This Week’s Games

GRIFFINS (29-22-4-2) vs. Hartford Wolf Pack (24-27-5-2) // Wed., March 12 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena

Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM & 1300 AM at 6:45 p.m.

Watch: AHLTV on FloHockey 

Season Series: 0-0-1-0 Overall, 0-0-0-0 Home. Second of two meetings overall, first and only at Van Andel Arena

All-Time Series: 1-3-1-0 Overall, 1-1-0-0 Home

NHL Affiliation: New York Rangers

Noteworthy: The Griffins will host Hartford for just the third time in franchise history. The last Van Andel Arena meeting was on Dec. 16, 2022, with the Wolf Pack taking a 6-4 victory.     

GRIFFINS vs. Milwaukee Admirals (30-18-4-5) // Fri., March 14 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena

Listen: 96.1 The Game at 6:45 p.m.

Watch: AHLTV on FloHockey 

Season Series: 3-4-0-0 Overall, 2-1-0-0 Home. Eighth of eight meetings overall, fourth of four at Van Andel Arena

All-Time Series: 116-87-7-9-8 Overall, 63-40-2-3-3 Home

NHL Affiliation: Nashville Predators

Noteworthy: The Admirals, who sit in first place in the Central Division, are in search of their second straight division title. Entering the week, Milwaukee is in front of Texas by two points but has played three more games. Last season, the Admirals won the division by 11 points with a 47-22-2-1 record (.674).   

GRIFFINS at Rockford IceHogs (24-25-5-1) // Sat., March 15 // 8 p.m. EDT // BMO Center

Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM & 1300 AM at 7:45 p.m. EDT

Watch: AHLTV on FloHockey 

Season Series: 3-2-0-0 Overall, 1-1-0-0 Away. Sixth of 12 meetings overall, third of six at the BMO Center

All-Time Series: 70-49-11-11 Overall, 28-31-5-6 Away

NHL Affiliation: Chicago Blackhawks

Noteworthy: The Griffins will play four of their final six road games against the IceHogs. Over the final 13 games of the regular season, Grand Rapids will meet Rockford seven times.  

Need to Flip the Script: After going 3-7-1-0 in the month of February, the Griffins have started March with a 1-2-0-1 mark, collecting their only victory in a shootout at Manitoba on March 5. This stretch of games has seen the team fall to third place in the Central Division after being in first or a tie for first from Nov. 8-Feb. 7. However, the team now has points in five of its last eight games (3-3-1-1) and is just three points out of second place in the division. The Griffins have averaged 2.38 goals in their last 16 contests while allowing 3.81 tallies. In the last eight games, Grand Rapids has averaged 3.25 goals while allowing 3.88. Scoring at least three goals has been key for Grand Rapids, as it has a 24-2-0-1 mark (.907) when reaching at least three goals and a 5-20-4-1 (.250) record when it fails to do so. The defense, a usual strong spot for the Griffins, has allowed 3.15 goals per game since the start of the calendar year but is still ninth overall with 2.82 goals allowed per game this season. In addition to falling into third place in the division, Grand Rapids is now eighth in the Western Conference and 18th in the AHL with a 29-22-4-2 record and 64 points through 57 games. At the start of February, the Griffins were first in the division, second in the conference and fifth in the AHL.

Trouble at Home: The Griffins endured a season-high four-game losing skid at home from Jan. 31-Feb. 19, and have been outscored 27-12 in their last seven home outings (1-4-1-1). Grand Rapids is 13-10-2-2 inside Van Andel Arena this year with a minus-two scoring margin (75-73). The four-game skid marked the first time the Griffins dropped four straight at home since they lost six in a row from Jan. 15-Feb. 4, 2022. Last season, the team finished with a 23-7-4-2 mark at home with a plus-31 scoring margin (111-80), which included a franchise-record 19-game home point streak (14-0-3-2) from Jan. 13-April 5. Grand Rapids will play seven of its next eight games at Van Andel Arena.

If You Build It, They Will Come: The Griffins enjoyed their third consecutive sellout on March 1, which marked the first time the team sold out three straight games in a single season since 2008-09, when they saw four straight capacity crowds at Van Andel Arena from March 15-April 10, 2009. The Griffins have five sell outs this season and rank sixth in the AHL with an average attendance of 7,729. 

No Ordinary Joe: As the team deals with a cold stretch and loss of offensive production, Joe Snively has been a bright spot for the squad as of late. Snively registered two points (1-1—2) in three games last week and now has five points (2-3—5) in his last six games. With a tally last Wednesday, Snively secured his first-career 20-goal season, beating out his previous career high of 15 in 2021-22 with the Hershey Bears. In addition to his career-best 20 goals, the 29-year-old has also bagged a career-high seven power-play goals. Snively (20-17—37 in 57 GP) ranks among the team leaders in points (T1st), assists (6th), goals (1st), power-play goals (1st), and power-play assists (T4th). Snively is in search of his third straight Calder Cup, which would put him in rare company, as only 11 players in league history have won three consecutive cups in the AHL and no one has reached this feat since the 1978 season.

