League-Leading Griffins Enter AHL All-Star Break
AHL Grand Rapids Griffins

League-Leading Griffins Enter AHL All-Star Break

Published on February 9, 2026 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release


This Week's Games

GRIFFINS (35-7-2-1) vs. Texas Stars (22-19-3-1) // Fri., Feb. 13 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena

GRIFFINS vs. Texas Stars // Sun., Feb. 15 // 4 p.m. // Van Andel Arena

Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM & 1300 AM at 6:45 p.m. and SiriusXM NHL Network Radio at 7 p.m. on Friday, and WOOD 106.9 FM & 1300 AM at 3:45 p.m. on Sunday

Watch: AHLTV on FloHockey

Season Series: 5-1-0-0 Overall, 1-1-0-0 Home. Seventh and eighth of eight meetings overall, third and fourth of four at Van Andel Arena

All-Time Series: 50-33-7-5 Overall, 25-15-2-4 Home

NHL Affiliation: Dallas Stars

Noteworthy: The Stars enter the week on a season-high seven-game win streak and are 7-3-0-0 in their last 10 outings. The Griffins are 5-1-0-0 against Texas this season with a plus-13 scoring margin (26-13).

Steady the Ship: Despite dropping six of 10 games from Jan. 7-30 and four of the last seven contests, the Griffins have continued their league-record start with a 35-7-2-1 ledger and 73 points through 45 games. Grand Rapids tied the 2005-06 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (34-6-3-2, 73 pts.) for the second-best start in AHL history through 45 games. The team saw its franchise-record tying 15-game win streak from Nov. 22-Dec. 27 come to an end in overtime on Dec. 31, which also tied for the sixth-longest run in AHL history. In addition, the Griffins' 19-game point streak from Nov. 22-Jan. 7 (18-0-1-0) ended on Jan. 9, which tied for the longest run in franchise history. The Griffins are 18-2-1-1 on the road and 17-5-1-0 at home. The 17-game points streak on the road from Oct. 10-Jan. 23 (15-0-1-1) set a new AHL record, eclipsing the 2010-11 Milwaukee Admirals' 16-game run (10-0-4-2). Grand Rapids ranks first in the AHL in points (73), has a 19-point cushion over Chicago for first place in the Central Division, and is 35 points up on a playoff spot.

Going for Gold: On Jan. 6, Team Latvia announced that forward Eduards Tralmaks will represent the country at the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games from Feb. 6-22. Tralmaks becomes the seventh player to participate in an Olympics while playing for the Griffins. Tralmaks is also the sixth current or former Griffin to be named to an Olympic roster for 2026, joining USA's Dylan Larkin, Germany's Moritz Seider, Czechia's Filip Hronek and Radim Simek, and Slovakia's Tomas Tatar. Tralmaks, a native of Riga, Latvia, has 24 points (18-6-24), six penalty minutes and a plus-19 rating in 44 games with the Griffins this season. He ranks among the team leaders in goals (2nd), points (5th), and plus-minus rating (T2nd), while tying for 14th in the AHL in goals and plus-minus rating. Tralmaks has competed for Team Latvia at the two previous World Championships in 2024 and 2025, showing a combined nine points (4-5-9) in 14 games. At last year's World Championship, Tralmaks led Latvia in points (3-4-7) and assists, while ranking second in goals in seven games. Also in 2024-25, he potted one goal in three Olympic qualifying games with Latvia.

Sparkling Stars: On Jan. 15, the AHL announced that Griffins goaltender Sebastian Cossa and forwards John Leonard and Dominik Shine will serve as the team's representatives at the 2026 AHL All-Star Classic presented by BMO, to be held Tuesday and Wednesday at the BMO Center in Rockford, Illinois. They will join their head coach, Dan Watson, who was previously announced as the coach for the Central Division. The three all-star player selections are the most for the Griffins since 2013 (Chad Billins, Petr Mrazek, Gustav Nyquist). Including Watson, the four all-star representatives are the most in team history since four players were chosen for the 2004 event in Grand Rapids (Jiri Hudler, Niklas Kronwall, Travis Richards, Nathan Robinson). Cossa becomes the first Griffins goalie to earn consecutive all-star selections, and the first Griffins player since Chris Terry (2019 and 2020). This is also Leonard's second straight all-star selection, as he was chosen for last year's event as a member of the Charlotte Checkers, while captain Shine will compete in his first-ever all-star game. Leonard will be unable to participate and has been replaced by Rockford's Brett Seney.

Record Setters: Below is a list of team and league records that the Griffins have either set or tied this season.

- Best record in AHL history through 25 games (23-1-0-1, 47 pts.), 30 games (27-1-1-1, 56 pts.) and 40 games (32-5-2-1, 67 pts.), while tying for the best start through 35 games (29-3-2-1, 61 pts.)

- Tied second-best record in AHL history through 45 games (35-7-2-1, 73 pts.)

