This Week’s Games
Wed., Nov. 24 - GRIFFINS at Toronto Marlies - 11 a.m. - ESPN 96.1 FM / AHLLive.com

Fri., Nov. 26 - Rockford IceHogs at GRIFFINS - 7 p.m. - Buy Tickets / ESPN 96.1 FM / AHLLive.com

Sat., Nov. 27 - GRIFFINS at Chicago Wolves - 8 p.m. - ESPN 96.1 FM / AHLLive.com

Sun., Nov. 28 - Peoria Rivermen at GRIFFINS - 4 p.m. - Buy Tickets / ESPN 96.1 FM / AHLLive.com

Last Week’s Results
Wed., Nov. 17 - GRIFFINS 0 at Lake Erie Monsters 3 - 8-5-0-3, 19 pts. (T3rd, North Division)

Fri., Nov. 19 - Houston Aeros 5 at GRIFFINS 0 - 8-6-0-3, 19 pts. (T4th)

Sat., Nov. 20 - Lake Erie Monsters 3 at GRIFFINS 1 - 8-7-0-3, 19 pts. (6th)

Busy Thanksgiving: The Griffins will commence their first 4-in-5 of the season on Wednesday, when they visit Toronto for an 11 a.m. matinee against the Marlies. Following Thanksgiving, Grand Rapids’ home games against Rockford on Friday and Peoria on Sunday will be sandwiched around a Saturday trip to Chicago.

Fun at the Van: Fri. vs. Rockford – It’s the Griffins’ annual Teddy Bear Toss! Fans are asked to bring a new store-tagged teddy bear or stuffed animal to throw onto the ice after the Griffins score their first goal. All of the toys will be collected and donated to Hug-A-Bears of Kent County. Emmanuel Free Church IGNITE group will be selling teddy bears on the concourse for a $3 donation. Other promotions include Dollar Beers, Dollar Bogs, College Night and the D-Zone. Sun. vs. Peoria – The season’s first “Sunday is Fun Day!” features a range of promotions, including a performance by the amazing Russian Bar Trio of America’s Got Talent fame; $1 Cole’s breadsticks and $1 Pepsi products from 2-4 p.m.; a Griffins logo Crazy Band giveaway for kids; Francis Pare jersey cards for the first 1,500 fans (compliments of Nordic Hot Tubs); live music by Jaded 8; a meet-and-greet/photo op with the clone troopers from Star Wars; Library Night; and a post-game open skate.

Meager Harvest: The Griffins, who scored at least four goals in seven consecutive games from Oct. 23-Nov. 7, have since totaled four goals in their last six games (Nov. 10-20)…Derek Meech’s unassisted goal at 12:20 of the second period on Saturday against the Monsters snapped Grand Rapids’ record scoring droughts at 165:09 overall and 157:44 at home…Grand Rapids suffered consecutive shutouts at Van Andel Arena (Nov. 10-19) for the first time in its 15 seasons and back-to-back shutouts overall (Nov. 17-19) for just the second time ever (Jan. 14-16, 1998).

Home for the Holidays: Friday’s day-after-Thanksgiving contest against Rockford marks the first in a long line of holiday home games for the Griffins, who will also play at Van Andel Arena on the day after Christmas, as well as on both New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.

Road Warriors: The Griffins have played nine games both at home and on the road this season, going 6-3-0-0 away from Van Andel Arena but just 2-4-0-3 within friendly confines. While their offensive totals have been similar regardless of venue (25 goals on the road to 22 at home), they’ve allowed 50% more goals at Van Andel Arena than in hostile territory (20 on the road to 30 at home).

Power Outage: After leading the AHL in power play through 12 games this season (28.8%), scoring at least one goal with the advantage in 10 of those contests, the Griffins have been blanked in all 28 opportunities over their last six contests (and 29 straight overall) to fall to 12th in the league (18.8%).

Facts and Figures: Grand Rapids is 8-2-0-1 when scoring the first goal and 0-5-0-2 when the opponent strikes first…The Griffins are 7-4-0-1 within the North Division and 1-3-0-2 against the West Division…After two periods of play, the Griffins are 5-0-0-1 when leading, 3-0-0-2 when tied and 0-7-0-0 when trailing…Grand Rapids has surrendered just 26.50 shots per game, the third-fewest in the AHL. On the other end, the Griffins have averaged only 28.28 shots, ranking 22nd in the league.

