2019 AHL Calder Cup Playoffs * Central Division Semifinals * Best of Five

#4 GRIFFINS vs. #1 Chicago Wolves

Setting the Stage
The Griffins extended their franchise-record postseason streak to seven seasons and qualified for the playoffs for the 17th time in their 23-year history with a 38-27-7-4 record (87 pts.), claiming the fourth spot in the Central Division and finishing 12th overall in the AHL. Grand Rapids will face the top-seeded Chicago Wolves (44-22-6-4, 98 pts.), who have won three consecutive regular season Central Division titles, in the best-of-five Central Division Semifinals. The Griffins and Wolves are division rivals for the seventh straight season. Chicago (4) and Grand Rapids (2: 2012-13 and 2014-15) have combined to win six of the previous seven titles in the Central and Midwest divisions (Milwaukee in 2015-16).

No Love Lost
The Wolves are the Griffins’ most frequent postseason opponent as the clubs will be meeting up for the sixth time. The Griffins are 2-3 in series against the Wolves (including one meeting in the International Hockey League’s Turner Cup Playoffs), posting game records of 12-12 overall, 6-6 at home and 6-6 on the road. Three times the winner of this playoff clash has gone on to hoist a cup, with Chicago besting Grand Rapids 4-2 in the 2000 IHL Turner Cup Finals and 3-2 in the 2002 AHL Western Conference Quarterfinals, and the Griffins defeating the division-champion Wolves 4-1 in the 2017 Central Division Finals.

Prior History
The Griffins and Wolves will renew a rivalry that dates back to the International Hockey League days. Since Chicago’s founding in 1994-95 and Grand Rapids’ inception in 1996-97, the teams have met a combined 156 times in the regular season, with the Griffins possessing an 84-61-2-6-3 record. The Griffins’ 156 meetings against Chicago are the second most of any opponent Grand Rapids has faced behind only 184 versus Milwaukee, and Grand Rapids’ 42 wins in the Second City are the second-most in any road city (Milwaukee, 45).

Game 1
The Griffins are 6-4 all time in Game 1 of a five-game series, including a 3-4 record when the game is contested on foreign ice. Grand Rapids shows a 4-2 series record when leading one-game-to-none and a 2-2 record when trailing.

On This Date in Griffins History
2002: Trailing Chicago 2-1 in the best-of-five Western Conference Quarterfinals, the Griffins respond with a 3-0 win at Allstate Arena to force a decisive Game 5 back in Grand Rapids. Martin Prusek makes 17 saves as Grand Rapids posts just its second road playoff shutout ever.
2007: Grand Rapids drops Game 1 of the North Division Semifinals 1-0 at Manitoba, as Jimmy Howard’s 28 stops are trumped by former Griffin Drew MacIntyre’s perfect 23-save effort. The Griffins’ third straight road playoff loss ties a franchise record, as they suffer their seventh consecutive one-goal loss to the Moose, dating to the third meeting of the 2006-07 regular season.

Actively Streaking
Grand Rapids’ seven-year postseason run ties Providence for the second-longest active Calder Cup Playoff streak, trailing only defending champion Toronto’s eight. The Griffins have advanced to at least the second round in five of the last six campaigns, with a loss in the decisive Game 5 of the Central Division Semifinals to Manitoba last season snapping the streak.

We Get by With a Little Help from our...Rivals?
Despite Grand Rapids falling 5-0 at Milwaukee in its regular season finale on April 13, the Griffins clinched their playoff berth later that night thanks to Chicago’s 4-2 home victory over Manitoba. This season marked just the second time in the team’s history that its playoff fate was determined on the date of its final regular season game (2006-07).

Illi-Noyed
Between Chicago and Rockford, Grand Rapids finished 2-5-2-0 in Illinois during the regular season.

Clean Slate
The Griffins arrived to the postseason on a season-high nine-game winless streak (0-8-1-0). However, Grand Rapids entered the 2016 playoffs on a five-game losing streak in regulation before sweeping division champion Milwaukee in three games in the first round.

Third Time Shouldn’t be the Charm
After missing the postseason in 2015-16, Chicago has claimed three consecutive regular season division titles but has just one playoff series win in that span and has lost six consecutive playoff games. The Wolves beat Charlotte in five games in the 2017 Central Division Semifinals before being ousted by Grand Rapids in five games in the Central Division Finals, which included the Griffins taking the final three contests, and then being swept by Illinois Lottery Cup rival Rockford in last season’s division semifinals.

