This Week’s Games

GRIFFINS at Hartford Wolf Pack // Wed., Oct. 30 // 7 p.m. // XL Center

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

Watch: AHLTV on FloHockey 

Season Series: First of two meetings overall, first and only at the XL Center

All-Time Series: 1-3-0-0 Overall, 0-2-0-0 Away

NHL Affiliation: New York Rangers 

Noteworthy: The Griffins will conclude their four-game road trip in Hartford in just the fifth all-time meeting against the Wolf Pack. The XL Center opened in 1975 as the Hartford Civic Center and served as the home of the NHL’s Hartford Whalers from 1979 to 1997. 

GRIFFINS vs. Rockford IceHogs // Fri., Nov. 1 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena

Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 7 p.m.

Watch: WXSP-TV at 7 p.m. and AHLTV on FloHockey 

Season Series: 0-1-0-0 Overall, 0-0-0-0 Home. Second of 12 meetings overall, first of six at Van Andel Arena 

All-Time Series: 67-48-11-11 Overall, 40-17-6-5 Home 

NHL Affiliation: Chicago Blackhawks 

Noteworthy: Entering the week, the IceHogs are the only team that has beaten the Griffins through the first seven games. Rockford took a 4-1 home win on Oct. 12, Grand Rapids’ second game of the season. 

GRIFFINS at Cleveland Monsters // Sun., Nov. 3 // 6:30 p.m. // Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse

Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 6:15 p.m. 

Watch: AHLTV on FloHockey 

Season Series: First of eight meetings overall, first of four at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse 

All-Time Series: 73-39-9-13 Overall, 31-21-5-10 Away 

NHL Affiliation: Columbus Blue Jackets 

Noteworthy: Last season, the Cleveland and Grand Rapids series was a tight affair, as five of the eight meetings were decided past regulation and both teams scored 25 goals.

Best Start Ever: The Griffins are off to their best start in franchise history with 12 points (6-1-0-0) through the first seven games, beating out their previous best of 11 points in 2008-09 (4-0-2-1) and in 2000-01 (5-1-1). Grand Rapids went undefeated while playing three games in three days last weekend, a feat it has accomplished only once before (April 5-7, 2002). The Griffins hadn’t swept a 3-in-3 in any venues since Dec. 29-31, 2017. Grand Rapids is also 3-0-0-0 at home for the first time since 2009-10, when it won its first eight games at Van Andel Arena. The Griffins have won with defense, as they have allowed one goal or less in four of the seven contests but have scored an average of just 2.57 goals per game (T21st).

Let’s Show Some Love to the Defense: The Griffins lead the AHL with just 1.57 goals allowed per game, as the 11 goals surrendered are the fewest in franchise history over the first seven games of a season. They allowed their previous low of 13 in 2004-05, and for comparison, ceded 22 goals in the opening seven games last year. Grand Rapids has allowed just one goal inside Van Andel Arena, which is the fewest over a three-game home stretch since it posted three straight shutouts from Dec. 30, 2006 to Jan. 10, 2007. The Griffins have surrendered one goal over a span of three home games for just the fifth time in team history and the first since Feb. 13-20, 2004. Dating back to last season, Grand Rapids has allowed just four goals in its last six regular-season games at Van Andel Arena. 

Loaded Ammo: Second-year pro Amadeus Lombardi has found a rhythm offensively, as he has four points (2-2—4) in his last two games. The 21-year-old logged his first two-goal game as a pro on Oct. 19 against Manitoba and later registered a career-high three points (2-1—3) last Saturday at Lehigh Valley. Lombardi is tied for the team lead with six points (4-2—6) and his four goals are tied for 11th in the AHL. Last season, the Aurora, Ontario, native scored just five goals in 70 games and finished the campaign with 26 points (5-21—26). 

Win by Committee: During this hot start for the Griffins, the team has used three different netminders to fuel the success. Sebastian Cossa leads the way with a 4-1-0 record with one shutout to go along with a 1.54 goals-against average and a .954 save percentage. Ville Husso has a 1-0-0 mark with one shutout in two games with a 0.70 GAA and a .970 save percentage. Rookie Carter Gylander made his AHL debut last Sunday and earned a 4-3 shootout victory, making 33 saves and stopping all three shootout attempts by Lehigh Valley. Combined, the trio has a 1.55 GAA and a .950 save percentage through seven outings.  

Criss-Cross Applesauce: Third-year pro Cross Hanas is on an active three-game point streak (2-1—3) and has goals in back-to-back outings for the first time since Nov. 11-12, 2022. An injury-riddled first year limited the forward to just 17 points (9-8—17) in 30 games, and then the 22-year-old struggled in his second year last season with 16 points (8-8—16) in 58 appearances. Through seven outings this campaign, Hanas has three points (2-1—3), six penalty minutes and a plus-two rating. Hanas was selected with the 55th overall pick by the Detroit Red Wings in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft. 

Austin Powers: Veteran Austin Watson is on a team-high three-game assist streak from Oct. 25-27. With six assists in the first seven games, the 32-year-old is tied for sixth in the AHL. Watson leads all veterans on the roster with 757 games played with 265 points (133-125—265). The former 18th overall pick in 2010 by Nashville has amassed 138 points (73-65—138) in 241 AHL contests and 118 points (60-58—118) in 516 NHL appearances.  

