Grand Rapids Griffins Central Logo

Home
Roster
Depth
The System
Transactions
Message Board
History
Contact Us
Archive
Training Camp
RSS Feed
March 2009 Grand Rapids Griffins Report
First place off Griffins Radar, but Post-Season dead ahead...
By Jason Kasiorek
www.griffinscentral.com
April 1, 2009

The Griffins held pace with the first place Manitoba Moose for most of the season until the stretch of injuries and recalls proved to be too much to overcome. Offensive stars Mattias Ritola and Ville Leino joined grinders Ryan Oulahen, Jamie Tardif and Aaron Downey on the sidelines for most of the month with injuries. Defensive stalwart Tom Galvin and starter Jimmy Howard also missed a few weeks each while the team's top two defensemen, Jonathan Ericsson and Garrett Stafford remain in the NHL on call-ups. A couple of times recently the player shortage has left them unable to ice a full lineup, or forced them to dress extra defensemen and play them up front. The goods news to this seemingly never ending string of man games lost is that the majority of the players look to be getting healthy just in time for what the team hopes is a lengthy post-season run.

Grand Rapids remains in 2nd place in the Northern Division, 8 points behind the Manitoba Moose, 4 points in front of the Hamilton Bulldogs. They are also third in the Western conference, and 6th place overall after posting an 8-6 record this month. The Griffins boast the leagues third best offense, adding 38 goals last month in 14 games for 243 in 75 games. They are the 12th rated defense however, giving up 208 goals so far this season.

The following is a review for March:

OFFENSE - The lineup up front has been in constant flux with very few set lines staying together. The team has continued to score in streaks alternating between blowing the opposition away and struggling to score a goal. Darren Haydar, Evan McGrath and Frankie Pare have been the only healthy, consistent offensive threats. Darren McCarty has scored in spurts, but is not the same player he was even last year, and Justin Abdelkader has been a presence, just not on the scoresheet. Things got so bad with the number of bodies out, that blueliner Brian Lashoff made his pro debut at left wing, notching his first point in his first game. The team recently added Zack Torquato, Brent Raedeke, and Dan Charleston to help out up front.

February Thumbnails:
Player GPGAPTSPIM+/-ShtsNotes
Darren Haydar 14 5 10 15 2 -4 38Veteran carrying the load offensively.
Frankie Pare 14 4 6 10 4 6 23Rookie sniper keeps racking up points.
Evan McGrath 14 4 5 9 10 2 20Consistency the name of his game.
Ville Leino 9 4 4 8 2 5 19Scoring sensation falls to leg injury.
Ryan Oulahen 12 4 4 8 2 -6 26Team Leader out for the season
Darren McCarty12 3 4 7 12 4 22Slowing down, but still an asset.
Justin Abdelkader 14 3 4 7 20 1 41Super rookie slows down on scoresheet.
Cory Emmerton 13 3 2 5 0 -2 35Streaky scorer nets big goals.
Aaron Gagnon 10 2 3 5 2 3 19Fourth liner makes most of ice time.
Francis Lemieux 9 1 3 4 8 1 14Speedy winger picks up where he left off.
Darren Helm 13 2 2 4 6 -3 46Offense game has dried up.
Mattias Ritola 8 0 2 2 0 -3 19Injuries derailing second half.
Mike Walsh 4 1 0 1 2 0 2ECHL grad produces in limited ice time.
Aaron Downey 3 0 0 0 0 -1 4Injuries and recalls kept veteran out.
Jamie Tardif 3 0 0 0 2 1 1Gritty winger laid low with knee injury.
Jan Mursak 9 0 0 0 6 0 12Finally got the ice time, still no production.


DEFENSE - Other than the recently departed Stafford, the offense from this group has completely disappeared. Jakub Kindl has gone into an offensive slump and no one else has a flare for it. Kindl, Galvin and Sergei Kolosov have been logging a ton of ice time, in an attempt to stabilize the fluid situation on the back end. The addition of Brian Lashoff should help both of these situations, as it doesn't look like Ericsson will be returning from Detroit (NHL) any time soon. Brett Peterson settled down and played very well, bypassing a couple of others on the depth chart. Highly touted prospect Logan Pyett has fallen out of favor and been a frequent scratch, passed up by PJ Atherton and Peterson.