Playoff Facts and Figures
Grand Rapids has won 20 of its 34 total playoff series and owns a combined 96-79 record during those games, going 49-40 on home ice and 47-39 on the road. During the Griffins’ streak of seven straight trips to the postseason, they have two Calder Cups (2013 and 2017). In the four seasons they did not won the Cup, the Griffins bowed out to a team that went on to either win the Cup (Texas in 2014 and Lake Erie in 2016) or appear in the finals (Utica in 2015) on three occasions. Grand Rapids is 6-4 all-time in best-of-five series, having won six of its last seven.

Long Runs
Over the last six postseasons, no other AHL team has played as many games (83) or series (16) or won as many games (51) or series (12) as GR.

Bench Boss
The 11th head coach in Griffins franchise history, Ben Simon is the eighth head coach in franchise history to lead the Griffins to the postseason during his first full season behind the bench, joining Dave Allison (1996-97), Bruce Cassidy (2000-01), Danton Cole (2002-03), Greg Ireland (2005-06) Curt Fraser (2008-09), Jeff Blashill (2012-13) and Todd Nelson (2015-16). This is the fourth consecutive playoff appearance Simon has been a part of with the Griffins after he served as an assistant under Nelson from 2015-18 and during the previous three appearances Grand Rapids posted a 22-11 record. Simon played an integral role in helping Grand Rapids win the franchise’s second Calder Cup in 2017. Appearing in 21 games and scoring nine points (4-5—9) with the Griffins in 2006-07 as part of an 11-year professional playing career, Simon is the third former Griffins player to serve as Grand Rapids’ head coach, joining Nelson and Cole. He is also the fourth former Griffins assistant to then become the head coach – Cole, Ireland and Nelson – and all four have qualified for the postseason in their first full campaign. Simon has advanced to a professional league championship series a combined five times as a player (IHL Orlando in 2001, AHL Chicago in 2002 and 2005) or coach (ECHL Cincinnati in 2014, Grand Rapids in 2017) and won three titles (2001 Orlando, 2002 Chicago, 2017 Grand Rapids).

Lashing Out
Alternate captain Brian Lashoff will begin his seventh postseason in Grand Rapids. One of only three players to be a part of the 2017 and 2013 Calder Cup championships (Mitch Callahan, Nathan Paetsch), Lashoff has skated in 73 playoff games, which is second-most in franchise history. With five more games, he can equal Paetsch as the club’s all-time leader.

Back for More
Nine members of the Griffins’ 2017 Calder Cup championship team are members of the active roster: forwards Colin Campbell, Matthew Ford, Martin Frk, Axel Holmstrom and Dominic Turgeon; and defensemen Joe Hicketts, Filip Hronek, Brian Lashoff and Dylan McIlrath. Of this group, Lashoff is the lone player who was also a part of the franchise’s first Calder Cup in 2013. In addition, Grand Rapids returns 13 players who participated in last spring’s Central Division Semifinals against Manitoba.

Experience Counts
Eighteen players on the Griffins’ roster have AHL postseason experience — Colin Campbell (1-6—7 in 40 GP), Carter Camper (18-27—45 in 51 GP), Dennis Cholowski (0-0—0 in 1 GP), Turner Elson (2-0—2 in 5 GP), Matthew Ford (15-15—30 in 45 GP), Martin Frk (6-15—21 in 26 GP), Joe Hicketts (1-9—10 in 24 GP), Axel Holmstrom (1-1—2 in 6 GP), Filip Hronek (0-1—1 in 7 GP), Derek Hulak (1-0—1 in 10 GP), Brian Lashoff (5-14—19 in 73 GP), Wade Megan (2-1—3 in 16 GP), Dylan McIlrath (0-7—7 in 44 GP), Matt Puempel (3-3—6 in 9 GP), Vili Saarijarvi (0-0—0 in 1 GP), Dominik Shine (0-0—0 in 5 GP), Chris Terry (11-9—20 in 33 GP) and Dominic Turgeon (1-1—2 in 19 GP).

Experience Counts, II
All three Griffins assistant coaches have championship experience as both players and coaches. Matt Macdonald won the ECHL’s Kelly Cup with the Cincinnati Cyclones as a player in 2008 and then as an assistant under Ben Simon with Cincinnati in 2013-14, he helped the team reach the Kelly Cup Finals. Brad Tapper and Simon were teammates for back-to-back championships with the IHL’s Orlando Solar Bears in 2001 and the Chicago Wolves in 2002. As an assistant, Tapper helped the ECHL’s Florida Everblades win the Kelly Cup in 2012. Mike Knuble, in his sixth season as a Griffins assistant, won the Stanley Cup with the Red Wings as a player in 1998 and was a part of Grand Rapids’ second Calder Cup title in 2017.

