GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Grand Rapids Griffins head coach Dan Watson has been named the coach for the Central Division in the 2025 AHL All-Star Classic presented by Spotlight 29 Casino, to be held Feb. 2-3 at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert, California. 

Thanks to Grand Rapids’ 5-1 win tonight against Cleveland coupled with Chicago's 5-4 victory over Milwaukee, the Griffins have clinched the top spot in the division through the end of play on Dec. 31 with an 18-9-3-0 record and 39 points, meriting Watson’s selection. The Griffins have gone 12-7-2-0 against their division rivals this season and have remained the top team since Nov. 8.

Watson became the first Griffins coach to achieve the honor since Todd Nelson in 2017 and the fourth head coach in franchise history to coach in an all-star game, joining Nelson, Jeff Blashill (2014), and Bruce Cassidy (2002 AHL, 2001 IHL). This will mark Watson’s third all-star appearance, as he was chosen to coach in the ECHL All-Star Game in both 2017 and 2022 with the Toledo Walleye. 

The 12th head coach in Griffins history, Watson is in his second season with Grand Rapids after leading the team to a second-place finish in the Central Division last campaign with a 37-23-8-4 record and 86 points. The Glencoe, Ontario, native led the Griffins to wins in 10 of their first 14 games this year, which marked just the fourth team in 29 seasons to do so and the first since 2009-10. 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). 

In addition to leading the Central Division, Watson has the Griffins positioned second in the Western Conference and tied for fourth in the AHL, just two points behind first place. Grand Rapids has won with defense, as it is tied for third on the circuit with 2.60 goals against per game and are 15-0-0-0 when scoring at least three goals. 

Watson has a 55-32-11-4 mark as the Griffins’ head boss and a 5-4 ledger in the Calder Cup Playoffs. Last year, he became the ninth 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), Todd Nelson (2015-16) and Ben Simon (2018-19). Watson also became the eighth of the last nine Griffins head coaches to win his first playoff series, defeating the Rockford IceHogs 3-1 in the 2024 Central Division Semifinals.

Prior to joining the Griffins, Watson spent six seasons as head coach of the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye from 2016-23, becoming the fastest coach in ECHL history to reach 100 wins and the winningest head coach in Walleye history with a 272-112-22-13 record in the regular season. Watson has never missed the playoffs as head coach, reaching the Calder Cup Playoffs in his debut season last year, the Kelly Cup Finals twice (2019 and 2022), and leading Toledo to three division titles (2016-17, 2017-18 and 2021-22), three 100-point seasons (2016-17, 2017-18 and 2021-22), two regular season championships (2016-17 and 2021-22), and four Western Conference Finals berths (2017, 2019, 2022 and 2023).

The 2025 AHL All-Star Classic will begin on Sunday, Feb. 2 with the AHL All-Star Skills Competition followed by the AHL All-Star Challenge on Monday, Feb. 3. Rosters for each division will be released at a later date. 

Photo by Nicolas Carrillo/Griffins