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AHL Grand Rapids Griffins

Griffins Face Unprecedented Road Test

March 10, 2003 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release


Tough Test: For the first time in their seven-year history, the Griffins this week will play four road games in four different cities in a span of only five nights, beginning Wednesday in Utah. Their four West Division hosts sport a combined 0.687 home winning percentage (78-31-11-6), but Grand Rapids has fared well in each venue, earning a cumulative season record of 7-3-1-1 (0.667) at The E Center, Compaq Center, SBC Center and Allstate Arena. The Grizzlies, Aeros, Rampage and Wolves have combined to post a 4-6-1-1 record (0.417) at home versus the Griffins, compared to a 74-25-10-5 mark (0.715) against all other visitors.

The Quest Continues: The Griffins are 1-1-0-0 thus far on their seven-game road trip, which ties for the longest in franchise history. They achieved an amazing 6-1-0 mark during their previous odyssey, which happened March 25-April 7, 2000. Grand Rapids will travel 4,659 miles just to play this week's four road games, and they'll rack up 8,078 total miles on their seven-game swing before returning home the morning of March 19.

Batten Down the Hatches: The Griffins and top-seeded Houston Aeros, who are separated by just two points in the Western Conference standings, will meet three times over the final four weeks of the regular season, beginning this Thursday at the Compaq Center. Grand Rapids, which still has one game in-hand over the Aeros, has shut out Houston three times this season, including the last two meetings by a cumulative score of 13-0. Only once before have the Griffins blanked an opponent three times during the regular season (2001-02 vs. Milwaukee), and only twice before have they earned shutouts in consecutive games against an opponent (Feb. 9 and 15, 2002 vs. Hamilton, Jan. 13 and Feb. 1, 2000 vs. Cincinnati).

We Are the Champions: Thanks to losses by Rochester and Cincinnati on Sunday evening, the Griffins claimed the 2002-03 John Chick Trophy as champions of the Central Division. The Griffins, who stand at 40-17-8-2 (90 points) following Saturday's 4-3 overtime win at San Antonio, have won a division crown in each of their two seasons in the AHL and have earned four consecutive division championships overall, dating back to their 1999-2000 season in the IHL. Along with the division title, the Griffins last night secured a postseason berth at the earliest date in franchise history, seven days earlier than their 2001-02 counterparts, who won the inaugural N.R. (Bud) Poile Trophy as champions of the AHL's West Division. Grand Rapids is guaranteed a top-three seed in the Western Conference when the 2003 Calder Cup Playoffs commence in April.

Race for Number One: Houston, Grand Rapids and Norfolk currently hold the top three seeds in the Western Conference by virtue of their first-place standings. Here's how the race for the top seed breaks down:

Seed Team Record Points Games Remaining Opponent Winning %
1 Houston 41-17-7-3 92 12 (6 home/6 road) 0.570
2 Grand Rapids 40-17-8-2 90 13 (4 home/9 road) 0.551
3 Norfolk 32-20-8-4 76 16 (5 home/11 road) 0.512

On Track: With 13 games remaining, the Griffins are just two wins and five points shy of matching their output (42-27-11-0, 95 pts.) from the 2001-02 season, their first as a member of the AHL. They are on pace for 47 wins and 107 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).

Attendance Boost: Grand Rapids is averaging 7,034 fans per game, a 1.5% increase over its 36-game average from last season. The Griffins, who have never in their history witnessed an attendance increase, need to average 7,158 over their final four home games to surpass last season's total of 281,867.

Westward Ho!: Nine of the Griffins' final 13 games will be staged against West Division opponents (Houston, Utah, San Antonio and Chicago), while they'll face current Central Division foes (Cincinnati and Cleveland) just two times. In 35 games to date against the West Division, including Milwaukee, Grand Rapids has posted an aggregate 17-12-5-1 record (0.571).

