MURSAK MAKES 10 IN MOTOWN
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Grand Rapids Griffins right wing Jan Mursak was recalled by the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday after helping his native Slovenia win the 2010 IIHF World Championship Division I Group B last week in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Mursak, 22, ranked among the Griffins’ leaders this season with 24 goals (2nd), 42 points (T3rd) and a plus-12 rating (2nd). After scoring just two goals during his 2008-09 rookie campaign, he recorded the largest-ever percentage increase in goals scored by a Griffin from one season to the next (1100%), besting Nathan Robinson’s 700% increase in 2003-04, while his 22-goal improvement ranked third all time on the club behind Jiri Hudler and Tomas Kopecky (both +24 in 2005-06).
Detroit’s fifth choice (182nd overall) in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, Mursak helped Slovenia earn promotion to the top-division 2011 World Championship in Slovakia via its 5-0 record last week. He finished second on the team with five goals and tied for third with seven points during the tournament.
Mursak became the 10th member of the 2009-10 Griffins to land on the Red Wings’ playoff roster, joining forwards Justin Abdelkader, Brad May and Mattias Ritola, defensemen Doug Janik, Jakub Kindl, Andreas Lilja and Logan Pyett, and goaltenders Daniel Larsson and Thomas McCollum.