Griffins Game #21 * Road Game #10 * AHL Game #300

Season Series: 1-0-0-0 Home Series: 0-0-0-0 Road Series: 1-0-0-0
All-Time Series: 85-61-2-6-3 All-Time Home Series: 42-27-2-4-2 All-Time Road Series: 43-34-0-2-1

Griffins at Wolves
Second of eight meetings overall, second of four at Allstate Arena…In the season opener for both teams on Oct. 5, Grand Rapids tied a franchise record for most goals in a season opener (Oct. 4, 2013 at Rochester) by racking up eight in a three-goal victory at Allstate Arena…Grand Rapids’ eight goals were its most against Chicago since a 7-1 matinee win at Allstate Arena on Dec. 15, 2016…The Griffins’ win on Oct. 5 snapped a four-game regular season losing streak to the Wolves…Grand Rapids has faced Chicago 157 times in the regular season, the second-most of any Griffins opponent (Milwaukee, 188)…In the last 10 matchups overall, the Griffins are 4-5-0-1…Second-year head coach Ben Simon and Wolves’ third-year bench boss Rocky Thompson are both members of Todd Nelson’s coaching tree…Simon was an assistant under Nelson in Grand Rapids from 2015-18 and won the 2017 Calder Cup…Thompson served on Nelson’s staff in Oklahoma City from 2010-14 as an assistant…As part of his 11-year professional playing career, Simon registered 87 points (37-50—87) in 196 games with the Wolves from 2001-03 and 2004-05 and was a part of Chicago’s first Calder Cup title in 2002.

Status Update
Twenty games into the 2019-20 schedule, the Griffins tie for fourth in the Central Division standings with a 9-9-1-1 record (20 points). The Griffins face three more divisional opponents this week as they travel to Chicago tonight, host Manitoba on Friday and return to Illinois on Saturday to play Rockford.

Last Time Out (Saturday): Griffins 0 at Admirals 5 - Recap
Grand Rapids was shut out for the second time this season (Oct. 19 at Texas)…The Griffins’ last two visits to UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena have resulted in 5-0 wins for the Admirals.

November Notes
Grand Rapids concludes its November slate this week with three games. So far in the month, Chris Terry leads the team in points (5-7—12 in 11 GP), Terry and Matt Puempel tie for the lead in goals with five, and Terry and rookie Moritz Seider tie for tops in assists with seven. The Red Wings have recalled or assigned a player from or to Grand Rapids a total of 14 times this month. A total of 24 skaters have suited up for the Griffins in the month, marking the highest number of players to see action in the last 15 Novembers. (The next closest is Nov. 2011 with 23 players.)

Apple Seider
The team’s top-scoring defenseman with 11 points (1-10—11), Moritz Seider is T16th among all AHL defensemen and T3rd among rookie blueliners in scoring. Born April 6, 2001, Seider ties Ontario’s Tobias Bjornfot for the second-youngest player in the AHL this season. Only Bridgeport’s Simon Holmstrom (May 24, 2001) is younger.

Back Up, Terr
Chris Terry ranks second in the AHL in points (24) while pacing the Griffins in assists (15) and multi-point games (8) and tying for the team lead in goals (9). He has accumulated 18 points (7-11—18) in the last 15 games. In his 11th-year pro, Terry led the Griffins with 61 points last season and the most recent player to lead GR in scoring in back-to-back seasons was Andy Miele in 2014-15 and 2015-16.

Knowing Our Own Power
The Griffins place fourth in the AHL in power play efficiency at 23.0% (20-for-87) and have scored in seven of the last 11 games. Grand Rapids has netted two or more PPGs in a single game five times already this season, compared to eight in all of 2018-19. Chris Terry (6-6—12), Matt Puempel (3-6—9), Filip Zadina (4-2—6) and Joe Hicketts(0-6—6) lead the way in power play points. The PP accounts for 30.8% of Grand Rapids’ goals.

