This Week’s Games
Iowa Wild at GRIFFINS // Wed., April 10 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena
Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 6:35 p.m.
Watch: AHLTV
Season Series: 0-0-1-1 Home, 2-1-1-1 Overall. Sixth of six meetings overall, third of three at Van Andel Arena
All-Time Series: 14-5-1-2 Home, 31-11-1-2 Overall
NHL Affiliation: Minnesota Wild
Noteworthy: In the last meeting on March 26 at Iowa, Brian Lashoff recorded a career-high three points (1-2—3) and Grand Rapids scored the game’s final three goals on its way to a 5-2 victory.

Manitoba Moose at GRIFFINS // Fri., April 12 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena
Listen: ESPN 96.1 FM at 6:35 p.m.
Watch: AHLTV
Season Series: 3-0-0-0 Home, 6-1-0-0 Overall. Eighth of eight meetings overall, fourth of four at Van Andel Arena
All-Time Series: 32-12-1-1-5 Home, 62-29-1-1-7 Overall
NHL Affiliation: Winnipeg Jets
Noteworthy: Grand Rapids has claimed 11 of the last 12 regular season meetings against Manitoba, including five in a row.

GRIFFINS at Milwaukee Admirals // Sat., April 13 // 7 p.m. EDT // UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena
Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 6:35 p.m.
Watch: AHLTV
Season Series: 3-1-0-0 Road, 6-2-0-1 Overall. Tenth of 10 meetings overall, fifth of five at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena
All-Time Series: 45-33-5-5-5 Road, 98-63-7-7-8 Overall
NHL Affiliation: Nashville Predators
Noteworthy: The Griffins have won five of the last six games over Milwaukee while also showing points in nine of the last 11.

Last Week’s Results
Wed., April 3 GRIFFINS 1 at Ontario Reign 3 38-23-6-4 (86 points, 2nd Central Division)
Fri., April 5 GRIFFINS 1 at San Jose Barracuda 3 38-24-6-4 (86 points, 2nd Central)
Sat., April 6 GRIFFINS 4 at San Jose Barracuda 5 OT 38-24-7-4 (87 points, 2nd Central)

Status Update: The Grand Rapids Griffins’ magic number to extend their franchise-record Calder Cup Playoff streak to seven years stands at one point. With Chicago already having clinched the Central Division, Grand Rapids is in sole possession of second place with a 38-24-7-4 record and 87 points, leading Milwaukee by four. The Griffins will look to snap a six-game winless streak (0-5-1-0) as they head into the regular season’s final week. Grand Rapids’ lineup will receive a boost after the Detroit Red Wings assigned eight players to the Griffins on Sunday.

Playoff Push: The Griffins’ magic number to clinch a playoff berth stands at one point. Grand Rapids can clinch by any combination of: one point earned in any of its final three regular season games; or one point lost by either Iowa or Manitoba in any of their final three games; or a Milwaukee regulation loss tonight vs. Rockford. Should the Griffins secure their spot, it will extend their franchise-record postseason streak to seven years and mark the 17th time in the franchise’s 23-year history they have qualified for the league’s playoffs (includes IHL). Ben Simon is seeking to become the eighth 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) and Todd Nelson (2015-16).

Follow the Leader(s):
Points: Chris Terry (61)
Goals: Terry (29)
Assists: Carter Camper (33)
Plus-Minus: Vili Saarijarvi (+19)
PIM: Dylan McIlrath (94)
Wins: Harri Sateri (22)
GAA: Patrik Rybar (2.28)
Save %: Rybar (0.916)

Last Week’s Notes:
Wednesday at Ontario – Grand Rapids dropped the second-ever meeting between the teams and the first at Ontario...Wade Megan recorded his 18th goal of the season while on the power play at 3:53 of the third period...The Griffins outshot Ontario 41-31...Patrik Rybar notched 28 saves while appearing in his fourth consecutive game...Troy Loggins, a native of Huntington Beach, Calif., made his professional debut...Ontario marked the 53rd different road city and Citizens Business Bank Arena the 64th different road venue the Griffins have competed in since the franchise’s inception in 1996. Recap | Highlights

Friday at San Jose – Grand Rapids lost in regulation at San Jose for the first time ever in the regular season...Troy Loggins, skating in his second pro game, banked his first goal at 4:06 of the second period...Patrik Rybar recorded 27 saves while appearing in his fifth consecutive game...Defenseman Eric Sweetman, signed to a professional tryout earlier in the day, made his AHL debut with the Griffins...Turner Elson played in his 300th AHL game. Recap

