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AHL Grand Rapids Griffins

Griffins on Verge of Playoff Berth

March 26, 2024 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release


Grand Rapids Griffins face off with the Chicago Wolves
Grand Rapids Griffins face off with the Chicago Wolves
(Grand Rapids Griffins, Credit: Nicolas Carrillo)

This Week's Games

GRIFFINS (31-18-7-4) vs. Cleveland Monsters (35-21-3-3) // Wed., March 27 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena

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

Watch: AHLTV

Season Series: 1-1-3-2 overall, 1-0-2-0 home. Eighth of eight meetings overall, fourth of four at Van Andel Arena

All-Time Series: 72-39-9-13 Overall, 41-18-4-3 Home

NHL Affiliation: Columbus Blue Jackets

Noteworthy: The Griffins can clinch a spot in the Calder Cup Playoffs with a victory over the Monsters.

GRIFFINS at Chicago Wolves (21-31-4-4) // Fri., March 29 // 8 p.m. EDT // Allstate Arena

Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 7:45 p.m. EDT

Watch: AHLTV

Season Series: 3-0-0-1 overall, 1-0-0-0 road. Fifth of eight meetings overall, second of four at Allstate Arena

All-Time Series: 99-84-2-8-5 Overall, 51-46-0-2-1 Road

NHL Affiliation: None

Noteworthy: The Griffins will try to collect regular-season win No. 100 against the Chicago Wolves. The only other team Grand Rapids has over 100 wins against is the Milwaukee Admirals (112).

GRIFFINS at Milwaukee Admirals (40-19-1-0) // Sat., March 30 // 7 p.m. EDT // Panther Arena

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

Watch: AHLTV

Season Series: 3-3-0-0 overall, 1-2-0-0 road. Seventh of eight meetings overall, fourth of four at Panther Arena

All-Time Series: 112-83-7-8-8 Overall, 52-44-5-5-5 Road

NHL Affiliation: Nashville Predators

Noteworthy: With 12 games remaining, the Griffins are eight points behind Milwaukee for first place in the Central Division.

Back to Our Old Self: After enduring a season-high five-game winless skid from March 2-12 (0-2-2-1), the Griffins have returned to form with wins in four of their last five games. The Griffins saw their 18-game point streak (13-0-3-2 from Jan. 13-March 2) come to an end on March 4 in Cleveland, which was one game shy of tying the franchise record of 19 contests (Feb. 4-March 20, 2015 15-0-3-1) and is the second-longest run in the AHL this season. The Griffins' active 16-game home point streak (11-0-3-2) is tied for the franchise record that was established from Jan. 9-Feb. 27, 2004 and is longest run in the AHL this season. Grand Rapids' nine-game road point streak (8-0-0-1) from Dec. 27-Feb. 17 was their longest since an 11-game run (9-0-1-1) from Jan. 29-March 12, 2015 and is tied for the second longest in the AHL this season. The Griffins have secured at least a point in 31 of their last 37 contests (23-6-5-3). The Griffins are 22-5-4-3 (.750) since Christmas and have had a trio of winning streaks of five or more games in the same season for the first time since 2013-14. Grand Rapids has points in 22 of its last 26 games (17-4-3-2) inside Van Andel Arena and has points in 13 of its past 17 road appearances (10-4-2-1). The Griffins have been solid at home with a 19-6-4-2 mark, outscoring their opponents 96-71. Grand Rapids has battled on the road this season, earning points in 12 of its last 15 games to move to 12-12-3-2 away from home.

Records are Meant to be Broken: The Griffins have rewritten the record book in multiple categories this season. Most recently, Grand Rapids tied a franchise record with a point in its 16th straight home game, a record that was established more than 20 years ago, from Jan. 9-Feb. 27, 2004. The home point run is the second franchise-record streak that the Griffins have tied in the last two months, piggybacking their seven-game road winning streak from Dec. 27, 2023-Feb. 2, 2024. The Griffins also rattled off an 18-game point streak from Jan. 13-March 2 (13-0-3-2), which was one game shy of tying the franchise record of 19 contests (Feb. 4-March 20, 2015 15-0-3-1). Now 10-0-5 since Jan. 19, Sebastian Cossa has tied Marc Lamothe's franchise-record 15-game point streak of 9-0-4-2 (W-L-T-OTL) set from Oct. 19-Nov. 30, 2002. Finally, the Griffins have had a trio of winning streaks of five or more games in the same season for the first time since 2013-14.

Black Magic: As the regular season inches closer to its completion, the Griffins have clinched a winning record and are in second place in the Central Division with a 31-18-7-4 record and 73 points with just 12 games remaining. The Griffins are 22 points above the playoff cutline and have a magic number of two points to clinch a playoff spot. The Griffins just need one more victory to clinch their 18th playoff berth in 28 seasons.

