GRAND RAPIDS -- As the old saying goes--every dog has its day.
Wyoming native Brad Thompson has had a day, and then some, with the Grand Rapids Griffins. On Sunday, when the Griffins beat the Iowa Wild 5-2, the longtime equipment manager worked his 2,000th game with the organization.
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“I asked the guys before the game to make sure they won for me,” Thompson said. “So that I could walk away from this arena tonight a winner.”
“Dogg” has been part of the team since he was hired as an assistant equipment manager in Sept. 1997, right before the Griffins’ second season. He was promoted to the top job four years later. He received a loud ovation from the crowd in a wonderful pregame ceremony. Thompson admitted the relationship he has developed with the fans is something else.
“I probably met, I would say, 80% of those people one-on-one before in my life ... Like I’ve told people before, ‘If you don’t buy tickets, we don’t have a job, and I’m behind a desk pushing papers.’ So, I appreciate and I thank everyone that comes.”
Thompson has worked with numerous future and former NHLers over his 28 seasons with the franchise, working on the Griffins’ teams that won the American Hockey League’s Calder Cup in 2013 and 2017.
Thompson admitted there have been a lot of changes in his approach to the job.
“Sticks, back when I first started, were $45. Now, they’re $349 to $400 apiece ... Skates were $500, now they’re almost a grand.”
As for the game itself, there was plenty of nastiness that carried over from the Wild’s win over Grand Rapids on Friday night. This time, the Griffins took the play to Iowa for a full 60 minutes.
After not having a power play at all in the first game of the weekend, Grand Rapids made the most of its first two opportunities in the opening frame. Austin Watson slid a shot through the five-hole of Iowa’s Jesper Wallstedt for his third of the season a little past the halfway mark of the first.
The Wild tied the game at one a few minutes later, but GR had another chance on the man advantage late in the stanza. Just as the penalty was expiring Nate Danielson ripped a shot that was deflected in by Sheldon Dries for his sixth goal of the season, sending the Griffins into the break with a 2-1 lead.
Grand Rapids kept up the pressure in the second period with goals from Amadeus Lombardi and Jakub Rycholvsky, with Lombardi potting his team-leading eighth goal of the season.
The Griffins outshot the Wild 11-5 in the middle frame.
One more goal in the third iced the game for GR, helping them split the weekend set.
The standout performers from Sunday’s victory were the two new faces out of Czechia. Rychlovsky and Ondřej Becher both found the back of the net in the win, with Rycholvsky registering his third of the young season, while Becher scored his first pro goal in North America in the third.
Rychlovsky says having a fellow countryman in the locker room has made his adjustment to coming overseas easier.
“I’m happy he’s here,” Rycholvsky said. “It’s a little bit easier for us.”
Becher gave the majority of the credit for his goal to Rychlovsky, as the two have really gelled in the early months of the season.
“It’s amazing playing with [Rychlovsky],” Becher said. “We both speak the same language, so it’s easier for us. For my first goal tonight, all the effort goes to him. He just passed me the puck to a wide-open net ... all the great work to him.”
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Like Friday night’s battle between the Griffins and Wild, there was some chippiness that got a rise from the fans at Van Andel Arena, all of it coming in the second period.
A big hit from Elmer Soderblom on Iowa’s Ryan O’Rourke led to Austin Watson dropping the gloves with Reese Johnson. Later, a brief feud between GR’s William Lagesson and Adam Raska of the Wild culminated with a little wrestling match after the whistle...with Lagesson earning a proverbial win after Raska actually tapped out.
Grand Rapids outshot its opponent for the second time this season, outshooting the Wild 29-21. Ville Husso earned his fourth win of the season thanks to a 19-save performance. Wallstedt made 24 saves in his fifth regulation loss of the campaign.
The Griffins went 1-for-3 on the power play, while the Wild went 0-for-3.
The Griffins (11-4-1-0) are still first in the Central Division, three points ahead of the Milwaukee Admirals. With 25 points in 17 games, Grand Rapids has matched its second-best start to a season, equaling their early-season run in 2000-01, the team’s last season in the International Hockey League. The Wild (6-8-1-0) are tied with the Rockford IceHogs for fourth in the division.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Griffins get another week off before embarking on a three-game weekend, beginning Friday night when they host the Admirals.
The Nashville Predators’ primary affiliate is coming off dropping a pair of games to the Cleveland Monsters, and have lost four straight games.
Friday night will mark the third of eight matchups this season between the longtime rivals. Grand Rapids has won each of the first two meetings, including a 4-2 win in Milwaukee last Saturday.
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UPCOMING SCHEDULE (Home games in BOLD)
- Friday, Nov. 29 vs. Milwaukee Admirals (7 p.m. ET)
- Saturday, Nov. 30 @ Chicago Wolves (8 p.m. ET)
- Sunday, Dec. 1 vs. Cleveland Monsters (4 p.m. ET)
- Friday, Dec. 6 vs. Chicago Wolves (7 p.m. ET)
- Saturday, Dec. 7 @ Chicago Wolves (8 p.m. ET)
- Sunday, Dec. 8 @ Chicago Wolves (4 p.m. ET)
You can watch and listen to the Griffins all season long on AHL.TV
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Find AHL standings and results here