Milestones:
Last Friday at Springfield, Nate Danielson scored his first professional goal, while Gabriel Seger collected his first AHL goal during his debut. 
Tory Dello—One point from 50 as a pro and in the AHL 
Jakub Rychlovsky—Two games from 300 as a professional 
Dan Watson—Two games from 500 as a professional head coach

Back For More: Last season, Sebastian Cossa set a franchise record with a 19-game point streak (13-0-6), and tied both the franchise record home and road point streaks of 13 home games (9-0-4) and 10 road contests (8-0-2), respectively. Cossa continues to rewrite the record book, as he posted a 35-save shutout in the season opener on Oct. 11 against Milwaukee. He became the first Griffins goalie to post an opening-night shutout in 26 years, since Ian Gordon made 33 saves in a 2-0 win over Kansas City on Oct. 9, 1998. Through five outings this year, the 21-year-old has a 4-1-0 mark with a 1.54 goals-against average and a .954 save percentage. 

The Watson Supercomputer: Dan Watson was named the 12th head coach in franchise history on June 14, 2023, and is in his second season at the helm. Last campaign, Watson became the ninth head coach in franchise history to lead the Griffins to the postseason during his first full season behind the bench, joining Dave Allison (1996-97), Bruce Cassidy (2000-01), Danton Cole (2002-03), Greg Ireland (2005-06), Curt Fraser (2008-09), Jeff Blashill (2012-13), Todd Nelson (2015-16) and Ben Simon (2018-19). On April 27, 2024 in a 3-2 overtime victory at Rockford, he also joined seven other head coaches who won their first postseason game behind the Griffins’ bench. Watson became the eighth of the last nine Griffins head coaches to win his first playoff series, defeating the IceHogs 3-1 in the 2024 Central Division Semifinals. In his first year at the helm, Watson led the Griffins to a second-place finish in the Central Division with a 37-23-8-4 record and 86 points, the team’s best finish since the 2016-17 campaign. As a head coach, the Glencoe, Ontario, native possesses a 315-136-30-17 (.680) ledger during the regular season and a 56-38 (.596) mark over only six playoff campaigns. With the Griffins, Watson has a 43-24-8-4 (.620) mark overall and a 26-7-4-2 (.744) record at home. 

Roster Breakdown: Twenty players (forwards Nate Danielson, Alex Doucet, Sheldon Dries, Cross Hanas, Amadeus Lombardi, Carter Mazur, Jakub Rychlovsky, Joe Snively, Elmer Soderblom, and Austin Watson; defensemen Shai Buium, Tory Dello, William Lagesson, Brogan Rafferty, Antti Tuomisto, Eemil Viro and William Wallinder; goaltenders Sebastian Cossa, Carter Gylander, and Ville Husso) on the roster are under contract with the Red Wings, while five players (forwards Carson Bantle, Hunter Johannes, Gabriel Seger and Dominik Shine; and defenseman Josiah Didier) are playing on a Griffins contract. Ten players are Red Wings draft picks (Cossa, Danielson, Gylander, Hanas, Lombardi, Mazur, Soderblom, Tuomisto, Viro, and Wallinder). 

Young Guns: The Griffins have seven players who are considered rookies this season, including forwards Carson Bantle, Nate Danielson, Alex Doucet, Jakub Rychlovsky, and Gabriel Seger, defenseman Shai Buium, and goaltender Carter Gylander.

Oldies but Goodies: The Griffins’ roster features five veterans including forwards Sheldon Dries, Dominik Shine and Austin Watson, and defensemen Josiah Didier and William Lagesson. A player receives veteran status if he has competed in at least 261 games in the NHL, AHL or European elite leagues. Watson leads all veterans with 757 professional games played, while Didier (460) ranks second and Shine (428) places third. 

Pour Me A Draft: The Griffins’ roster is stocked with high-end draft picks from previous years. The roster features three former first rounders in Sebastian Cossa (15th overall in 2021), Nate Danielson (9th overall in 2023), and Austin Watson (18th in 2010). In addition, Grand Rapids is highlighted with four former second-round picks, including Shai Buium (36th in 2021), Cross Hanas (55th in 2020), Antti Tuomisto (35th in 2019), and William Wallinder (32nd in 2020). The Griffins’ roster also includes two third-round picks from Detroit in Carter Mazur (70th in 2021) and Eemil Viro (70th in 2020), and 17 draft picks total. 

Across the Atlantic We Go: The Detroit Red Wings have a rich tradition of possessing some of the top talent to come out of Sweden, such as Niklas Kronwall and Nicklas Lidstrom, and more recently Lucas Raymond. This year is no different, as the NHL franchise has sent down a handful of Swedes to the Griffins. In fact, four players are Swedish natives, including Gabriel Seger, William Lagesson, Elmer Soderblom and William Wallinder. Grand Rapids also features three Finnish players in Ville Husso, Antti Tuomisto and Eemil Viro, and one player hailing from Czechia in Jakub Rychlovsky. 

Photo by Cleveland Monsters