GRIFFINS (19-11-3-3) at Hershey Bears (14-18-0-2)

Griffins Game #37 * Road Game #19 * AHL Game #538

Season Series: 1-0-0-0 Home Series: 1-0-0-0 Road Series: 0-0-0-0
All-Time Series: 8-1-0-0 All-Time Home Series: 4-1-0-0 All-Time Road Series: 4-0-0-0

Griffins at Bears
Second of two meetings overall, first and last at the Giant Center…Now in its 81st season, Hershey began play in the AHL in 1938-39 and is the oldest franchise on the circuit…The Bears have made 23 appearances in the Calder Cup Finals, including their most recent in 2016 against champion Lake Erie, and have won 11 Calder Cups…In this season’s home opener on Oct. 12, the Griffins defeated the Bears 6-3 and received two goals from Filip Zadina…The Griffins and Bears are matching up in back-to-back seasons for the first time since the 2001-02 and 2002-03 campaigns…Hershey earned its first-ever victory against the Griffins on Oct. 21, 2017, in what was the Bears’ first visit to West Michigan since Dec. 22, 2005…In their last trip to Hershey on March 11, 2018, Tom McCollum recorded 21 saves and the Griffins shut out the Bears, 3-0…Grand Rapids has not allowed Hershey to score a goal at home since the 13:31 mark of the third period on Feb. 26, 2006 – of course this can be attributed to the fact that last season’s meeting was the Griffins’ first visit to Chocolate Town since that 2005-06 campaign.

Chocolate Town Connections
Captain Matthew Ford played part of the 2011-12 season with Hershey, scoring 28 points (10-18—28) in 39 GP…First-year Griffin Carter Camper compiled 34 points (9-25—34) in 64 regular season GP with the Bears in 2015-16, before leading the club with 17 points (6-11—17) in 21 postseason contests and helping Hershey reach the Calder Cup Finals…2017 AHL Hall of Fame inductee and former Griffin Bryan Helmer serves as Hershey’s vice president of hockey operations…Helmer played in every game during his two-year stay in Grand Rapids from 2004-06, compiling 81 points (19-62—81) in 160 games…He was named the Griffins’ Man of the Year and an AHL Second Team All-Star in 2005-06 while helping the Griffins capture that season’s regular season championship...Former Griffin Ryan Sproul (2012-16; 17-18) has four points (1-3—4) in 11 GP with Hershey this season…In 220 career regular season GP with Grand Rapids, Sproul produced 95 points (29-66—95) and 101 PIM while showing 14 points (4-10—14) in 24 Calder Cup Playoff appearances…During his time in Grand Rapids, he twice led team defensemen in goals (11 in 2013-14 and 12 in 2015-16)…He became the 145th Griffins alumnus to play in the NHL when he debuted with Detroit on April 13, 2014 at St. Louis, and appeared in 28 career games with the Red Wings over parts of two seasons (2013-14; 16-17)…Derek Hulak, who last week signed a standard player’s contract with the Griffins for the remainder of the 2018-19 season, started the year in Hershey and scored three points in eight games.

Last Game (Friday): Griffins 2 at Penguins 3 SO - Read the full recap here
Grand Rapids suffered its third shootout loss of the season and first on the road...The Griffins are 104-111 all time in shootouts...Joseph Cramarossa was the only scorer in the three-round skills competition...Three of the Griffins’ last four games have been tied after regulation...Ryan Haggerty’s goal at 0:17 marked the fastest goal against to start a game since Brock Trotter set the record at :09 on April 3, 2009 at Hamilton...Matt Ford potted his seventh goal of the season at 3:45 in the first period and Turner Elson notched his 11th at 10:23 in the second...Patrik Rybar stopped 31 shots and is on a three-game point streak…Assigned by Detroit on Thursday, Wade Megan skated in his first game with the Griffins since Dec. 1 and picked up the only assist on Ford’s goal.

Status Update
Following last night’s 3-2 shootout loss at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, the Griffins have extended their point streak to six games (4-0-1-1) and have points in 23 of their last 29 outings (17-6-3-3). Owning a 19-11-3-3 overall record (44 points), Grand Rapids ties for second in the Central Division. The Griffins round out their two-game swing through Pennsylvania tonight when they visit the Hershey Bears for the only time this season. Grand Rapids has points in four straight away contests (2-0-1-1).

