Playoff Chances in Their Own Hands Thanks to Two Games Against Cincinnati

This Weeks Games
Tue., April 12 - GRIFFINS at Milwaukee Admirals - 8 p.m. - Comcast Local/b2/WOOD 1300 AM

Fri., April 15 - Cincinnati Mighty Ducks at GRIFFINS - 7:30 p.m. - b2/WOOD 1300 AM

Sat., April 16 - San Antonio Rampage at GRIFFINS - 7:30 p.m. - b2/WOOD 1300 AM

Sun., April 17 - GRIFFINS at Cincinnati Mighty Ducks - 5:05 p.m. - WOOD 1300 AM

Last Weeks Results
Thu., April 7 - GRIFFINS 7 at San Antonio Rampage 4 - 39-31-2-2, 82 pts. (5th, West Division)

Fri., April 8 - GRIFFINS 4 at Utah Grizzlies 2 - 40-31-2-2, 84 pts. (5th)

Sat., April 9 - GRIFFINS 3 at Utah Grizzlies 4 - 40-32-2-2, 84 pts. (5th)

Too Close to Call: Despite owning an 11-4-0-1 record in their last 16 games, the fifth-place Griffins stand five points behind both Houston and Cincinnati in the West Division playoff race with only four games remaining. However, two of those games will be against the Ducks, giving Grand Rapids control of its own destiny in its quest for a sixth consecutive postseason berth. Among other scenarios, a sweep of their final four games including regulation wins over Cincinnati at home Friday and on the road Sunday in their season finale would guarantee the Griffins a playoff spot, regardless of the outcome of the Ducks home game against Milwaukee on Saturday. Grand Rapids owns a 5-3-0-0 record against Cincinnati this season. Heres how the race stacks up:

Team - Points/Wins - Games Left - Opponents Win. %
Cincinnati - 89 / 42 - 3 (2 home, 1 road) - 0.586 (@Gra, MIL, GRA)
Houston - 89 / 39 - 2 (2 home, 0 road) - 0.497 (CHI, UTA)
Grand Rapids - 84 / 40 - 4 (2 home, 2 road) - 0.546 (@Mil, CIN, SAN, @Cin)

Scotty Bowman Joins the Celebration: After wrapping up their five-game road swing Tuesday in Milwaukee, the Griffins will return to Van Andel Arena this Friday and Saturday for the Grand Finale Weekend, presented by West Michigan Chrysler Jeep Dealers. For Fridays all-important showdown with Cincinnati, the first 3,000 fans will receive a Griffins travel mug, and college students who show a valid student I.D. can purchase an upper bowl ticket for $8 (a $5 savings). Saturdays final regular season home game against San Antonio will feature the fourth and final installment of the Hockeytown Heroes series, as legendary Detroit Red Wings head coach and Hockey Hall of Famer Scotty Bowman will sign autographs in the arena banquet room from 6:30-7:20 p.m. A Fox Motors autograph session with Griffins players will take place after each game.

Watch it Live: Fans can use two different methods to watch Tuesdays Griffins/Admirals tilt live at 8 p.m. from the Bradley Center in Milwaukee. Comcast Local (ch. 23 in Grand Rapids) will televise the game throughout Michigan, in the sixth and final Griffins telecast of the season. In addition, fans with DSL or cable internet connections can click on the b2 networks banner at griffinshockey.com and pay $6 to view the game. Web casts of Fridays and Saturdays contests at Van Andel Arena will also be available through b2 networks.

Tradition of Excellence: With their 7-4 win at San Antonio last Thursday, the Griffins (40-32-2-2) secured their sixth consecutive season with a winning record, and Fridays victory over Utah clinched their sixth straight 40-win campaign. The 1998-99 squad (34-40-8) was the only team in the franchises nine-year history that either finished with a losing record or missed the playoffs.

Road Warriors: The Griffins 22 road wins (22-15-0-1) tie Rochester for the AHL lead, marking the third straight season and fifth time in the last six campaigns that theyve claimed at least 20 victories on foreign ice. Unfortunately, the Griffins are the only team with 19 or more road wins that has not already clinched a playoff spot, due to their 18-17-2-1 record at home.

