This Week’s Games

GRIFFINS vs. Rockford IceHogs // Wed., Nov. 13 // 11 a.m. // Van Andel Arena 

Listen: 96.1 The Game at 10:45 a.m.

Watch: AHLTV on FloHockey 

Season Series: 1-2-0-0 Overall, 0-1-0-0 Home. Fourth of 12 meetings overall, second of six at Van Andel Arena

All-Time Series: 68-49-11-11 Overall, 40-18-6-5 Home

NHL Affiliation: Chicago Blackhawks 

Noteworthy: This will be the third meeting against the IceHogs in the last five games for the Griffins. Grand Rapids and Rockford will meet 12 times this season, the most of any Griffins foe, with seven of those meetings coming in the final 13 games of the season.    

GRIFFINS vs. Chicago Wolves // Fri., Nov. 15 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena

Listen: 96.1 The Game at 7 p.m.

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

Season Series: First of eight meetings overall, first of four at Van Andel Arena

All-Time Series: 101-86-2-8-5 Overall, 49-38-2-6-4 Home

NHL Affiliation: Carolina Hurricanes 

Noteworthy: The Griffins have strung together back-to-back winning seasons against Chicago (10-5-1-2, .639) for the first time since 2015-17 (14-3-1-0, .806).  

GRIFFINS at Milwaukee Admirals // Sat., Nov. 16 // 7 p.m. EST // Panther Arena

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

Watch: AHLTV on FloHockey 

Season Series: 1-0-0-0 Overall, 0-0-0-0 Away. Second of eight meetings overall, first of four at Panther Arena

All-Time Series: 113-83-7-9-8 Overall, 52-44-5-6-5 Away 

NHL Affiliation: Nashville Predators 

Noteworthy: The Griffins are one of two teams to defeat the Admirals through the first 11 games of the season. Grand Rapids took a 3-0 victory over Milwaukee in its season opener on Oct. 11 at Van Andel Arena.  

Hot Start: The Griffins are off to their best start in 11 years (8-2-1-1, 18 pts. in 2013-14) with 17 points through 12 games (8-3-1-0). Grand Rapids set a franchise record with 12 points (6-1-0-0) through the first seven games, beating its previous high of 11 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 from Oct. 25-27, 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 also began the year 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 two goals or less in seven of the 12 contests but have scored an average of just 2.58 goals per game (26th). 

Road Warriors: The Griffins have played eight of their first 12 games this season in foreign territory. Grand Rapids has gone 5-2-1-0 in those games with a plus-four scoring margin (24-20). Grand Rapids went undefeated while playing three games in three days on the road from Oct. 25-27, a feat it has accomplished only once before (April 5-7, 2002). Last season, Grand Rapids went 1-6-0-1 in its first eight road games with a minus-14 scoring margin (17-31). 

Shoot Your Shot: The Griffins have yet to outshoot their opponents in a game this season and have averaged 23.7 shots per game, which ranks last in the AHL. Grand Rapids has been held to under 20 shots three times and has exceeded 30 shots just once. On the flip side, the Griffins’ opponents have averaged 31.2 shots per game (22nd in AHL) and have been held to under 30 shots four times. The third period has given the Griffins the most problems, as they are being outshot 127-76 compared to being outshot 123-111 in the second and 120-93 in the first. However, Grand Rapids has a 6-1-1-0 ledger when recording 20-29 shots and a 6-1-1-0 mark when allowing 30-39 shots.

If You Ain’t First, You’re Last: Starting the game off on the right foot has been imperative for the Griffins early this season. Grand Rapids is 7-0-1-0 when scoring the game’s first goal and 8-0-1-0 when either tied or leading after the first period. When the roles are reversed, the Griffins are just 1-3-0-0, and they are 0-3-0-0 when trailing after two periods. One-goal games have been kind to Grand Rapids, as it is 4-0-1-0 compared to 4-3-0-0 when a game is decided by two goals or more.   

Power Outage: The Griffins’ power play has struggled out of the gate, as it ranks 28th on the circuit at 10.6% (5-for-47). If you break it down further, Grand Rapids’ home power play is 1-for-16 (6.3%, 30th) and its road power play is 4-for-31 (12.9%, T23rd). However, the Griffins’ penalty kill ranks fifth in the AHL at 88.1% and their two short-handed goals are tied for eighth. Grand Rapids recorded two short-handed goals in 3:24 of game time on Thursday at Iowa, which equaled the number of short-handed tallies it had in 72 games last season. The last time the Griffins had scored two short-handed goals in a game was in a 5-3 win over Ontario on Feb. 5, 2022. 

