2024-25 Griffiti - Issue #4

SEEING IS BELIEVING JOE SNIVELY

We’re big fans of the Griffins. We’re also big fans of their fans.

Huntington is proud to support the Grand Rapids Griffins, through all the wins and losses. No matter the outcome, it’s a joy to watch you from the stands, competing your hearts out. From all your fans at Huntington, go Griffins!

Vol. 28, No. 4

TABLE OF CONTENTS

STARTING LINEUP

26........ EYES ON THE PRIZE

A two-time Calder Cup champion with the Hershey Bears, Joe Snively is focused on accomplishing the feat again, this time with the Griffins.

34........ LOOKING FOR A REBOUND

Goaltender Jack Campbell is the latest example of a veteran player attempting to work his way back to the NHL.

42........ HUNGRY FOR MORE

A one-day callup to the NHL gave Red Wings prospect William Wallinder a taste of what potentially lies ahead.

48........ ALL GOOD THINGS

As former Griffins goaltender Calvin Pickard can attest only too well, it's not the destination but the journey that matters. Sometimes the wait can make it even more special.

54........ CHANGING ON THE FLY

Katie Berglund revised her career plans while in college. The Griffins organization is happy she did.

ON THE BENCH

2 Chalk Talk

Scouting Report

Griffins Schedule

......AHL Tradition

......Charitable Goals

......AHL Team Directory

......Detroit Red Wings 22......Promotional Calendar

40 Meet the Griffins

58 AHL Hall of Famer Michel Picard 60 Griffins Season Ticket Members

65......Griffins Records

68......Griffins All-Stars

73......Penalty Calls

74......AHL Teams Map

76......It All Starts Here

79......Kids Page

80......Parting Shot

After winning Calder Cup titles in back-to-back seasons with Hershey, Joe Snively has a vision to win three in a row and see the Griffins capture their third overall AHL championship (2013, 2017).

Photo by Mark Newman

WITH GRIFFINS HEAD COACH DAN WATSON

When the Griffins are playing well – and they're winning – head coach Dan Watson can pinpoint the things the team is doing right.

The team is getting excellent goaltending, playing strong defense, and creating plenty of offensive chances around the net. Most significantly, the Griffins are playing as a team rather than a collection of individuals looking to pad their personal statistics.

For most of the season, the Griffins have been on the same page. Then February happened, and the team seemingly lost the script.

From Jan. 31 to March 4, the Griffins compiled a record of 3-9-1-1, dropping to third place in the Central Division after being in first place or a tie for first from Nov. 8 to Feb. 7. During the 14-game stretch, Grand Rapids allowed 52 goals. At the beginning of the season, it took 22 games for the Griffins to allow a similar total.

While the wheels had not come off the bus, smoke was coming out of the engine.

"Obviously, you never want to hit a spell like we've been through, but at the end of it, when you're getting out of it, hopefully you learn from it, and you become stronger, and a better team because of it," Watson said.

Watson said the coaching staff identified areas to address as the Griffins head toward the playoffs.

"We watch video, whether it's the full game or clips, depending on the time we have, but we watch everything we possibly can, and then, as a staff, we sit down and collectively figure out the issues from that game, whether we won or lost."

Although the record suggests otherwise, the Griffins have played better than their recent record indicates.

"We use Sportlogiq, an outside company that every team uses – so it's not someone in-house – and their

analytics will show that we should have won a game 4-1 when we actually lost 4-1. In some of our losses, we just didn't score."

For the first time in team history, the Griffins went three consecutive games without scoring a goal (Jan. 31-Feb. 7). The lack of scoring is not from a lack of trying. The Griffins recorded more shots than their opponents in 10 of the 14 games during the rough stretch. Grand Rapids outshot Manitoba by a 37-23 margin on March 4, but lost the game 5-2.

"Those are frustrating moments for the coaching staff and team, but you have to battle through – it's a long season," he said. "We have to embrace the desperation, determination, and the focus it takes to play as a team.

"I think there are times when guys look at their personal stats and want to get points, so they try to do things that maybe aren't going to help the team win and be successful. When the team wins, and we score three or four goals a game, people will get their points.

"When you start playing individualistic, all of a sudden you're down 3-0, and you start taking risks, and now you're not getting points, you're giving up chances, you're getting scored on.

"Everybody wants to be the hero. It feels good to score goals, and you think you're helping the team win by doing that, but cheating hockey gets you nowhere. You've gotta stay within the team structure, where they can use the skills they've acquired within a structure that keeps everyone on the same page."

Watson believes his team is capable of scoring more often. The Griffins' lineup got a boost when Carter Mazur and Amadeus Lombardi returned from longterm injuries, and he thinks it's only a matter of time before the team finds its groove again.

"At the start of the year, we weren't scoring much,

but we were generating a lot of chances," he said. "We need to focus more on our puck play and how to generate more offense by playing harder around the net. That's where goals are scored in the playoffs, and with 20 games to go, we've got to start turning our attention to how to play playoff hockey.

"I still think there's opportunity to score rebound goals, to score some hard-earned goals in the crease, where you're willing to take the cross check, and you're willing to take the slashes, to bang one in."

Watson also thinks his team is capable of playing better defensively. "We're fourth in the league for expected goals against, and other advanced analytics show that we are still a good defensive team, but pucks are going in. In one game against Manitoba, they had three goals, all scored off shin pads," he said. "You could say that's unlucky, but you have to work to make your luck. At times we've been outworked, and that's not our DNA. That's not who we are.

"Other teams have gotten better, and they've started to figure out how we play, how we defend, and they have found some holes, some chinks in the armor, so we need to make sure that we're dialed in defensively. We need our power play and penalty kill to be better. We need to play strong team hockey."

When the Griffins are playing well, they're doing many things right.

"It's our compete level," he said. "It's five guys connected on the ice, not spread apart, defending extremely hard and well. We're not giving the other team easy offense. That's when we're at our best without the puck.

"With the puck, it's all about our breakouts, getting through the neutral zone with speed, and then getting to the net and hunting pucks. If we're not around the net, we won't succeed offensively. We're getting chances, but we're just not finishing.

"Once you start scoring goals, it breeds confidence, whether on a power play or five-on-five. You can see how the bench gets excited for goals. They love the offensive side of the game, but sometimes confidence can make all the difference.

"There's a great book, Don't Sweat the Small Stuff, and sometimes we're sweating the small stuff. We can't push past it or turn the page quickly enough. All of a sudden, one mistake turns into two. One bad shift turns into two, then three. We've got to be able to flip that script and turn the page. Get over the small stuff and worry about the big stuff."

Watson is confident that his team's engine will be firing on all cylinders again.

"We're not there yet, but we're heading in the right direction," he said. "I believe we have a special team, and we can make some things happen."

2024-25 GRIFFINS HOCKEY OPERATIONS STAFF

General Manager Shawn Horcoff

Head Coach Dan Watson

Assistant Coach Steph Julien

Assistant Coach Brian Lashoff

Goaltending Coach Roope Koistinen

Video Coach Erich Junge

Athletic Trainer Austin Frank Assistant Athletic Trainer Katie Berglund Physical Therapist Zack Harvey

Equipment Manager Brad Thompson

Asst. Equipment Manager Kyle Hornkohl Biomechanist/Sport

Jack Rummells

Marcus Kinney

Mandi Zemba

Stats through Feb. 28

SCOUTING REPORT

ROCKFORD

MARCH 21, MARCH 22, APRIL 4

Over the Griffins’ final 13 games of the regular season, the team will meet the IceHogs seven times. Grand Rapids and Rockford met four times in the first 13 games of the season before playing just once in 46 games between Nov. 14 and March 14. Through the initial five meetings, the Griffins had a 3-2-0-0 record with a plus-two scoring margin (15-13).

Rockford’s Cole Guttman led the team in points (20-25— 45), assists (25) and goals (20) through 52 games this season. His point total was 14 points higher than second-place Brett Seney. Guttman also ranked 12th in the AHL in points and tied for 16th in goals. Selected 180th overall in 2017 by Tampa Bay, Guttman has spent his entire career with the Chicago Blackhawks organization since turning pro in 2022-23, after spending four seasons at the University of Denver.

Former Griffin (2013-16) and Detroit Red Wing (2015-20) Andreas Athanasiou has appeared in 16 games with the IceHogs this campaign, showing 16 points (8-8—16), 18 penalty minutes and a minus-three rating. Against Grand Rapids this season, Athanasiou has had two goals in two games. With the Griffins from 2013-16, the 30-year-old registered 51 points (25-26—51) in 83 regular-season games and 15 points (7-8—15) in 28 playoff outings.

Andreas Athanasiou

TEXAS

MARCH 26, APRIL 11,

APRIL 12

The Stars have one of the most potent power plays in the AHL, as they ranked third through 49 games with a conversion rate of 22.3%. Texas also led the league with a road power-play rate of 25.0%. However, against the Griffins, the Stars went just 1-for-13 (7.7%) on the power play through the first five meetings. Matej Blumel and Cameron Hughes were both tied for the team lead with seven power-play goals.

Antonio Stranges hails from Ann Arbor, Michigan, and played his youth years with the Belle Tire and Little Caesars programs in Detroit. Stranges then moved on to the Ontario Hockey League with the London Knights before being selected 123rd overall by Dallas in 2020. With the Texas Stars

CHICAGO

APRIL 2

since 2020-21, Stranges had 76 points (32-44—76) in 130 games, which included eight points (4-4—8) in 14 games against Grand Rapids.

Matej Blumel was tied for second in the AHL with 26 goals through 44 games after posting a career-high 31 tallies last year for the Stars. Blumel, a native of Tabor, Czechia, was drafted 100th overall by Edmonton in 2019 before signing an entry-level contract with the Dallas Stars in 2022. Blumel played in his first AHL All-Star Classic this season and led Texas with 47 points (26-21—47) in the first 44 games.

Chicago’s Aleksi Heimosalmi and Grand Rapids’ Antti Tuomisto both competed for Assat’s U18 and U20 programs from 2018-20 in their home country of Finland. In addition to playing in the same development program and both being from Pori, Finland, the two defensemen were also both second-round picks in the NHL, as Tuomisto was selected 35th overall in 2019 by Detroit and Heimosalmi 44th overall in 2021 by Carolina. Heimosalmi is in his rookie AHL season and had 12 points (4-8—12) through 43 games with the Wolves. Nineteen-year-old Bradly Nadeau is in his rookie season after being drafted 30th overall by Carolina in 2023. In addition to tying for first on the roster in points through 44 games, Nadeau ranked second among rookies with 21 goals (T10th overall) and tied for fourth among first-year players with 38 points. He made his NHL debut as an 18-year-old on April 16, 2024, at the Columbus Blue Jackets following his first and only NCAA season with the University of Maine, where he showed 46 points (19-27—46) in 37 games.

Spencer Martin, a 10-year veteran, is in his first season with the Wolves after playing with 10 different teams between the ECHL, AHL and NHL from 2015-24. Through 21 games with Chicago, the 29-year-old had a 15-5-1

mark with two shutouts to go along with a 2.35 goalsagainst average and a .909 save percentage. He ranked among the AHL’s leaders in GAA (8th) and wins (T10th), and, for what it’s worth, paced the league’s netminders in assists (4). Martin has made stops in the AHL with San Antonio (2015-18), Colorado (2018-19), Syracuse (2019-21), Abbotsford (2021-23) and Chicago (2024-25), totaling a combined 109-90-23 ledger with a 2.83 GAA and a .905 save percentage in 235 games.

Aleksi Heimosalmi

Antonio Stranges

Photo Credit: Texas Stars

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Dear Griffins Fans,

Looks aren’t everything, but when it comes to the Grand Rapids Griffins’ 2024-25 season, visuals are taking center stage.

The outlook for Dan Watson’s squad appears bright, after he led the Griffins to a second-place finish in the Central Division in 2023-24, guided the team back to the Calder Cup Playoffs, and won a playoff series in his first season as our head coach. This year’s roster will again be filled with some of the brightest and most exciting prospects in the sport, from goaltender Sebastian Cossa to dynamic offensive talents like Carter Mazur, Marco Kasper, and Nate Danielson. Fresh faces include Sheldon Dries and Joe Snively, the latter a Calder Cup champion with Hershey each of the last two seasons who envisions hosting both his and the Griffins’ third cups next spring.

They and their teammates will sport a new look on the ice this season thanks to our first jersey redesigns in almost a decade, updates that respect our tradition but introduce a new flair. While our logo and color scheme of red, black, metallic silver, and metallic gold are unchanged, red and gold both take on new prominence in our home and road jerseys. Red – a continued nod to our 23 years of affiliation with the Detroit Red Wings – replaced black on the shoulders while gold replaced silver in the trim, complementing the gold in the Griffins’ logo and conjuring images of ancient lore, when griffins were believed to be guardians of golden treasures.

Speaking of treasures, Van Andel Arena has a big new one this season, a long-awaited and highly anticipated addition to our award-winning game presentation: a four-sided, center-hung videoboard that will further enhance your fan experience. Boasting the same technology and display resolution as those at Comerica Park, these impressive videoboards will provide fans a more intimate and convenient view of live action and highlights than ever before, dramatically impacting the way you experience a game.

Video improvements extend to AHLTV, which has joined the FloSports platform as AHLTV on FloHockey. Whether you’re watching a game played in Grand Rapids or on the road, you’ll enjoy an improved, state-of-the-art video stream. And great news for those who can’t get enough hockey: your AHLTV on FloHockey subscription will not just give you access to every regular-season and Calder Cup Playoff contest for all 32 AHL teams, but to more than 21,000 other pro, college and junior hockey games on FloHockey.

Here’s hoping we all enjoy a memorable season that, in the end, is picture perfect.

Sincerely,

Dan DeVos Chief Executive Officer Grand Rapids Griffins

A Message from The President

Scott Howson PRESIDENT & CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Hockey League

Dear Fans,

It is my pleasure to welcome you to the 2024-25 American Hockey League season, the latest chapter in a tradition of excellence that can be traced back to our league’s founding nearly nine decades ago.

The AHL is as proud as ever of its role as the top development league for nearly all of the players, coaches, executives, trainers, broadcasters and officials who you see throughout the National Hockey League today. Generations of our great fans have cheered on future superstars, Stanley Cup champions and Hockey Hall of Famers as they have come through the AHL.