Road Killers: The Griffins, who will play nine of their final 13 games away from Van Andel Arena, are 15-3-2-0 in their last 20 road contests and 21-5-3-2 overall (0.758) in foreign buildings. The Griffins are on pace to record 27 wins on the road, a total that would surpass the franchise record of 25 set in 1999-2000.

Stingy Defense: Grand Rapids, which ranks second to Hamilton (2.19) by allowing only 2.27 goals per game, is bidding to become the first team since the Rochester Americans (1990-91 and 1991-92) to post the AHL's lowest goals against average in consecutive seasons. The Griffins allowed a league-low 2.23 goals per game last year.

Three Musketeers: Only once in their history have the Griffins had more than one player finish in the top 10 of their league's scoring race, that being the 2000-01 IHL season when Derek King tied for the scoring crown with 83 points and Slava Butsayev placed tenth with 68 points. However, Grand Rapids currently has three players in the AHL's top 10, including Michel Picard (T2nd), Mark Mowers (T2nd) and Stacy Roest (9th).

Hot Wing: Jason Williams has scored 17 goals in the last 19 games, and now places third on the Griffins with 20 for the season despite having played in less than half of Grand Rapids' contests (33). The 2002 Stanley Cup champ has recorded points in 18 of the last 24 games (18-16-34), with six multi-goal and 12 multi-point outings.

On the Marc: AHL All-Star Marc Lamothe has won eight of his last 10 games to total a career-high 27 victories, four more than any other league netminder and the fourth-largest single-season total in franchise history.

Phil the Net: Philippe Plante, who has contributed six goals and five assists in the last 11 games, became just the third defenseman in Griffins history to tally 10 goals for a season when he lit the lamp last Wednesday against San Antonio. Travis Richards (10 in 1996-97) and Aris Brimanis (16 in 1998-99) were the only other blueliners to hit double digits.

Reach for the Top: Michel Picard, Jason Williams and Marc Lamothe are on pace to break or challenge various franchise records. Picard's 45 assists put him on a pace for 53, two shy of the record he co-authored with Jeff Nelson in 1996-97. With nine power play goals in 33 games, Williams is scheduled to finish with 12, one short of Nelson's mark established six years ago. Lamothe should challenge the club records in four categories (current-pace-record): goaltender games played (50-59-61), minutes played (2,884-3,444-3,244), wins (27-32-34) and saves (1,195-1,426-1,436).

Hot Hands: Mark Mowers had a six-game scoring streak (4-6-10) snapped on Friday, but still has points in 11 of the last 14 games (6-13-19)...Bryan Adams owns a three-game assist streak (0-3-3)...Stacy Roest owns a four-game point streak (1-5-6) and has five multi-point efforts in eight games since returning from the Red Wings on Feb. 23...Tim Skarperud scored a goal in each game in San Antonio last weekend...Sean Avery has points in four of seven games (2-2-4) since rejoining the team on Feb. 26.

League Leaders: Goalie Marc Lamothe leads the AHL with 27 wins and 2,884 minutes, while ranking among the best with a 2.20 GAA (4th), four shutouts (T3rd) and 1,195 saves (5th)...Michel Picard (25-45-70) and Mark Mowers (28-42-70) are tied for second in the league scoring race, two points behind Hamilton's Jason Ward...Stacy Roest stands ninth with 62 points (18-44-62)...Picard (45) and Roest (44) rank second and third in AHL assists...Dave Van Drunen is second both overall and among defensemen with a plus-31 rating...Travis Richards is tied for third both overall and among defensemen at plus-28, and his four game-winning goals stand second among blueliners...Rob Collins is tied for second overall and paces all rookies with two game-tying goals...Among rookies, Tomas Kopecky is 18th with 37 points (16-21-37) and is third at plus-21.

Milestones: Stacy Roest picked up his 350th pro point with an assist last Friday in San Antonio, while Ed Campbell notched his 100th pro assist that same night...Marc Lamothe needs one win for 150 as a pro, and Jason Williams needs three assists for 100 as a pro...Roest has played in 296 AHL contests.

