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AHL Grand Rapids Griffins

Griffins Head into Three-Game Week as Midwest Division Narrows

December 16, 2014 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release


This Week's Games

Fri., Dec. 19 Toronto Marlies at GRIFFINS 7 p.m. WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM / AHLLive.com

Sat., Dec. 20 GRIFFINS at Lake Erie Monsters 7 p.m. WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM / AHLLive.com

Mon., Dec. 22 GRIFFINS at Chicago Wolves 8 p.m. TBD / AHLLive.com

Last Week's Results

Wed., Dec. 10 Lake Erie Monsters 3 at GRIFFINS 2 OT 11-9-3-0, 25 pts. (5th, Midwest Division)

Fri., Dec. 12 GRIFFINS 5 at Oklahoma City Barons 2 12-9-3-0, 27 pts. (T4th)

Sat., Dec. 13 GRIFFINS 2 at Oklahoma City Barons 3 12-10-3-0, 27 pts. (T4th)

Three of Six : The Griffins earned three of six possible points last week, starting with a single point on Wednesday in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Lake Erie Monsters at Van Andel Arena. Defensemen Ryan Sproul and Nathan Paetsch were the two skaters to connect for the home team, but Mitchell Heard scored the equalizer for the Monsters at 8:09 of the third period before Maxime Noreau ended the contest at 2:54 of the extra session. The Griffins then traveled to Oklahoma City, where the team triumphed over the Barons, 5-2, on Friday. The game remained knotted at 2-2 until late in the third period when Landon Ferraro netted the go-ahead goal at 16:18. Andreas Athanasiou then promptly put the Griffins up by two with an unassisted goal just 39 seconds later before Ferraro's empty-netter at 18:11. Oklahoma City exacted late-game revenge upon the Griffins on Saturday, however, when the Barons scrambled back from a two-goal deficit in the first period to take the contest by an eventual measure of 3-2. Anthony Mantha earned the Griffins' first goal, unassisted, at 12:32 of the opening frame before Colin Campbell put home his first goal of the season 51 seconds later. The scoring stopped there for Grand Rapids. Matthew Ford put two goals past Tom McCollum before Iiro Pakarinen's game-winning tally at 17:41 of the third period.

Salute to Heroes : Throughout Friday's game, the Griffins will honor local heroes, and members of the United States Air Force will be sworn into service during the first intermission. Any current member of our military can purchase up to four Upper Level tickets for $14 each or four Lower Level Faceoff tickets for $18 each with a valid military ID. The offer also extends to veterans who present a VA ID or discharge papers.

Chelios Book Signing : Fans attending the Griffins' home game versus the Toronto Marlies on Friday will have the opportunity to meet Hockey Hall of Fame defenseman Chris Chelios as he signs copies of his new autobiography Chris Chelios: Made in America on Van Andel Arena's concourse. The autobiography will be available for purchase for $30 during the event, and acceptable forms of payment include cash and credit card. Chelios will meet with fans that purchase a copy of his book beginning at 6 p.m. when doors open at Van Andel Arena, with season ticket holders gaining access to the concourse at 5:45 p.m. Chelios will not be signing additional memorabilia. Chris Chelios: Made in America is co-authored by USA Today hockey reporter Kevin Allen and features a foreword by "The Great One," Wayne Gretzky.

Friday Night Promotions : Friday's game gives fans the opportunity to enjoy $2 hot dogs and $2 domestic drafts from 6-8 p.m., while supplies last. Fans can also take advantage of College Night specials, where college students can purchase an upper bowl ticket for $14 (or $13 in advance at The Zone) and stop by the McFadden's concourse table to receive a free pass to the post-game party at McFadden's. Every Friday night is also a Griffins D-Zone night, where fans can have $2 beers and $2 hot dogs served directly to their seats. D-ZONE tickets are only available by calling 616-774-4585 ext. 2 or at griffinshockey.com/.

Griffins Leaders : Despite being held scoreless in his last two outings, right wing Teemu Pulkkinen continues his reign atop the Griffins' leaderboard with 26 points (11-15 - 26) in 25 games. He also currently ties for second in scoring in the AHL, ties for third in shots (89) and produces 1.04 points per game. Andy Miele and Mitch Callahan tie for second in scoring on the team with eight goals and 10 assists apiece in spite of Miele not scoring in four games and Callahan not scoring in three games. The four-game scoreless stretch is Miele's longest without a point since joining the team.

Sproul on a Roll : After producing only one goal and one assist in his first 21 games this season, defenseman Ryan Sproul has gone on a four-game point streak, collecting a goal and four assists since Dec. 7 at Milwaukee. During his 2013-14 rookie season, the 6-foot-3, 205-pound blueliner tallied 11 goals, 21 assists and 49 penalty minutes in 72 regular season games.