- Reached the 60-point mark in just 32 games, three games faster than any team in AHL history

- AHL record 17-game road points streak from Oct. 10-Jan. 23 (15-0-1-1)

- Tied franchise-record 15-game winning streak from Nov. 22-Dec. 27, which also tied for sixth-longest in AHL history

- Tied franchise-record 19-game points streak from Nov. 22-Jan. 7 (18-0-1-0)

- Franchise-record start with an 8-0 record and was the league's last undefeated team for first time since 2000-01 IHL season

- Started 6-0 at home for first time since 2009-10 (8-0)

- Franchise record for largest margin of victory (9) on Nov. 25 at Texas (10-1 W)

- Franchise record for fewest shots in a game (10) on Jan. 17 versus Milwaukee

What's The Password?: The Griffins' defense remains one of the best in the AHL, as it ranks second with 1.96 goals allowed per contest. Grand Rapids posted its seventh shutout of the season on Jan. 21 against Milwaukee, which are the most since the team registered eight in 2016-17. The Griffins shut out their opponent in two straight games from Jan. 17-21 in addition to posting consecutive shutouts from Dec. 21-27. Prior to this season, the last time Grand Rapids logged two straight shutouts was Feb. 15-17, 2018. The Griffins have allowed more than two goals just 12 times all season (26.7%) and have averaged 2.80 goals allowed in their last five outings. In addition, the team's penalty kill is first in the AHL at 87.1%. In net, Sebastian Cossa sports a 1.99 GAA with a .928 save percentage, while rookie netminder Michal Postava possesses a 1.75 GAA and a .937 save percentage. Grand Rapids also has four of the top 11 plus-minus ratings among defensemen. The Griffins have four defensemen who have played at least 100 games in the NHL in Erik Gustafsson (517) (currently with Detroit), Justin Holl (396), Ian Mitchell (110), and William Lagesson (107), totaling 1,130 appearances.

Slowed Down a Smidge: Grand Rapids was shut out for the second time this season last Friday and has been held to under three goals in eight of the last 13 games. The Griffins now have 17 goals in their last five contests (3.40 per game) and finished January with 32 goals (2.46 per game). At the start of January, the Griffins averaged 3.93 goals per game. Despite the slow January, Grand Rapids still ranks first in the AHL with 3.47 goals per game. The team has outscored its opponents 156-88 and is 26-0 when scoring the game's first goal. The Griffins have outscored their opponents 67-41 at home, while possessing an 89-47 advantage on the road. Grand Rapids has its largest scoring margin against its opponents in the third period (63-29). John Leonard leads the team and ranks second in the AHL with 26 goals, while Eduards Tralmaks ranks second on the roster with 18 and Sheldon Dries places third with 17.

Leaders of the Pack: The Griffins have led the Central Division for the entire season, and are 19 points above second-place Chicago and 35 points up on a playoff spot. Grand Rapids is 27-5-2-1 against its division rivals and has outscored them 124-71, suffering its first regulation defeat against the division on Jan. 9 against Texas. The Griffins' 27 wins against the division have already eclipsed last year's mark of 26 wins and are the most divisional victories since 2023-24 (30). Twenty-one of the remaining 27 games for Grand Rapids will be against the Central Division (77.8%). The Griffins will see the most games against the Milwaukee Admirals (5) and Rockford IceHogs (5).

AHL Leaderboard Tracker:

Michael Brandsegg-Nygard-Tied for third in game-winners (5), tied for eighth among rookies in assists (17), tied for 13th among rookies in points (25), fifth among rookies in plus-minus (+15), tied for 10th among rookies in shots (87), first among rookies in game-winners (5)

Sebastian Cossa-Second in GAA (1.99), second in save percentage (.928), first in shutouts (4), tied for first in wins (20), tied for ninth in games played (26), eighth in minutes played (1535:01)

Sheldon Dries-Tied for 10th in power-play goals (7)

x Erik Gustafsson-Tied for 15th among defensemen in assists (18), tied for eighth among defensemen in plus-minus (+18), tied for eighth among defensemen in power-play goals (2)

Justin Holl-Tied for 14th in plus-minus (+19), seventh among defensemen in plus-minus (+19)

Alex Kannok Leipert-Tied for third in shorthanded assists (2), tied for second among defensemen in shorthanded assists (2)

William Lagesson-Fourth in plus-minus (+24), second among defensemen in plus-minus (+24)

John Leonard-Second in goals (26), tied for second in shorthanded goals (3), first in game-winners (8)

Ian Mitchell-Tied for 13th among defensemen in plus-minus (+16)

x Eduards Tralmaks-Tied for 14th in goals (18), tied for 14th in plus-minus (+19)

Antti Tuomisto-Tied for 10th among defensemen in goals (7), tied for eighth among defensemen in plus-minus (+18)

Austin Watson-Seventh in penalty minutes (111)

Check out the Grand Rapids Griffins Statistics

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American Hockey League Stories from February 9, 2026


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