Saturday at San Jose – Axel Holmstrom (PP, 12), Chris Terry (PP, 29), Colin Campbell (SH, 8) and Libor Sulak (5) tallied goals…Campbell notched the team’s fourth shorthanded goal of the campaign…Pat Nagle made his first AHL appearance between the pipes since April 3, 2015 with Rochester and first with the Griffins since Jan. 23, 2015 vs. Utica…The Griffins’ lineup was missing 10 regulars due to either recall to Detroit (Jake Chelios, Christoffer Ehn, Martin Frk, Joe Hicketts, Filip Hronek, Dylan McIlrath, Matt Puempel and Dominic Turgeon) or injury (Matthew Ford and Harri Sateri)…Grand Rapids was involved in its 22nd game of the season tied after regulation, extending its single-season franchise record. Recap

Current Playoff Picture:
CENTRAL DIVISION

The Boys are Back in Town: The Detroit Red Wings on Sunday assigned defensemen Jake Chelios, Joe Hicketts, Filip Hronek and Dylan McIlrath, and forwards Christoffer Ehn, Martin Frk, Matt Puempel and Dominic Turgeon to the Grand Rapids Griffins.

Friendly Confines: The Griffins are averaging 8,122 fans per game with two home games remaining. Grand Rapids is on track to finish with an increase over last season (7,960 avg.) and post an average of 8,000+ for the fifth time in the last six seasons.

(Don’t) Put It In Reverse Terr: Chris Terry became the 96th player in AHL history to amass 500 or more points when he tallied an assist on Turner Elson’s power play goal on March 31. With 29 goals (T9th in AHL) and 61 points (T12th) – both team highs – Terry has reached the 60-point mark for the sixth time in his AHL career.

AHL's Active Goal Leaders:
1) Chris Bourque (BRI) - 250
2) Chris Mueller (TOR) - 222
3) Chris Terry - 212

AHL's Active Point Leaders:
1) Chris Bourque (BRI) - 744
2) T.J. Hensick (SJ) - 587
3) Cal O'Reilly (IA) - 577
4) Travis Morin (TEX) - 561
5) Chris Conner (LV) - 528
6) Chris Mueller (TOR) - 527
7) Chris Terry - 501

Griffins to Wings: A total of 14 players have skated in games for both the Griffins and Red Wings this season.
Jake Chelios – DET: 5 GP, 17:12 avg., 0-0—0, even, 2 PIM // GR: 59 GP, 1-13—14, +17, 22 PIM
Dennis Cholowski – DET: 52 GP, 18:15 avg., 7-9—16, -20, 16 PIM // GR: 22 GP, 0-10—10, +4, 10 PIM
Christoffer Ehn – DET: 60 GP, 10:36 avg., 3-6—9, -5, 6 PIM // GR: 14 GP, 2-5—7, +6, 8 PIM
Martin Frk – DET: 30 GP, 9:11 avg., 1-5—6, -9, 4 PIM // GR: 10 GP, 4-9—13, +12, 6 PIM
Joe Hicketts – DET: 11 GP, 18:35 avg., 0-0—0, -9, 0 PIM // GR: 61 GP, 3-24—27, +5, 50 PIM
Filip Hronek – DET: 46 GP, 19:57 avg., 5-18—23, -10, 30 PIM // GR: 28 GP, 7-16—23, +4, 45 PIM
Brian Lashoff – DET: 4 GP, 13:39 avg., 0-1—1, -1, 2 PIM // GR: 50 GP, 1-13—14, +9, 25 PIM
Dylan McIlrath – DET: 7 GP, 15:11 avg., 0-0—0, +2, 4 PIM // GR: 49 GP, 1-8—9, +12, 94 PIM
Wade Megan – DET: 11 GP, 7:52 avg., 0-1—1, -4, 2 PIM // GR: 46 GP, 18-18—36, +9, 42 PIM
Matt Puempel – DET: 8 GP, 10:24 avg., 1-0—1, -2, 2 PIM // GR: 59 GP, 24-26—50, +6, 38 PIM
Michael Rasmussen – DET: 62 GP, 12:04 avg., 8-10—18, -8, 29 PIM // GR (conditioning stint): 3 GP, 2-0—2, even, 0 PIM
Libor Sulak – DET: 6 GP, 19:22 avg., 0-0—0, -4, 6 PIM // GR: 60 GP, 5-9—14, -7, 42 PIM
Dominic Turgeon – DET: 4 GP, 12:35 avg., 0-0—0, -3, 0 PIM // GR: 69 GP, 6-13—19, even, 39 PIM
Filip Zadina – DET: 9 GP, 15:23 avg., 1-2—3, -5, 0 PIM // GR: 56 GP, 16-18—34, -16, 18 PIM

Griffins to Wings, II: Of the 38 players to play for the Red Wings this season, 27 had spent time in Grand Rapids at some point during their careers.

Sharing the Wealth: Chris Terry (29-32—61), Matt Puempel (24-26—50) and Carter Camper (17-33—50) have all hit the 50-point plateau to mark the third consecutive season the Griffins have boasted at least three players with 50 or more points.

