Griffins Look to Tie Best Start in Franchise History on Friday
AHL Grand Rapids Griffins

Griffins Look to Tie Best Start in Franchise History on Friday

Published on October 21, 2025 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release


Grand Rapids Griffins right wing Dominik Shine (right) faces off with the Manitoba Moose
Grand Rapids Griffins right wing Dominik Shine (right) faces off with the Manitoba Moose
(Grand Rapids Griffins, Credit: Nicolas Carrillo)

This Week's Game

GRIFFINS (4-0-0-0) vs. Manitoba Moose (1-3-0-0) // Fri., Oct. 24 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena

Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM & 1300 AM at 6:45 p.m.

Watch: AHLTV on FloHockey

Season Series: 2-0-0-0 Overall, 2-0-0-0 Home. Third of eight meetings overall, third of four at Van Andel Arena

All-Time Series: 82-47-1-1-10 Overall, 44-21-1-1-7 Home

NHL Affiliation: Winnipeg Jets

Noteworthy: After playing their third home game against Manitoba in eight days this Friday, the Griffins will not welcome the Moose to Van Andel Arena again until Feb. 25, which will conclude the home portion of the season series.

Just Getting Started: The Griffins are 4-0 for just the third time in franchise history. It's been 21 years since the 2004-05 team set a franchise record with a 5-0 start, and they also started 4-0 in 2000-01, their final campaign in the IHL. Grand Rapids is also 2-0 on the road for the first time since 2019 and began the campaign with a pair of road victories for the first time since 2007. The Griffins have yet to trail in a game this season, scoring the first goal in each of the four outings and possessing a lead after the second period in all four games. The special teams units have also been stellar to kick off the season, as the power play is 3-for-12 (25%, T9th) and the penalty kill is 11-for-12 (91.7%, T3rd). The Griffins have averaged four goals per game, which is tied for fifth in the AHL, and have allowed an average of 2.25 goals, which is tied for ninth.

Good Tidings for All: The Griffins and Red Wings are off to the best combined start in the 24-year history of their affiliation, with the Griffins at 4-0 and the Wings at 5-1. The combined 9-1 record (.900) beats the 2005-06 season in terms of both the combined record through four Grand Rapids and six Detroit games (3-1 GR + 5-1 DET = 8-2 (.800) in 2005-06) and the combined record through Oct. 20 (4-1 GR + 6-1 DET = 10-2 (.833) in 2005-06).

Good Problem to Have: The Griffins' roster features eight veterans, including forwards Sheldon Dries, John Leonard, Dominik Shine and Austin Watson, and defensemen Erik Gustafsson, Justin Holl, William Lagesson and Ian Mitchell. With eight veterans, the Griffins are two over the roster limit and are required to scratch two of them each game due to the AHL's development rule. Even with two of them scratched for each contest, the veterans on the team have combined for 18 points (8-10-18) in 24 games, which accounts for 40% of the scoring for the team and 50% of the goals. Leonard ranks first among the veterans with four points (3-1-4) in three games, while Dries (1-2-3) and Shine (2-1-3) are tied for second.

He's Back!: After suffering a season-ending injury during his NHL debut with Detroit on March 6, 2025, Carter Mazur returned to the ice on Oct. 10 and tallied his first pro hat trick, which included the game-winner with 3:04 remaining. The three goals marked the first hat trick in any kind of opener - season, road, or home - in franchise history. Mazur, who has six points (4-2-6) in four games, is tied for fifth in the AHL in points and tied for second in goals. The 23-year-old showed 15 points (8-7-15) in 20 games with the Griffins last season before receiving his first call up to the NHL. In addition to his season-ending injury with Detroit last March, the Jackson, Michigan, native was also sidelined for 35 straight games with Grand Rapids from Oct. 19-Jan. 18 of last campaign due to an upper-body injury. With Grand Rapids since the spring of 2023, Mazur has 64 points (32-32-64) in 90 regular-season games, adding eight points (3-5-8) in nine postseason outings.