Like Father, Like Son: Recently acquired center Curtis Hall is the son of former Griffins center Mike Hall, who played seven games for Grand Rapids during the 2000-01 campaign, scoring one goal. They are the third father-son duo to have played for the Griffins, joining Chris (2008-09) and Jake (2018-19) Chelios, and Derek (1999-01; 2002-04) and D.J. (2021-22) King. Family ties have been a common theme throughout the franchise's history, as five sets of brothers have suited up for the Griffins: Sheldon (2001-03) and Wade (2001-02) Brookbank; Valtteri (2005-07) and Ilari (2010-11) Filppula; Kevin (1999-00; 03-04), Kelly (1999-00) and Kip (2000-02; 04-05; 06-07) Miller, along with cousin Drew (2016-17); Todd (1996-98; 99-00; 01-02) and Jeff (1996-97; 03-04; 05-06) Nelson; and Givani (2016-17; 18-21; 22-23) and Gemel (2021-22) Smith.

Sea Bass Fishing: Sebastian Cossa is on an active 15-game point streak from Jan. 19-March 23 (10-0-5), tying Marc Lamothe's franchise-record 15-game point streak of 9-0-4-2 (W-L-T-OTL) set from Oct. 19-Nov. 30, 2002. Since returning from the holiday break on Dec. 27, Cossa has a 12-1-5 ledger with a 2.08 goals against average and a .924 save percentage. The former 15th overall pick by the Red Wings in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft has allowed more than two goals just six times in his past 18 games. Through 31 contests, Cossa is 16-7-8 with one shutout to go along with a 2.54 goals against average and a .912 save percentage. Cossa ranks fifth among rookie goaltenders in both goals against average and save percentage. Cossa named the Howies Hockey Tape/AHL Player of the Week on Feb. 26 when he posted a 2-0-0 record with one shutout to go along with a 1.00 GAA and a .970 save percentage from Feb. 21-25. On Feb. 21, the 21-year-old collected his first AHL shutout with 28 saves in a 1-0 victory over the Texas Stars, lifting Grand Rapids past Texas into second place in the Central Division and becoming just the third Griffins rookie to record a shutout over the last nine seasons. Cossa went on to stop 37 shots on Feb. 25, including 14 in the third period, to help the Griffins snap Milwaukee's 19-game winning streak and extend Grand Rapids' point streak to 15 games (11-0-2-2).

Tower of Terror: Elmer Soderblom, standing at 6-foot-8, enjoyed a three-game point streak (2-1-3) from March 16-20. The tallest player to ever compete for the Griffins also has four points (3-1-4) in his last six outings and six points (4-2-6) in his last 11 appearances. In 55 games this season, the Gothenburg, Sweden, native has 26 points (11-15-26), eight penalty minutes and a plus-one rating. Last campaign, the 22-year-old posted eight points (5-3-8) in 20 games with the Griffins on top of producing eight points (5-3-8) in 21 games with the Detroit Red Wings. Soderblom was selected with the 159th overall pick by Detroit in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft.

Johnny Bravo: Jonatan Berggren, reassigned to Grand Rapids by Detroit on Monday, is on an active six-game point streak (3-5-8) from Feb. 24-March 4 and has 22 points (11-11-22) in his last 19 games from Jan. 13-March 4. Berggren also has 28 points (12-16-28) in his last 24 outings and 31 points (14-17-31) in his last 27 contests from Dec. 15- March 4. The 23-year-old leads the roster in points (19-27-46), assists (27) and goals (19) through 43 appearances this season. The Enkoping, Sweden, product became the seventh-fastest player to reach 100 points as a Griffin, doing so in just his 106th game on Jan. 26 against Belleville. Berggren has a combined 117 points (44-73-117) in 120 career AHL appearances from 2021-24, collecting an assist during his 100th game as a Griffin on Jan. 10 against Milwaukee. During his rookie season with the Griffins in 2021-22, Berggren broke Grand Rapids' rookie single-season scoring record with 64 points (21-43-64) in 70 games, five more points than the previous record held by Teemu Pulkkinen (2013-14).

Kasper the Friendly Ghost: Last weekend, rookie Marco Kasper enjoyed three points (1-2-3) in two games and now has four points (2-2-4) in his last four outings. The 2022 eighth overall pick by the Red Wings has eight points (5-3-8) in his last 12 games and ranks fifth on the roster with 30 points (12-18-30) in 59 contests. The 19-year-old was named the Howies Hockey Tape/AHL Player of the Week for the period ending on Jan. 21 when he totaled five points (3-2-5) in two games at Manitoba. The Klagenfurt, Austria, native made his NHL debut with the Red Wings as an 18-year-old on April 2, 2023 at the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Matty Ice: On Feb. 21, Matt Luff made his season debut after rehabbing an injury suffered in training camp that kept him sidelined for the first 45 games of the season. After being held scoreless in his first five outings, Luff is on an active five-game point streak from March 15-23 (2-4-6), and now has 10 points (4-6-10) in his last 10 contests. Last season, the 26-year-old posted 25 points (8-17-25) and six penalty minutes in 28 games with the Griffins on top of producing four points (2-2-4) in 19 outings with the Detroit Red Wings. The Windsor, Ontario, native has 155 points (61-94-155) in 212 career AHL outings from 2016-24.

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Images from this story

Grand Rapids Griffins face off with the Chicago Wolves
Grand Rapids Griffins face off with the Chicago Wolves
(Nicolas Carrillo)		   



American Hockey League Stories from March 26, 2024


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