One Last Time: The Griffin post a 9-12-0-1 record all time in the final game of the regular season, including a 5-8-0-1 mark when it is played on the road. In the 13 times Grand Rapids has dropped the last game, the Griffins have gone on to the postseason 10 times and posted a 50-50 playoff mark. In the nine times Grand Rapids has been victorious to close out the season, the Griffins have continued onto the playoffs six times and tallied a 46-29 mark.

Home Cooking: The Griffins have just two more games left at Van Andel Arena in the regular season. Despite a recent four-game winless streak at home (0-3-1-0), Grand Rapids shows a 22-8-3-3 overall mark inside friendly confines and ranks among the league’s home leaders with 22 wins (T9th), 50 points (T6th) and a 0.694 points percentage (T5th). The Griffins have won 20 or more home games for the seventh straight season. Grand Rapids is a +19 in goal differential at home while averaging 3.14 goals and operating at 18.47% on the power play, compared to –12, 2.70 and 10.96% on the road. Chris Terry (14-20—34), Carter Camper (12-19—31) and Matt Puempel (12-15—27) lead the team in scoring at home. Harri Sateri is 13-2-2 at Van Andel Arena with a 2.42 GAA and a 0.909 save percentage while Patrik Rybar is 9-6-4 with a 2.35 GAA and a 0.914 save mark.

Wade For It: In 32 GP in 2019, Wade Megan leads Grand Rapids with 29 points and 15 goals while placing fourth with 14 assists and tying for fourth with a plus-seven rating. He has produced 12 points (5-7—12) in his last 14 outings.

Page Turner: Sixth-year pro Turner Elson has set new career highs this season in both points (38) and assists (21) and tied his career best in goals with 17.

Frkin’ Right: Prior to being recalled by Detroit on March 28, Martin Frk was on a six-game point streak (3-6—9) with the Griffins, which is one off his AHL career high.

Rybar Supports: Patrik Rybar, in his first season in North America, ranks third in the league with 2.28 GAA and in his last 15 appearances he shows a 2.10 GAA, a 0.925 save percentage and two clean sheets.

You’re a Wizard, Harri: Harri Sateri has points in eight of his last nine decisions (5-1-3) and in his last 18 games he is 11-3-3 with a 2.35 GAA and a 0.915 save percentage. With 22 victories – which tie for 13th in the AHL – the Finnish netminder has reached the 20-win mark for the first time in his AHL career.

Steady Presence: Brian Lashoff’s 450 games played rank first among active players who’ve spent their entire AHL career with the same team and are 13th all time.

Free Hockey: The Griffins have been involved in 22 games this season that have been tied after regulation, setting a single-season franchise record. The 2008-09 and 2006-07 teams both played 20 games tied after 60 minutes. The Griffins are 5-7 in overtime this season and 6-4 in a shootout.

Griffins in General: Grand Rapids needs two wins and three points to reach 40 and 90, respectively, for the seventh consecutive season...The Griffins were the second team in the Western Conference to reach 80 points following a 2-1 shootout win at San Antonio on March 19...Grand Rapids became the first in the West to hit the 70-point plateau after a 4-3 shootout win against Texas on Feb. 22...The Griffins became the fifth team in the league this season to reach 30 victories after a 3-2 overtime win vs. San Antonio on Feb. 16...Grand Rapids achieved 30 Ws or more in its first 53 games for the sixth time in the last seven seasons...The Griffins’ 3-0 win against Milwaukee on Jan. 19 marked the franchise’s 950th all-time regular season victory…Grand Rapids is 965-653-27-58-112 (0.586) in the regular season since 1996-97…Grand Rapids’ 305 regular season wins and 661 points since the 2012-13 campaign are both the second-most in the AHL in that time, trailing only Toronto (316 / 684) and just ahead of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (303 / 655).

Milestones Within Reach:
Brian Lashoff – needs two points to reach 100 as a Griffin/in the AHL
Wade Megan – needs four goals to reach 100 in the AHL
Derek Hulak – needs two points to reach 100 in the AHL
Colin Campbell – needs two points to reach 100 as a Griffin
Matthew Ford – needs three points to reach 100 as a Griffin, needs four goals to reach 200 in the AHL
Harri Sateri – needs four games played to reach 200 in the AHL