GR Turned OKC Turned EDM : On Monday, Oklahoma City Barons head coach Todd Nelson earned a promotion as the interim head coach of the NHL's Edmonton Oilers following the firing of Dallas Eakins. Since winning back-to-back games at the beginning of November, the Oilers own a 1-11-4 record, including an 11-game losing streak. Edmonton general manager Craig MacTavish will coach the Oilers until Nelson transitions into the interim role for the duration of the season. The Griffins squared off against Nelson's Barons over the weekend, winning 5-2 on Friday and falling 3-2 on Saturday. Nelson was the first player ever signed by the Griffins and played with the team for three full seasons (1996-98, 1999-00) and part of a fourth (2001-02). He later served as an assistant coach in Grand Rapids during the 2002-03 season.

Production Comparison : The Griffins' top three returning scorers from last season are Teemu Pulkkinen (11-15 - 26, 1st), Mitch Callahan (8-10 - 18, T2nd) and Landon Ferraro (7-4 - 11, 6th). Based on 25 games, Pulkkinen produced 0.80 points per game last season (20 pts.) compared to 1.04 this season. In 2013-14, Callahan produced 0.56 PPG with 14 points and this season, he's churning out 0.72 PPG. Ferraro is the only one of the three to be producing less PPG, but just barely. At this time last season, he turned out 0.48 PPG compared to his 0.44 PPG this season.

Coreau Remains Steadfast : Goaltender Jared Coreau improved his record to 4-0 with a 5-2 win at Oklahoma City on Friday. Now in his second season with the Griffins, Coreau has had an impressive turn in front of the net after getting his first start of the season on Nov. 29 at Adirondack, when he backstopped the team to a 6-1 win with 35 saves. Since then, he has also earned his first shutout (Dec. 6 at RFD) and shootout win (Dec. 7 at MIL). Coreau's 2014-15 campaign is a turnaround compared to his rookie season, when he registered a 4.03 goals against average and a 1-12-6 record in 20 games with the ECHL's Toledo Walleye and a 4.39 GAA and a 0-4-0 record in five games with the Griffins. In his second-year reincarnation, the 6-foot-5, 235-pound goaltender has turned out a 4-2-0 record with Toledo and a 4-0-0 record with Grand Rapids (0.97 GAA, 0.966 save percentage).

The Midwest : The Rockford IceHogs (18-7-2-1, 39 pts.) sit atop the Midwest Division and tie with the Utica Comets (17-5-5-0, 39 pts.) for the Western Conference and league lead. The second-place Chicago Wolves (14-9-3-0, 31 pts.) have cooled a bit since their hot start to the season, yielding a 4-5-1-0 record in their last 10 games. After a recent winning wave, the Lake Erie Monsters (12-9-2-2, 28 pts.) sit third in the Midwest, just one point ahead of both the Milwaukee Admirals (12-9-0-3, 27 pts.) and the Griffins (12-10-3-0, 27 pts.). Grand Rapids has the fewest amount of penalty minutes in the division (303).

Walleye World : The ECHL's Toledo Walleye (17-4-2-1) picked up a single point today in a 2-1 overtime loss to the Greenville Road Warriors at the Huntington Center. Marek Tvrdon scored Toledo's lone goal at 18:00 of the second period off of a feed from Tyler Barnes . Greenville responded in the third at 4:15, before scoring the game-winner 2:22 into overtime. After earning one point in the loss, the Walleye now tie with the Fort Wayne Komets (18-4-1-0, 37 pts.) for first place in the North Division. Fort Wayne has one game in hand to Toledo.

Milestones : Defenseman Brennan Evans' next game will be his 800th in the AHL, making him the 36th player in history to reach that milestone. Former Griffins goaltender Drew MacIntyre (2004-06) won the 200th game of his AHL career on Saturday night, leading the Charlotte Checkers to a 3-1 victory over the Texas Stars at the Cedar Park Center. MacIntyre is just the 12th goaltender in the 79-year history of the AHL to amass 200 victories.

Up and At 'Em : The Griffins on Tuesday recalled defenseman Scott Czarnowczan and forward Marek Tvrdon from the ECHL's Toledo Walleye. Czarnowczan, 23, made his AHL debut with the Griffins on Nov. 21 at Lake Erie and finished the game with a plus-one rating. In 16 games with the Walleye this season, Czarnowczan ranks second among defensemen with 14 points (1-13 - 14), four PIM and a plus-five rating. After making his professional debut and tallying a goal and assist in two games with the ECHL's Idaho Steelheads last season, the former Ferris State Bulldog was signed to a Griffins contract on July 4. Tvrdon, 21, ranks third on the Walleye in scoring with 24 points (6-18 - 24) in 24 games this season. In his 2013-14 campaign, Tvrdon went scoreless in one game with Grand Rapids, notched 13 points (9-4 - 13) in 22 games with Toledo and picked up 27 points (11-16 - 27) in 29 games with the WHL's Kelowna Rockets. Tvrdon was Detroit's fifth choice, 115th overall, in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.