It is my pleasure to welcome you to the 2024-25 Hockey League season, the latest chapter in a excellence that can be traced back to our league’s

This season is sure to be another memorable one, from the excitement of opening night to the pageantry of the AHL All-Star Classic in Coachella Valley to the pure emotion of the Calder Cup Playoffs.

On behalf of all of our teams, thank you for your continuing support of the AHL.

Sincerely,

Scott Howson President & CEO | American Hockey League

The AHL is as proud as ever of its role as the top development league for nearly all of the players, executives, trainers, broadcasters and officials throughout the National Hockey League today. of our great fans have cheered on future superstars, Stanley Cup champions and Hockey Hall of Famers

This season is sure to be another memorable excitement of opening night to the pageantry All-Star Classic in Coachella Valley to the pure the Calder Cup Playoffs.

A TRADITION OF

Percentage of all NHL players in 2023-24 who were graduates of the AHL BY THE

Former AHL players who skated in the NHL last season

THE BEGINNINGS

Embarking on its 89th season in 2024-25, the American Hockey League is continuing a tradition of excellence that began in 1936 when the Canadian-American Hockey League joined with the International Hockey League to form what is today known as the AHL. Eight teams hit the ice that first season, representing Buffalo, Cleveland, New Haven, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Providence, Springfield and Syracuse.

Frank Calder, the National Hockey League’s president at the time, was instrumental in the forming of this new league, and his name would be given to its championship trophy. The first Calder Cup was won by the Syracuse Stars in 1937; the Hershey Bears captured their leaguebest 13th championship last spring.

From those roots, the American Hockey League has grown into a 32-team, coastto-coast league that provides fans with exciting, high-level professional hockey while preparing thousands of players, coaches, officials, executives, trainers, broadcasters and more for careers in the NHL.

AHL players who also played in the NHL in 2023-24

Former 1st- and 2nd-round NHL draft picks who skated in the AHL in 2023-24

THE PLAYERS

In today’s National Hockey League nearly 90 percent of the players are AHL alumni, including 2023-24 Vezina Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck, Lady Byng Trophy recipient Jaccob Slavin and Bill Masterton Trophy winner Connor

Ingram. The 2024 Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers were stocked with AHL graduates including former league scoring champion Carter Verhaeghe and two-time AHL All-Star Brandon Montour.

During the 2023-24 season, a total of played in the National Hockey League. There were 349 players both leagues last year alone, and 251 former first- and second-round NHL draft picks in the AHL last season, including David Jiricek

Lukas Reichel

Kasper

Yaroslav Askarov

Clarke Cup Playoffs MVP Lapierre

THE LEGENDS

For nearly nine decades, the American Hockey League has been home to some of the greatest players in the history of our sport. In fact, there are 133 honored members of the Hockey Hall of Fame who have been affiliated with the AHL during their careers All-time greats from Milt Schmidt and Gump Worsley to Roberto Luongo and Martin St. Louis came through the AHL ranks and now find themselves enshrined in Toronto, and the coveted Calder Cup is inscribed with the names of legendary AHL alumni like Johnny Bower, Larry Robinson, Gerry Cheevers, Andy Bathgate, Tim Horton, Al Arbour, Emile Francis, Patrick Roy, Doug Harvey and Billy Smith.

THE COACHES

At the start of the 2024-25 season, the National Hockey League featured 22 head coaches who were former AHL bench bosses, including Paul Maurice of the 2024 Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers and Kris Knoblauch of the Western Conference champion Edmonton Oilers.

Tampa Bay’s Jon Cooper, New Jersey’s Sheldon Keefe, San Jose’s Ryan Warsofsky, Colorado’s Jared Bednar, Washington’s Spencer Carbery and Seattle’s Dan Bylsma are also among the current NHL coaches who spent time in the American Hockey League before making the jump.

AHL DIRECTORY

EASTERN CONFERENCE

ATLANTIC DIVISION:

Bridgeport, Charlotte, Hartford, Hershey, Lehigh Valley, Providence, Springfield, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton

NORTH DIVISION: Belleville, Cleveland, Laval, Rochester, Syracuse, Toronto, Utica

BRIDGEPORT ISLANDERS

NHL Affiliation:: ........................ New York Islanders

Home Ice: Total Mortgage Arena (8,412)

General Manager: Chris Lamoriello

Head Coach: ......................................Rick Kowalsky

Entered AHL: .............................................2001-02

Calder Cups: None

Seasons in Playoffs: ................................... 10 of 21

2023-24 Record: .................25-38-7-2, 59 pts./.410 Website: .......................... bridgeportislanders.com

CHARLOTTE CHECKERS

NHL Affiliation: ............................. Florida Panthers

Home Ice: Bojangles’ Coliseum (8,500)

General Manager: Gregory Campbell

Head Coach: .................................. Geordie Kinnear

Entered AHL: .............................................2010-11

Calder Cups: One (2019) Seasons in Playoffs: ..................................... 8 of 12

2023-24 Record: .................39-26-7-0, 85 pts./.590 Website: ............................. charlottecheckers.com

HARTFORD WOLF PACK

NHL Affiliation: .......................... New York Rangers

Home Ice: XL Center (15,635)

General Manager: ............................... Ryan Martin

Head Coach: ...................................... Grant Potulny

Entered AHL: .............................................1997-98

Calder Cups: One (2000)

Seasons in Playoffs: ................................... 17 of 25

2023-24 Record: .................34-28-7-3, 78 pts./.542 Website: ............................. hartfordwolfpack.com

HERSHEY BEARS

NHL Affiliation: ...................... Washington Capitals

Home Ice: Giant Center (10,500)

General Manager: ............................. Bryan Helmer

Head Coach: .........................................Todd Nelson Entered AHL: .............................................1938-39

Calder Cups: 13 (1947, 1958, 1959, 1969, 1974, 1980, 1988, 1997, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2023, 2024) Seasons in Playoffs: ................................... 71 of 84 2023-24 Record: ...............53-14-0-5, 111 pts./.771 Website: hersheybears.com

LEHIGH VALLEY PHANTOMS

NHL Affiliation: ......................... Philadelphia Flyers

Home Ice: ..................................PPL Center (8,420)

General Manager: Alyn McCauley

Head Coach: ......................................Ian Laperriere

Entered AHL: 1996-97 (as Philadelphia Phantoms) Calder Cups: .................................Two (1998, 2005) Seasons in Playoffs: 14 of 26 2023-24 Record: .................32-31-6-3, 73 pts./.507 Website: .............................. phantomshockey.com

PROVIDENCE BRUINS

NHL Affiliation: ................................. Boston Bruins

Home Ice: ............................ Dunkin’ Donuts Center Providence (11,273)

General Manager: Evan Gold

Head Coach: ................................... Ryan Mougenel

Entered AHL: .............................................1992-93

Calder Cups: .......................................... One (1999) Seasons in Playoffs: 25 of 30

2023-24 Record: .................42-21-6-3, 93 pts./.646 Website: ..............................providencebruins.com

SPRINGFIELD THUNDERBIRDS

NHL Affiliation: St. Louis Blues

Home Ice: .................... MassMutual Center (6,793)

General Manager: ............................Kevin Maxwell

Head Coach: ............................. Steve Konowalchuk

Entered AHL: 2016-17

Calder Cups: ................................................... None

Seasons in Playoffs: ....................................... 2 of 6

2023-24 Record: 30-37-3-2, 65 pts./.451 Website: springfieldthunderbirds.com

WILKES-BARRE/ SCRANTON PENGUINS

NHL Affiliation: .......................Pittsburgh Penguins Home Ice: ...............................Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza (7,500)

General Manager: .............................. Jason Spezza

Head Coach: ................................. Keith MacDonald

Entered AHL: 1999-00

Calder Cups: ................................................... None

Seasons in Playoffs: ................................... 19 of 23

2023-24 Record: .................39-24-8-1, 87 pts./.604 Website: wbspenguins.com

BELLEVILLE SENATORS

NHL Affiliation: .............................Ottawa Senators

Home Ice: .................................. CAA Arena (4,365)

General Manager: ............................ Ryan Bowness

Head Coach: David Bell

Entered AHL: .............................................2017-18

Calder Cups: ................................................... None

Seasons in Playoffs: 2 of 5

2023-24 Record: .................38-28-3-3, 82 pts./.569

Website: .................................... bellevillesens.com

ROCHESTER AMERICANS

NHL Affiliation: ................................ Buffalo Sabres

Home Ice: Blue Cross Arena at the Rochester War Memorial (10,662)

General Manager: ......................... Jason Karmanos

Head Coach: ..................................... Michael Leone

Entered AHL: 1956-57

Calder Cups: ......................... Six (1965, 1966, 1968, 1983, 1987, 1996)

Seasons in Playoffs: ................................... 49 of 66

2023-24 Record: 39-23-7-3, 88 pts./.611 Website: ............................................. amerks.com

CLEVELAND MONSTERS

NHL Affiliation: ................... Columbus Blue Jackets

Home Ice: Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse (18,277/9,447 lower bowl)

General Manager: .................................. Chris Clark

Head Coach: .................................Trent Vogelhuber

Entered AHL: 2007-08 (as Lake Erie Monsters)

Calder Cups: .......................................... One (2016)

Seasons in Playoffs: ..................................... 4 of 15

2023-24 Record: .................40-24-5-3, 88 pts./.611 Website: clevelandmonsters.com

LAVAL ROCKET

NHL Affiliation: ....................... Montreal Canadiens

Home Ice: ..................................Place Bell (10,043)

General Manager: ........................... John Sedgwick

Head Coach: Pascal Vincent Entered AHL: .............................................2017-18

Calder Cups: ................................................... None

Seasons in Playoffs: 2 of 5

2023-24 Record: .................33-31-6-2, 74 pts./.514

Website: ........................................ rocketlaval.com

THE ROAD TO THE CALDER CUP

SYRACUSE CRUNCH

NHL Affiliation: ..................... Tampa Bay Lightning

Home Ice: Upstate Medical University Arena at Onondaga County War Memorial (6,110)

General Manager: .................................Stacy Roest

Head Coach: ......................................Joel Bouchard

Entered AHL: 1994-95

Calder Cups: ................................................... None

Seasons in Playoffs: ................................... 18 of 28

2023-24 Record: .................39-24-4-5, 87 pts./.604 Website: syracusecrunch.com

A total of 23 teams will qualify for the AHL’s 2025 postseason, with five rounds of playoffs leading to the crowning of a Calder Cup champion.

The playoff field will include the top six finishers in the eight-team Atlantic Division, the top five finishers each in the seven-team North and Central Divisions, and the top seven teams in the 10-team Pacific Division.

TORONTO MARLIES

NHL Affiliation: Toronto Maple Leafs

Home Ice: .................... Coca-Cola Coliseum (7,851)

General Manager: .................................Ryan Hardy

Head Coach: ........................................ John Gruden

Entered AHL: 2005-06

Calder Cups: .......................................... One (2018)

Seasons in Playoffs: ................................... 13 of 17

2023-24 Record: 34-26-10-2, 80 pts./.556

Website: marlies.ca

UTICA COMETS

NHL Affiliation: New Jersey Devils

Home Ice: ...... Adirondack Bank Center at the Utica Memorial Auditorium (3,917)

General Manager: .......................... Dan MacKinnon

Interim Head Coach: Ryan Parent

Entered AHL: .............................................2013-14

Calder Cups: ................................................... None

Seasons in Playoffs: 5 of 9

2023-24 Record: 32-29-5-6, 75 pts./.521

Website: ...................................... uticacomets.com

First Round matchups will be best-ofthree series. The two highest seeds in the Atlantic, the three highest seeds in each of the North and Central, and the first-place team in the Pacific will receive byes into the best-of-five Division Semifinals, with the First Round winners re-seeded in each division. The Division Finals will also be best-of-five series, followed by best-ofseven Conference Finals and a best-ofseven Calder Cup Finals.

Rapids

AHL DIRECTORY

WESTERN CONFERENCE

PACIFIC DIVISION:

Abbotsford, Bakersfield, Calgary, Coachella Valley, Colorado, Henderson, Ontario, San Diego, San Jose, Tucson

CENTRAL DIVISION: Grand Rapids, Chicago, Iowa, Manitoba, Milwaukee, Rockford, Texas

ABBOTSFORD CANUCKS

NHL Affiliation: .........................Vancouver Canucks

Home Ice: ...................... Abbotsford Centre (7,073)

General Manager: Ryan Johnson

Head Coach: ................................. Manny Malhotra

Entered AHL: .............................................2021-22

Calder Cups: None

Seasons in Playoffs: ....................................... 3 of 3

2023-24 Record: .................40-25-5-2, 87 pts./.604

Website: .......................... abbotsford.canucks.com

BAKERSFIELD CONDORS

NHL Affiliation: .............................Edmonton Oilers

Home Ice: ............... Mechanics Bank Arena (8,751) General Manager: Keith Gretzky

Coach: ........................................ Colin Chaulk

AHL: .............................................2015-16

Cups: None

in Playoffs: ....................................... 4 of 7 2023-24 Record: .................39-27-4-2,

CALGARY WRANGLERS

NHL Affiliation: ............................... Calgary Flames

Home Ice: Scotiabank Saddledome (19,289)

General Manager: ................................ Brad Pascall

Interim Head Coach: ............................... Joe Cirella

Entered AHL: 2022-23

Calder Cups: None

Seasons in Playoffs: ....................................... 2 of 2

2023-24 Record: .................35-28-6-3, 79 pts./.549 Website: calgarywranglers.com

COACHELLA VALLEY FIREBIRDS

NHL Affiliation: ................................Seattle Kraken

Home Ice: Acrisure Arena (10,087)

Asst. General Manager: .......................Ricky Olczyk

Head Coach: ....................................... Derek Laxdal

Entered AHL: 2022-23

Calder Cups: None

COLORADO EAGLES

NHL Affiliation: ........................ Colorado Avalanche

Ice: Blue Arena (5,089)