Penalty Shot Parade: After being awarded only three penalty shots during their first six seasons, the Griffins have already received three free shots this season. After Bryan Adams scored on Manitoba's Tyler Moss on Dec. 17, Mark Mowers (Feb. 9 vs. Cleveland's Seamus Kotyk) and Stacy Roest (Mar. 8 vs. San Antonio's Wade Flaherty) have both been denied.

By the Numbers: Where the Griffins rank among the AHL's 28 teams in various statistical categories:
* Power Play: 61-for-387, 15.8% (T17th)
* Penalty Killing: 261-for-315, 82.8% (17th)
* Penalty Minutes: 16.7 avg. (T24th)
* Goals For: 3.15 (8th)
* Goals Against: 2.27 avg. (2nd)
* Shots For: 29.58 avg. (19th)
* Shots Against: 27.00 avg. (3rd)
* Attendance: 7,034 avg. (7th)

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 maintain first place in the NHL's Central Division (38-18-9-3) after a 4-1 loss at Anaheim last night. They'll visit Los Angeles tonight at 10:30. (WXSP).

Let's Make a Deal: The NHL Trade Deadline is tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. EST.

Griffins Alumni Report: Rookie NHL head coach Bruce Cassidy's Washington Capitals stand atop the Southeast Division with a 32-25-8-5 record...Kip Miller is fifth on the Caps with an NHL career-high 49 points (12-37-49), Ivan Ciernik has totaled 16 points (7-9-16) in 39 appearances, Jason Doig has six points (2-4-6) in 43 games, and Joel Kwiatkowski has four assists in 44 games between the Caps and Senators...Florida's Jani Hurme (4-8-6) has a 2.77 GAA and a 0.909 save percentage...Ottawa's Patrick Lalime (32-17-6) owns a 2.05 GAA, a 0.917 save percentage and a league-leading eight shutouts, while Martin Prusek (11-2-1) shows a 2.44 GAA and a 0.909%...Todd White is third on the Sens with 53 points (22-31-53), Karel Rachunek has two goals and 21 assists in 45 games, the injured Petr Schastlivy is 13th with 19 points (9-10-19) in 33 games, and Chris Neil has chipped in five goals and three helpers.

Boileau Keeps Motorin': Outside of a two-day reassignment to Grand Rapids on New Year's Eve, defenseman Patrick Boileau has been with Detroit since Dec. 14. He has appeared in 22 contests for the defending champs, notching six points (2-4-6), a plus-six rating and 17 shots while averaging 13:16 in ice time. Boileau played only seven games with Washington from 1996-02, recording one assist and four penalty minutes.

Get Your Tickets: Tickets for all regular season games at Van Andel Arena are currently on sale. Fans can visit The Zone at Van Andel Arena 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 available by calling 800-2-HOCKEY.

This Week's Scouting Report

Wed., Mar. 12 at Utah Grizzlies (30-29-3-3) - The E Center - 9:00 p.m. TV: None. Radio: WOOD 1300 AM/WHTC 1450 AM at 8:40 p.m. Season Series: 4-3-0-0 Overall, 2-0-0-0 Road. Eighth of 10 meetings overall, third of five in West Valley City. All-Time Series: AHL: 8-10-1-0 Overall, 4-3-1-0 Road. Total: 16-15-2-0 Overall, 5-8-2-0 Road. Utah Affiliation: Dallas Stars. Head Coach: Don Hay (2nd season). Grin and Bear It: Utah begins the week as the ninth seed in the Western Conference...The Grizzlies took a 2-1 win at Van Andel Arena on Feb. 22...Six of the first seven meetings between these teams were decided by a single goal in regulation...Going back to last season, the Griffins have won their last three visits to the Wasatch Mountains, each time by a single goal...Utah is 1-5-0-1 in its last seven games and 4-10-0-2 in its last 16...The Grizzlies have won just two of their last six at home (2-3-0-1)...Utah allows the second-most shots per game (34.83)...Jim Montgomery is tied for 14th in the AHL with 59 points (20-39-59)...Corey Hirsch's 2.77 GAA and 0.920 save percentage lead the team.

