Before plunging headlong into the excitement of this tenth anniversary season, let's pause to reflect upon the accomplishments of last year.


• The Griffins will find themselves among new company and facing several new foes as they embark upon their tenth season this October. After competing in the West Division during three of their first four seasons in the AHL, the Griffins have moved to the North Division for the 2005-06 campaign, joining Cleveland, Hamilton, Manitoba, Rochester, Syracuse and Toronto in a new divisional alignment. In all, Grand Rapids will face 15 of the AHL’s 26 other teams, matching the most diverse schedule of their five seasons in the league. Each of the AHL’s four new teams – the Iowa Stars, Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights, Peoria Rivermen and Toronto Marlies – will visit Van Andel Arena this season.

• Despite finishing with a winning record (41-35-2-2) for the eighth time in nine seasons, the 2004-05 Griffins had to settle for fifth place in the West Division, becoming the first team in the AHL’s 69-year history to win more than 40 games and be excluded from the playoffs.

• Grand Rapids finished 17-13-1-1 (0.563) after Greg Ireland was named head coach on Feb. 10, including a 16-10-1-1 record (0.607) after Feb. 25 and a 12-7-0-1 mark (0.625) after March 11. Those 12 victories over the final five weeks of the regular season ranked behind only four other teams with 13 wins apiece, helping earn Ireland a one-year contract extension and a chance to prove what he can accomplish over a full season in 2005-06.

• Chris Cichocki, who served as the Griffins’ assistant coach over the season’s last 30 games, was named head coach of the ECHL’s Stockton Thunder.

• After becoming the first defenseman to lead the Griffins in scoring (13-40—53) and winning the league scoring race among blueliners, Niklas Kronwall won the AHL’s Eddie Shore Award as the Outstanding Defenseman and was named to the first all-star team. In May, after scoring six points (3-3—6) and helping Sweden to a fourth-place finish at the 2005 IIHF World Championship in Austria, he was named by the media to the tournament’s all-star team. Others selected to the impressive sextet included future Hall of Famer Jaromir Jagr, four-time NHL All-Star Joe Thornton, and 2003-04 NHL goal-scoring leader Rick Nash.

• Half workhorse and half thoroughbred, goaltender Joey MacDonald led the AHL with 64 starts, 66 games played and 3754:40 minutes played, while his 2.29 goals against average (T12th), 34 wins (4th), five shutouts (T12th), 1,785 saves (2nd) and 0.926 save percentage (10th) each placed among the circuit’s best performances.

• 2004-05 was a star-studded season for Griffins fans. The list of personalities who visited Van Andel Arena for autograph sessions included Scotty Bowman, Igor Larionov, Mickey Redmond, Barry Melrose, Dino Ciccarelli, the Hanson Brothers, Constance Ramos, and 2004 NASCAR Rookie of the Year Kasey Kahne.

• Over their final four home games, the Griffins welcomed 38,359 fans to Van Andel Arena, an average of 9,590 (89% of capacity). Grand Rapids ranked tenth in the AHL with an average attendance of 6,659, a figure that placed 12th out of 87 minor league franchises.