Manager: ......................... Kevin McDonald

Coach: .............................. Aaron

ONTARIO REIGN

Seasons in Playoffs: ....................................... 2 of 2

2023-24 Record: ...............46-15-6-5, 103 pts./.715 Website: cvfirebirds.com

HENDERSON SILVER KNIGHTS

NHL Affiliation: .....................Vegas Golden Knights

Home Ice: ............... The Dollar Loan Center (5,567)

General Manager: Tim Speltz

Head Coach: ........................................... Ryan Craig

Entered AHL: .............................................2020-21

Calder Cups: None

Seasons in Playoffs: 1 of 3

2023-24 Record: .................28-36-3-5, 64 pts./.444

Website: .................... hendersonsilverknights.com

ONTARIO REIGN

NHL Affiliation: ........................... Los Angeles Kings

Home Ice: .............................. Toyota Arena (9,491)

General Manager: Richard Seeley

Head Coach: ........................................Marco Sturm

Entered AHL: .............................................2015-16

Calder Cups: None Seasons in Playoffs: 6 of 7

2023-24 Record: .................42-23-3-4, 91 pts./.632 Website: ..................................... ontarioreign.com

SAN DIEGO GULLS

SAN JOSE BARRACUDA

NHL Affiliation: San Jose Sharks

Home Ice: .............................Tech CU Arena (4,200)

General Manager: ....................................... Joe Will

Head Coach: John McCarthy

Entered AHL: .............................................2015-16

Calder Cups: ................................................... None

Seasons in Playoffs: ....................................... 4 of 7

2023-24 Record: 24-34-10-4, 62 pts./.431 Website: .......................................sjbarracuda.com

TUCSON ROADRUNNERS

NHL Affiliation: Utah Hockey Club

Home Ice: .............................. Tucson Arena (6,521)

General Manager: ............................ John Ferguson

Head Coach: Steve Potvin

Entered AHL: .............................................2016-17

Calder Cups: ................................................... None

Seasons in Playoffs: ....................................... 3 of 6

2023-24 Record: 43-23-4-2, 92 pts./.639 Website: ........................... tucsonroadrunners.com

CHICAGO WOLVES

NHL Affiliation: ........................ Carolina Hurricanes

Home Ice: Allstate Arena (16,692)

General Manager: ...............................Darren Yorke

Head Coach: ......................................... Cam Abbott

Entered AHL: 2001-02

Calder Cups: Three (2002, 2008, 2022)

Seasons in Playoffs: ................................... 14 of 21

2023-24 Record: .................23-35-7-7, 60 pts./.417 Website: chicagowolves.com

IOWA WILD

NHL Affiliation: .............................. Minnesota Wild

Home Ice: Wells Fargo Arena (8,356)

General Manager: ........................... Matt Hendricks

Head Coach: ....................................... Brett McLean

Entered AHL: 2013-14

Calder Cups: None

Seasons in Playoffs: ....................................... 2 of 9

2023-24 Record: .................27-37-4-4, 62 pts./.431 Website: iowawild.com

GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS

NHL Affiliation: Detroit Red Wings

Home Ice: .......................Van Andel Arena (10,834)

General Manager: ............................Shawn Horcoff

Head Coach: Dan Watson

Entered AHL: .............................................2001-02

Calder Cups: .................................Two (2013, 2017) Seasons in Playoffs: ................................... 14 of 21

2023-24 Record: 37-23-8-4, 86 pts./.597

Website: ................................... griffinshockey.com

MANITOBA MOOSE

NHL Affiliation: .................................Winnipeg Jets

Home Ice: Canada Life Centre (7,808)

General Manager: ........................... Craig Heisinger

Head Coach: ..................................... Mark Morrison Entered AHL: 2001-02 (played through 2010-11; re-entered 2015-16)

Calder Cups: ................................................... None Seasons in Playoffs: ................................... 13 of 17 2023-24 Record: 34-35-2-1, 71 pts./.493 Website: ....................................moosehockey.com

MILWAUKEE ADMIRALS

NHL Affiliation: ........................ Nashville Predators

Home Ice: ............................ Panther Arena (9,450)

General Manager: Scott Nichol

Head Coach: ........................................... Karl Taylor

Entered AHL: .............................................2001-02

Calder Cups: One (2004) Seasons in Playoffs: 18 of 21

2023-24 Record: .................47-22-2-1, 97 pts./.674 Website: ..........................milwaukeeadmirals.com

ROCKFORD ICEHOGS

NHL Affiliation: ....................... Chicago Blackhawks

Home Ice: ................................ BMO Center (5,895)

General Manager: Mark Bernard

Head Coach: ................................. Anders Sorensen

Entered AHL: .............................................2007-08

Calder Cups: None Seasons in Playoffs: 9 of 15

2023-24 Record: .................39-26-5-2, 85 pts./.590 Website: ............................................. icehogs.com

TEXAS STARS

NHL Affiliation: .....................................Dallas Stars

Home Ice: ......... H-E-B Center at Cedar Park (6,778)

General Manager: Scott White

Head Coach: ........................................ Neil Graham

Entered AHL: .............................................2009-10

Calder Cups: One (2014) Seasons in Playoffs: 10 of 13

2023-24 Record: .................33-33-4-2, 72 pts./.500

Website: ......................................... texasstars.com Grand Rapids GRIFFINS

DETROIT RED WINGS

TOP AFFILIATE: Grand Rapids Griffins • 23rd Season

Since beginning their affiliation with the Detroit Red Wings in 2002, the Grand Rapids Griffins have sent more than 100 players to Hockeytown. Detroit’s current crop of Griffins alumni includes Michael Rasmussen, 2022 Calder Trophy recipient Moritz Seider, and captain Dylan Larkin.

ARENA: Little Caesars Arena • Seating Capacity: 19,515

CONTACT: (313) 471-7000 • detroitredwings.com

STANLEY CUPS: 1936, 1937, 1943, 1950, 1952, 1954, 1955, 1997, 1998, 2002, 2008

MANAGEMENT

EXECUTIVE VP/GENERAL MANAGER: Steve Yzerman

VP/HOCKEY OPERATIONS: Nicklas Lidstrom

ASSISTANT GENERAL MANAGERS: Shawn Horcoff, Kris Draper, Aaron Kahn

COACHING STAFF

HEAD COACH: Todd McLellan

ASSISTANT COACHES: Alex Tanguay, Jay Varady, Trent Yawney

GOALTENDING COACH: Alex Westlund

VIDEO COORDINATOR: L J Scarpace

ASSISTANT VIDEO COORDINATOR: Jeff Weintraub

GRIFFINS WHO HAVE EARNED THEIR WINGS

Justin Abdelkader 2008-09

Adam Almquist 2013-14

Joakim Andersson 2011-12

Zach Aston-Reese 2023-24

Andreas Athanasiou 2015-16

Sean Avery 2002-03

Riley Barber 2021-22

Ryan Barnes 2003-04

Jonatan Berggren 2022-23

Tyler Bertuzzi 2016-17

Patrick Boileau 2002-03

Darryl Bootland 2003-04

Madison Bowey 2019-20

Mathias Brome 2020-21

Fabian Brunnstrom 2011-12

Mitch Callahan 2013-14

Jake Chelios 2018-19

Alex Chiasson 2022-23

Dennis Cholowski 2018-19

Ty Conklin 2011-12

Chris Conner 2011-12

Jared Coreau 2016-17

Sebastian Cossa 2024-25

Kyle Criscuolo 2021-22

Austin Czarnik 2022-23

Danny DeKeyser 2013-14

Aaron Downey 2008-09

Patrick Eaves 2013-14

Simon Edvinsson 2022-23

Christoffer Ehn 2018-19

Matt Ellis 2006-07

Turner Elson 2021-22

Cory Emmerton 2010-11

Jonathan Ericsson 2007-08

Adam Erne 2022-23

Landon Ferraro 2013-14

Valtteri Filppula 2005-06

Martin Frk 2017-18

Luke Glendening 2013-14

Mark Hartigan 2007-08

Darren Helm 2007-08

Joe Hicketts 2017-18

Taro Hirose 2019-20

Jimmy Howard 2005-06

Filip Hronek 2018-19

Jiri Hudler 2003-04

Matt Hussey 2006-07

Ville Husso 2024-25

Michael Hutchinson 2023-24

Doug Janik 2009-10

Nick Jensen 2016-17

Albert Johansson 2024-25

Tomas Jurco 2013-14

Marco Kasper 2024-25

Jakub Kindl 2009-10

Tomas Kopecky 2005-06

Niklas Kronwall 2003-04

William Lagesson 2024-25

Marc Lamothe 2003-04

Josh Langfeld 2006-07

Dylan Larkin 2015-16

Brian Lashoff 2012-13

Brett Lebda 2005-06

Ville Leino 2008-09

Gustav Lindstrom 2019-20

Matt Lorito 2016-17

Matt Luff 2022-23

Joey MacDonald 2006-07

Donald MacLean 2005-06

Anthony Mantha 2015-16

Alexey Marchenko 2013-14

Carter Mazur 2024-25

Darren McCarty 2007-08

Tom McCollum 2010-11

Dylan McIlrath 2018-19

Derek Meech 2006-07

Wade Megan 2018-19

Drew Miller 2016-17

Kevin Miller 2003-04

Mark Mowers 2003-04

Petr Mrazek 2012-13

Jan Mursak 2010-11

Anders Myrvold 2003-04

Alex Nedeljkovic 2022-23

Andrej Nestrasil 2014-15

Kris Newbury 2009-10

Tomas Nosek 2015-16

Gustav Nyquist 2011-12

Xavier Ouellet 2013-14

Chase Pearson 2021-22

Calvin Pickard 2019-20

Matt Puempel 2018-19

Teemu Pulkkinen 2013-14

Kyle Quincey 2005-06

Michael Rasmussen 2018-19

Dan Renouf 2016-17

Mattias Ritola 2007-08

Jamie Rivers 2003-04

Nathan Robinson 2003-04

Stacy Roest 2002-03

Robbie Russo 2016-17

Moritz Seider 2021-22

Riley Sheahan 2011-12

Dominik Shine 2024-25

Brendan Smith 2011-12

Givani Smith 2019-20

Elmer Soderblom 2022-23

Ryan Sproul 2013-14

Garrett Stafford 2007-08

Ben Street 2016-17

Libor Sulak 2018-19

Evgeny Svechnikov 2016-17

Eric Tangradi 2015-16

Tomas Tatar 2010-11

Jordin Tootoo 2013-14

Dominic Turgeon 2017-18

Joe Veleno 2020-21

Jakub Vrana 2022-23

Austin Watson 2024-25

Jason Williams 2002-03

Luke Witkowski 2021-22

Filip Zadina 2018-19

* not including conditioning stints for Curtis Joseph (2003-04), Chris Osgood (2005-06), Manny Legace (2005-06), Chris Chelios (2008-09), Andreas Lilja (2009-10),

(2021-22) and

Photo credit: Getty Images

MARK YOUR CALENDAR 2024-25

MARCH 21

Presented by United Way/ $2 Beers and $2 Hot Dogs

MARCH 22

Beer City Hockey Night presented by Adventure Credit Union/Beer City Hockey

Jersey Auction/Beer City Hockey Hat

MARCH 26

Winning Wednesday presented by Michigan First Credit Union APRIL 2

Winning Wednesday presented by Michigan First Credit Union

APRIL 4

Presented by University of Michigan Health-West/Griffins’ Annual Team Equipment Sale/ $2 Beers and $2 Hot Dogs

APRIL 11

Presented by Comerica/ $2 Beers and $2 Hot Dogs

APRIL 12

Fan Appreciation Night presented by Huntington Bank

WEEK OF APRIL 20

2025 Calder Cup Playoffs begin, with $2 Beers and $2 Hot Dogs during every home playoff game. All playoff games on 96.1 The Game.

CHECKPROMOTIONS OUT THESE SEASON-LONG

$2 BEERS AND $2 HOT DOGS

Every Friday, enjoy $2 domestic drafts and $2 hot dogs from 6-8 p.m., at select stands while supplies last.

MILITARY NIGHTS

Every home game, current members of our military can purchase up to four Upper Level Faceoff or Crease tickets for $16 each, four Upper Level Center Ice tickets for $19 each or four Lower Level Faceoff tickets for $23 each with a valid military ID. The offer also extends to veterans who present a VA ID or discharge papers.

COLLEGE DISCOUNT

College students can buy online using their school .edu email address or show their ID at every Friday game to purchase an Upper Level Faceoff or Crease ticket for $16, an Upper Level Center Ice ticket for $19, or a Lower Level Faceoff ticket for $23. Limit one ticket per ID if purchasing in-person. Visit griffinshockey.com/college to purchase College Night tickets and sign up for text alerts.

FREE RIDE FRIDAY ON THE RAPID

Ride the Rapid to and from any Friday game and enjoy a complimentary fare by showing your ticket to that night’s game. Visit ridetherapid.org for schedule information, routes and maps.

WINNING WEDNESDAYS

Presented by Michigan First Credit Union, every time the Griffins win at home on Wednesday, each fan in attendance will receive a free ticket to the next Wednesday game. To redeem a Winning Wednesday ticket, please visit the box office following the Winning Wednesday game, The Zone during normal business hours, or the Van Andel Arena box office prior to the next Wednesday game beginning at 5:30 p.m. Fans who exchange their Winning Wednesday ticket at The Zone on a non-game day will receive 20% off the purchase of one item (excluding jerseys). One discount per person present.

LIBRARY NIGHTS

For all Wednesday and Sunday games, fans can present their Grand Rapids Public Library card or Kent District Library card at the Van Andel Arena box office on the night of the game or at The Zone anytime during the store’s regular business hours to purchase an Upper Level Faceoff ticket for $18 (regularly $24), an Upper Level Center Ice ticket for $21 (regularly $27), or a Lower Level Faceoff ticket for $25 (regularly $30). Limit four tickets per card per person, subject to availability.

FRIENDS & FAMILY 4-PACKS

These packs are available for all Saturday games during the 2024-25 season and

include four or more game tickets, and $20 or more in concession cash.

Visit griffinshockey.com/f4p or call (616) 774-4585 ext. 2.

PEPSI READING GOALS

Children with Griff’s Reading Goals bookmarks who have completed the required three hours of reading can redeem their bookmark for two free Upper Level tickets to the April 2 game.

