Sports stats



AHL Grand Rapids Griffins

Griffins Welcome Manitoba for Two-Game Home Series

November 9, 2021 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release


Grand Rapids Griffins right wing Dominik Shine set up vs. the Manitoba Moose
Grand Rapids Griffins right wing Dominik Shine set up vs. the Manitoba Moose
(Grand Rapids Griffins, Credit: Jonathan Kozub/Moose)

This Week's Games

GRIFFINS vs. Manitoba Moose // Fri., Nov. 12 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena

GRIFFINS vs. Manitoba Moose // Sat., Nov. 13 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena

Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 6:35 p.m. on Friday, 96.1 The Game at 6:35 p.m. on Saturday

Watch: AHLTV

Season Series: 0-1-0-1 Overall, 0-0-0-0 Home. Third and fourth of eight meetings overall, first and second of four at Van Andel Arena

All-Time Series: 65-34-1-1-8 Overall, 35-14-1-1-5 Home

NHL Affiliation: Winnipeg Jets

Noteworthy: Since the Moose rejoined the AHL in 2015-16, Grand Rapids is 21-10-0-1 against them, including 12-4 at Van Andel Arena, and has outscored Manitoba 100-73. The Griffins are winless in their opening two games against the Moose for the first time since the 2015-16 season.

Last Week's Results

Fri., Nov. 5 // GRIFFINS 6 at Iowa Wild 5 OT // 3-4-0-1 (7 pts., 0.438, 4th Central Division)

Sat., Nov. 6 // GRIFFINS 2 at Rockford IceHogs 1 // 4-4-0-1 (9pts., 0.500, 4th Central Division)

Last Week's Notes

Friday at Iowa (6-5 OTW) - Jonatan Berggren tallied the game-winning overtime goal in a 6-5 victory over the Wild. Riley Barber, Turner Elson and Hayden Verbeek all recorded a goal and an assist in the contest. Chase Pearson (0-3-3) and Taro Hirose (1-2-3) each bagged three-point nights. Goaltender Calvin Pickard registered his second straight victory in a 28-save effort. Grand Rapids matched up against former Griffins Joe Hicketts (2016-21), Dominic Turgeon (2016-21) and Ryan Kuffner (2019-20). Recap | Highlights

Saturday at Rockford (2-1 W) - Calvin Pickard allowed just one goal for the fourth time in six starts en route to his third consecutive victory. Tyler Spezia got things going for the Griffins with a shorthanded tally. Just 10 seconds later, Taro Hirose extended his point streak to four games when he scored the game-winning goal. Jonatan Berggren and Riley Barber each recorded an assist in the game, which pushed their point streaks to four. Recap | Highlights

Like Father, Like Son: Grand Rapids defenseman D.J. King is the son of former Griffins player Derek King (1999-01; 2002-04) and when D.J. made his AHL debut on Nov. 6 against Rockford, they joined Chris (2008-09) and Jake (2018-19) Chelios as the second father-son duo to have played for Grand Rapids. D.J. just missed out on playing against his dad, as Derek was promoted to interim head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks the morning of game day against Rockford. Derek is the Griffins' all-time leading playoff scorer (16-25-41) and ranks fifth in regular season points (73-130-203). Family ties have been a common theme throughout the franchise's history, as four 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); and Todd (1996-98; 99-00; 01-02) and Jeff (1996-97; 03-04; 05-06) Nelson.

Calvin's University: Goaltender Calvin Pickard is off to a fast start as he has allowed just one goal in four of his six appearances and has won three straight games. The 10-year pro currently ranks 12th in the AHL with a 1.99 goals against average while his 0.936 save percentage is tied for ninth. Twelve goals allowed through his first six games is Pickard's best start since the 2015-16 season when he let in 11 tallies. Pickard played in just nine games in North America a season ago due to being assigned to Detroit's taxi squad for much of the year. The Moncton, New Brunswick, native also spent some time with Vienna in the ICEHL last season, logging six games and a 1.96 goals against average.

Return of Riley: Riley Barber led the Griffins in goals (20), points (34) and points per game (1.06) a season ago. His scoring pace equaled a 47-goal, 80-point clip in a regular 76-game AHL season. Barber also ranked second in the league for goals, just one shy of Cooper Marody (who played seven more games), and was named a Central Division AHL All-Star. Six game-winning goals tied a career best while his four-game goal streak from Feb. 26 through March 11 also matched a career high. The forward added seven multi-point outings out of 32, including a career-high four points (2-2-4) on May 7 against Chicago. Barber posted a nine-game point streak (8-5-13) from Feb. 5-March 11 that was the longest ever to start a player's Griffins career as well as the longest from the start of a Griffins season. Although it was a slow start to this year, Barber is now in the midst of a four-game point streak (3-4-7). His nine points (4-5-9) this season are tied for second on the roster.

High-Flying Hirose: After leading the Griffins in assists a year ago with 23, Taro Hirose is off to a great start as he has bagged nine helpers in just as many games, which is a team high and tied for fourth in the league. Seven assists have come on the power play, which is second in the AHL. Hirose is currently enjoying a four-game point streak (2-5-7) dating back to Oct. 30.

Milestones Within Reach:

Turner Elson - Six assists from 100 in the AHL

Brian Lashoff - Three assists from 100 as a pro

Luke Witkowski - Three points from 50 in the AHL, one game from 400 as a pro, one assist from 50 as a pro

Tyler Spezia - Three assists from 50 as a pro

Jonatan Berggren - One assist from 50 as a pro

Jon Martin - Two assists from 50 as a pro

Check out the Grand Rapids Griffins Statistics




Images from this story

Grand Rapids Griffins right wing Dominik Shine set up vs. the Manitoba Moose
Grand Rapids Griffins right wing Dominik Shine set up vs. the Manitoba Moose
(Jonathan Kozub/Moose)		   



American Hockey League Stories from November 9, 2021


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.

Other Recent Grand Rapids Griffins Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central