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PIPELINE TO THE NHL
Since the Griffins' inception in 1996, 110 different players - 16 goalies and 94 skaters - have gone on to play at least one game in the National Hockey League.
Some of the more accomplished members of the Griffins' alumni class include 13 Stanley Cup champions, a Lady Byng winner (Pavol Demitra) and an all-star goalie (Patrick Lalime).
A few facts of note:
- Fifteen former Griffins were on the playoff roster of the 2008 Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings, nine of whom now have their names engraved on the Cup: Niklas Kronwall, Jiri Hudler, Valtteri Filppula, Brett Lebda, Derek Meech, Darren Helm, Tomas Kopecky, Darren McCarty and Chris Osgood.
- Forty Griffins alumni logged ice time with a record 21 different NHL teams during the 2008-09 regular season, combining to play 1,669 games while accumulating 211 goals, 412 assists, 623 points, 63 wins and three shutouts. At season's end, Pittsburgh's Mark Eaton became the 13th former Griffin to have his name engraved on the Stanley Cup.
- All 30 NHL teams have had a former Griffin play for them at some point.
- 53 players have made their NHL debuts after first playing for the Griffins, including 32 who made their debut during the same season they played in Grand Rapids.
- In addition, two Griffins head coaches - Guy Charron and Bruce Cassidy - moved on to the NHL the season after winning Coach of the Year honors in Grand Rapids, while three assistant coaches eventually advanced to assistant positions in the NHL (Curtis Hunt, Kelly Miller and Todd Nelson).
Griffins' Honor Roll of NHL Alumni
| Graduate # |
Player |
NHL Debut/Return |
| 1 |
Pavol Demitra |
3/17/97 STL at PHX |
| 2 |
Kevyn Adams* |
10/1/97 TOR vs. WSH |
| 3 |
Tyler Moss* |
10/28/97 CGY vs. PIT |
| 4 |
Michel Picard |
1/6/98 STL at SJ |
| 5 |
Jeff Nelson |
10/10/98 NSH vs. FLA |
| 6 |
Patrick Traverse |
10/10/98 OTT at COL |
| 7 |
Mark Greig |
1/7/99 PHI vs. NYI |
| 8 |
Radim Bicanek |
2/1/99 OTT at VAN |
| 9 |
Robert Petrovicky |
2/15/99 TB at NYI |
| 10 |
Andrei Vasilyev |
3/5/99 PHX vs. DET |
| 11 |
Todd Hlushko |
4/25/99 PIT vs. NJ |
| 12 |
Patrick Lalime |
10/2/99 OTT at PHI |
| 13 |
Glen Metropolit* |
10/2/99 WSH at FLA |
| 14 |
Kevin Miller |
10/31/99 OTT at ATL |
| 15 |
Karel Rachunek* |
10/31/99 OTT at ATL |
| 16 |
Erich Goldmann* |
11/11/99 OTT vs. NSH |
| 17 |
Yves Sarault |
11/20/99 OTT at NJ |
| 18 |
John Gruden |
11/30/99 OTT vs. CHI |
| 19 |
Mike Fountain |
12/3/99 OTT at NJ |
| 20 |
Dave Van Drunen* |
12/13/99 OTT at TOR |
| 21 |
Petr Schastlivy* |
1/3/00 OTT vs. NJ |
| 22 |
John Emmons* |
1/6/00 OTT vs. PHX |
| 23 |
Slava Butsayev |
1/28/00 OTT at BUF |
| 24 |
Aris Brimanis |
2/13/00 NYI at NYR |
| 25 |
Dieter Kochan* |
3/28/00 TB vs. DAL |
| 26 |
Jani Hurme* |
4/9/00 OTT vs. TB |
| 27 |
Shane Hnidy* |
10/5/00 OTT at BOS |
| 28 |
Donald MacLean |
10/14/00 TOR vs. OTT |
| 29 |
David Oliver |
11/4/00 OTT vs. CBJ |
| 30 |
Jamie Rivers |
11/12/00 OTT at CAR |
| 31 |
Sean Gagnon |
11/26/00 OTT at NYR |
| 32 |
Joel Bouchard |
11/29/00 PHX at COL |
| 33 |
Mike Crowley |
12/8/00 ANA at MIN |
| 34 |
Ivan Ciernik |
1/23/01 OTT at NYI |
| 35 |
Darren Rumble |
2/6/01 STL at COL |
| 36 |
Joel Kwiatkowski* |
2/19/01 OTT at BUF |
| 37 |
Todd White |
2/19/01 OTT at BUF |
| 38 |
Chris Neil* |
10/3/01 OTT at TOR |
| 39 |
Toni Dahlman* |
1/3/02 OTT vs. WSH |
| 40 |
Steve Martins |
1/11/02 OTT at FLA |
| 41 |