High-Five x 3
The Griffins are on a six-game point streak (4-0-1-1), marking the third time in the season’s opening 36 games the team has embarked on at least a five-game run (4-0-0-1 from Oct. 27-Nov. 8 and 7-0-1-1 from Nov. 17-Dec. 7). During its current streak, Grand Rapids has allowed one goal on three occasions and is averaging 1.83 goals against per game.

Atlantic Coasting
The Griffins hold a 39-27-1-3 all-time record (0.586) against current teams in the Atlantic Division including 20-13-0-2 (0.600) on the road. Thirty-six of the 70 games have come against the Charlotte Checkers, who were members of the Central Division from 2015-17. Among Atlantic teams, the Griffins have yet to face off against Bridgeport, Springfield or Providence.

Terry Selected for 2019 AHL All-Star Classic
The AHL announced on Thursday that the Griffins’ top point producer and the league’s leading goal scorer, Chris Terry, has been selected to play for the Central Division All-Star Team at the 2019 Lexus AHL All-Star Classic presented by MGM Springfield, to be held Jan. 27-28 in Springfield, Mass. Terry, in his 10th season as a professional and first in Grand Rapids, has earned his third consecutive AHL All-Star bid and fourth overall (2012). The John B. Sollenberger Trophy award winner from 2017-18 as the league’s leading scorer and a reigning AHL First All-Star Team selection, Terry paces the league with 21 goals this season and ties for third with 38 points in 36 games while adding a plus-13 rating and 16 PIM. He is bidding to join Teemu Pulkkinen (34 in 2014-15) and Donald MacLean (56 in 2005-06) as the only Griffins to lead the league in goals.

What You Doin’ Terr
The AHL’s leading scorer from a season ago, Chris Terry is atop the league’s goal leaderboard with 21. He has accumulated nine points (3-6—9) in the last six games and ties for third on the circuit with 38 overall. The 10th-year pro has reached the 20-goal plateau for the sixth time in his AHL career. He is also one of three active AHL players with 200 or more career goals. In the last 19 contests, he has accumulated 22 points (10-12—22), which is the second most in the league in that span.

Between the Pipes
Harri Sateri has points in nine of his last 10 starts (7-1-2) and shows a 2.55 GAA and a 0.910 save percentage in that span. He has allowed one goal in two of his last three games and his 11 victories on the season tie for ninth in the league. In his last six outings, Patrik Rybar has notched a 2.13 GAA and a 0.927 save percentage to go along with a 2-2-2 record. Skating in his first season in North America, Rybar ranks sixth in the AHL with a 2.38 overall GAA.

Page Turner
Sixth-year pro and second-year Griffin Turner Elson is responsible for 12 points (6-6—12) in his last 13 games and 20 (9-11—20) in his last 20. With 26 total points, he has already surpassed his output from 2017-18 (9-12—21 in 57 GP) and is just four shy of matching his career high of 30, which he has attained twice previously (2014-15 with Adirondack and 2015-16 with Stockton). Elson has all three of the Griffins’ shorthanded goals this season, which also ties for the most in the AHL. Three shorties is the most by a Griffin in a single season since Landon Ferraro and Tomas Nosek both collected three in 2014-15.

Hicks Mix
With Filip Hronek on recall with the Red Wings, third-year pro Joe Hicketts is the team’s top defenseman in terms of point production with 10 (2-8—10) in 27 games. Hicketts’ two goals this season have come in timely fashion, as he scored the game-tying goal with 1:17 remaining in regulation during a 5-4 shootout win Dec. 15 vs. Milwaukee and netted the game-winner on Monday against Rockford with 4:44 to play.

Happy Camper
First-year Griffin Carter Camper has totaled six points (3-3—6) in the last six games, including three goals in the last four. His season-high five-game point streak came to an end last night. Camper paces the club with 18 assists and ties for second with 26 points.

On This Date in Griffins History
2003: In a 4-1 win at Cincinnati, Michel Picard becomes just the 36th player in AHL history to record 250 goals.
2016: In recognition of his outstanding leadership and service to the league, Griffins captain Jeff Hoggan is named by AHL president David Andrews as a playing captain for the 2016 Toyota AHL All-Star Classic, marking his first all-star selection.

Back to Backs
This weekend marks the 12th of 26 times total this season the Griffins will play on consecutive nights. Grand Rapids has won eight of its last nine on the second night including three in a row.


Photo by Sam Iannamico/Griffins