Windy City Connections
Head coach Ben Simon and assistant coach Brad Tapper won the Calder Cup as players with the Wolves in 2002, their second consecutive season capturing a league championship together after hoisting the IHL’s Turner Cup with the Orlando Solar Bears in 2001. Simon logged 196 games with Chicago from 2001-03 and 2004-05, registering 87 points (37-50—87) and 192 PIM. Tapper appeared in 98 games with the Wolves from 2001-04, tallying 58 points (24-34—58) and 130 PIM. Tapper served as an assistant with the Wolves from 2014-16. First-year Griffin Wade Megan totaled 99 points (44-55—99), a plus-34 rating and 109 PIM in 136 games with Chicago from 2016-18 and was named to the AHL First All-Star Team while pacing the circuit with 33 goals during his first season with the club. First-year Griffin Jake Chelios made his AHL debut with Chicago on April 11, 2014 and went on to skate in 45 games with the Wolves from 2013-15. Chicago forward Brooks Macek was originally drafted 171st overall by the Red Wings in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft but never appeared in a game for Detroit or any of its affiliates.

Safe at Home
The Griffins have won 11 of their last 13 playoff games on home ice, including a 10-0 mark during their run to the 2017 Calder Cup.

Recapping the 2017 Central Division Finals
Grand Rapids defeated regular season division champ Chicago in Game 5 on its way to its second Calder Cup...The Griffins won the final three games in the series…All five games were decided by two or more goals, including three by three goals and one by four…At the time of the series victory, it marked Grand Rapids’ second-ever win against a No. 1 seed in the playoffs...Tyler Bertuzzi (3-3—6), Mitch Callahan (3-3—6), Tomas Nosek (2-4—6) and Eric Tangradi (0-6—6) led Grand Rapids in scoring while Jared Coreau started all five games and showed a 3.00 GAA and a 0.892 save percentage...In the series, Grand Rapids finished 6-for-20 on the power play (30.0%) and 21-for-24 on the penalty kill (87.5%)...The Griffins have nine players on their current roster who suited up in at least a game during this 2017 series…No players on Chicago’s roster were a part of this series, as the Wolves changed affiliations from St. Louis to Vegas beginning in 2017-18...First-year Griffin Wade Megan was in his first season with Chicago and registered one assist in two games in the series.

One by One
The Griffins own a 4-6 series record when facing off against a No. 1 seed in the postseason, having prevailed in each of the last four meetings.

Between the Pipes
Both Harri Sateri and Patrik Rybar made their first career appearances against Chicago this season with Sateri finishing 3-1-0 to go along with a 2.96 GAA and a 0.906 save percentage in five games while Rybar was 0-4-0 with a 3.93 GAA and a 0.835 save mark. Oscar Dansk is 4-0-1 against Grand Rapids in his career, with all appearances coming as a member of the Wolves, showing a 2.55 GAA and a 0.922 save percentage. This season, Dansk was 2-0-1 with a 2.97 GAA and a 0.903 save mark. Max Lagace is 6-4-1 in his career versus the Griffins dating to 2015-16 with Texas, and shows a 3.22 GAA and a 0.907 save percentage. This season, Lagace was 3-2-0 with a 2.44 GAA and a 0.923 save percentage.

Regular Season Series Notes
After Chicago won the season’s first matchup, the Griffins claimed the next three from Oct. 20-Nov. 28 before the Wolves closed with four consecutive victories...Four of the eight meetings were decided by three or more goals...Grand Rapids was 3-0 when holding Chicago without a power play goal and 0-5 when allowing one or more...In the last two meetings, both one-goal losses, Chicago went 4-for-8 on the power play while Grand Rapids finished 1-for-9...Two of Turner Elson’s team-high three shorthanded goals came against the Wolves...Daniel Carr scored a series-high 10 points (2-8—10) in five games and was a plus-eight, while Gage Quinney finished with a series-best plus-10 rating...Elson led the Griffins with seven points (4-3—7) and a plus-eight rating while playing in all eight games...Matt Puempel paced the team with five goals in the series...Patrik Rybar made his first career start in North America on Oct. 13 at Chicago...Second-year defenseman Vili Saarijarvi logged his first pro goal on Oct. 20 vs. Chicago…Chase Pearson, who joined the Griffins on an amateur tryout on March 20, scored his first pro goal on March 29 vs. Chicago...Harri Sateri finished with a 3-1-0 record to go along with a 2.96 GAA and a 0.906 save percentage in five games while Rybar was 0-4-0 with a 3.93 GAA and a 0.835 save mark...In between Chicago’s pipes, Max Lagace was 3-2-0 with a 2.44 GAA and a 0.923 save percentage, and Oscar Dansk was 2-0-1 with a 2.97 GAA and a 0.903 save percentage.

Photo by Sam Iannamico/Griffins