Scouting Report

Fri., Dec. 19 vs. Toronto Marlies (10-13-3-0) - Van Andel Arena - 7 p.m.

Radio : WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 6:35 p.m. Web Casts : Video web cast at AHLLive.com, free audio available through woodradio.com. All-Time Series : 28-26-3-2 Overall, 16-11-1-1 Home. Season Series : 0-1-0-0 Overall, 0-0-0-0 Home. Second of four meetings overall, first of two at Van Andel Arena. NHL Affiliation : Toronto Maple Leafs. Head Coach : Gord Dineen (1st season). Notes : The Marlies rank fourth in the North Division, 12th in the Western Conference and 26th in the league and are currently on a 3-0-1-0 streak...The team owns a 4-7-2-0 record on the road this season...Rookie right wing Connor Brown continues to lead the Marlies in scoring with 21 points (7-14 - 21) in 26 games, followed by right wing Spencer Abbott's 14 points (5-9 - 14) in 22 games. Brown ranks third among AHL rookie in points...Rookie goaltender Antoine Bibeau ranks 13th among league goaltenders with a 2.23 goals against average, alongside a 0.924 save percentage and a 6-5-0 record...In the special teams department, the Marlies rank 26th overall in power play (13.3%) and 22nd in penalty killing (81.7%)...Toronto ranks last in shots per game (25.81).

Sat., Dec. 20 at Lake Erie Monsters (12-9-2-2) - Quicken Loans Arena - 7 p.m.

Radio : WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 6:35 p.m. Web Casts : Video web cast at AHLLive.com, free audio available through woodradio.com. All-Time Series : 29-19-3-6 Overall, 11-9-2-5 Road. Season Series : 3-3-1-0 Overall, 1-1-0-0 Road. Eighth of 10 meetings overall, third of five at Quicken Loans Arena. NHL Affiliation : Colorado Avalanche. Head Coach : Dean Chynoweth (2nd season). Notes : Lake Erie has reversed its fortunes as of late, posting a 7-2-1-0 record in its last 10 games after a rough start to the season. The Monsters now rank third in the Midwest Division with 28 points, just one more than both the Milwaukee Admirals and Griffins (27 pts.)...In seven games so far this season, Lake Erie and Grand Rapids have alternated wins and losses each time...Two defensemen play a major role on the Monsters this season. Stefan Elliot ties for first on the team in scoring and ties for eighth overall among AHL defensemen with 17 points (6-11 - 17), while Maxim Noreau ranks third on the team in scoring and ties for 10th overall with 16 points (6-10 - 16). Both skaters have played in all 25 of Lake Erie's games...Noreau scored the game-winning overtime goal in the last matchup between Lake Erie and Grand Rapids at Van Andel Arena on Dec. 10...The Monsters' power play ranks 23rd in the league (14.1%) and their penalty killing ranks 24th (81.3%).

Mon., Dec. 22 at Chicago Wolves (14-9-3-0) - Allstate Arena - 8 p.m.

Radio : TBD at 7:35 p.m. Web Casts : Video web cast at AHLLive.com. All-Time Series : 61-46-2-5-2 Overall, 30-26-0-2-0 Road. Season Series : 0-1-1-0 Overall, 0-0-0-0 Road. Third of eight meetings overall, first of four at Allstate Arena. NHL Affiliation : St. Louis Blues. Head Coach : John Anderson (13th season). Notes : The Wolves have been strong on the home front this season, producing a 6-1-2-0 record at Allstate Arena and a 14-9-3-0 record overall...Following a strong start to the season, the Wolves have slipped slightly with a 4-5-1-0 record in their last 10 outings. Still, Chicago ranks second in the Midwest Division, sixth in the Western Conference and ties for 11th in the league...Ty Rattie ranks first in the AHL in goals with 14 in 26 games, while teammate Cody Beach (130 PIM) ranks first in penalty minutes...The Wolves are deep in terms of goaltending, with rookie Jordan Binnington ranking sixth in the league with a 1.92 goals against average and Matt Climie ranking 20th with a 2.44 GAA...Securing the first goal bodes well for Chicago, as the team posts a 9-2-1-0 record when opening the scoring as opposed to Grand Rapids' 6-5-2-0 record...The Wolves' special teams have also seen success this season, as their power play (19.7%) ranks sixth and their penalty killing (85.9%) ranks seventh...In all, Chicago has outshot its opponents 773-670 this season, but it attacks particularly strong out of the gate with a 259-198 overall shot advantage in the first period.

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