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AHL Grand Rapids Griffins

Griffins play next four games in Lone Star State

March 1, 2004 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release


Deep in the Heart of Texas: After completing one of the most remarkable home stretches in franchise history, the Griffins will become reacquainted with road life this week as they embark on a four-game trip to Texas. In an odd quirk of scheduling, the Griffins will ping-pong back and forth for contests in San Antonio (Thursday and Saturday) and Houston (Friday and Monday, March 8). Grand Rapids has had little trouble with the Rampage this year, winning four straight meetings by a combined 17-4 margin, but owns just a 4-3 record against the defending champion Aeros.

Home Sweet Home: The Griffins' 5-3 loss to Philadelphia on Sunday 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.

Magic Number at Eight: With 19 games remaining on their schedule, the Griffins are close to becoming the first team to clinch a spot in the 2004 Calder Cup playoffs. In the new divisional playoff format, the top five teams in each division will qualify for the postseason. Grand Rapids currently stands at 82 points, while the maximum number of points that can be earned by Houston and Utah are 88 and 89, respectively. Thus, the Griffins' magic number for clinching a playoff berth is eight points. The earliest date on which Grand Rapids has clinched a playoff spot was March 9 (2003).

Big Mac: Since Marc Lamothe's recall to Detroit on Feb. 12, Joey MacDonald has shown why he is also considered one of the best goalies in the AHL, posting a 7-2-0-0 record with three shutouts, a 1.44 goals against average and a 0.951 save percentage (250-263). His 18-4-3 record overall (including 11-2-1 in his last 14 games) gives him the highest winning percentage of any AHL goalie (0.780), and he also ranks among the league's best with 18 wins (T4th), a 1.86 GAA (5th) and a 0.939 save percentage (2nd). 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).

View From the Top: The Griffins, who boast a 17-4-4-0 record 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 four-point lead over Hartford and a six-point advantage over Milwaukee. With a 37-16-8-0 record, Grand Rapids owns the most wins and points (82) and the highest winning percentage (0.672) among the AHL's 28 teams.

Any Place, Any Time: Grand Rapids has claimed the most home wins (21-6-6-0) and third-most road victories (16-10-2-0) 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.

D.C. Climbs the Charts: The Griffins' 4-2 win over Chicago on Friday marked their 85th regular season triumph under head coach Danton Cole (85-38-16-2 from 2002-present), tying him with Guy Charron (85-62-17 from 1998-2000) for second place on the franchise's all-time list. Cole now stands just 10 wins behind leader Bruce Cassidy (95-49-18-0 from 2000-2002).

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 Friday's 4-2 win over Chicago, 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).

Nice to Have You Back: The Griffins last Thursday welcomed back to their lineup forwards Darryl Bootland and Nathan Robinson, who had missed three and six games, respectively, due to injuries. Robinson is second on the Griffins with 41 points (21-20-41), while Bootland's 10 goals (6th) and 137 penalty minutes (2nd) place him among the team leaders.

Eighty is Great: With Thursday's 2-0 win over Utah, 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 the milestone in 60 games. Grand Rapids earned its 82nd point in Friday's 4-2 win over Chicago.

Defense Never Rests: Over the last 19 games, the Griffins' defense has surrendered just 28 goals (1.45 GAA), helping Grand Rapids climb to third in the AHL rankings for goals allowed per game (1.93). 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.

Overtime Magic: With their 2-1 overtime win against Hamilton on Feb. 20, the Griffins now possess incredible overtime marks of 6-0-8 this season and 14-2-27 all-time as members of the AHL. Since suffering back-to-back overtime losses on the road in November 2002, Grand Rapids has now prevailed in each of its last nine regular season games in which a winner was decided in overtime. Four of the Griffins' six overtime wins this season came during their recent 16-game unbeaten streak at Van Andel Arena. Strangely, all four of those game-winning goals were netted within a span of just 17 seconds of overtime, coming at 2:40 by Kory Karlander on Feb. 20 against Hamilton, 2:40 by Kevin Miller on Jan. 17 versus St. John's, 2:44 by Hugo Boisvert on Jan. 16 against Chicago, and 2:27 by Jiri Hudler on Jan. 10 versus Cleveland.

Lamothe Shines for Red Wings: Goalie Marc Lamothe, recalled from the Griffins by the Detroit Red Wings on Feb. 12 to sub for the injured Curtis Joseph, made his first NHL appearance in over four years last Monday, making 29 saves in the Red Wings' 1-1 tie at Edmonton. One year after being named the AHL's top goaltender, the 30-year-old again ranks among the circuit's leaders with 18 wins (T4th) and a 1.88 goals against average (6th), while showing an 18-12-5 record with four shutouts and a 0.928 save percentage in 36 games. Dating back to Nov. 13, Lamothe has surrendered two or fewer goals in 24 of his last 29 Griffins appearances. In just over a season and a half between the Griffins' pipes, Lamothe has already attained franchise career records for games played (96), minutes played (5572:55), shutouts (10) and saves (2,328), and places second all-time in wins (51), goals against average (2.03) and save percentage (0.925).

Power Surge: It's no coincidence that the Griffins, with power play goals in 18 of their last 25 games, possess a 17-4-4-0 record since Jan. 9. They've connected on 25-of-110 opportunities (22.7%) during the stretch. Sunday's 5-3 loss to Philadelphia was the first time since Jan. 9 that the Griffins lost when scoring a power play goal, compiling a 15-1-2-0 mark in such games.