Thu., Mar. 13 at Houston Aeros (41-17-7-3) - Compaq Center - 8:00 p.m. TV: None. Radio: WOOD 1300 AM /WHTC 1450 AM at 7:59 p.m. Season Series: 3-3-1-0 Overall, 1-1-1-0 Road. Eighth of 10 meetings overall, fourth of five in Houston. All-Time Series: AHL: 7-6-6-0 Overall, 2-3-4-0 Road. Total: 15-10-10-0 Overall, 6-5-7-0 Road. Houston Affiliation: Minnesota Wild. Head Coach: Todd McLellan (2nd season). Battle Plans: Houston begins the week as the top seed in the Western Conference, two points ahead of the Griffins...Grand Rapids has shut out the Aeros in consecutive clashes and three of the last four meetings, including a 6-0 decision at the Compaq Center on Feb. 23...Four of nine meetings in Houston over the last two years have ended in ties...The Aeros have the most home wins (22) in the conference...Houston ranks first in shots allowed (26.49), second in shots (34.26) and fourth in goals scored (3.25)...Jean-Guy Trudel stands fourth in AHL scoring (25-43-68) and is tied for fourth with 43 assists...Dieter Kochan is tied for 13th with a 2.53 GAA.

Sat., Mar. 15 at San Antonio Rampage (31-24-10-3) - SBC Center - 8:00 p.m. TV: None Radio: WOOD 1300 AM/WHTC 1450 AM at 7:40 p.m. Season/All-Time Series: 5-4-0-0 Overall, 2-2-0-0 Road. Tenth and final meeting overall, fifth and final in San Antonio. San Antonio Affiliation: Florida Panthers. Head Coach: Scott Allen (1st season). No Bull: San Antonio begins the week as the fifth seed in the Western Conference...Scott Allen went 1-0-0-1 against the Griffins last weekend in his debut as Rampage head coach...Saturday's game marks the fifth between these teams in a 16-day span...San Antonio's penalty killers place fifth in the AHL at 86.0%...Goalie Chris Mason is ranked fifth in the AHL with a 2.27 GAA and stands fourth with a 0.930 save percentage...Jeff Toms paces San Antonio with 49 points (23-26-49)...Jim Campbell, brother of Griffins defenseman Ed, is third on the Rampage with 43 points...Former Griffins Sean Gagnon and David Gove now play for San Antonio.

Sun., Mar. 16 at Chicago Wolves (32-23-7-4) - Allstate Arena - 5:00 p.m. TV: None. Radio: WOOD 1300 AM/WHTC 1450 AM at 4:40 p.m. Season Series: 3-0-2-1 Overall, 2-0-0-1 Road. Seventh of eight meetings overall, fourth and final in Rosemont. All-Time Series: AHL: 10-5-2-1 Overall, 5-3-0-1 Road. Total: 25-12-4-1 Overall, 13-8-0-1 Road. Chicago Affiliation: Atlanta Thrashers. Head Coach: John Anderson (6th season). Hungry Like the Wolf: The defending champs begin the week as the fourth seed in the Western Conference...Chicago has points in five straight games (4-0-0-1) and has won three straight at home since absorbing a 7-4 beating by Grand Rapids on Feb. 26...The Griffins have points in each of their last four visits to Chicago's den (3-0-0-1) dating to last season...Chicago's power play leads the AHL at 20.2%, contributing to its third-ranked scoring attack (3.42)...Steve Maltais is tied for fifth in the AHL with 66 points (26-40-66) while Simon Gamache (30-30-60) is tied for 12th...Norm Maracle owns a 2.97 GAA and a 16-17-5 record.

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American Hockey League Stories from March 10, 2003


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