Griffins vs. Stars
Second of eight meetings overall, first of four at Van Andel Arena...Ben Simon made his Grand Rapids head coaching debut against Texas on Oct. 5 in the Lone Star State…The Stars won the first matchup of the season 3-1…Grand Rapids enjoyed an eight-game home winning streak against the Stars from Dec. 1, 2012-Nov. 16, 2016, but since then the Griffins are 1-2-0-1 at Van Andel Arena vs. Texas…Since the 2013-14 season, the Griffins are 15-6-1-1 in 23 games overall against the Stars…As part of the AHL’s realignment this summer, Texas and San Antonio joined the Central Division, while Cleveland moved to the Eastern Conference’s North Division…Former Griffins head coach Todd Nelson, who led Grand Rapids for the last three seasons and won the 2017 Calder Cup, was hired by Texas’ NHL affiliate in Dallas to be an assistant under first-year head coach Jim Montgomery…Givani Smith, the 46th overall selection in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft by Detroit, is the younger brother of Gemel Smith, who has logged 63 career games with the Dallas Stars entering 2018-19 and skated in 186 contests with Texas from 2014-17…Texas goaltender Landon Bow is 3-0-1 with a 1.58 GAA and a 0.951 save percentage in five career games against the Griffins.

Status Update
The Griffins stand 1-3-0-0 after four games following last weekend’s split against the Hershey Bears and Chicago Wolves. Grand Rapids picked up its first win of the campaign on Friday against Hershey in the team’s home opener. The Griffins are home for two Central Division matchups this week, hosting the Texas Stars tonight and the Wolves on Saturday.

Last Game (Saturday): Griffins 1 at Wolves 5
David Pope posted his first professional goal…Goaltender Patrik Rybar stopped 19 shots while making his North American pro debut…Chicago has won six consecutive contests against the Griffins…Brooks Macek’s hat trick was the first three-goal game by an opposing player since Chandler Stephenson of Hershey did so on Oct. 21, 2017.

On This Date in Griffins History
2005: Jiri Hudler is named the AHL Player of the Week after tallying four goals, six points and a plus-four rating in three games.
2014: On his way to leading the AHL with 34 goals, Teemu Pulkkinen scores his second goal of the season 46 seconds into the third period to lift Grand Rapids to a 2-1 victory at Charlotte.

Few and Far Between
This week’s games conclude Grand Rapids’ home slate for the month. All three contests at Van Andel Arena in October come in a nine-day span (Oct. 12-20). This season marks the seventh time in Grand Rapids history the team has hosted three or less contests at Van Andel Arena in October. Five of the month’s eight games are on the road, which finishes with the team’s first-ever visit to Belleville on Oct. 26-27.

Z-Score
The sixth overall selection in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft by Detroit, Filip Zadina put away his first two career AHL goals during his Van Andel Arena debut last Friday. His first goal came at even strength in the first period and his second tally came on the power play in the middle frame. The 18-year-old Zadina is the highest Red Wings draft pick ever to suit up for the Griffins. Only three players in Griffins history were drafted higher than No. 6: Jason Spezza (No. 2 by Ottawa in 2001), Darrin Shannon (No. 4 by Pittsburgh in 1988) and Stephen Weiss (No. 4 by Florida in 2001). Dylan Larkin (selected 15th overall in the 2014 Draft) was the previous highest Red Wings draft selection to play for Grand Rapids.

Happy Camper
First-year Griffin Carter Camper scored the game-winning goal and had an assist in last Friday’s 6-3 victory, as he was one of four Griffins with two points on the night. The eighth-year pro is coming off a 2017-18 campaign in which he totaled a career-high 61 points (16-45—61) in 68 games between Cleveland and Tucson.

Pope David the Rookie
In his pro debut last weekend, rookie David Pope registered his first two career points in as many games. He logged the only assist on Matt Puempel’s goal in the first period of Friday’s victory and scored his first pro goal 3:22 into the contest at Chicago on Saturday. A fourth-round selection by the Detroit Red Wings in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, Pope is coming off a 20-goal output during his senior season at Nebraska-Omaha in 2017-18.

Only the Beginning
Grand Rapids has started a campaign with one victory or less in its first four games for the third time since 2012-13. Each of the previous two times, in 2015-16 (started 0-4-0-0) and 2012-13 (started 1-2-0-1) under first-year head coaches Todd Nelson and Jeff Blashill, respectively, the team went on to qualify for the Calder Cup Playoffs. The 2015-16 club advanced to the postseason’s second round, and of course the 2012-13 campaign ended with the club capturing its first Calder Cup.