Criss-Cross Applesauce: After being held without a goal in 21 straight games from Dec. 17-Feb. 15, Cross Hanas broke his drought on Feb. 25 at Texas and now has three goals in his last six games. He is also on a three-game point streak (2-1—3), which is tied for his season high (Oct. 25-27). Through 51 appearances this season, the third-year pro has 16 points (9-7—16), 26 penalty minutes and a plus-two rating, tying his career-high mark of nine goals set during his rookie campaign in 2022-23. Hanas, selected with the 55th overall pick by the Detroit Red Wings in 2020, has 49 points (26-23—49) in 139 pro games with Grand Rapids. Prior to turning pro, the 23-year-old spent parts of four seasons in the Western Hockey League with the Portland Winterhawks from 2018-22, showing a combined 161 points (58-103—161) in 196 regular-season outings.

Nate The Great: Nate Danielson, the ninth overall pick by Detroit in 2023, tied his season high of a four-game point streak from Feb. 14-21 and now has eight points (4-4—8) in his last 11 games. He has had a promising rookie season with 30 points (8-22—30), 31 penalty minutes and a plus-three rating in 56 appearances. In addition to ranking fourth in points and tied for second in assists on the team, Danielson ranks 11th among AHL rookies in assists (22) and is tied for the league lead in short-handed assists (4). Prior to turning pro, the 20-year-old spent four seasons in the WHL with Brandon (2020-24) and Portland (2023-24), producing a combined 217 points (83-134—217) in 199 career games.   

Seabass Fishing: Netminder Sebastian Cossa is on a four-game point streak (2-0-2) and has points in five of his last six appearances (3-1-2) from Feb. 14-March 5. Through 32 games this season, the 6-foot-7 goaltender has a 17-10-5 record with a 2.36 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage. Cossa, the 15th overall pick in 2021 by Detroit, ranks among the league leaders in games played (T6th), minutes played (1905:33, 7th), GAA (T8th), wins (T8th), and save percentage (8th). As a rookie last year, he set a franchise record with a 19-game point streak overall from Jan. 19-April 5 (13-0-6). He also tied the franchise records for the longest home point streak (9-0-4, Jan. 24-April 5) and road point streak (8-0-2, Dec. 27-April 17). 

A Few Loose Ends: Despite allowing 4.00 goals per game in the month of February, the Griffins’ defense has been a bright spot for the team this season. Grand Rapids ranks ninth in the AHL with 2.82 goals allowed per contest but has averaged 3.15 goals against since the start of the calendar year. At the start of February, the Griffins ranked first in the AHL with 2.43 goals allowed per game. Sebastian Cossa has shown a 2.36 GAA and .914 save percentage through 32 games, and Jack Campbell has a 3.01 GAA and an .882 save percentage in 11 appearances. Dating back to last season, Grand Rapids has allowed 78 goals in its last 30 regular-season games at Van Andel Arena (2.60 GA per game).

Power Outage: Grand Rapids is 6-for-66 (9.1%) on the man-advantage in its last 17 games. However, the power play has scored in three of the last six games (3-for-23, 13.0%) and is 5-for-35 in its last eight outings (14.3%). The power play has quickly fallen into 28th place on the circuit at 15.9% (32-for-201) after being ranked 10th at the beginning of February (18.7%). If you break it down further, Grand Rapids’ home power play is 15-for-87 (17.2%, T21st) and its road power play is 17-for-114 (14.9%, 29th). The Griffins have given up eight short-handed goals, which is tied for the eighth most. The Griffins’ penalty kill has gone 18-for-20 (90.0%) in its last six games but has allowed a power-play goal in nine of the previous 16 games (42-for-55 on PK, 76.4%) and in 15 of its last 25 outings (69-for-88 on PK, 78.4%). The Griffins have the third-fewest penalty minutes this season at 600 ahead of just Hershey (592) and Coachella Valley (571). The penalty kill ranks 11th at 83.1% after starting the month of February in seventh place at 85.1%. Grand Rapids has scored seven short-handed tallies, which is tied for 11th in the AHL. When scoring on the power play, the Griffins are 17-5-2-2 and 10-14-2-1 when they allow a power-play goal.

AHL Leaderboard Tracker:
Shai Buium—Tied for eighth among rookie defensemen in assists (19), 13th among rookie defensemen in points (20), tied for 12th among rookie defensemen in power-play assists (5)
Sebastian Cossa—Seventh in minutes played (1,905:33), tied for sixth in games played (32), tied for eighth in GAA (2.36), tied for eighth in wins (17), eighth in save percentage (.914)
Nate Danielson—Tied for 11th among rookies in assists (22), tied for first in short-handed assists (4), first among rookies in short-handed assists (4), 15th in shots (104)
Josiah Didier—Tied for fifth in short-handed assists (2), tied for second among defensemen in short-handed assists (2)
Alex Doucet—Tied for second among rookies in short-handed goals (2) 
Sheldon Dries—Tied for sixth in game-winners (6)
Austin Watson—First in major penalties (10)

Milestones:
On Saturday at Chicago, William Wallinder competed in his 300th pro game and Sheldon Dries registered his 100th assist in the AHL.   
Jack Campbell—One game from 450 as a pro 
Sheldon Dries—Two goals from 150 as a pro
Cross Hanas—One point from 50 as a pro
x Dominik Shine—One unassisted goal from claiming the franchise record of 11 in a career, one goal from moving into a tie for ninth place in the franchise’s all-time goals scored list (Derek King, 73)

Photo by Brianna Nevins/Admirals