POST-GAME OPEN SKATE

Bring your skates to the rink and take to the ice for a post-game open skate on April 12. As a reminder, Van Andel Arena has a no-bag policy, but security will allow fans to use bags to bring in their skates.

APPLIED INNOVATION ISLAND

Presented by Applied Innovation, this section, located on the terrace level above section 118, provides the best seats in the house for groups of up to 30 people, with La-Z-Boy chairs and an array of unprecedented amenities. Call (616) 744-4585 ext. 4.

A two-time Calder Cup champion with the Hershey Bears, Joe Snively is focused on accomplishing the feat again, this time with the Griffins.

EYES ON THE PRIZE

Story and photos by Mark Newman

From a young age, Joe Snively had his sights set on hockey.

Although he also played soccer and lacrosse growing up, he enjoyed playing hockey the most. As a boy living in the D.C. area, he was a fan of the Washington Capitals and dreamed of someday playing in the NHL for his hometown team.

It seemed like he was destined to make a career out of the game he loved the most, but if not for a quirk of fate, Snively might never have realized his dream or even knew it was his dream in the first place.

In 1958, Snively's grandfather was a textile executive at Burlington Industries in North Carolina when he was sent to the company's hosiery factory in Montreal, Quebec. What was supposed to be a temporary assignment became a permanent gig when the man who ran the plant had a heart attack.

The Snively family patriarch settled in Canada with his wife and newborn son – Snively's father, Richard Jr. – which meant growing up in a suburb of Montreal in the 1960s and 1970s when Stanley Cup parades were almost an annual tradition.

"He fell in love with hockey and brought it back [to the U.S.] with him and taught my brother and me," said Snively, whose earliest memories of playing hockey were at the ice rink in Ashburn, Virginia. "I remember going for a public skate with him a few times. And when we played, I remember he coached our house team, which was fun.

"My love of hockey took off when I was about 7 or 8. I started really, really loving it. I played soccer, and lacrosse is very big on the East Coast, so I played lacrosse until I was about 15. I golfed a little bit when I was younger, too, and I wish I had played more because I play a lot of golf now.

"My older brother played hockey, and I looked up to him. My dad was very involved in the youth hockey program in our area, so I was around rinks a lot growing up. My dad would take us to one or two Capitals games a year."

His favorite player, however, was Martin St. Louis, the diminutive, dynamic all-star winger who built a Hall of Fame career as one of the Tampa Bay Lightning's first breakout stars before becoming the current head coach of the Montreal Canadiens.

Listed at 5-foot-8, St. Louis is widely considered one of the best undrafted players ever. A twotime Olympian, he won a Stanley Cup with the Lightning in 2004, was a three-time winner of the

Lady Byng Memorial Trophy as the NHL's most gentlemanly player, and became the oldest player ever to lead the NHL in scoring when he won his second Art Ross Trophy at age 37.

"He was always the smallest guy on the ice, and growing up, I was always one of the smaller players in every age group, so I looked up to him, for sure."

Snively's parents were both optometrists in the D.C. area, and they saw that he had every opportunity to play.

"Growing up, you always had to have good grades to play sports," he said. "If you weren't getting good grades, you weren't going to play sports or get to do other activities that were fun. That was instilled in me early.

"My parents did a lot of driving to get me to practice or to get me to school, where I was carpooling with friends. Once I started having some success, playing hockey into high school, my goal and dream became to play college hockey."

Already showing signs of becoming an elite player, he was good enough to join the local Washington Little Caps AAA organization. He decided to develop his talents further by heading to Connecticut for prep school following his first year of high school.

He attended the Selects Hockey Academy at the South Kent School, a private, all-boys boarding school similar to Shattuck-St. Mary's School in Minnesota, where students split their day between classroom studies and sports education –namely, AAA hockey.

"The idea of being able to walk five minutes and skate whenever I wanted at the rink on campus was appealing to me," he said. "That's when I started getting a lot of looks from Division I schools in the East, and I felt it was a great year for my development."

Snively had already committed to play at Yale when he decided to head first to Sioux City, Iowa, in 2012 to play junior hockey in the USHL.

"Harvard was the other Ivy League school that showed interest, along with a few hockey schools in the East like the University of New Hampshire, Providence, and others," he said. "I didn't look in the Midwest because I'm from the East Coast and really like New England."

In 2011, when Snively was 15, Yale won the ECAC Hockey Championship for the second time in three seasons.

"Yale was having a lot of success at the time," he recalled. "They were scoring a lot of goals, and

Snively was the regularseason scoring leader for Hershey in 2023-24.

they had two or three players who were 5-foot-9 and under and doing well – so good hockey, great education. It fit what I was looking for."

Snively considered returning to South Kent for his junior year but ultimately headed off to see if he could play in the USHL.

"I made the team out of camp as a 16-year-old, so I decided to stick there and challenge myself," he said. "My parents were super supportive, and I played there during my last two years of high school. I stayed one more year after that, just to play hockey and to grow into my body. I think the experience set me up for success in college."

Snively excelled at Yale, leading the team in scoring during each of his four years at the school, where he majored in political science. The 201516 Bulldogs, his freshman team, went 19-9-4 overall behind the play of future Detroit Red Wings goalie Alex Lyon, a two-time winner of the Ken Dryden Award as the ECAC's best goalie.

"Athletes at Yale were hard-working, down-toearth people, for the most part," he said. "I also met a lot of people and had a lot of friends who weren't athletic, many from different backgrounds and different countries, so it was an overall great experience.

"The big thing for me was that I needed to build strength. I hit the gym hard, which was big for my development because I was a little on the leaner side when I got to school. The ECAC has changed a lot over the last decade, and while there are fewer NHL draft picks than Hockey East or the NCHC, it was a hard league to play in."

Upon graduation, Snively signed a free-agent contract with his hometown Capitals. He would spend most of the next six seasons with the AHL's Hershey Bears, getting rewarded with a pair of 12game callups to Washington before a three-game stint last year.

"Playing in the pros is a big jump from college," he said. "You're playing with the top players from Europe, Canada, and other colleges, so the pyramid of talent gets skinnier as you go up, and the hockey gets tougher as the amount of skill increases."

Snively benefited from coaching at every level. In his second and third years in Sioux City, he improved his play under the direction of Musketeers head coach Jay Varady, now an assistant coach in Detroit on the staff of Red Wings head coach Todd McLellan.

"We had great teams, and I liked how he broke

down video," he said. "I started seeing systems within the game. I started to learn how the game was played, which was big for me at the time because it was new to me."

Spencer Carberry, now in his second NHL season as Washington's head coach, was Snively's head coach for his first three years in Hershey.

"He's a very intense coach who keeps you accountable," Snively said. "He communicated with you on what you're doing well and what you're not doing well. He is very direct, which I think helps a lot when you're young. Sometimes you don't know where you fit in or what your role will be, so he was very good at that."

At the other end of the coaching spectrum, Snively has nothing but praise for Todd Nelson, the former Grand Rapids defenseman who coached the Griffins to their 2017 Calder Cup championship and has since added two more AHL titles to his resume with back-to-back championships in Hershey.

"Nelly is awesome," he said. "He's one of a kind, very unique. Nelly's just a great coach, a great people-person who knows how to get the most out of his players. He knows everybody's different, knows how to approach people, and

Snively set a personal best for goal scoring this season, tallying 20 lamplighters through the Griffins' first 56 games.

communicates very well with the team. There's a reason why he's won so much."

Snively said that while Hershey's 2023 and 2024 title-winning teams were quite different, both shared a communal sense of purpose.

"The first year we won, we were more of a gritty, hard-checking team, very defensive. We had great goaltending, timely scoring from all four lines, and we could wear teams down. That year was really special because it was the first time winning for many of us.

"The following year we lost a few players with that sense of grit, so we were more skilled. We scored a lot more. We still had guys who played hard, but it was less up and down the lineup. We had a good power play and our scoring might have been a little more concentrated.

"Both teams were extremely close off the ice, and I think that's partially due to Nelly, too. He is good at building the kind of culture that brings guys together."

Hershey's two-time Calder Cup-winning teams had another thing in common. Both were captained by veteran Dylan McIlrath, the big, rugged defenseman who was also a key contributor to the Griffins' 2017 championship.

Snively led Hershey in postseason scoring in 2023 to help the Bears win the first of their back-to-back Cups.

"Dylan's one of my best friends, and he's just a great leader," Snively said. "He's built for the playoffs. He plays hard, wins battles, and stands up for his teammates. He's an all-around strong defenseman and a great guy off the ice. We had some awesome times together."

McIlrath was one of the first people Snively consulted when he contemplated coming to Grand Rapids last summer.

"Dylan spoke highly of the city, and I thought it'd be a fun place to play," he said. "I love Hershey, and I had teammates there who will be friends for life, so there were no issues. I was very tempted to go back, but I thought maybe it was time to try a new adventure."

Snively felt he had proven he could play at the NHL level. He made his NHL debut during the 2021-22 season when he appeared in 12 games with the Capitals, tallying four goals and three assists in the short time he was in Washington. After playing parts of four seasons in the AHL, Snively made his NHL debut at Capital One Arena on Dec. 19, 2021, against the Los Angeles Kings. At the time, he had recorded 22 points (8 goals, 14 assists) in 21 games with Hershey, leading the team in points and tying for first in goals.

"It was awesome," he said. "It was a home game a few days before Christmas, so I had family and friends watching. It was a quick callup, so there wasn't a lot of time. Luckily, my parents live 30 minutes away, so it was fun to have them there.

"I was having a really good year in Hershey, and I felt like I was playing at my peak. So physically and mentally, I felt like I was in a great spot to get the callup and play my first game. We lost 3-2 to the Kings, but I had an assist on the game's first goal [Connor McMichael]."

"I didn't play many minutes [6:53, to be precise], but I thought I played well. I got sent back down and then got called back up about a month later. I had another assist in my second game, then scored my first NHL goal in my fifth game back.

"It was in Montreal, but it was near the end of COVID-19 in Canada, so unfortunately, there was no one in the building. It still felt amazing. It was like a weight off my shoulders. One of your dreams is to play a game in the NHL, the next is to score a goal, and then the next is to stay."

It was a memorable night not only for Snively but also for his boyhood idol, Martin St. Louis, as the Canadiens were playing their first game with

Photo Credit: Katie Fri/Hershey Bears

Snively hopes to become only the 12th player in AHL history to win three consecutive Calder Cups.

the Hall of Fame winger behind the bench.

"We won the game 5-2, and I had two goals and an assist," he said. "I can still remember the first one. Justin Schultz shot the puck, which went right off the pad [of goalie Cayden Primeau, son of retired Red Wings forward Keith Primeau]. I drove the net, and it was a nice, juicy rebound –one touch, and it felt great."

Seven days later, Snively scored in back-to-back games, but 10 days later, his season was over.

"I was doing very well, but I was actually playing with a broken wrist at the time, although I didn't know it. I had it checked out earlier, but they didn't see anything. I was in constant pain. I had no range of motion. I couldn't put much pressure on my bottom hand. I finally went to the trainer to have them take another look.

"My wrist needed a screw, so I had seasonending surgery, which was a bummer. I felt like I finally got my shot and was doing well, so it was a disappointing finish to a promising season."

Snively made the Capitals out of training camp heading into the 2022-23 season but saw little action during the first half of the schedule. "I was getting scratched from the lineup a lot, so there wasn't a ton of opportunity. I played six games

in the first 40, and then the team got both [Tom] Wilson and [Nicklas] Backstrom back from injury, so they sent me down."

He played the rest of the season in Hershey. If there was a silver lining, it was helping the Bears win the first of their back-to-back Calder Cups under Nelson.

"It was tough [to be sent down], but at the same time, I was just grateful to be in The Show and be with the team that I grew up watching. I'm happy I got the opportunity to play there, but I have mixed feelings, for sure."

And now Snively hopes to do something very few players have done. Only 11 players in AHL history have won three consecutive Calder Cups, and no one has accomplished the feat since Mike Busniuk won his record fourth straight in 1979 with Maine.

Snively decided to sign with the Red Wings last summer in hopes of getting a fresh start in the Detroit organization, and if he didn't make the roster there, he would help win a third title not only for himself but for the Griffins as well.

"It was hard to leave because Hershey is only two hours away, and the Capitals are 30 minutes from where I grew up," he said. "It was a decision I

Photo Credit: Hershey Bears

thought about for a while, but I'm happy I made it.

"I felt it was time to try for a new opportunity with another NHL team. I was looking for something different – new adventures, a new city, a new division, a chance to play different teams and see new cities."

And while the Griffins' recent cold stretch mirrored the frigid West Michigan weather and tested his intestinal fortitude, Snively has embraced the city and its residents as he seeks to win their hearts with his play.

Through the first 50 games of this season, he was tied with Sheldon Dries with a team-leading 18 goals, a personal best. His previous high was 15 goals in 35 games with Hershey in 2021-22.

"I love Grand Rapids," he said. "I love the city. I really enjoy living here and exploring the different restaurants and variety. Some of the travel is a little tougher than I experienced in the East, but it's been cool to see other cities."

He is confident that the Griffins can do some damage during the postseason, provided the team regains its footing.

"Whether you're young and trying to make the NHL, you're older and you were in the NHL and now you're trying to get back, or you're an AHL player who wants a way to get a better contract,

everyone has to put the team first.

"When everyone buys into that shared success, that's the most important thing. Guys have to understand and know their roles on the team and take pride in doing whatever needs to be done.

"Sometimes it's hard to get through these slumps, but you've just got to find a way to get through these things and do it together. You can't do it with guys on different pages. When things are hard, you've got to get back to playing simple hockey."

For Snively, it's all about keeping his eyes on the prize, even when his vision is less than perfect, as his recently retired optometrist parents will attest.

"You want to know something ironic? I have really bad eyes," Snively said. "I've never met anyone who has worse eyes or wears stronger prescription contacts than I do. I started wearing glasses when I was about 6 or 7 and contacts when I was 7 or 8. My whole family has bad eyes."

Faulty optics aside, Snively likes what he sees lying ahead. "Our goaltending is among the best in the league, and goaltending and special teams are what get you through the playoffs," he said. "We still have some things to figure out, but I can see we have the tools to go far."

