Griffins Steal Spotlight at Red & White Game
September 18, 2003 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - On a night celebrating the Detroit Red Wings, players more familiar to fans of the Grand Rapids Griffins surprisingly took center stage, as the Red Team skated to a 2-1 victory over the White Team in the 2003 Red & White Game.
With the exception of the injured Mathieu Schneider and Boyd Devereaux, every member of the Red Wings' star-studded roster took part in this third-annual event at Van Andel Arena. Still, it took third-year Griffins center Hugo Boisvert to finally open the scoring at 5:19 of the third period, slipping a backhand shot past his Grand Rapids teammate and White Team foe, Marc Lamothe.
Another member of the 2002-03 Griffins, Nathan Robinson, increased the Red Team's cushion to two goals just 30 seconds later on an assist from Darren McCarty, before Jiri Hudler, Detroit's top pick from the 2002 draft, made it a 2-1 game by beating Joey MacDonald at 6:51. MacDonald, who finished with 10 saves, then stoned Brendan Shanahan from point-blank range with 75 seconds left to help preserve his victory. Lamothe took the loss despite 17 stops.
The Red Team's Dominik Hasek and White Team's Manny Legace performed admirably before the sellout crowd of 10,834, keeping the game scoreless over the first 29:45 of action. Hasek denied 15 shots, while Legace turned back 12 attempts.
The game generated $55,000 in charitable funds for the Grand Rapids Griffins Youth Foundation, along with $15,000 for the family trust funds of Vladimir Konstantinov and Sergei Mnatsakanov, the former Red Wings defenseman and trainer who were injured in a 1997 limousine accident.
In honor of the late U.S. Olympic hockey coach Herb Brooks, Brett Hull donned jersey number 80 for tonight's contest, a tribute he'll maintain for the duration of Detroit's preseason schedule.
Red Team - Jiri Fischer, Mathieu Dandenault, Kirk Maltby, Steve Yzerman, Chris Chelios, Darren McCarty, Darryl Bootland, Kris Draper, Joey MacDonald, Michel Picard, Dominik Hasek, Henrik Zetterberg, Carsen Germyn, Jamie Rivers, David Brisson, Dave Van Drunen, Matt Ellis, Hugo Boisvert, Travis Richards, Nathan Robinson
White Team - Derian Hatcher, Nicklas Lidstrom, Pavel Datsyuk, Brendan Shanahan, Jason Woolley, Jiri Hudler, Jason Williams, Marc Lamothe, Manny Legace, Derek King, Ray Whitney, Tomas Kopecky, Danny Groulx, Niklas Kronwall, Kevin Miller, Mark Mowers, Clarke Wilm, Brett Hull, Anders Myrvold, Tomas Holmstrom
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