Iowa Notes: Current record 34-26-8-5, 81 points, T4th Central Division…The Wild are on an eight-game winless streak (0-7-1-0)…16 of the last 23 meetings between the teams have been decided by one goal, including 10 that have been tied after regulation…In the last 23 meetings, Grand Rapids is outscoring Iowa 68-65…The Griffins have outshot the Wild 171-115 (34.2 avg.-23.0 avg.) in five games this season…In the last meeting on March 26 at Iowa, Brian Lashoff recorded a career-high three points (1-2—3) and Grand Rapids scored the game’s final three goals on its way to a 5-2 victory…In the last matchup at Van Andel Arena on March 8, Matt Bartkowski scored at 4:08 of overtime to give the Wild a 4-3 win…The Griffins won 20 of the first 24 all-time games against the Wild and are 11-7-1-2 since…In the last 10 meetings at Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids is 4-3-1-2…Chris Terry (3-2—5 in 5 GP) leads the team in the season series…Between the pipes, Patrik Rybar is 1-1-1 with a 2.88 GAA and a 0.878 save percentage, and Harri Sateri is 1-0-1 with a 2.90 GAA and a 0.850 save percentage…The teams are matching up six times this season, the fewest meetings since playing only four times in 2014-15…The Griffins and Wild are in their sixth season playing each other and Grand Rapids has never finished with a 0.500 mark or below in the season series.

Manitoba Notes: Current record 37-29-5-2, 81 points, T4th Central Division…Grand Rapids has claimed 11 of the last 12 regular season meetings against Manitoba, including five in a row…In the last 12 matchups, the Griffins are outscoring the Moose 38-18…Grand Rapids is 3-0 against Manitoba at Van Andel Arena this season but all three contests have been decided by one goal, including the first two matchups that went into overtime…The Griffins have won four straight over Manitoba at the Van…Since the Moose rejoined the AHL in 2015-16 following a four-year hiatus, the Griffins are 18-5 vs. Manitoba, including 9-2 at Van Andel Arena and 9-3 at Bell MTS Place…Chris Terry has six goals among 10 points in six games this season, both of which are the most for either team…Patrik Rybar is 2-0-0 with a 1.00 GAA and a 0.962 save percentage against Manitoba while Harri Sateri is 4-1-0 with a 2.18 GAA and a 0.913 save percentage…Grand Rapids is 23-for-24 (95.8%) on the penalty kill vs. Manitoba…In the last matchup on Feb. 6 at the Van, which also marked the 100th all-time regular season meeting between the former International Hockey League foes, Filip Hronek scored two power play goals at 18:39 and 19:35 of the third period to give Grand Rapids a 2-1 comeback victory…Defenseman Dylan McIlrath hails from Winnipeg…Dominic Turgeon recorded his first career hat trick at Manitoba on Feb. 17, 2018…Axel Holmstrom made his AHL debut at Manitoba on April 4, 2017, and scored his first AHL goal (overtime) at the Moose on April 5, 2017.

Milwaukee Notes: Current record 34-24-13-2, 83 points, 3rd Central Division…Milwaukee is on an 11-game point streak (9-0-1-1), the longest active streak in the AHL…The Griffins have won five of the last six games over Milwaukee while also showing points in nine of the last 11 (8-2-0-1) and in 17 of the last 22 (15-5-1-1)…Since the 2013-14 campaign, the Griffins are 39-17-2-1 against the Admirals, including 20-8-1-1 at home and 18-9-1-0 away…The Griffins have faced the Admirals more than any other opponent in team history as the two clubs will meet for the 184th time in the regular season on Saturday…Since the Admirals moved to Panther Arena at the start of the 2016-17 season, the Griffins are 12-3-0-0 at Milwaukee in the regular season…In the most recent meeting on March 31 in West Michigan, Grand Rapids had its five-game winning streak against Milwaukee snapped as the Admirals skated away with a 3-1 win…The last time the clubs met in Wisconsin on March 16 resulted in a 3-2 shootout win for the Griffins…Matt Puempel (6-3—9 in 8 GP) leads the scoring for Grand Rapids…Patrik Rybar has shut out the Admirals twice this season (Jan. 19, March 9) and is 3-1-1 with a 0.99 GAA and a 0.964 save percentage while Harri Sateri is 3-1-0 with a 2.67 GAA and a 0.893 save percentage…Admirals netminder Tom McCollum played with the Griffins from 2009-16 and 2017-18 and is the franchise’s all-time goalie leader in wins (123), games played (263), minutes (14900:25) and saves (6640), helped Grand Rapids win the 2013 Calder Cup and is the team’s only four-time AHL Man of the Year nominee…In five appearances vs. Grand Rapids, McCollum is 1-1-3 with a 2.32 GAA and a 0.927 save percentage…Head coach Ben Simon skated in 18 games with the Admirals during the 2003-04 campaign and finished with four points (1-3—4)…Grand Rapids is concluding its campaign at Milwaukee for the second time in the last three seasons (2016-17).

Win Some, Lose Some: Compare the statistics between the Griffins’ 38 wins and 35 (including OT and SO) losses:

Back to Backs: This weekend will mark the 26th and final time this season the Griffins will play on consecutive nights.

Photo by Sam Iannamico/Griffins