Milestones: Francis Pare needs three points to become the 21st player to reach 100 as a Griffin and six goals to become the 14th player to score 50…Jamie Johnson is six points shy of 200 in the AHL (64-130—194)…Chris Minard stand six assists shy of 200 as a pro…Ilari Filppula needs seven more appearances to reach 400 professional games…Joey MacDonald (currently with Detroit) needs just one more win to break a tie with Jimmy Howard (90) for franchise supremacy…Jamie Tardif has played in 257 career games as a Griffin, putting him just five games shy of eighth-place Evan McGrath on the team’s all-time list.

Scouting Report

Wed., Nov. 24 at Toronto Marlies (9-8-0-3) – Ricoh Coliseum – 11 a.m.
Radio: ESPN 96.1 FM at 10:45 a.m. Web Casts: Video web cast at AHLLive.com, free audio available through griffinshockey.com. All-Time Series: 20-16-1-0 Overall, 9-10-0-0 Road. Season Series: 1-0-0-0 Overall, 1-0-0-0 Road. Second of six meetings overall, second of three in Toronto. NHL Affiliation: Toronto Maple Leafs. Head Coach: Dallas Eakins (2nd season). Notes: Grand Rapids has won four of its last five visits to Toronto, dating to March 2009…Griffins goalie Joey MacDonald, currently called up to Detroit, split last season between the Marlies (14-19-3, 2 SO, 3.18 GAA in 36 games) and parent Maple Leafs (1-4-0, 3.20 GAA in six games)…Marlies netminder Jussi Rynnas stands fifth in the AHL with a 1.87 GAA and third with a 0.939 save percentage…Grand Rapids defenseman Brian Lashoff is the younger brother of Marlies blueliner Matt Lashoff, and Wednesday could mark their first-ever game against each other in organized competition.

Fri., Nov. 26 vs. Rockford IceHogs (7-9-0-2) – Van Andel Arena – 7 p.m.
Radio: ESPN 96.1 FM at 6:45 p.m. Web Casts: Video web cast at AHLLive.com, free audio available through griffinshockey.com. All-Time Series: 5-9-2-1 Overall, 3-5-0-0 Home. Season Series: 0-1-0-0 Overall, 0-0-0-0 Home. Second of six meetings overall, first of three in Grand Rapids. NHL Affiliation: Chicago Blackhawks. Head Coach: Bill Peters (3rd season). Notes: After going 4-2-1-1 versus Rockford during its first two AHL campaigns (2007-09), the Griffins are 1-7-1-0 against the IceHogs since the start of last season, including a 0-4 mark at Van Andel Arena...IceHogs defenseman Wade Brookbank (1-0—1, 12 PIM in 12 games) played for the Griffins during the 2001-02 season…Brian Connelly’s 13 points (1-12—13) tie him for eighth among AHL defensemen.

Sat., Nov. 27 at Chicago Wolves (8-11-1-0) – Allstate Arena – 8 p.m.
TV: Comcast 100 (Chicago) at 8 p.m. Radio: ESPN 96.1 FM at 7:45 p.m. Web Casts: Video web cast at AHLLive.com, free audio available through griffinshockey.com. All-Time Series: 46-34-2-3-2 Overall, 22-21-0-1-0 Road. Season Series: 1-0-0-0 Overall, 0-0-0-0 Road. Second of six meetings overall, first of three in Rosemont. NHL Affiliation: Atlanta Thrashers. Head Coach: Don Lever (2nd season). Notes: Chicago has won two straight on the heels of a seven-game losing streak that began with a 4-2 defeat to the Griffins at Van Andel Arena on Nov. 6…Darren Haydar, who paced the Griffins with 80 points (31-49—80) during the 2008-09 season, is back with the Wolves and currently shows 16 points (9-7—16)…Former Griffin Drew MacIntyre also plays in the Windy City…The Wolves are slow starters, having been outscored 26-10 in the first period through 20 games.

Sun., Nov. 28 vs. Peoria Rivermen (12-7-0-1) – Van Andel Arena – 4 p.m.
Radio: ESPN 96.1 FM at 3:45 p.m. Web Casts: Video web cast at AHLLive.com, free audio available through griffinshockey.com. All-Time Series: 14-15-1-2 Overall, 6-8-1-1 Home. Season Series: First of eight meetings overall, first of four in Grand Rapids. NHL Affiliation: St. Louis Blues. Head Coach: Jared Bednar (1st season). Notes: First-year Peoria coach Jared Bednar played 74 games for the Griffins as a defenseman in 1998-99, totaling 21 points (3-18—21) and a team-high 220 PIM…The Rivermen have won three straight to climb into second place in the West Division…Rookie Jake Allen leads the AHL with a 1.35 GAA and a 0.959 save percentage, while the Rivermen pace the circuit by allowing only 2.15 goals per game…Peoria ranks third in the league with 22.75 PIM per game.