2-0 away from home...The Ducks broke a four-game losing streak and a seven-game winless skid with Sunday's 4-1 win at Cleveland...Cincy's 89.3 penalty killing percentage ranks third in the AHL...Former Ferris State star Chris Kunitz is tied for the Ducks' lead with 16 goals.

This Week's Games:

Mon., Mar. 8 GRIFFINS at Houston Aeros 8 p.m. WOOD 1300 AM

Fri., Mar. 12 Milwaukee Admirals at GRIFFINS 7:30 p.m. WOOD 1300 AM

Sat., Mar. 13 Cincinnati Mighty Ducks at GRIFFINS 7:30 p.m. WOOD 1300 AM

Last Week's Results:

Thu., Mar. 4 GRIFFINS 2 at San Antonio Rampage 3 37-17-8-0, 82 pts. (1st, West Division)

Fri., Mar. 5 GRIFFINS 3 at Houston Aeros 1 38-17-8-0, 84 pts. (1st)

Sat., Mar. 6 GRIFFINS 2 at San Antonio Rampage 1 39-17-8-0, 86 pts. (1st)

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