Thursday’s Game to Kick Off Fifth Third Bank Stick Drive

This Week’s Games
Thu., Nov. 1 - Rochester Americans at GRIFFINS - 7 p.m. - WOOD 1300 AM/B2 Networks
Fri., Nov. 2 - GRIFFINS at Rochester Americans - 7:35 p.m. - WOOD/B2

Last Week’s Results
Wed., Oct. 24 - GRIFFINS 5 at Hamilton Bulldogs 3 - 4-2-0-0, 8 pts. (3rd, North Division)
Sat., Oct. 27 - GRIFFINS 5 at Peoria Rivermen 3 - 5-2-0-0, 10 pts. (3rd)
Sun., Oct. 28 - Peoria Rivermen 7 at GRIFFINS 1 - 5-3-0-0, 10 pts. (3rd)

Oh Captain, My Captain: During the first intermission of this Thursday’s game against Rochester, Detroit Red Wings legend Steve Yzerman will join approximately 150 players from West Michigan youth hockey associations on the ice to kick off the Fifth Third Bank stick drive for the Griffins Youth Foundation. Yzerman will introduce the stick drive to fans and the youth hockey players will donate their own sticks, which will be used by the hundreds of underserved, underprivileged and at-risk children who participate in the foundation’s programs. Fans are encouraged to donate new or gently used hockey sticks at all Grand Rapids-area Fifth Third Bank locations between Friday, Nov. 2 and Saturday, Nov. 17.

Road Warriors: Grand Rapids is off to its second-best road start in team history with a 5-0 record, behind only a 7-0 mark in 2004-05. Five consecutive road wins are within range of the franchise records for longest road winning streak (7, 10/16/04-12/3/04) and longest road unbeaten streak (8, 1/6/02-2/2/02, 5-0-3-0).

Friendly Confines?: Conversely, the Griffins are 0-3 at home for the first time in the franchise’s 12 seasons. In 2002-03, they endured three losses and a tie before finally earning a victory in their fifth game at Van Andel Arena.

Rare Rests: The Griffins will be idle on Saturday and Sunday both this weekend (Nov. 3-4) and in two weeks (Nov. 17-18), presenting a pair of extremely rare breaks in the schedule. Outside of free weekends caused by the AHL’s all-star or Christmas breaks, Grand Rapids has not been idle on both a Saturday and Sunday during the regular season since Jan. 1-2, 2005.

Tardif Nets AHL Nomination: The Griffins on Monday nominated right wing Jamie Tardif for the Rbk/AHL Player of the Week award, after he tallied three goals and an assist in three games last week. He was named first star in Wednesday’s 5-3 win at Hamilton after recording three points (2-1—3) and a plus-three rating, and he added another goal in Saturday’s 5-3 victory at Peoria. After netting the Griffins’ first two-goal and three-point efforts of the season, he is tied for second on the team with three goals.

Tickled Pink: Sunday’s game against Peoria was billed as “Pink at the Rink,” a breast cancer awareness benefit for Susan G. Komen for the Cure Grand Rapids. All Griffins players wore pink ribbons on their helmets and pink laces in their skates, while several used pink tape on their sticks. A variety of auctions and fundraisers on the night generated nearly $2,000 for the charity.

Kudos: Brett Engelhardt’s six-game point streak (2-4—6) was snapped on Sunday, ending the longest scoring run for a Griffin this season. His streak also tied for the fourth-longest in the AHL…Engelhardt, Mark Cullen (2-6—8) and Carl Corazzini (4-3—7) have all registered points in six of Grand Rapids’ eight games.

Net Results: Goaltender Jimmy Howard was recalled by Detroit last Thursday and served as backup to Chris Osgood during consecutive Red Wings wins on Friday and Sunday. To fill the void in goal, the Griffins signed Cody Rudkowsky to a professional tryout on Friday. Rudkowsky, 29, is a nine-year pro from ECHL Phoenix who made his Griffins debut on Sunday, stopping eight of nine shots in relief and marking his 109th career AHL contest.

Welcome Back: Defensemen Kyle Quincey and Jon Insana both played their first games of the season over the weekend after returning from injury. The Griffins had been limited to using five blueliners during a five-game stretch (Oct. 11-24).

Scouting Report

Thu., Nov. 1 vs. Rochester Americans (3-7-1-1) – Van Andel Arena – 7 p.m.
Fri., Nov. 2 at Rochester Americans – Blue Cross Arena – 7:35 p.m.
Radio: WOOD 1300 AM at 6:59 p.m. (Thu.) and 7:10 p.m. (Sat.). Web Casts: Video ($6 – B2 Networks) and audio (free) available through griffinshockey.com. All-Time Series (W-L-T-OTL-SOL): 14-10-1-1-0 Overall, 9-3-1-0-0 Home, 5-7-0-1-0 Road. Season Series: First and second of eight meetings overall, first of four in both Grand Rapids and Rochester. NHL Affiliations: Buffalo Sabres, Florida Panthers. Head Coach: Randy Cunneyworth (8th season). Notes: Veteran defenseman Jassen Cullimore, cut by the Red Wings during training camp, signed with Florida last Friday. He is serving a two-week conditioning assignment with Rochester…The Griffins have won three straight and seven of the last eight meetings with the Amerks at Van Andel Arena, dating to the start of the 2004-05 season…Grand Rapids’ all-time mark of 5-7-0-1-0 (0.423) in Rochester represents its worst road record against any current AHL team.