For the Record: Grand Rapids is 16-10-1-1 (0.607) since former assistant Greg Ireland was named head coach on Feb. 10, including a 15-7-1-1 record (0.667) since Feb. 25 and an 11-4-0-1 mark (0.719) since March 11The Griffins have won seven of their last 11 (7-2-1-1) at Van Andel ArenaSix of Grand Rapids last 13 home games have gone past regulation, with the Griffins going 2-1 in overtime and 2-1 in shootouts.

Miller Time: Kip Millers five-point outburst (3-25) last Thursday in San Antonio tied the AHLs season-high and ranked as the Griffins most prolific individual performance since Millers franchise-record six-point night (2-46) on Jan. 10, 2002 at Chicago. Coupled with his two-point effort Friday against Utah, his seven points (4-37) over a two-game span tied for the second-most ever in team history, falling short of only his own record of eight points (4-48) from Jan. 10-11, 2002. Millers hat trick on Thursday was the second of his Griffins career (Oct. 24, 2001 vs. CIN) and the second for Grand Rapids this season, following Jiri Hudlers trick at San Antonio on Oct. 24, 2004. Meanwhile, Millers goal on Friday was his 49th in a Griffins uniform, moving him past Glen Metropolit, Jeff Nelson and Petr Schastlivy into sole possession of sixth place on the teams all-time list.

Kudos for Kronwall: Griffins defenseman Niklas Kronwall was named to the 2005 AHL First All-Star Team last Thursday. He became only the third Griffins defenseman to be named to a postseason all-star team, following the selections of John Gruden in 2002 (First Team AHL) and Travis Richards in 2001 (Second Team IHL). The honor also established Kronwall as a top candidate for the AHLs Eddie Shore Award (outstanding defenseman), the winner of which will be announced on Tuesday.

I Am Ironman: Joey MacDonald, who Saturday pushed his franchise-record streaks to 31 consecutive games played and 24 straight starts, earned his 34th win of the season on Friday to tie Mike Fountains standard set in 2000-01. MacDonald is poised to become the third Grand Rapids goalie to lead the league in games played (66) and minutes played (3754:40), and the first to pace the circuit in saves (1,785). The Griffins single-season record holder for starts (64), games played (66), minutes played and saves, he also ranks as Grand Rapids all-time leader in starts (126), games played (130), minutes played (7340:09), wins (70), shutouts (14) and saves (3,409).

Offensive Outbursts: The Griffins 7-4 win at San Antonio last Thursday marked their largest offensive output in more than two years, dating to a 7-4 win at Chicago on Feb. 26, 2003. Combined with Fridays 4-2 victory against Utah, the 11 goals scored by the Griffins were their most over a two-game span since tallying 13 from Feb. 23-26, 2003.

Power Surge: After going 1-for-25 with the advantage over a five-game span, the Griffins have converted 5-of-11 chances (45.5%) the last three games. Thursday in San Antonio, they scored a season-high three times in six tries against the Rampage, including Eric Manlows team-high tenth power play goal that moved him into a tie with Derek King for seventh place on the Griffins single-season list.

Welcome Back: The Griffins on Friday signed center Brent Kelly to a professional tryout. Kelly, who tallied three assists in 16 appearances with Grand Rapids earlier this season, scored his first goal as a Griffin in his return that night against Utah. He has totaled 40 points (15-2540) in 37 games with ECHL Johnstown.

A.W.O.L.: Travis Richards (40 games) and Niklas Kronwall (three games) have recently missed time due to injuries, while Peter Vandermeer has served three games of a four-game suspension imposed by the AHL.

Three for All: This weekend, the Griffins will play their 11th and final three-in-three of the season. They are 17-12-0-1 (0.583) when playing three games in as many nights, including a 5-5-0-0 record (0.500) in the third game.

On Fire: Jiri Hudler owns a five-game point streak (2-68) and has points in seven of the last eight games (3-710)Eric Manlow has a three-game point streak (2-35)Eric Himelfarb, who had a four-game point streak (2-24) snapped on Friday, contributed an assist on Saturday to give him points in six of nine contests (2-46). With 38 points (17-2138), he has tied Tomas Kopecky (2002-03) for third place on the Griffins single-season rookie scoring listBryan Helmer has points in five of the last seven games (2-35).