Easterseals MORC is proud to be leading the way to 100% equity, inclusion, and access in Michigan for more than 25,000 individuals with disabilities, families, and communities. To learn more about Easterseals MORC, and the services we provide, scan the QR code to the right!

NHL Goaltender Jack Campbell is the latest example of a veteran player attempting to work his way back to the NHL.

LOOKING FOR A REBOUND

Story and photos by Mark Newman

As the top development league of the NHL, the American Hockey League has long been a breeding ground for future superstars, Stanley Cup champions, and Hockey Hall of Famers.

Less known but equally significant, the nearly 90-year-old league has served an essential role in giving veteran players a place to revitalize their careers, whether rehabilitating their bodies from injuries or regaining their confidence after being traded or placed on waivers.

For a chunk of the 2024-25 season, the Griffins played host to a trio of NHL-caliber netminders. Top Red Wings prospect Sebastian Cossa found himself sharing goaltending duties with Jack Campbell, 33, who is attempting to return to the NHL after playing fulltime at hockey's highest level for five seasons (2018-23), and Ville Husso, 30, who was trying to find his groove again until a Feb. 24 trade sent him to the Anaheim Ducks.

“It’s a luxury for a team to have three guys like that," said Griffins goaltending coach Roope Koistinen. “They're all professionals, and they know how to carry themselves. Obviously, it’s a challenge with practice arrangements, but they have seen a lot in their careers, and it’s been fun

to work with them.”

Any angst associated with the unusual circumstances was eased by Cossa’s competitive but cordial nature, the consummate professionalism of the two vets, and the team-first attitude shared by all three.

Before packing his bags for the West Coast, Husso spoke about feeling empowered by Sisu (see-soo), a uniquely Finnish word that refers to a combination of inner strength, resilience, and stoic determination that produces a mind-overmatter perseverance that enables a person to overcome adversity.

“When things don't go your way and you need something, you need a special power, that’s Sisu,” he said. “Everybody faces some bad moments in their life, but it's how you handle those, and for me, Sisu is the light in the tunnel. You just keep grinding, keep working, and stay disciplined. It’s whatever it takes.

“I feel like, for me, this has been one of those years. I know I can play in the NHL. The situation is what it is; all you can do is try to make yourself better on and off the ice. Sisu means you can do whatever you believe.”

A product of Port Huron, Michigan, Campbell was a Red Wings fan growing up.

While Husso was 8-4-0 with a 2.70 goalsagainst average and a .912 save percentage in Grand Rapids, his numbers in Detroit (1-5-2, 3.69, .866) were far less impressive. Campbell’s 2-5-1 record with the Griffins belied his strong play between the pipes, as he had a 2.54 goalsagainst average and a .903 save percentage heading into March.

Campbell said he was unfamiliar with the Finnish concept of Sisu, but after facing various struggles during 14 seasons of pro hockey, he knows all the challenges that can get in the way of success. Nietzsche’s admonition of “What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger” could have been penned in his honor.

A first-round selection (11th overall pick) of the Dallas Stars in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, Campbell bore the brunt of his prospect status for several seasons. He spent parts of five years in Dallas' minor-league system, helping the Texas Stars beat the defending Calder Cup champion Griffins on their way to the 2014 AHL title, then bouncing between the AHL and the ECHL during his last two seasons in the organization. His lone NHL appearance during his Dallas tenure was a 6-3 loss to the Anaheim Ducks during the 2013-14 campaign.

In 2016 he left Dallas for the Los Angeles Kings organization, where he finally found his game with the help of goalie gurus Bill Ranford and Dusty Imoo – the former a two-time Stanley Cup-winning netminder with the Edmonton Oilers; the latter who played one year of pro hockey in North America before spending a dozen years in Japanese and Asian leagues.

“For the first time in my career, I had actual goalie coaches in LA. Dusty Imoo and Bill Ranford were super-valuable to my development, as was Steve Briere in Toronto. I think it was a combination of them giving me some structure and benefiting from the group of guys in front of me,” Campbell said.

“It was a matter of making things fun again and not taking life so seriously.”

Upon joining the Kings, Campbell simplified his game to ultimately regain the form that had made him a highly touted prospect in the first place. In 2017-18, he finally recorded his first NHL win at the age of 26.

“I became a different person, too,” he said. “People are wired differently, and sometimes, it takes some time to settle in, learn, and mature. My mindset was always just so serious. It took me a long time to realize it’s a game and to have fun doing it.”

Campbell admits that he was so competitive that he took every loss personally. As the player between the pipes, Campbell felt the burden of being the last line of defense; too often, he thought he should take the blame even when he had played well.

“It wasn’t just a little,” he said. “It was an everyday thing, you know, beating myself up. I think it’s just who I am. I finally learned how not to do that anymore, and it’s nice. Of course, it hasn’t been easy. I’ve had some pretty high years and been as low as it gets. I believe in myself, and I know there’s so much more that I’m capable of achieving, and I’m not going to give up on that until I accomplish what I want.”

In Los Angeles, Campbell established himself as the backup to Jonathan Quick, the longtime Kings goaltender who recently recorded his 400th career victory as a member of the New York Rangers and now serves as the backup to Igor Shesterkin.

Quick and Campbell were a solid goaltending tandem with the Kings from 2018-20, with the duo developing a friendship to the point where Campbell accompanied his mentor to the 2018 NHL Awards ceremony, carrying a towel and water bottle as his backup.

“At the time, I thought it was a great idea, but looking back, I wish I just could have gone to the event as his buddy,” he said. “I think the point was just to be there for him, so at the end of the day, I’m happy that I was there for him.”

In February 2020, weeks before the NHL shut down due to COVID-19, Los Angeles traded Campbell and Kyle Clifford to Toronto for Trevor Moore and third-round selections in the 2020 and 2021 drafts.

Although not considered a big trade at the time, the move would alter the trajectory of Campbell’s career. He appeared in six games with the Maple Leafs before the 2019-20 NHL season stopped due to the pandemic, then enjoyed a record-setting showing at the start of the delayed 2020-21 season.

Campbell set the record for consecutive wins to start a season when he became the first goalie in NHL history to post a victory in his first 11 appearances. He finished the season with a 17-3-2 record, a 2.15 goals-against average, and a .921 save percentage.

He was heralded as a hero, even after the Montreal Canadiens eliminated the Leafs in seven games during the opening round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

“I loved every minute of my time in Toronto,”

Campbell signed a one-year deal with the Red Wings after he was bought out of his previous contract by the Edmonton Oilers.

he said. “You couldn’t even walk down the street without everybody knowing who you are. They treat you like a celebrity, which is pretty crazy. It definitely fired you up to play well.”

Campbell enjoyed an almost-as-impressive season the following year when he compiled a 31-9-6 mark with a 2.64 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage. Once again, the Leafs were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, this time losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning in seven games.

He signed a five-year, $25 million contract with the Edmonton Oilers on July 13, 2022, but struggled during his time with the Cup contender.

Campbell had a .916 save percentage over three seasons in Toronto but finished with an .886 save percentage in his first season with the Oilers. He eventually lost the No. 1 job to Stuart Skinner in November 2023, his second season with the team. He finished last season in the AHL and was placed on unconditional waivers to buy out the final three years of the deal.

Seeking a fresh start, Campbell inked a oneyear, $775,000 deal with the Red Wings this past summer. As a native of Port Huron, he was

excited to get a chance to prove himself playing for the team of his childhood.

“My grandpa was a diehard Wings fan, and Steve Yzerman was my favorite player, which is weird to say now that he’s my boss,” he said. “I saw an opportunity, and it being my hometown team and favorite growing up was super cool. I knew it would make my grandpa happy looking down on it, but ultimately it was the opportunity.”

Campbell saw coming to Grand Rapids as a chance to redeem himself and prove he could still play the game at the highest level. Getting his head straight allowed him to see hockey for what it is: a game that should be fun, and he saw being part of a three-headed goalie tandem as just another challenge.

And so he hung out with Husso on the road, and they talked at the rink. “We’re older; we’ve both been through it, so we’re just trying to help Cossa,” Campbell said. “I think being a good person, being a good teammate, is more important than anything.

“Certainly, in hockey, guys tend to be pretty good teammates and we’ve been fortunate here to have three guys who are good dudes. I think

Campbell set an NHL record when he started the 2021-22 season with 11 consecutive victories for Toronto.

an important quality in life is cheering people on. We have a great group of guys here, so I’m just trying to make the most of each day,”

Between them, Campbell and Husso have more than 300-plus games of NHL experience (Campbell – 176, Husso – 141), so their goalie coach, Koistinen, did not intend to retool the way either played the game.

“Right now, the most important thing is to keep the guys ready to play all the time,” Koistinen said. “That's the first thing, but also they want to get better every day. So something we've been doing with the guys is that we have a plan for what we do every day. We have a purpose when they come to the rink and when they’re going on the ice.

“Obviously, they want to get back to the NHL and I'm trying to help them. Confidence plays a part in that, and you want them to feel good about themselves so when they are on the ice, they feel confident, they feel on top of things, they are making those saves.”

Husso said he believes staying positive is the key to enjoying success at any level.

“If you’re always so negative and thinking the worst could happen, that’s when things start to go

bad. If you think the opposite, that ‘I-can-do-it’ mentality, you are in a better place. Everybody is different, and how you react to things makes the difference,” Husso said.

“I’m 30 now, and there have been moments when I’ve been thinking negative thoughts and things start going down. Once you gather yourself and start thinking positive thoughts, that’s when good things happen. You don’t worry about what other people think or what people say. It’s more about yourself and how you can make the people around you even better, too.”

Koistinen said he’s enjoyed working with veterans like Campbell and Husso.

“Great attitude, great people, great human beings… I think that's what comes to mind when talking about those two,” he said. “They make my job way easier and more fun to come to work every day even though the situation is not normal with having three guys here.

“Our goaltending has been good throughout the year. They have helped us get some points and wins, and that's their job. Goaltending is all about keeping the puck out of the net, and they’ve been doing a good job all season.”

Both veterans said they feel this season will

help them rebound to where they belong.

“My goal is to be in the NHL and do whatever it takes,” Husso said a week before he was traded to a new organization for a fresh start. “I’ve got to keep grinding, stay humble, and see this as a little bump on the road that will make me stronger.

“This situation has not been ideal for us – we’re all just trying to get back to the NHL. So we’re all talking, sharing thoughts in the locker room, just chatting goalie stuff. I feel like it’s been helping all of us stay in the moment and work through this rotation. It’s not ideal, but I feel we’ve done a good job with it.”

Campbell looks back to his time in Los Angeles when he first established himself as an NHLcaliber goaltender and thinks he still has several good years ahead. Playing alongside Jonathan Quick with the Kings, he could see what it takes to sustain oneself over a long career.

“Not many guys have had the steady, consistent career that he has had. He’s definitely a Hall of Famer – an incredible goalie but also an incredible person, still playing at a top level at age 39. I would never compare myself to him, but I definitely expect big things in my 30s, that’s for sure.”

Campbell has appeared in 176 NHL games with Dallas, Los Angeles, Toronto, and Edmonton.

2024 - 25 GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS ROSTER

6-5,

from the biggest of the big, to the littlest of the little.

Whenever you shop Meijer, you help support the Grand Rapids Griffins and hundreds of local sports teams across the Midwest.

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HUNTER JOHANNES

Forward

6-4, 225 lbs.

Born: 7/24/98

Eden Prairie, Minn.

AMADEUS LOMBARDI Forward

5-11, 178 lbs.

Born: 6/5/03 Aurora, Ont.

GABRIEL SEGER

Forward

6-4, 215 lbs.

Born: 11/15/99

Uppsala, Sweden

93 22 51 5 4 11 43 81 25 37 52 92 28

ANTTI TUOMISTO Defenseman

6-5, 210 lbs.

Born: 1/20/01 Pori, Finland

MARCO KASPER

Forward

6-1, 200 lbs.

Born: 4/8/04 Klagenfurt, Austria

CARTER MAZUR

Forward

6-0, 188 lbs.

Born: 3/28/02 Jackson, Mich.

DOMINIK SHINE

Forward

5-11, 180 lbs.

Born: 4/18/93 Detroit, Mich.

EEMIL VIRO Defenseman

6-1, 190 lbs.

Born: 4/3/02 Vantaa, Finland

NIKOLAI KNYZHOV Defenseman

6-3, 200 lbs

Born: 3/20/98 Kemerovo, Russia

BROGAN RAFFERTY Defenseman

6-1, 200 lbs.

Born: 5/28/95 West Dundee, Ill.

JOE SNIVELY

Forward

5-10, 180 lbs.

Born: 1/1/96 Herndon, Va.

WILLIAM WALLINDER Defenseman

6-4, 205 lbs.

Born: 7/28/02 Solleftea, Sweden

WILLIAM LAGESSON Defenseman

6-2, 214 lbs.

Born: 2/22/96 Gothenburg, Sweden

JAKUB RYCHLOVSKY

Forward

5-11, 200 lbs.

Born: 8/7/01

Vrchlabi, Czechia

ELMER SODERBLOM

Forward

6-8, 255 lbs.

Born: 7/5/01

Gothenburg, Sweden

AUSTIN WATSON

Forward

6-4, 215 lbs.

Born: 1/13/92

Ann Arbor, Mich.

Grand Rapids GRIFFINS

A one-day callup to the NHL gave Red Wings prospect William Wallinder a taste of what potentially lies ahead.

HUNGRY FOR MORE

Story and photos by Mark Newman

William Wallinder came to the Red Wings organization via Solleftea, Sweden, a quiet municipality on his nation's High Coast, where nature preserves, rivers and lakes, and abundant forests surrounded him.

Most significantly, Solleftea is less than 100 kilometers (about 60 miles) from Ornskoldsvik, home to MoDo, the professional ice hockey club that has produced more than its share of NHL players over the years.

Hall of Fame center Peter Forsberg and long-time Vancouver Canucks winger Markus Naslund were MoDo's first stars, but the list of NHL products who followed the pair of 1991 NHL Draftees is long: Niklas Sundstrom, Daniel and Henrik Sedin, Victor Hedman, and William Nylander, among many others.