Let’s Show Some Love to the Defense: The Griffins rank second in the AHL with just 2.08 goals allowed per game, as the 25 goals surrendered are the second fewest in franchise history over the first 12 games of a season (21 in 2004-05). For comparison, Grand Rapids ceded 40 goals in the opening 12 games last year. Grand Rapids allowed just one goal inside Van Andel Arena in the first three games, which was the fewest over a three-game home stretch since it posted three straight shutouts from Dec. 30, 2006 to Jan. 10, 2007. Dating back to last season, Grand Rapids has allowed just eight goals in its last seven regular-season games at Van Andel Arena. 

Seabass Fishing: Sebastian Cossa, the 15th overall pick by the Detroit Red Wings in 2021, is off to a strong start through the opening nine games of his season, showing a 5-3-1 mark with one shutout, a 1.98 goals-against average, and a .936 save percentage. The 21-year-old ranks among the league leaders in minutes played (513:56, 3rd), shutouts (T5th), GAA (9th), wins (T4th), and save percentage (T7th). Last season, 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). With a 35-save shutout in the season opener 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. 

More to Come: Ondrej Becher made his AHL debut on Nov. 3 against the Cleveland Monsters, becoming just the 25th player to make his Griffins debut the season after he was drafted. Selected with the 80th pick by Detroit in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft, the 20-year-old also became the eighth player to make his debut during the first month of the following season and just the fifth Red Wings pick to do so, joining Donovan Sebrango, Moritz Seider, Tomas Tatar, and Filip Zadina. In two seasons in the WHL from 2022-24, Becher recorded 134 points (48-86—134) and a plus-69 rating in 121 appearances. He also suited up for his home country of Czechia at the 2024 World Junior Championship, showing 10 points (3-7—10) in seven outings en route to claiming a bronze medal. Prior to coming to North America in 2022, Becher spent parts of two seasons in the Czechia2 league, Czechia’s second tier of pro hockey, and contributed three points (2-1—3) in 19 outings. 

Shine Bright: Veteran Dominik Shine has four multi-point games this season through the first 12 games, tying his mark from last year in 65 contests (career-high 6 in 2021-22). He most recently posted two assists on Friday at Rockford and now has eight points (3-5—8) in his last seven outings. Shine paces the squad with 11 points (4-7—11) in 12 games, while his four goals are tied for second and his seven assists are tied for first. The Detroit native has spent his entire career with Grand Rapids since 2016-17 and has accumulated 149 points (65-84—149) and 488 penalty minutes in 434 appearances. In the Griffins’ all-time rankings, Shine places third in games played, eighth in penalty minutes, tied for 10th in overtime goals (2), and tied for fourth in unassisted goals (8). Last year, Shine posted career-high numbers in assists (23), points (33) and plus-minus rating (+8).

Loaded Ammo: Second-year pro Amadeus Lombardi has found a rhythm offensively, as he has six points (3-3—6) in his last seven 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) on Oct. 26 at Lehigh Valley. Lombardi ranks second on the team with eight points (5-3—8) and his five goals place first on the roster. Through the opening 10 games, Lombardi matched his career high with five goals, as he lit the lamp five times in 70 contests last year. The Aurora, Ontario, native has 35 points (10-25—35), 14 penalty minutes and a plus-two rating through 84 career appearances.   

AHL Leaderboard Tracker:
Shai Buium—Tied for ninth among rookie defensemen in assists (3)
Sebastian Cossa—Third in minutes played (513:56), tied for fifth in shutouts (1), ninth in GAA (1.98), tied for fourth in wins (5), and tied for seventh in save percentage (.936)
Sheldon Dries—Tied for seventh in game-winners (2)
Gabriel Seger—Tied for 10th among rookies in plus-minus rating (+4), tied for fifth among rookies in game-winners (1)

Milestones:
Last Friday, Cross Hanas skated in his 100th game as a Griffin, in the AHL and as a pro. 
Sebastian Cossa—Two games from 100 as a pro
Tory Dello—One point from 50 in the AHL and as a pro
Josiah Didier—Two games from 450 in the AHL
Dominik Shine—One point from 150 as a Griffin, in the AHL, and as a pro
Antti Tuomisto—Two points from 50 as a pro 

Photo by Jenna Spanola/IceHogs