This Date in Griffins History
1999: Grand Rapids overcomes a 3-0 deficit to take a 5-3 win at Orlando, marking its team-record sixth straight road victory.
2002: The Griffins and Marc Lamothe push their team-record unbeaten streaks to 14 and 13 games, respectively, with a 3-1 win at Hershey.
2004: A 3-2 overtime victory at Chicago equals the Griffins’ record of six consecutive road wins, established early in the 1999-2000 season.
2010: Behind a franchise-record seven-point night (2-5—7) by Tomas Tatar, the Griffins earn a wild 10-8 win at Chicago. Tatar also ties team marks with four points in a period (2nd), five assists in a game and three assists in a period, powering a frantic middle frame in which Grand Rapids sets a team record with seven goals. Numerous other franchise records fall during the contest, as the Griffins tie their mark for goals in a game, set a new road record for goals, and set a new standard with 18 combined goals. It is the AHL’s highest scoring game since March 29, 1996, when the Baltimore Bandits defeated the Binghamton Rangers 10-8. Tatar's seven points are the most by an AHL player since Chicago's Jason Krog tallied three goals and four assists on Nov. 4, 2006, while Jordan Pearce makes 34 saves to become the first AHL goalie to allow eight goals in a win since Providence's Scott Bailey on Dec. 12, 1996.
2015: The Griffins log their third shutout in their last four visits to Milwaukee, with Jared Coreau making 22 saves to lead Grand Rapids to its fifth straight win and snap the division-leading Admirals’ 10-game winning streak.

Pick-ing His Shots
Calvin Pickard has started five of the last six games, showing a 3-2 record in that span. The eight-year pro collected his 100th AHL victory behind 27 saves last Wednesday against San Antonio.

First Things First
Grand Rapids’ roster currently features four recent Detroit first-round draft picks (Moritz Seider 2019, Joe Veleno 2018, Michael Rasmussen 2017, Evgeny Svechnikov 2015). Four of the Red Wings’ last six first rounders are on the west side of the state, with the exceptions being Dennis Cholowski (2016), who made Detroit’s roster following training camp, and Filip Zadina (2018), who was recalled on Sunday. From 2002-15, the Griffins had only seven Detroit first rounders total suit up for them: Jakub Kindl (2005-11; 14-15), Niklas Kronwall (2003-06), Dylan Larkin (2015 playoffs only), Anthony Mantha (2014-15), Tom McCollum (2009-15), Riley Sheahan (2011-14) and Brendan Smith (2010-13). The Griffins’ opening night lineup had five Detroit first rounders in it, far surpassing the previous record of two. The Griffins had never seen more than three Red Wings first rounders suit up for the club at any point in the same season until this year. Adding in Matt Puempel (24th overall by Ottawa in 2011), Grand Rapids’ roster boasts five former first-round draft selections.

Griffins in General
Grand Rapids is in the franchise’s 24th overall season of play, 19th as a member of the American Hockey League and 18th as the primary affiliate of the 11-time Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings…Grand Rapids is 974-665-27-59-113 (0.585) in the regular season since 1996-97 to go along with 17 playoff appearances, seven division titles and two Calder Cups (2017, 2013)…The Griffins have earned 40 or more wins and accumulated 90 or more points in six of the last seven seasons…Grand Rapids has qualified for the Calder Cup Playoffs in a franchise-record seven consecutive seasons and advanced to at least the second round on five occasions…The Griffins’ 8-5 season-opening win at Chicago on Oct. 5 marked the club’s 750th win in the AHL…Grand Rapids’ 314 regular season wins since the 2012-13 campaign are third behind Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s 315 and Toronto’s 330 while the Griffins’ 681 points in that span tie Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for third, trailing Providence (685) and Toronto (716)...Since the affiliation began in 2002-03, 90 Griffins have gone on to play for the Red Wings.

Photo by Ross Dettman/Chicago Wolves