O-vik, as it's often called, is a six-hour drive north of Stockholm. While there's a big paper mill in town where seemingly everybody and their brother work, the place is best known for MoDo, which pumps out hockey players like pulp from Mo och Domsjö AB, the giant paper company for which the team is named.

Wallinder, who spent his teen years in the MoDo program, began developing his skills in Ornskoldsvik. There, he started showing the raw talent that gained the attention of the Red Wings, who selected him in the second round (32nd overall pick) of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft.

The youngest of five kids, Wallinder had learned from his elders. Two older brothers had played the sport, and their father had also played, getting stuck in the goalie net when his skating skills were lacking.

Wallinder, on the other hand, excelled on his skates, becoming a technically skilled puck-carrier at a reasonably young age that often saw him leading his team up the ice. It was not his skating skills, however, that led him to favor playing the blue line.

"Before I turned 10, I used to play up sometimes, but mostly I played defense," said Wallinder, now 22. "I think I played 'D' because I could play more. We used to have four defensemen, so it meant getting more ice time."

He was well aware of MoDo's history as a hockey factory. Both Naslund and Forsberg joined MoDo's management team after finishing their playing careers. Wallinder recalls hanging out at Naslund's home. He played hockey with Naslund's son as well as the son of defenseman Mattias Timander, one of seven MoDo players to have his number retired.

Wallinder's dream of playing in the NHL had formed some time earlier. As a boy, one of his favorite players was Niklas Kronwall, the former Red Wings defenseman from whom he would seek guidance and instruction years later.

"I liked his physical play," Wallinder said. "I tried to do similar hits when I was younger. I was pretty good at it but grew out of it." When you are

Wallinder was chosen by the Red Wings with the first pick in the second round of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft.

Wallinder is highly regarded for his skating skill and ability to break the puck out of his zone.

out of position too often, you quickly learn the risk outweighs the reward.

Getting drafted by the Red Wings was a thrill he will never forget. "It was a fun experience," he says, hesitating over his choice of words. "I got really excited. I didn't see that coming. I didn't know that they were going to pick me."

Wallinder said he had a couple of conversations with renowned talent evaluator Hakan Andersson, who serves as director of European scouting for the Red Wings. Still, he had been talking to numerous people during the months leading up to the 2020 draft.

"I talked to almost every team, so I wasn't sure what would happen," he said. "I was really happy when they picked me. I was really happy to join a team with a lot of Swedish players. It's easier to talk about stuff outside of the rink, and we all know each other since we played each other when we were younger.

"It feels more like home, I would say."

Wallinder played one more year with MoDo following the draft then graduated to the SHL, Sweden's top league, where he played for Rögle BK – the same organization that had recruited future Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider a year earlier during the COVID-19 pandemic.

For his first season in the SHL, Wallinder was joined by 17-year-old Marco Kasper, the Red Wings'

first-round pick in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft.

Under the direction of Canadian twin brothers Chris and Cam Abbott, Rögle BK finished first in the 2021-22 standings with a record of 32-11-7-2. With Chris as the club's general manager and Cam as its head coach, Rögle BK provided the perfect training ground for Detroit's young prospects.

"It was good for me to be playing at a higher level. And with the Abbotts as the coach and the GM, I think they were really good for me. They showed me how to play and how to be a pro. It's a tough league. Playing a lot of minutes was a good step before coming over here."

Wallinder said staying in Sweden for two seasons with Rögle BK allowed him to strengthen his defensive play.

"When I played in juniors, I was cheating for offense," he said. "It was kinda like the ice was almost tilting too much. But it's different now. I feel like I take more responsibility to play defense. I think that's the biggest change in my game."

Two springs ago, the Red Wings brought Wallinder to Grand Rapids to get a taste of North American hockey. He saw action in one regularseason game with the Griffins toward the end of the 2022-23 season.

"I think it was good for me to see how it is, to see what it's like here," he said. "Unfortunately, I got injured. I got injured in practice after the first game,

which made the rest of the season kinda boring, but it was still good to be here and get to know a few people."

In his rookie season with the Griffins a year ago, Wallinder appeared in 65 regular-season games, recording three goals and 12 assists for 15 points. He saw action in nine postseason contests, getting a goal and two assists.

He concedes that getting accustomed to playing in the smaller rinks in North America was a big adjustment.

"It probably took about 20 games to get used to it," he said. "The physical game is more intense here, and you just need to be a lot quicker. You can't hold onto the puck, and you've got to make plays fast.

"In Sweden, it's different. You can have a lot more patience and a lot more puck possession. You can keep the puck for minutes if you want. In Sweden, you have so much more room to skate. So here, there was a lot of stuff to learn, like how to play a different style, but now I feel comfortable."

Wallinder found an ally in fellow Swede Albert Johansson, who recently fortified his position on Detroit's blue line after spending two full seasons in Grand Rapids. "I used to hang out with Albert a lot," he said. "He's doing well in Detroit now. I still talk to him a couple times a week. I've been watching the games, and he's been playing really well."

He admits that he enjoys watching the Red Wings more for enjoyment than with a critical eye or anything analytical.

"If you're watching and see something good, you might pick it up, but I'm mostly watching for fun," he said. "It's way easier to watch from the stands. When I've been injured and watching from up top, the game looks so slow. It looks so easy, like you can make any play you want, but it's way different when you're out there."

Wallinder feels he has developed good chemistry with Antti Tuomisto, another second-rounder who was chosen with the 35th overall pick in the draft a year earlier. The two defensemen have frequently been paired together in Grand Rapids.

"Our playing style is not the same, but it feels like we know how the other person thinks," he said. "Even though we don't play similar in style, we know where each other will be, so the chemistry is good. We play pretty good together."

He takes encouragement that Johansson and Simon Edvinsson played together in Grand Rapids and are both now mainstays in the NHL. He would welcome the chance to follow a similar path with his Finnish playing partner.

"Yeah, that would be awesome," he said. "If that happens, that would be great."

For now, Wallinder is doing his best to provide

VISIT

strong defensive play on a consistent basis.

"When I'm playing well, I'm moving my feet, using my speed," he said. "I don't want to overdo anything. Just move the puck. Don't try to do too much. That, I would say, is when I play my best. So it's important to keep moving my feet."

He also knows getting stronger to take full advantage of his 6-foot-4, 205-pound frame is essential. He realizes that he will never be confused for the second coming of Kronwall, but he strives to become more of a shutdown defender.

"I still need to get stronger," he said. "I feel like I'm more physical now. I don't kill people out there, but I'm getting way better at stopping plays. You don't have to run over guys to win the battle. I feel like I'm getting there."

Meanwhile, Wallinder has seen a boost in his offensive production this season. Through his first 38 games this year, he had already matched his point total from his rookie season, perhaps a nod to his increased power-play time and confidence level.

"I don't think about points," he said. "My goal is to keep improving every aspect of my game and play more consistently. I'm getting more ice time this year, so I'm just trying to focus on the things I need to."

Wallinder believes playing strong defense will lead to more offensive opportunity.

"In the beginning, I was cheating for offense," he said. "I might have looked a little flashier than I look now, but I tried to do too much. Now, I'm just trying to play simple and make the right play.

"I'm having fun. We have a really good team and a lot of good guys, so I'm enjoying it. This season has been like a rollercoaster. We don't score many goals; we just need to get more pucks on the net. We have lots of potential."

Potential, of course, doesn't win games. It takes real work, and Wallinder would like nothing better than to live up to the potential that the Red Wings saw when the organization selected him with the first pick of the second round after taking Lucas Raymond in the first round.

Later that same year, Wallinder found himself cut from Sweden's roster for the World Junior Championship, which proved to be a crushing blow to his ego but a mighty motivating force for his play going forward.

"Getting cut from World Juniors helped me because after that, I started to play well," he said. "I made the team the next time [in August 2022]. I didn't have my best tournament, but it was a fun experience." Still, he won a bronze medal with his countrymen.

His experience at the World Juniors followed a 2021-22 season in which Wallinder was named the Swedish Junior Hockey Player of the Year, after

he paced all junior SHL players with 19 points (415–19) in 47 contests.

Wallinder feels his transition to the North American game has been relatively smooth. The one thing he misses about Sweden is the food: Swedish pizza, kebabs, and husmanskost, which is a traditional home-cooked Swedish meal. He is, of course, willing to sacrifice a change in diet to realize his dream.

He got a taste of the NHL lifestyle this season when he was recalled to Detroit a couple of days before Christmas after Edvinsson was placed on injured reserve. Although Wallinder didn't see any game action, it made him hungry for more.

"It was still cool to go up there and see what it's like," he said. "I was able to skate in warmups and feel what it's like to be in the rink with the fans. I was almost there, but it still felt like a cool experience."

Even though it was only for a day, getting the chance to walk from the Red Wings' dressing room through the stands and onto the ice at Little Caesars Arena, Wallinder couldn't help but imagine what the future could hold. He knows success doesn't happen overnight.

"It takes time," he said. "It's a grind, but you've got to work for it. Nothing comes easy."

Wallinder is poised with the puck on his stick and is learning to make smart plays when starting the transition game.

As former Griffins goaltender

Calvin Pickard can attest only too well, it's not the destination but the journey that matters. Sometimes the wait can make it even more special.

ALL GOOD THINGS

Story by

Mark Newman

Photo Credit: Andy Devlin/Getty Images

Calvin Pickard has been around the block so many times that Google Maps asks him for directions.

As the veteran goaltender was approaching his 33rd birthday, he was feeling relatively sanguine about his current situation. Having seemingly found a home, at last, with the Edmonton Oilers, he was not taking anything for granted.

"Obviously, I'm in a good spot right now, but you've got to keep playing well because somebody's always looking to take your job," he said. "I'm very grateful to be where I am right now, and I just want to keep playing well."

Pickard has cemented his position on the Stanley Cup-contending Oilers with strong play this season, sharing the net with 26-year-old Stuart Skinner, now in his third season as Edmonton's No. 1 netminder.

In his first full season as Edmonton's backup, Pickard has allowed three goals or fewer in 17 of his 20 starts through March 1. His record stood at 15-6-0, including a recent 11-1 stretch that saw him win seven straight starts.

Pickard stopped 35 of 36 shots against Carolina Hurricanes on March 1 to help the visiting Oilers snap a five-game skid with a 3-1 victory.

With two months remaining in the 2024-25 campaign, Pickard's 15th win matched his career high set nine years ago when he was filling the No. 1

Pickard played parts of three seasons (2019-22) in Grand Rapids.

spot for a young Colorado Avalanche squad that finished the season with a league-low 22 wins.

"It's been a crazy road since I turned pro," he said. "Obviously, you learn a lot of different things along the way. At a couple of my stops, I didn't look too comfortable. I wasn't doing the right things on a consistent basis. But I never stopped believing in myself."

Pickard has fond memories of his time with the Griffins. He split three seasons (2019-22) between Grand Rapids and Detroit, appearing in 79 games with the Griffins and a dozen NHL contests with the Red Wings.

"I loved Grand Rapids, top to bottom," Pickard said. "I had so much fun there – the teammates I had, the staff there, the city was fantastic, and the fans were great. I loved my time in Grand Rapids. I loved living there. It was a ton of fun."

Pickard signed a two-year contract with the Red Wings in the summer of 2019, seeking some stability after seeing action with five different teams during the previous two seasons when he shuttled back and forth between the AHL and NHL.

He appeared in 33 games with the Griffins during the 2019-20 season, which was cut short by COVID-19. He posted a 17-12-4 record with a 2.86 goals-against average and a .903 save percentage to help the Griffins to a third-place finish in the Central Division.

"Honestly, my first year there, I felt like I didn't play that well, and then the whole season got shut down," he said. "I had to sit on that season for a while, and then the [late-starting 2020-21] COVID season with all the protocols happened, which left me in Detroit, just practicing for the most part.

"Those couple years were tough for me – the Red Wings didn't have to bring me back. So, I was happy they signed me to a one-year deal after those first two years. They gave me another chance to be that No. 3 guy [in Detroit] and be the favorite in Grand Rapids."

Pickard played 43 games with the Griffins during the 2021-22 season, the most action he had seen since appearing in 50 games with Colorado five seasons earlier. He bolstered his confidence by posting a 21-16-5 record with a 2.58 goals-against average. His save percentage was .918, marking the third time he finished a season with that number (2012-13, Lake Erie; 2017-18, Toronto).

"That was the year when I got back on track and played really well," he said. "I owe a lot to the Red Wings organization for having faith in me and bringing me back that third year. We didn't have a great finish, but it was an exciting season, and playing-wise, at least for me, it was good to get back on track."

Pickard felt he benefitted from the heavy workload the Griffins' coaching staff gave him

Pickard made his first Stanley Cup Playoffs appearance last season.

during his last year in Grand Rapids.

"I got into a rhythm early in the season – it felt really great," Pickard said. "I think I played more than they expected of me coming into the season. Every goalie will tell you they like to play all the time. You definitely get that rhythm and confidence when you're playing well. It was a lot of fun to play every night, for sure."

Looking for a new opportunity, he signed with the Edmonton Oilers in 2022. "It was a two-year deal, just like I signed with Detroit to be their No. 3 guy. Anything can happen. Injuries can happen, different things like that, so you never know."

Nevertheless, Pickard spent the entire 2022-23 season with the Oilers' AHL affiliate in Bakersfield. He went 23-12-2 in 38 games with the Condors, compiling a 2.70 goals-against average and a .912 save percentage. To people outside, it might have appeared like Pickard would be stuck in the minors for the rest of his career.

Pickard, however, looked at it differently. In his mind, he was biding his time, just waiting for his next chance. It didn't hurt that his wife, Courtney, and daughters, Blakely and Ryla, found that they enjoyed living in the California sunshine.

"I got into Bakersfield, and it was a great place for me," he said. "It was many of the same feelings I had in Grand Rapids. My family loved it there, I loved playing with the guys there, and I played quite a bit.

Photo

I think I played well, too."

He was mentally prepared to spend another entire season in Bakersfield.

"Coming into last season, I knew I'd probably be back in Bakersfield, which is where I started again. I had a really good start, and when the Oilers had a bit of a tough stretch [2-9-1] at the start of the year, they made a switch. It was a good opportunity for me to go up and play some games."