February Thumbnails:
Player GPGAPTSPIM+/-ShtsNotes
Garrett Stafford 13 1 7 8 12 1 24Veteran rewarded with NHL recall.
Jakub Kindl 14 0 2 2 10 -1 10Playing better with more ice-time.
Brian Lashoff 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 Offensive d-man makes pro debut up front.
Jonathan Ericsson 1 0 1 1 2 1 2Smooth rearguard a regular in Detroit.
Tom Galvin 8 0 1 1 2 1 6Stay at home defender steady.
PJ Atherton 8 0 1 1 6 -2 7ECHL fill in has ups and downs.
Jason Jozsa 9 0 1 1 8 5 7 Steady, unspectacular hold own.
Sergei Kolosov 12 0 1 1 4 -4 5 Forced to play larger role than he is ready for.
Logan Pyett 8 0 0 0 2 0 6 Rookie lost regular spot in lineup, again.
Brett Peterson 11 0 0 0 4 -1 12Depth defender plays surprisingly well.


GOALTENDING - Daniel Larsson had a rather pedestrian month, posting a 4-4 record with a 2.89 goals against average. He actually played better for most of the month before the team's defensive deficiencies led him to surrender 12 goals in his last two starts. Battery mate Howard returned from a concussion to play one of his better stretches of the season. The fourth year netminder continued his assault on the franchise record books with a 4-2 record, 1.99 GAA and .931 save percentage.

SPECIAL TEAMS - The Griffins continue to ride their special teams play to the top. With the fifth ranked powerplay clicking along at 19.4%, and the #1 penalty-killing unit at 86.5%, Grand Rapids has enjoyed some potent weapons. The powerplay road unit has slipped a lot in the last month falling from 2nd overall (22.1%) to 10th at 18.4%. The home unit has remained around the same percentage but is now ranked 5th. Haydar continues to lead the man advantage unit, tallying 14 goals, and is followed by Abdelkader (8), Stafford (7), Wilson (7), and Leino (6).

The road penalty-killing unit has improved marginally moving up to 15th overall with an 82.3% kill rating. At home they have been dominant killing off 90.5% of the pk chances, good enough to keep them in 1st over all with an 86.5% rating. Darren Helm (3 goals), Aaron Gagnon (2 goals), and Oulahen (3 points) are key parts of the shorthanded unit.

PLAYER OF THE MONTH - Darren Haydar. The captain kept up his hot hand in March, scoring over a point per game and keeping his place among the top five scorers in the AHL. He was rewarded by being named a second team AHL all-star, and looks to be gearing up for another of his record-breaking post-season runs.

ROOKIE WATCH - Pyett, Peterson, Emmerton, Leino, Mursak, Pare, Abdelkader, Kolosov, Larsson

CURRENT INJURIES - RW Ville Leino - Leg, this weekend... C Ryan Oulahen - Hip, season ending... C Mattias Ritola - Shoulder, this weekend... RW Jamie Tardif - knee, two to three weeks... RW Aaron Downey - knee, one week...

NOTEABLE MOVEMENT - C Darren Helm assigned by Detroit (NHL)... LW Ville Leino Assigned by Detroit (NHL)... RW Aaron Downey recalled by Detroit (NHL)... D Jonathan Ericsson recalled by Detroit (NHL)... LW Mike Walsh released from PTO... G Clayton Pool signed to PTO... G John Ceci assigned to Muskegon (IHL)... D PJ Atherton recalled from Ontario (ECHL)... G Clayton Pool released from PTO... RW Aaron Downey assigned by Detroit (NHL)... D Brian Lashoff assigned by Detroit (NHL)... D Brett Peterson assigned to Phoenix (ECHL)... D Brett Peterson recalled from Phoenix (ECHL)... LW Mike Walsh signed to PTO... D Garrett Stafford recalled by Dallas (NHL)... C Zack Torquato signed to ATO... C Brent Raedeke assigned by Detroit (NHL)... LW Dan Charleston signed to ATO... LW Mike Walsh released from PTO...

