Red Wings Sign Griffins Greats Picard and King
July 24, 2002 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release
Grand Rapids, MI - The Detroit Red Wings, NHL affiliate of the American Hockey League's Grand Rapids Griffins, announced the signings of left wings Michel Picard and Derek King on Wednesday.
The two players are inexorably linked in the Griffins' record books as the highest scoring wingers in franchise history and the only players to be named First Team All-Stars during the team's five seasons (1996-01) as a member of the International Hockey League. During 1999-00, their only season as teammates, the pair helped lead the Griffins to within two wins of the IHL's Turner Cup championship.
Picard, 32, appeared in 211 games for Grand Rapids during the franchise's first four seasons (1996-00) and still stands as the team's all-time leader in goals (109), assists (133) and points (242). Only three players have logged more games in a Griffins uniform than Picard, who also ranks among the club's best with 21 power play goals (T1st), 19 game-winning goals (1st), four shorthanded goals (5th) and a plus-49 rating (5th).
In each of his three full seasons in Grand Rapids, Picard either led the Griffins or tied for the team high in goals, assists and points. His 46 goals, 55 assists (tied), 101 points and 12 game-winning goals from Grand Rapids' inaugural 1996-97 campaign remain team records.
Picard, who has played in 166 NHL games (28 goals-42 assists--70 points) with Hartford, San Jose, Ottawa, St. Louis, Edmonton and Philadelphia, has already enjoyed a spectacular AHL career, totaling 500 points (234-266--500) in 429 contests. A member of Calder Cup championship teams in Springfield (1991) and Portland (1994), he has twice been named an AHL First Team All-Star (1994-95 and 1990-91) to go with one Second Team selection (1993-94).
His name is indelibly marked in league annals as one of only 63 players to reach the 500-point plateau during his AHL career. Picard led the league with 56 goals as a member of the Springfield Indians in 1990-91, a number that still ties for the eighth-largest single-season total in AHL lore, and he remains a co-owner of the league standard for unassisted goals in one game (3, 1994-95).
Last season, Picard paced Adler Mannheim and tied for tenth in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga with 52 points (24-28--52). Despite his team-leading seven goals and 13 points in 12 playoff games, Mannheim bowed to Koln in the league finals.
King, 35, will serve as a player/assistant coach for the Griffins under Head Coach Danton Cole. He tied for the IHL's final scoring championship in 2000-01 and guided Grand Rapids to a regular season title and the best record in franchise history (53-22-7, 113 points). King's 32 goals and 83 points that season placed him fifth and third, respectively, on the team's all-time single-season charts, as he became the only Griffins player to ever lead his league in scoring.
In addition, the Hamilton, Ontario, native tied Picard's franchise-high seven-game assist streak (Feb. 9-21, 2001), on the heels of a 17-game scoring binge (Dec. 7, 2000-Jan. 13, 2001) that obliterated the previous team record of 11 (Glen Metropolit, 1998-99).
Although he appeared in just 128 games during his two seasons (1999-01) in Grand Rapids, King ranks among the team's all-time leaders with 51 goals (T3rd), 81 assists (4th), 132 points (4th), 17 power play goals (T3rd), seven game-winning goals (T6th), three shorthanded goals (T6th) and a plus-58 rating (3rd).
The 15-year veteran stands as the Griffins' all-time playoff leader with 12 goals (tied), seven power play tallies and 25 points in 27 contests. He tied franchise playoff records with four goals and five points in a 7-4 rout of the Cleveland Lumberjacks in game two of the IHL Eastern Conference semifinals on April 21, 2001.
King played all or part of 14 seasons in the NHL, compiling 612 points (261-351--612) in 830 games with the New York Islanders, Hartford, Toronto and St. Louis. He owns the distinction of having scored Toronto's last goal at Maple Leaf Gardens on Feb. 13, 1999. King's AHL experience consists of 35 games with Springfield between 1987-90, totaling 40 points (22-18--40).
Last season, King was the third-leading scorer for the Munich Barons, chipping in 19 goals and 45 points in 60 outings with the German league's regular season champions.
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