Pickard lost his first start for Edmonton on Nov. 20, 2023, then proceeded to win 10 of his subsequent 13 decisions. He only allowed more than three goals once while posting a pair of shutouts. He was in the net when the Oilers defeated the Red Wings 3-2 in overtime on Jan. 11, 2024 to tie a franchise record with their ninth straight win.

“It's nice playing behind such a good team — a team that knows how to win and expects to win every night,” he said. “I just have to go out there and do my job and trust that my teammates will do theirs. It's really nice to play behind such a good team. It makes my job a lot easier."

Pickard got his first taste of the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season when he replaced Skinner in the third period of Edmonton's 4-3 loss to Vancouver in Game 3 of their second-round series. He stopped three shots in 16:21 of action, setting him up to get his first NHL postseason start after Skinner had allowed 12 goals in the first three games.

"It's definitely high stakes playing in the playoffs, especially with us being down early in that series," Pickard said. "But it was exciting and a great opportunity for me. It meant a lot for them to have the confidence to put me in there."

Setting aside some serious nerves before Game 4, Pickard stopped 19 of 21 shots as the Oilers defeated the Canucks 3-2 on a late goal. The victory enabled Edmonton to tie the series at 2-2 and give the Moncton, New Brunswick, native his second consecutive start in net.

“I was trying to channel my emotions as much as I could," Pickard said. "The team played really well in front of me that Game 4. Then we went to Vancouver, and we didn't have our best night, but it was still a lot of fun. It was obviously a big stage, and playing against Vancouver, it was an all-Canadian series, so it's something I'll look back on forever."

Although Pickard was strong again in net two nights later, making 32 saves in Game 5, Edmonton was undone by a fluky goal that bounced off a skate and then a post before the Canucks buried the game-winner with 33 seconds left in the third period. With the series now 3-2 in Vancouver's favor, Skinner was back between the pipes as the Oilers roared back to take the next two games. Although he would not see any further action for the rest of the playoffs, Pickard had proven himself

as a solid backup. He watched from the bench as Edmonton eliminated the Dallas Stars in six games in the Western Conference Final before losing in six games to the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final.

Pickard came into this season determined to be ready whenever Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch called his name and be prepared to deliver consistent play. Although his starts have been sporadic, he has been comfortable and confident in serving as a strong No. 2 man in Edmonton.

"Every single game is big for me, even in the regular season, because I know I have to keep playing well to stay in the league. In practice, I've got a pretty intense routine. I'm not playing as much as Skinner, so I'm usually on the ice for a little bit longer. On game days, I get some extra work in the morning. It means a few more workouts, bike rides, and things like that to keep me ready for when I get into the net," Pickard said.

"It's the routine I'm in, but it's the reality of my situation."

Pickard acknowledges that years of experience have helped prepare him to always be ready. In January, he got a last-minute start when Skinner left the team to be with his wife for the birth of their second son. Pickard made 26 saves in a 3-2 win over Seattle, his ninth victory in 10 starts.

"I feel like I've had many experiences over the years that have prepared me for this. I've had some coaches who made quick pulls and things like that, and I've gone in for injuries throughout my career, too. It's part of being a backup goalie," he said.

"When the game starts, when you're on the bench, there's always a chance you get in there. You don't have much time to think about it – you just go in and play. At this point in my career, I've seen all kinds of games and you learn to navigate through them."

Pickard feels fortunate to have Skinner as his goalie partner in Edmonton.

"I have a front-row seat to one of the best goalies in the league," he said. "It's fun to watch him play. He's a workhorse. He's a big body, and he can play a lot because he's in good shape. I take things from him, and he takes things from me. Skinner is also an awesome guy, so being in a goalie tandem with him is nice.

"It's fun to share the crease with him."

For his part, Pickard does his best to be a good teammate. He chuckles when asked about his easygoing demeanor. "For a while, I felt like everybody wanted to talk about how good of a teammate I was rather than talking about my goaltending. I want to be a really good goalie, too. It's the enjoyable part of what I do for a living.

"I love that my career is in a hockey setting. I love coming to the locker room every day and hanging out with my teammates. I love going to work and

Pickard enjoys spending time with his family during the offseason.

going to battle with my teammates. The work never stops, and it's what I love the most."

Pickard provides proof that if you work hard at something long enough, your time might come. He was elated when his former teammate, Dominik Shine, made his NHL debut with his hometown Red Wings at age 31 after nine seasons with the Griffins. Their paths crossed when Detroit came to Edmonton on Jan. 30.

"I was thrilled for him," Pickard said. "I saw him in the morning and after the game, which was his second in the NHL, and he didn't look out of place. I thought Dom looked great. He's hard-nosed, he's skilled, and he plays really hard. The best part is he's a fantastic human being, so I was so happy to see him finally get a shot."

Edmonton is Pickard's 13th stop in his 14-year pro career, and he feels lucky to be playing with one of the best teams in the NHL. Truth be told, he wouldn't trade his journey for anything.

"When you start your career, you think you're going to be on the same team forever. That's not the reality of this business. I bounced around to a lot more teams over the years than I'd like, but I met so many good people along the way."

"Playing in Edmonton has definitely built my confidence. We have one of the best teams in the league. When we're down in games, we're not out

of it. If we can keep the game close, we'll get our chances. We expect to come back in games and usually play well when we’re down.

"I'm fortunate to have a really good team playing in front of me. We have a really good D core, a really good forward group, and two good goalies. We all believe in each other, and we all expect to win every single night, so it's a really good environment to be in."

For all the ups and downs he has experienced during his long career, Pickard would like nothing better than to get another shot at the Cup.

"We're definitely striving for that," he said. "It's a long road. Right now, we're looking to get back on track and play our game. We want to make sure we're winning as many games as we can and get some home-ice advantage going into the playoffs.

"We believe we have a team that can make a run and we're looking forward to that."

Pickard understands that winning a Stanley Cup would serve as a tip of a cap to his time in Grand Rapids, and he hopes he gets the chance to validate the fact that his three seasons with the Griffins represent time well spent.

"I'll always love Grand Rapids," he said. "It was a fantastic stop on my journey, for sure."

CHANGING ON THE FLY

Katie Berglund revised her career plans while in college. The Griffins organization is happy she did.

Story and photos by Mark Newman

Griffins assistant athletic trainer Katie Berglund had every intention of becoming an orthopedic surgeon specializing in sports medicine.

She was on a pre-med track when she took a class taught by Valerie Moody at the University of Montana. Moody was the director of the Masters in Athletic Training Program and the chair of the School of Integrative Physiology & Athletic Training.

Like Berglund, Moody had wanted to become an orthopedic surgeon but discovered her passion was athletic training and fell in love with the profession. Moody, a certified athletic trainer for more than two decades, suggested that Berglund consider doing the same and look into the program.

"I took the Intro to Athletic Training class that she taught, and I enjoyed it a lot," Berglund said. "Then I spoke with one of my advisors, who I didn't know was an athletic trainer because she was on the academic side. She also told me, 'I think you would love it. I think you'd be great at it.'"

Berglund was largely unfamiliar with athletic training. "I grew up playing soccer, then swimming, and I never had any major injuries, only some very minor injuries," said Berglund, who grew up in Idaho Falls, Idaho. "My school didn't have an athletic trainer, so I had no idea what it was.

"My brother Eric played hockey and had a bunch of injuries, so I looked up to the orthopedic surgeon who did sports medicine and worked on my brother a lot. I

thought that was going to be my path."

However, when another advisor suggested she seriously look at athletic training, she had second thoughts. Her career reappraisal just happened to coincide with her taking a class in biochemistry.

"While I enjoyed the class, it was tough," she recalled. "I was like, 'I need a better grade to get into medical school. I'm going to have to retake this class. I do not want to retake the class.'"

Berglund had learned that what she enjoyed most about being a healthcare provider was connecting with patients. Being able to interact with injured athletes in a caring and respectful way – her bedside manner, if you will – prompted Berglund to alter her plans.

One comment from a professor at the time particularly hit home.

"He said, 'You're not going to enjoy being a surgeon because your patients are going to be unconscious most of the time that you're dealing with them.' Honestly, I thought that didn't seem so bad then. Now, if I had to deal with patients who were asleep all the time and never actually got to follow up with them, it would not be fun."

She enrolled in the master's program in athletic training at Montana, where she got her undergraduate degree in health and human performance along with psychology. Her experience with exercise science ultimately convinced her to drop her plans for medical school.

Her path to the Griffins job included three years as an athletic trainer affiliated with Bingham Memorial Hospital in her hometown from 2020-23. It's similar to her current position, in which she is employed by University of Michigan Health-West and contracted to the Griffins.

In Idaho Falls, she served as the head athletic trainer for the Idaho Falls Spud Kings, a Tier II junior hockey team. She established and supervised rehabilitation protocols for players' injuries and assisted in their strength and conditioning program. During her time at Bingham, she also was head trainer for the Idaho Falls Chukars independent pro baseball team from 2021-23 and the head athletic trainer for Ririe Junior-Senior High School from 2020-22.

"When I first started, COVID was still raging," she said. "I helped with vaccine clinics, data entry, and temperature scans at the entrances. It was not fun, but things worked out because Idaho is so rural that sports could start back there much faster than some bigger states."

Although hockey and baseball players come from different mindsets, she found they were athletes who wanted the same thing.

"At those levels, they're just trying to play at a higher level, whether it was getting to a training camp or a single-A team somewhere. The main thing was to make sure the guys missed as few games as possible. Or if it was going to be one of their last years playing,

Berglund is in her second season as the assistant athletic trainer for the Griffins.

Berglund enjoys connecting with players, communicating with them on the bench as well as in the training room.

they didn't want to miss games because they wanted to experience playing for their team as long as possible."

Her experience with the hockey team was particularly exhilarating because the Spud Kings were playing in the newly constructed, 4,100-seat Hero Arena inside the Mountain America Center. The Spud Kings, owned by the same people behind the baseball team, sold out 22 of 24 home games during their inaugural season of 2022-23.

"That was an enjoyable season," she said. "It was chaotic at first because we weren't even practicing at home because the facility wasn't finished yet. But once the arena opened, it was exciting. The crowds were awesome. All the kids had never played in front of a crowd that big, and it was a nice little intimidation factor for visiting teams for the same reason."

Berglund knew she wanted to work in hockey from her experience with her brother playing the sport.

"When I went into athletic training, my top two choices were hockey and soccer," she said. "I played soccer through high school and got recruited for a few D3 schools for college, but I decided I wouldn't go down that route.

"I worked with the college soccer team when I was a student in athletic training, and I thought, 'Oh, I care too much about this sport. I can't sit on the sidelines. I care too much about the game and don't think I can work with this.'

Berglund was previously head athletic trainer for the Idaho Falls Spud Kings, a Tier II junior hockey team.

"With hockey, I know the rules, I get it, I understand the mechanics, but I had never played, so I'm not quite as emotionally invested."

When the Griffins hired athletic trainer Austin Frank before the 2023-24 season, Berglund interviewed for his former position at Western Michigan University. Instead, she landed the Griffins job as the assistant athletic trainer to Frank.

While she is the first woman to hold the position in the Griffins' 29-year history, the Red Wings have employed several females in locker room positions. For instance, Britta Ottoboni has been Detroit's massage therapist for the past four years, and Lisa McDowell has been the Red Wings' dietitian since 2011.

Their presence made Berglund feel more comfortable at her first training camp in 2023, when she was stepping into a whole new situation.

"It was a massive change," she said, "I had never even been to Michigan before I moved out here. The day that I came here was the first time that I had ever been in Michigan. The first day that I worked was in Detroit for a preseason game."

Coming from out west, she admits that being largely unfamiliar with the players was a little disconcerting.

"I didn't know who was a Griffins or a Red Wings player or who was fighting for a spot in Detroit. But everybody, from the moment I was hired, offered

to help me figure things out, so that helped make things easier."

Her transition to pro hockey took some time, but once indoctrinated, she couldn't help developing a rooting interest in the team. Her resistance to work in soccer because she cared too much has been supplanted by a new appreciation for hockey.

When Griffins players get called to Detroit, she admits to feeling "proud mom moments" regarding their success. "Everybody in this organization is just so good," she said. "On a human level, they're just awesome people to be around."

She suggests that being the first female in her role with the Griffins is not a big deal. "In almost every position I've had since I was hired for the baseball team, I've been the first woman in those positions," she said. "I chose this setting. I want to be here. I'm not here to make anyone uncomfortable."

And so Berglund goes about her job like anyone else in her position. On game days, she sets up the visitors' dressing room, ensuring it's stocked with all the supplies that opposing athletic trainers might require. She sets up the benches with water bottles, Gatorade, towels, and the rest, then sticks around as long as necessary to provide treatments to help the players prepare to perform at their peak.

Treatments vary, from those associated with rehabilitation to others that may be more preventive. "Some guys want the same type of treatment before every game because that's their routine to get loose as part of their warmup," she said. "Some guys are looking to manage little complaints so they're not bothered by them later."

Berglund stands ready next to the bench near the team tunnel during most games; she's behind the bench during practices, always prepared to lend a hand while working alongside Frank.

In her free time, Berglund is working virtually toward her doctorate in athletic training from A.T. Still University in Mesa, Arizona. Specifically, she is working on an advanced practice degree focusing more on clinical skills.

She is interested in pursuing research in her field. Her primary interest is concussions. She would like to investigate concussion policy design as it relates to high schools.

"Being from Idaho, where not a lot of high schools have athletic trainers or access to any sports medicine professional at all, I'm particularly interested in what it means for schools and youth sports," she said.

"Unintentionally, my specific focus means there's no conflict of interest for me while working in professional sports. There are highly qualified people on the concussion committee for the NHL – they're people I cite in my research.

"Every state in the U.S. has laws about youth concussion management, but they're not all the same, and they're pretty vague because not every school has the same resources. I'm interested in learning about the

challenges that people in the field face and how we can help them make the most of whatever resources they might have."

In the meantime, she is continuing to advance her skills. She obtained certifications as a function-trained dry needle provider in 2023 and as an ImPACT-trained athletic trainer in 2022.

Dry needling is a technique similar to acupuncture that involves inserting thin, sterile needles into specific points in the body to relieve pain and improve muscle function. Dry needling is considered safe, minimally painful, and often very effective, but it is not approved in every state.

