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RWC Archives - April 6 Grand Rapids Griffins Update
Himelfarb ignites Griffins' slumping offense...
By Jason Kasiorek
www.griffinscentral.com
April 6, 2004
Eric Himelfarb has been a shot in the arm for the Grand Rapids Griffins.
Since joining the team on March 31, Himelfarb has provided a spark with poise that belies his youth. A fast, shifty skater, the 21-year-old was on the power play by the end of his first game and was even making an impact with a couple of open-ice hits.
It was just what the Griffins needed after a nine-game stretch that saw them earn just two wins and score only 11 goals. They've enjoyed two six-goal outbursts since Himelfarb's arrival.
Still, the Griffins remain behind the Milwaukee Admirals in the race for first-place in the AHL.
Joey MacDonald
has lost six of his last eight starts, while
Ryan Barnes
sat out two games with an automatic suspension for his third instigator penalty of the season.
The following is a report on the most recent stretch of games for the Griffins:
March 26 vs. Utah (road), L 4-0:
MacDonald stopped 36 shots but got no help from the offense in a penalty-filled game. The Griffins' anemic offence mustered just 18 shots on Utah netminder Dan Ellis.
March 27 vs. Utah (road), L 4-3:
Ryan Barnes
started the scoring in the second, but the Griffins couldn't hang on as Utah scored the game-winner on the power play in the third.
Nathan Robinson
and
Jiri Hudler
also tallied for Grand Rapids.
March 31 vs. Milwaukee (home), W 6-3:
It didn't look good as the Griffins went down 2-0 in the first. Enter Himelfarb, who brought the team alive with his first pro goal. Miller, Picard (2) and Hudler (2) scored in a 20-minute span.
April 2 vs. Chicago (home), L 3-0:
The Griffins were outworked and earned few scoring chances to seal an embarrassing home loss. The lone highlight was
Darryl Bootland
scoring a decisive victory in a fight with Shawn Heins in the third.
April 3 vs. Chicago (road), L 2-1:
Robinson scored the Griffins' lone goal off a feed from winger
Michel Picard
, while Chicago scored the game-winner with Anders Myvold in the box for roughing. Miller had five shots on goal.
April 4 vs. Toronto (road), L 6-0:
Matt Ellis
opened the scoring just 43 seconds in, while his line with Himelfab and Bootland accounted for four goals and two assists in a rout of the Roadrunners. MacDonald made 39 saves for his sixth shutout this year.
WHO'S HOT
Eric Himelfarb
has not looked out of place after stepping directly into the AHL out of junior hockey. He has not looked out of place, collecting two goals, an assist and a plus-6 in his first four games.
Nathan Robinson
has started to return to midseason form, registering two goals and three assists in the most recent stretch of games. He said he is almost back to 100 per cent after suffering a groin injury at the AHL all-star game during the fastest skater competition.
Jiri Hudler
has four goals and an assist in the last seven games, the team's highest contributor during that span. He scores in bunches with long droughts in between hot streaks, and needs to work on his consistency.
WHO'S NOT
Derek King
has no points and a minus-3 in the past seven games and has not been very effective when used as a forward. When used in a defensive role, his veteran savvy has proved most useful to the Griffins.
Tomas Kopecky
has fallen a long way this year and appears to have earned a permanent spot in the coach's doghouse. Kopecky played in just two of the last seven games, and with Himelfarb's arrival, things aren't looking up.
Joey MacDonald
hasn't played as badly as his record over the last seven games (2-5) or his goals-against average (2.57) show, but he's cooled down from the red-hot play he maintained for most of the season.
Scoring statistics (as of March 24):
PLAYER GP G A PTS PIM
Michel Picard 73 16 36 52 35
Nathan Robinson 66 24 25 49 41
Jiri Hudler 54 17 31 48 44
Kevin Miller 71 24 21 45 22
Jeff Nelson 61 12 29 41 43
Derek King 76 9 20 29 19
Hugo Boisvert 77 9 16 25 48
Travis Richards 74 2 21 23 46
Kory Karlander 64 9 13 22 81
Anders Myrvold 69 0 20 20 92
Danny Groulx 76 7 12 19 89
Ryan Barnes 66 6 12 18 175
Matt Ellis 61 5 10 15 23
Darryl Bootland 51 12 2 14 175
Mark Mowers 16 8 6 14 4
Nic Bilotto 3 0 1 1 0
(TOTALS) 21 4 9 13 32
Niklas Kronwall 25 2 11 13 20
Tomas Kopecky 47 6 5 11 28
David Van Drunen 77 2 7 9 98
Aaron Schneekloth 56 2 6 8 14
Ryan Bonni 51 1 6 7 92
Blake Sloan 7 4 2 6 4
David Brisson 33 3 1 4 2
Eric Himelfarb 4 2 1 3 0
Jim Henkel 15 2 1 3 4
Tim Skarperud 18 2 1 3 10
Joey MacDonald 38 0 3 3 4
Paul Ballantyne 9 1 1 2 6
Marc Lamothe 41 0 2 2 2
Jim Baxter 2 1 0 1 0
Brett Lebda 3 0 1 1 0
Curtis Joseph 1 0 0 0 0
Tyler Rennette 2 0 0 0 0
Jamie Rivers 2 0 0 0 4
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