KEY STATS - Darren Haydar is 10th in goals with 29... he is also tied for 10th in assists with 46... and is tied for 5th in points with 75... Haydar is tied for 8th in power play goals with 14 and tied for 12th in powerplay assists with 23... Frankie Pare is 18th in plus/minus at +20... Darren Helm is tied for 9th with 3 shorthanded goals... Ryan Oulahen is tied for 3rd with 3 shorthanded assists... Haydar is 18th with 5 game winners, and 2nd in first goals with 9... Pare is tied for 7th in Insurance goals with 4... Helm is tied for 3rd with 4 unassisted goals... Cory Emmerton and Ville Leino are tied for 11th with 2 shoot-out winners apiece... Pare is 18th in shooting percentage at 18.2% just behind teammate Landon Wilson who is 8th at 19.5%... Justin Abdelkader is tied for 7th in rookie scoring with 49 points... Pare is 12th with 46 points... Abdelkader and Pare are both tied for 5th in rookie goal scoring with 22 goals apiece... Abdelkader is tied for 11th in rookie assists; Emmerton is tied for 18th... Pare is 4th in rookie plus minus at +20... Stafford is tied for 7th in defenseman scoring with 42 points... Haydar is tied for the 9th best point streak of the season at 10 games... Daniel Larsson is tied for 12th in wins with 22... Larsson is 2nd in shutouts with 5... Jimmy Howard is tied for 14th with 3... Howard is tied for 17th in GAA at 2.49... Howard is tied for 13th in save percentage at 91.6%...

IN THE PIPELINE - Goaltender John Ceci remained the only Griffins contracted player that did not suit up with the big club in March. The second year puck stopper struggled with Muskegon (IHL) in limited action before being released from the active roster.

NHL ALUMNI WATCH - Garrett Stafford and Danny Syvret became the two latest Griffins Alumni to play in the NHL this season, suiting up fro Dallas and Philadelphia respectively. Current stats as of 4/4/09:

PlayerGP G A PTS PIM +/-
Justin Abdelkader, Detroit 2 0 0 0 0 0
Sean Avery, Rangers 37 7 13 20 103 3
Sheldon Brookbank, NJ/Anaheim 40 1 3 4 76 6
Wade Brookbank, Carolina/Tampa Bay 27 1 0 1 40 0
Pavol Demitra, Vancouver 64 19 32 51 20 7
Aaron Downey, Detroit 4 1 1 2 7 0
Mark Eaton, Pittsburgh 64 3 5 8 34 2
Matt Ellis, Buffalo 42 5 4 9 10 2
Jonathan Ericsson, Detroit 14 1 2 3 8 -2
Valtteri Filppula, Detroit 75 11 27 38 34 11
Alexandre Giroux, Washington 12 1 1 2 10 4
Darren Helm, Detroit 16 0 1 1 4 -7
Bryan Helmer, Washington 12 0 3 3 2 -1
Shane Hnidy, Boston 60 3 9 12 40 6
Jiri Hudler, Detroit 77 22 32 54 16 7
Chris Kelly, Ottawa 77 10 11 21 34 -10
Krys Kolanos, Minn 21 3 3 6 163
Tomas Kopecky, Detroit 74 6 13 19 46 -7
Niklas Kronwall, Detroit 75 5 45 50 46 4
Brett Lebda, Detroit 60 6 10 16 44 8
Ville Leino, Detroit 13 5 4 9 6 5
Darren McCarty, Detroit 13 1 0 1 25 -2
Derek Meech, Detroit 39 2 5 7 12 -12
Glen Metropolit, Phili/Montreal 71 6 10 16 26 -4
Chris Neil, Ottawa55 3 7 10 140 -13
Kyle Quincey, Los Angeles 72 4 34 38 63 -5
Jason Spezza, Ottawa 77 30 39 69 77 -11
Garrett Stafford, Dallas 3 0 2 2 0 0
Danny Syvret, Philadelphia 2 0 0 0 0 -1
Todd White, Atlanta 78 22 49 71 24 -7
Jason Williams, Atlanta/Columbus 75 17 27 44 24 -2
Clay Wilson, Columbus/Atlanta 5 0 1 1 0 -2
Landon Wilson, Dallas 27 2 6 8 21 5

PlayerGP W-L-T GAA SV%
Jimmy Howard, Detroit 1 0-1-0 4.07 .857
Patrick Lalime, Buffalo 24 5-13-3 3.10 .900
Joey MacDonald, Islanders 46 14-25-6 3.23 .904
Drew MacIntyre, Nashville 0 0-0-0 0.00 .000


UP NEXT - The Griffins play all but one game on the road this month as the regular season winds down. They start in the middle of an eight game road trip, with contests against likely first round opponent Hamilton on Friday and Saturday, and a Sunday contest in Rochester. Grand Rapids plays its last home contest against the same Hamilton Bulldogs and then finishes the schedule in Peoria against the Rivermen.