League Leaders: Five Griffins currently rank among the AHL's best in various categories: Danny Groulx - Plus-19 rating (T4th among defensemen); Marc Lamothe - 1.88 GAA (6th) and 18 wins (T4th); Joey MacDonald - 0.780 winning percentage (1st), 18 wins (T4th), 1.86 GAA (5th) and a 0.939 save percentage (2nd); Kevin Miller - Nine game-winning goals (2nd); and Nathan Robinson - 10 power play goals (T4th), six game-winning goals (T4th).

Top Guns: Jiri Hudler had an eight-game point streak (2-8-10) snapped on Sunday, but he still has points in nine of the last 11 games (2-10-12)...Jeff Nelson has points in 10 of the last 13 games (5-8-13)...Kevin Miller has points in nine of the last 13 outings (7-3-10)...Ryan Barnes, whose career-high three-game goal streak ended on Sunday, has tallied points in five of his last seven appearances (4-2-6).

By the Numbers: Where the Griffins rank among the AHL's 28 teams in various statistical categories:
* Power Play: 48-for-278, 17.3% (5th)
* Penalty Killing: 266-for-305, 87.2% (T7th)
* Penalty Minutes: 16.79 avg. (25th)
* Goals For: 2.57 avg. (13th)
* Goals Against: 1.93 avg. (3rd)
* Shots For: 26.72 avg. (24th)
* Shots Against: 28.13 avg. (10th)
* Attendance: 6,559 avg. (9th)

Griffins Earn Their Wings: Twelve members of the Griffins have contributed to the success of the Detroit Red Wings this season. Six of those players remain with Detroit:

Player GP G A PTS +/- PIM Avg. Ice Time
Mark Mowers 39 2 7 9 4 2 10:17
Niklas Kronwall (inj.) 20 1 4 5 5 16 13:51
Jamie Rivers 33 2 2 4 10 22 9:49


Anders Myrvold 2 0 1 1 0 0 10:43

Goalie GP W L T SO GAA Save %
Curtis Joseph (inj.) 26 13 9 2 *2 2.44 0.905
Marc Lamothe 1 0 0 1 0 0.92 0.967 * 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 (37-17-9-2), following their 4-2 win over Philadelphia last night. They'll host Calgary on Wednesday at 7 p.m. (FSN).

This Week's Scouting Report

Thu., Mar. 4 at San Antonio Rampage (21-30-7-0) - SBC Center - 8 p.m.

Sat., Mar. 6 at San Antonio Rampage - SBC Center - 8 p.m.

TV: None. Radio: WOOD 1300 AM/WHTC 1450 AM at 7:59 p.m. (Thu.), WOOD 1300 AM at 7:40 p.m. (Sat.). Season Series: 4-1-1-0 Overall, 2-0-0-0 Road. Seventh and eighth of 10 meetings overall, third and fourth of five in San Antonio. All-Time Series: 10-5-1-0 Overall, 5-2-0-0 Road. San Antonio Affiliation: Florida Panthers. Head Coach: Scott Allen (1st season). On a Stampede: The Rampage, who played just one home game during February, are winless in their last eight games overall (0-7-1-0)...Following a spectacular 10-3-3-0 start to its season, San Antonio is just 11-27-4-0 since...The Rampage power play ranks seventh in the AHL (16.8%)...They allow the third-most goals per game (3.02)...Despite playing in only 38 of 58 games, current Florida Panther Eric Beaudoin still leads San Antonio in scoring...Travis Scott owns a 2.62 GAA and a 0.920 save percentage.

Fri., Mar. 5 at Houston Aeros (21-29-11-3) - Toyota Center - 8 p.m.

TV: None. Radio: WOOD 1300 AM at 7:59 p.m. Season Series: 4-3-0-0 Overall, 1-1-0-0 Road. Eighth of 10 meetings overall, third of five in Houston. All-Time Series: AHL: 13-10-6-0 Overall, 4-5-4-0 Road. Total: 21-14-10-0 Overall, 8-7-7-0 Road. Houston Affiliation: Minnesota Wild. Head Coach: Todd McLellan (3rd season). Aero Dynamics: Although the Griffins lead Houston by 26 points in the West Division, they have only a 4-3 record versus the defending champs this season...In each of the last five meetings, the losing team has either been shut-out or held to a single goal...The Aeros have won two straight to emerge from a 1-8-2-0 skid...They own a respectable 13-10-5-2 record at the Toyota Center...Travis Roche ranks among the AHL's top blueliners with 27 assists (T2nd) and 33 points (T6th)...Reigning Calder Cup MVP Johan Holmqvist has 24 losses, most in the league.

This Week's Games:
Thu., Mar. 4 GRIFFINS at San Antonio Rampage 8 p.m. WOOD 1300 AM/WHTC 1450 AM
Fri., Mar. 5 GRIFFINS at Houston Aeros 8 p.m. WOOD 1300 AM
Sat., Mar. 6 GRIFFINS at San Antonio Rampage 8 p.m. WOOD 1300 AM

Last Week's Results:
Thu., Feb. 26 Utah Grizzlies 0 at GRIFFINS 2 36-15-8-0, 80 pts. (1st, West Division)
Fri., Feb. 27 Chicago Wolves 2 at GRIFFINS 4 37-15-8-0, 82 pts. (1st)
Sun., Feb. 29 Philadelphia Phantoms 5 at GRIFFINS 3 37-16-8-0, 82 pts. (1st)

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