Milestones: Eric Manlow, who scored his 20th (Thurs.) and 21st (Fri.) goals of the season last week, notched his 100th AHL lamplighter on Friday. He also has 294 pro assists in 670 gamesJeff Panzer has 97 AHL/pro assists in 277 games.

League Leaders: Joey MacDonald stands among the leagues top goalies with a 2.29 GAA (T11th), a 0.926 save percentage (10th), five shutouts (T10th), 34 wins (4th), 66 games played (1st), 64 starts (1st), 3,754:40 minutes played (1st) and 1,785 saves (1st)Niklas Kronwall places among the AHLs top blueliners with 12 goals (T8th), 38 assists (T3rd) and 50 points (T2nd)Eric Himelfarb ranks among the circuits top rookies with 17 goals (T6th), 38 points (T10th), seven power play goals (T5th) and two shorthanded goals (T2nd)Darryl Bootland (329 PIM) and Peter Vandermeer (308 PIM) rank third and sixth, respectively, in sin-bin time.

This Weeks Scouting Report

Tue., April 12 at Milwaukee Admirals (45-22-4-5) Bradley Center 8 p.m.
TV: Comcast Local (ch. 23) at 8 p.m. Radio: WOOD 1300 AM at 7:59 p.m. Season Series: 4-3-0-0 Overall, 2-1-0-0 Road. Eighth and final meeting overall, fourth and final in Milwaukee. All-Time Series: 35-19-11-0 Overall, 14-11-9-0 Road. NHL Affiliation: Nashville Predators. Head Coach: Claude Noel (2nd season). Ships Ahoy: Despite consecutive losses, the defending Calder Cup champs are only four points behind Chicago in the chase for the West Division crownThe Wolves 2-0 win on Saturday broke Milwaukees five-game home point streak (3-0-1-1)The Griffins took a 4-3 overtime win at the Bradley Center on March 23Kip Miller leads all series scorers with six points (2-46)Joey MacDonald (1 SO, 1.99 GAA, 0.935%) and Brian Finley (1 SO, 1.75 GAA, 0.944%) have been spectacular in the season seriesNine of Milwaukees 14 series goals (64%) have come on the power play (9-for-40, 22.5%).

Fri., April 15 vs. Cincinnati Mighty Ducks (42-30-1-4) Van Andel Arena 7:30 p.m.
Sun., April 17 at Cincinnati Mighty Ducks - Cincinnati Gardens 5:05 p.m.
TV: None. Radio: WOOD 1300 AM at 7:10 p.m. (Fri.) and 4:40 p.m. (Sun.). Season Series: 5-3-0-0 Overall, 2-2-0-0 Home, 3-1-0-0 Road. Ninth and tenth of 10 meetings overall, fifth and final in both Grand Rapids and Cincinnati. All-Time Series: 21-9-2-0 Overall, 10-4-2-0 Home, 11-5-0-0 Road. NHL Affiliation: Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. Head Coach: Brad Shaw (3rd season). Just Ducky: Dating to last season, nine of the last 10 meetings between the Griffins and Ducks have been decided by one goalCincinnati has held off hard-charging Grand Rapids by winning three straight and six of the last sevenThe Ducks are 26-10-0-2 at home but just 16-20-1-2 on the roadThe Griffins broke a three-game series losing streak with a 3-2 win in the Queen City on Feb. 27.

Sat., April 16 vs. San Antonio Rampage (25-44-3-5) Van Andel Arena 7:30 p.m.
TV: None. Radio: WOOD 1300 AM at 7:10 p.m. Season Series: 6-1-0-0 Overall, 2-1-0-0 Home. Eighth and final meeting overall, fourth and final in Grand Rapids. All-Time Series: 18-8-1-0 Overall, 8-4-1-0 Home. NHL Affiliation: Florida Panthers. Head Coach: Steve Ludzik (2nd season). On a Rampage: The Griffins finished off a 4-0 road sweep of the Rampage with their 7-4 victory in San Antonio last Thursday, their fourth straight series winSan Antonio has lost eight straight and 12 of its last 13, and owns just a 3-19-1-1 record since Feb. 5Five of seven meetings this season have been decided by a single goalThe four goals scored by the Rampage in their 7-4 loss to the Griffins last Thursday marked their only output of more than one goal over their last 13 gamesGrand Rapids has scored on 12 of 44 power play chances (27.3%) in the series.