CHASING THE CUP
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Seventeen 17 former Grand Rapids Griffins players will continue on in their quest for the Stanley Cup, as their teams have advanced to the NHL's conference semifinal round.
Sixteen Grand Rapids alumni remain with the Detroit Red Wings. The contingent is led by Jiri Hudler and Niklas Kronwall, who are tied with Pavel Datsyuk for the Red Wings' playoff scoring lead with five points apiece.
Among the seven Griffins players who were recalled to Detroit at the conclusion of the AHL's regular season, Darren Helm is the only one to have seen action to this point. The speedy rookie was a factor in the Wings' 3-0 series-clinching win at Nashville on Sunday, setting up Hudler's third-period goal for his first NHL point while logging a plus-one rating, three shots, one hit, one takeaway and one blocked shot in just 8:44 of ice time.
Detroit will face old rival Colorado in the Western Conference Semifinals, beginning with Game 1 on Thursday at the Joe. Meanwhile, Sean Avery's New York Rangers will play Pittsburgh in round two.
| Player | NHL Club | GP | G | A | PTS | +/- | PIM |
| Sean Avery | NY Rangers | 5 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 6 |
| Jiri Hudler | Detroit | 6 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 4 |
| Niklas Kronwall | Detroit | 6 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 4 |
| Pavol Demitra | Minnesota | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| Shane Hnidy | Boston | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 9 |
| Valtteri Filppula | Detroit | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| *Darren McCarty | Detroit | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Glen Metropolit | Boston | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -3 | 4 |
| *Darren Helm | Detroit | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| *Mark Hartigan | Detroit | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| Chris Neil | Ottawa | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 22 |
| Jason Spezza | Ottawa | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -4 | 0 |
| Josh Langfeld | Nashville | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brett Lebda | Detroit | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Goalie | NHL Club | GP | W | L | OT | SO | GAA | SPCT |
| Chris Osgood | Detroit | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.39 | 0.981 |
| Curtis Joseph | Calgary | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.76 | 0.970 |
* = Played for Grand Rapids in 2007-08
Bold = Team advanced to the conference semifinals
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