Not Your Ordinary Rookie: Netminder Michal Postava, an undrafted free agent out of Czechia, is in his first season in North America after spending the last three campaigns in the Czech pro ranks. The 23-year-old is off to a 2-0 start with Grand Rapids with a 2.01 goals-against average and a .939 save percentage. He is tied for 15th in the AHL in GAA and ninth in save percentage. Postava became the 10th rookie netminder in franchise history to win his debut and then became the eighth rookie goalie to win his home debut, joining teammate Sebastian Cossa, Filip Larsson, Jared Coreau, Petr Mrazek, Tom McCollum, Jimmy Howard and Mathieu Chouinard. He became a Czech Extraliga champion last season with Kometa Brno and ranked among the league's regular-season leaders in save percentage (5th), goals-against average (T11th), wins (4th) and shutouts (T7th) before placing first in the postseason with a .940 save percentage in 17 outings. Throughout Postava's three-year pro career, the 6-foot-1 netminder has shown a 76-65-9 record with 12 shutouts and a 2.11 GAA in 146 contests.

Shine On, Captain: On Oct. 9, Dominik Shine was named the 19th captain in franchise history. He is in his 10th season with Grand Rapids, becoming just the third player in team history to reach the milestone (Brian Lashoff 14, Travis Richards 10). During the 2024-25 AHL season, Shine posted career-high numbers in assists (32), points (46), power-play goals (5), game-winners (4), shots (149), and multi-point outings (11) to go along with 14 goals and 76 penalty minutes in 61 regular-season games. He also signed his first NHL contract on Jan. 27, 2025, and later that evening made his NHL debut against the Los Angeles Kings. Shine, 31 at the time, became the oldest skater to make his NHL debut since Evgeny Medvedev did so at 33 on Oct. 8, 2015, and the oldest Red Wings player to make his debut since Vaclav Nedomansky did it at 33 on Nov. 18, 1977. On the all-time regular-season franchise leaderboard, Shine ranks third in games played (486), seventh in goals (77), ninth in assists (110), eighth in points (187), sixth in penalty minutes (553), tied for eighth in short-handed goals (5), tied for fifth in game-winners (13), tied for first in unassisted goals (10), and sixth in shots (803).

Future is Bright: Sebastian Cossa, the 15th overall pick in 2021, is in his fourth campaign with Grand Rapids. Last season, Cossa was named to his first AHL All-Star Classic and ranked among the AHL regular-season leaders in games played (41, T8th), minutes played (2,424:37, 7th), GAA (2.45, 11th), save percentage (.911, T13th), and wins (21, T10th). The 6-foot-7 goaltender also made his NHL debut with Detroit on Dec. 9 at Buffalo and came away with a 6-5 shootout victory behind 12 saves and three stops in the shootout in a relief effort. Cossa is off to a 2-0 start this season with a 2.50 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage. In parts of four seasons with Grand Rapids, Cossa has notched a 46-25-14 mark with three shutouts to go along with a 2.52 GAA in 86 outings.

30th Season of Hockey: The Grand Rapids Griffins are in the franchise's 30th overall season of play, 25th as a member of the American Hockey League, and 24th as the primary affiliate of the 11-time Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings. The Griffins have competed in 2,209 games between the IHL and AHL and have amassed a 1,149-818-27-86-129 regular-season record (.581), to go along with 19 playoff appearances, seven division titles and two Calder Cups (2017, 2013).

AHL Leaderboard Tracker:

Sheldon Dries-Tied for first in shorthanded goals (1)

Alex Kannok Leipert-Tied for fifth among defensemen in assists (3)

John Leonard-Tied for sixth in goals (3)

Amadeus Lombardi-Tied for sixth in assists (4)

Carter Mazur-Tied for second in goals (4), tied for fifth in points (6), tied for fifth in plus-minus (+5)

Michal Postava-Ninth in save percentage (.939), second among rookie goalies in save percentage (.939), tied for fifth among rookie goalies in GAA (2.01)

Eduards Tralmaks-Tied for sixth in goals (3)

William Wallinder-Tied for fifth among defensemen in assists (3)

Check out the Grand Rapids Griffins Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Images from this story

Grand Rapids Griffins right wing Dominik Shine (right) faces off with the Manitoba Moose
Grand Rapids Griffins right wing Dominik Shine (right) faces off with the Manitoba Moose
(Nicolas Carrillo)		   



American Hockey League Stories from October 21, 2025


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.

OurSports Central