This Week’s Games
Texas Stars at GRIFFINS // Wed., Oct. 17 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena
Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 6:35 p.m.
Watch: AHLTV
Season Series: 0-0-0-0 Home, 0-1-0-0 Overall. Second of eight meetings overall, first of four at Van Andel Arena
All-Time Series: 13-5-0-3 Home, 25-13-2-3 Overall
NHL Affiliation: Dallas Stars
Noteworthy: Since the 2013-14 season, the Griffins are 15-6-1-1 in 23 games overall against the Stars.

Chicago Wolves at GRIFFINS // Sat., Oct. 20 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena
Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 6:35 p.m.
Watch: AHLTV
Season Series: 0-0-0-0 Home, 0-1-0-0 Overall. Second of eight meetings overall, first of four at Van Andel Arena
All-Time Series: 40-25-2-4-2 Home, 81-57-2-6-3 Overall
NHL Affiliation: Vegas Golden Knights
Noteworthy: Chicago won the first matchup of the season last Saturday, 5-1.

Last Week’s Results
Fri., Oct. 12 Hershey Bears 3 at GRIFFINS 6 1-2-0-0 (2 points, T5th Central Division)
Sat., Oct. 13 GRIFFINS 1 at Chicago Wolves 5 1-3-0-0 (2 points, T5th Central)

Status Update: The Grand Rapids 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 on Wednesday and the Wolves on Saturday.

Follow the Leader(s):
Points: Carter Camper and Matt Puempel (3)
Goals: Filip Zadina (2)
Assists: Camper, Puempel, Chris Terry (2)
Plus-Minus: Jake Chelios (+1)
PIM: Turner Elson (14)
Wins: Harri Sateri (1)
GAA: Sateri (3.03)
Save %: Sateri (0.873)

Last Week’s Notes:
Friday vs. Hershey – Grand Rapids picked up its first win of the season and scored six goals after combining for one in its first two games...Ben Simon earned his first victory as head coach of the Griffins...Rookie Filip Zadina scored his first two career AHL goals...Rookie David Pope made his pro debut and registered an assist...First-year Griffin Carter Camper collected two assists to go along with the game-winning goal...First-year Griffin Wade Megan potted his first goal of the season...Harri Sateri notched his first win between the pipes for Grand Rapids...Thanks to a crowd of 10,834, the Griffins sold out their 23rd consecutive home opener...Grand Rapids is 13-9-0-1 all time in home openers...The Griffins’ six goals were the most in a home opener since burying six in a 6-4 win vs. Hamilton on Oct. 25, 2008...Grand Rapids has won six of its last seven when playing in front of a sold-out home crowd...Grand Rapids is 8-1 all time against Hershey.
Saturday at Chicago – 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.

This Week’s Promotions: Wednesday against Texas will be a Winning Wednesday presented by Farm Bureau Insurance. Every time the Griffins win at home on Wednesday, each fan in attendance will receive a free ticket to the next Wednesday game. On Saturday against Chicago, the first 5,000 fans will receive a 2019 Griffins calendar, courtesy of Fox Motors. Read more here.

Z-Scores: 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.

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.

Happy Camper: First-year Griffin Carter Camper posted a team-high three points in last Friday’s 6-3 victory, scoring the game-winning goal and adding a pair of assists. 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.

First Things First: A pair of former Griffins picked up their first NHL goals last week. Filip Hronek, who was named to the AHL All-Rookie Team last season, scored a power play goal at 0:21 of the third period in Detroit’s 8-2 loss at Boston on Saturday. Ben Street, who led Grand Rapids with 65 points last season and was a key member in the 2017 Calder Cup run, lit the lamp at 14:39 of the second period to tie the game in Anaheim’s 3-2 shootout loss to Arizona on Wednesday.

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.

Griff’s Georgetown Grand Reopening: Griffins fans and the West Michigan community are invited to attend the grand reopening of Griff’s Georgetown, located at 8500 48th Ave. in Hudsonville, on Sunday, Oct. 21, from 1-3 p.m. Admission is free. Those attending will have the chance to watch the Griffins practice on the blue rink from 1-1:45 p.m. and then receive autographs from their favorite players in the lobby from 2:20-3 p.m. Throughout the two-hour open house, a free open skate will be held on the red rink, Griff and Finn will be available for photo opportunities, free hot dogs and soda will be offered (while supplies last), and guests can win Griffins prizes by playing hockey-themed games. Read more here.

Simon Says: Ben Simon is in his first season as Grand Rapids’ head coach after being named the 11th head coach in franchise history on June 5. Simon spent the previous three seasons as an assistant with the Griffins under Todd Nelson, who was hired by the Dallas Stars as an assistant coach in May. During Simon’s three seasons as a Grand Rapids assistant, the Griffins posted the third-most regular season victories in the AHL and won 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 Danton Cole (2002-05).

Assistant to Head: Ben Simon is the fourth former Griffins assistant to then become the head coach. The previous three, Danton Cole, Greg Ireland and Todd Nelson, all qualified for the postseason in their first full campaign. After serving as an assistant from 1999-2001, Cole led Grand Rapids to a 48-22-8-2 record and a first-place division finish as the head coach in 2002-03. Ireland served as an assistant from 2003-05 before helping the club to a franchise-record 55 victories and the league’s best record in 2005-06. Nelson assisted the Griffins in 2002-03 and guided the team to a fourth-place finish in the Central Division in 2015-16.

Texas Notes: 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…Wednesday marks the second of eight meetings this season between Grand Rapids and Texas…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.

Chicago Notes: Chicago has won six straight in the series, including a 5-1 victory last Saturday in the first of eight matchups in 2018-19…Chicago has won back-to-back regular season Central Division titles…However, from 2016-18, the Wolves combined to post a 69-36-11-8 record (0.633) against division foes, while the Griffins framed a 71-37-2-8 mark (0.644) during that stretch…Grand Rapids finished 10-7-0-1 against Chicago during the past two seasons…Griffins first-year 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 with Chicago from 2016-18…Megan paced the AHL with 33 goals during his first season with the Wolves in 2016-17…First-year Griffin Jake Chelios made his AHL debut with Chicago on April 11, 2014 at Iowa and went on to skate in 45 games with the Wolves from 2013-15 and picked up 16 points (1-15—16).

Photo at top by Sam Iannamico