Kip Miller |
1/17/02 NYI at SJ |
| 42 |
Jody Hull (cs) |
2/4/02 OTT at TB |
| 43 |
Dmitry Afanasenkov |
2/6/02 TB at FLA |
| 44 |
Simon Lajeunesse* |
3/7/02 OTT at SJ |
| 45 |
Martin Prusek* |
3/23/02 OTT vs. ATL |
| 46 |
Chris Bala* |
3/27/02 OTT at NYI |
| 47 |
Neil Little* |
3/28/02 PHI at CAR |
| 48 |
Josh Langfeld* |
3/30/02 OTT vs. TB |
| 49 |
Gaetan Royer* |
4/1/02 TB vs. NYR |
| 50 |
Jason Spezza* |
10/24/02 OTT at BOS |
| 51 |
Sean Avery |
10/29/02 DET vs. SJ |
| 52 |
Jason Doig |
12/3/02 WSH at PIT |
| 53 |
Jason Williams |
12/5/02 DET at PHX |
| 54 |
Patrick Boileau |
12/19/02 DET vs. DAL |
| 55 |
Stacy Roest |
2/20/03 DET vs. EDM |
| 56 |
Wade Brookbank* |
10/9/03 NSH vs. ANA |
| 57 |
Julien Vauclair* |
10/25/03 OTT at MTL |
| 58 |
Jiri Hudler |
10/29/03 DET vs. STL |
| 59 |
Curtis Joseph (cs) |
10/30/03 DET at NSH |
| 60 |
Darryl Bootland* |
11/8/03 DET vs. NSH |
| 61 |
Mark Mowers |
11/19/03 DET vs. CBJ |
| 62 |
Nathan Robinson* |
11/28/03 DET vs. NYI |
| 63 |
Blake Sloan |
12/4/03 DAL at LA |
| 64 |
Niklas Kronwall* |
12/10/03 DET at BUF |
| 65 |
Ryan Barnes* |
12/15/03 DET vs. FLA |
| 66 |
Chris Kelly* |
2/5/04 OTT vs. TOR |
| 67 |
Marc Lamothe |
2/23/04 DET at EDM |
| 68 |
Anders Myrvold |
2/26/04 DET at CGY |
| 69 |
Mathieu Chouinard* |
2/29/04 LA at ANA |
| 70 |
Brett Lebda* |
10/5/05 DET vs. STL |
| 71 |
Mark Eaton |
10/5/05 NSH vs. SJ |
| 72 |
Chris Osgood (cs) |
10/29/05 DET at CHI |
| 73 |
Kyle Quincey* |
11/25/05 DET at ANA |
| 74 |
Jimmy Howard* |
11/28/05 DET at LA |
| 75 |
Valtteri Filppula* |
12/15/05 DET at FLA |
| 76 |
Rob Collins* |
12/17/05 NYI vs. COL |
| 77 |
Manny Legace (cs) |
1/5/06 DET vs. STL |
| 78 |
David Gove* |
1/31/06 CAR at MTL |
| 79 |
Tomas Kopecky* |
2/28/06 DET at SJ |
| 80 |
Alexandre Giroux* |
3/25/06 NYR at TB |
| 81 |
Joey MacDonald* |
10/19/06 DET at SJ |
| 82 |
Derek Meech* |
12/7/06 DET vs. STL |
| 83 |
Matt Ellis* |
12/18/06 DET at CBJ |
| 84 |
Matt Hussey |
1/26/07 DET at STL |
| 85 |
Sheldon Brookbank* |
2/6/07 NSH at PIT |
| 86 |
Danny Syvret |
2/27/07 EDM vs. PHX |
| 87 |
Mark Hartigan |
11/29/07 DET vs. TB |
| 88 |
Drew MacIntyre* |
12/13/07 VAN at SJ |
| 89 |
Peter Vandermeer* |
2/10/08 PHX vs. NSH |
| 90 |
Jonathan Ericsson* |
2/22/08 DET at CGY |
| 91 |
Garrett Stafford* |
2/23/08 DET at VAN |
| 92 |
Darren Helm* |
3/13/08 DET vs. DAL |
| 93 |
Mattias Ritola* |
3/15/08 DET vs. NSH |
| 94 |
Clay Wilson* |
3/25/08 CBJ at NSH |
| 95 |
Darren McCarty |
3/28/08 DET vs. STL |
| 96 |
Krys Kolanos |
11/4/08 MIN at SJ |
| 97 |
Landon Wilson |
11/22/08 DAL vs. ANA |
| 98 |
Bryan Helmer |
11/28/08 WSH vs. MTL |
| 99 |
Chris Chelios (cs) |
12/13/08 DET at PHX |
| 100 |
Aaron Downey |
1/29/09 DET vs. DAL |
| 101 |
Justin Abdelkader |
1/31/09 DET at WSH |
| 102 |
Ville Leino* |
1/31/09 DET at WSH |
| 103 |
Aaron Gagnon* |
10/16/09 DAL vs. BOS |
| 104 |
Scott Parse* |
10/24/09 LA at PHX |
| 105 |
Doug Janik |
11/3/09 DET vs. BOS |
| 106 |
Ryan Keller* |
11/25/09 OTT at NJ |
| 107 |
Jakub Kindl* |
12/3/09 DET vs. EDM |
| 108 |
Kris Newbury |
12/14/09 DET vs. PHX |
| 109 |
Darren Haydar |
2/10/10 COL vs. ATL |
| 110 |
Andreas Lilja (cs) |
3/1/10 DET at COL |
| Bold = Has played in the NHL this season (as of 3/11/10) |
| Italics = Had named engraved on the Stanley Cup after playing for Grand Rapids |
| * = Made NHL debut after playing for the Griffins |
| (cs) = Joined Griffins on conditioning stint from NHL club |
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