"One of my baseball players asked if I could do it, and I couldn't, so during a small gap in the offseason, I took a course in Arizona to learn the fundamentals," she said. "There are more advanced techniques that I don't do, that I might never do because they're considered riskier, but dry needling is a treatment I use with the players."

Berglund is also versed in Graston's technique, a form of instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization that treats injuries in a deeper and more targeted manner than possible with hands alone. She uses specially designed stainless steel instruments with rounded edges that manipulate muscle tissue under the skin.

"You can use it for bruising or swelling, so it's a technique that has very broad uses, which is why I like it," she said. "At this level, most guys usually like it, although some don't want it because it can cause some soreness.

"Communication is the key to figuring out their needs and understanding their personal history. If they have had one issue with something, knowing their history can be invaluable to understanding how we can best address their present concerns."

Away from the rink, Berglund enjoys spending time with her dogs, Ginny Weasley and Leia, whose names are references to characters in Harry Potter and Star Wars, respectively. She also enjoys visiting family during the offseason.

Two summers ago, Berglund returned to Idaho to spend a little time with her mom, who still lives there. "I was able to get in all of my mountains, my hiking, and family time," she said.

Grand Rapids now feels like home to Berglund, who admits that she feels emotionally invested and a full team member.

"I think Austin and I work well together. He's an awesome boss, very good at managing situations, and delegating tasks. He's good at keeping me in the loop of everything," Berglund said.

"You hate seeing players get hurt, but it's always gratifying to see them return from potentially one of the worst points in their life or career. Watching their first game back, or their first goal or first point after an injury, it makes you proud knowing all the work they put into the process."

STANDOUT ‘PIC’

The AHL honored the Griffins’ all-time leading scorer by naming Michel Picard to its 2025 Hall of Fame class.

Michel Picard, the most prolific scorer in the annals of Grand Rapids hockey, made history again when he became a member of the latest class to be inducted into the American Hockey League Hall of Fame.

Still the Griffins organization’s all-time leader in goals, assists, and points, Picard was honored during the 2025 AHL All-Star Classic presented by Spotlight 29 Casino. The ceremony, held on Feb. 3, 2025 in Coachella Valley, California, also recognized the careers of Rene Drolet, Dunc Fisher, and Michael Leighton.

Picard, a two-time Calder Cup champion (1991, 1994), led the Griffins in scoring in each of his five full seasons, a feat no other Griffin has done more than twice. Playing left wing, he competed in nine AHL seasons with Binghamton (1989-90), Springfield (9092), Portland (93-94), Prince Edward Island (94-96), Philadelphia (200-01) and Grand Rapids (02-04).

After scoring the first goal in Griffins history during the team’s inaugural game in the International Hockey League on Oct. 5, 1996, Picard tallied 157 more goals with Grand Rapids during 364 games over six seasons, including his last two in the AHL. His 101 points (46-55—101) during the Griffins’ inaugural season made him the first and only Griffin to hit the century mark.

During his acceptance speech, Picard paid tribute to his time with the Griffins. “My highlight was playing six years in Grand Rapids, where they retired my jersey, which is awesome,” said Picard, whose No. 7 is one of three retired numbers in Griffins franchise history (No. 24 Travis Richards; No. 10 Jeff Hoggan).

“When I was a little kid playing hockey, I never

thought I was going to make it, and here I am,” Picard told the audience during the AHL Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Ceremony. “It’s a great honor and I’m very proud to be here today.”

Picard, now in his 17th year as a full-time amateur scout for the St. Louis Blues, said Grand Rapids will always hold a special place in his heart.

“I played there for six years. My oldest son was born there. We had a great time, and it was the best place I played because of the ownership, the general manager, the coaches, the trainers, the people in the office, and everybody around the Griffins.

“It was so easy to go to the rink every morning. All the players, the coaches – we were all in it together. That’s what made it so special. To this day, I still miss going to the rink every morning and having a coffee with the boys.”

Picard is the third former Grand Rapids player inducted into the AHL Hall of Fame, joining Bryan Helmer (2017) and Darren Haydar (2020).

Helmer, who played more games and recorded more assists and points than any defenseman in AHL history, didn’t miss a single game during his two seasons (200406) with the Griffins and was named a Second Team AHL All-Star his second year in Grand Rapids.

Darren Haydar is the leading career scorer for two AHL franchises (Milwaukee Admirals and Chicago Wolves). Haydar, who played one season with the Griffins (2008-09), recorded a point in 39 consecutive contests to begin the 2006-07 season, averaging better than two points per game during the longest scoring streak in AHL history.

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Rachel & Steve Wygmans

Mollie Youngson

Robert Zaagman

Sharon Zalud

Emma Zawisza

Dean Zelenak

James Zimmerman

Brent Zomerlei

Holly Zuidema

Adrianne Zuidema

Jeff & Kari Zwyghuizen

A huge Griffins THANK YOU to our Corporate Season Ticket Members.

123Net

360 Fire and Flood

37 North Designs

Acme Pallet

AirTech Equipment

Allegan Metal Fabricators, Inc.

Allen Edwin Homes

Allphase Exterminators

Alro Steel Corporation

Amway

Andy Egen

Applied Innovation

ATR Services

Axios HR

B & K Auto Repair

Bailey’s Quick Lube

Barton Chiropractic Office

BCBSM

Betz Industries

BHS Insurance

Bookkeeping Solutions (BSTC)

Bullpen Boys

Burggrabe Masonry

Byrne Electrical Specialists Inc.

Car City

Caster Depot

Centennial Securities

Charter Industries

Choice Schools Associates

Clicki

Coastal Restoration

Comerica Bank

Commercial Tool

Configura

Custom Caulking Inc.

D3 Customs

Deverman Realty

Digitrace LTD.

Dyna-Plate Inc.

Ebling and Sons Inc.

EHTC

Eikenhout

Ellis Parking Co., Inc.

EO Star

Farmers Insurance Co.

FASTSIGNS

Fence Consultants of West Michigan

Fifth Third Bank

Fox Transportation Service, Inc.

Fuel Physical Therapy

Gordon Food Service

Great Clips

Hill Machinery Co.

Howie’s Hockey Tape

Holland Litho

HQ Paint Company

i3 Business Solutions

iHeart Media, Inc.

InnerSpace healthcare

Integrated Packaging Machinery

Integrity Business Solutions

Journey CPAs

Kentland Corporation

Kerkstra Precast

King’s Room Barbershop

Koch Organization LLC

Kool Chevrolet

Kosters and DeVries Painting

Lacks Enterprises, Inc.

Lake Wood Inc.

Legend Parcel Service

Life EMS, Inc.

Mechanical Finishing Co.

Meijer

Michigan First Credit Union

Monarch Investment and Management Group

Monsma Marketing

MPH Logistics

MVP Sports Clubs

National Nail

NN, Inc. Autocam

Northern Jet Management

O'Brien Harris Woodworks

Omnitraces

Oral Surgery Associates

Orthopaedic Associates of Michigan

OUTFRONT Media

Parrot’s Lounge

Pepsi Plascore

Powell Relocation

Pratt Industries

Pridgeon & Clay

Pro Tech Environment & Demolition

Pro-Vision Video Systems

Railside Golf Club

Rapid River Technologies LLC

RDV Sports Inc.

RecLending.com

RHD Tire

Ridgeview Industries

R.L. Adams Plastics, Inc.

Safety Decals

Salus Spa

Screen Ideas

Siegel Jewelers

Sunbelt Rentals

Superior Asphalt, Inc.

Superior Sales

Surefil

Surface Prep

Suspa

Sweet Logistics, LLC

The Improvement People

Trans-Matic Manufacturing

Tuinstra Logistics

T&W Electronics

Tyson Foods Inc.

Universal Forest Products, Inc.

Universal Sales

Universal Sign Systems

Van Dam Iron Works

Van Dyken Mechanical, Inc.

Van Eerden Foodservice

Warner Norcross & Judd

Weiss Technik North America, Inc.

Weller Truck

West Side Beer Distributing

Western Tel-Com, Inc.

Wood Tech Inc.

Wynalda Packaging

RECORD BOOK AND LEADERS

Through games of March 4, 2025

Tom McCollum

Sebastian Cossa

Travis Richards

Darryl Bootland

Dominik Shine

Michel Picard

The AHL All-Star Classic was not held in either 2020-21 or 2021-22 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

GRIFFINS IN THE ALL-STAR GAME

2024-25 Sebastian Cossa, Austin Watson, Dan Watson (head coach)

2023-24 Jonatan Berggren, Simon Edvinsson

2022-23 Brian Lashoff (captain)

2019-20 Matthew Ford (captain), Chris Terry

2018-19 Chris Terry

2017-18 Matt Lorito, Matt Puempel

2016-17 Matt Lorito, Robbie Russo, Todd Nelson (head coach)

2015-16 Jeff Hoggan (captain), Xavier Ouellet

2014-15 Xavier Ouellet, Teemu Pulkkinen

2013-14 Alexey Marchenko, Jeff Blashill (co-coach)

2012-13 Chad Billins, Petr Mrazek, Gustav Nyquist

2011-12 Gustav Nyquist

2010-11 Ilari Filppula, Brendan Smith

2009-10 Patrick Rissmiller

2008-09 Jakub Kindl, Daniel Larsson

2007-08 Jonathan Ericsson, Jimmy Howard

2006-07 Derek Meech, Kip Miller (captain)

2005-06 Valtteri Filppula, Jiri Hudler, Donald MacLean

2004-05 Niklas Kronwall, Joey MacDonald

2003-04 Jiri Hudler, Niklas Kronwall, Travis Richards (captain), Nathan Robinson

2002-03 Marc Lamothe, Mark Mowers

2001-02 Chris Bala, John Gruden, Kip Miller, Martin Prusek, Petr Schastlivy, Bruce Cassidy (head coach), Gene Reilly (asst. coach)

2000-01 Mike Fountain, Joel Kwiatkowski, Travis Richards, Todd White, Bruce Cassidy (co-coach)

1999-00 John Gruden, Jani Hurme, Kevin Miller, Petr Schastlivy

1998-99 Robert Petrovicky, Maxim Spiridonov

1997-98 Ian Gordon, Kerry Huffman, Michel Picard

1996-97 Jeff Nelson, Michel Picard, Pokey

2020 - Chris Terry

2023 - Brian Lashoff

2025 - Austin Watson

2024 - Jonatan Berggren

2025 - Sebastian Cossa

2019 - Chris Terry

2018 - Matt Lorito

2015 - Teemu Pulkkinen

2020 - Matthew Ford

2018 - Matt Puempel

2016 - Jeff Hoggan and Xavier Ouellet

2014 - Alexey Marchenko

Red

Bright Futures Begin Here

CALLS

BOARDING

Called for any action which causes an opponent to be thrown violently into the boards.

CHARGING

Taking a run at an opposing player using more than three strides to build up speed.

CROSS CHECKING

A check or block delivered by a player with both hands on the stick and no part of the stick on the ice.

DELAYED PENALTY

Referee extends his arm and points to the penalized player until the penalized team regains possession of the puck.

ELBOWING

Called when a player uses an elbow to impede an opponent.

HIGH STICKING

Making contact with an opponent while carrying the stick above shoulder hight.

HOLDING

Clutching an opposing player’s body with the hands, arms or legs.

HOOKING

The use of the stick or blade to impede the progress of an opponent.

INTERFERENCE

When a player impedes the progress of an opponent who is not in possession of the puck.

KNEEING

Called when a player uses a knee to impede an opponent.

MISCONDUCT

10-minute or disqualification penalty for excessive or additional misbehavior on the ice.

ROUGHING

Called for engaging in fisticuffs or shoving.

SLASHING

Striking an opposing player with the stick.

SPEARING

Called for using the stick like a spear.

TRIPPING

Called for using the stick, arm or leg to cause an opponent to trip or fall.

UNSPORTSMANLIKE CONDUCT

Called for unsportsmanlike actions such as disputing an official’s decision, grabbing the face mask of a player, etc.

WASH-OUT

When used by the referee, it means goal disallowed. When used by linesmen, it means there is no icing or no offside.

ABBOTSFORD CANUCKS

BAKERSFIELD CONDORS

BELLEVILLE SENATORS

BRIDGEPORT ISLANDERS

CALGARY WRANGLERS

CHARLOTTE CHECKERS

CHICAGO WOLVES

CLEVELAND MONSTERS

COACHELLA VALLEY FIREBIRDS

COLORADO EAGLES

GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS

HARTFORD WOLF PACK

HENDERSON SILVER KNIGHTS

HERSHEY BEARS

IOWA WILD

LAVAL ROCKET

LEHIGH VALLEY PHANTOMS

MANITOBA MOOSE

MILWAUKEE ADMIRALS

ONTARIO REIGN

PROVIDENCE BRUINS

ROCHESTER AMERICANS

ROCKFORD ICEHOGS

SAN DIEGO GULLS

SAN JOSE BARRACUDA

SPRINGFIELD THUNDERBIRDS

SYRACUSE CRUNCH

TEXAS STARS

TORONTO MARLIES

TUCSON ROADRUNNERS

UTICA COMETS

WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON PENGUINS

2024-25

AHL TEAM MAP

IT ALL STARTS HERE

GRIFFINS IN THE NHL

Since their inception in 1996, the Griffins have sent 214 players to the National Hockey League, and 20 former players or coaches have gone on to win the Stanley Cup. In fact, a Griffins alumnus has had his name engraved on Lord Stanley’s chalice in each of the last five years, 11 times in the last 17 years, and 13 times in the last 20 seasons. In chronological order, here are the 29 goalies and 185 skaters who have worn an NHL sweater after playing for Grand Rapids, along with the dates of their NHL debuts/returns.

Former Griffins Gustav Nyquist of the Nashville Predators and Filip Hronek of the Vancouver Canucks fight for position during the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Nyquist (2013) and Hronek (2017) each won a Calder Cup with Grand Rapids.

Photo Credit: Getty Images

OTT at TB 43 Dmitry Afanasenkov 2/6/02 TB at FLA 44 Simon Lajeunesse 3/7/02 OTT at SJ

Martin Prusek 3/23/02 OTT vs. ATL

.........Chris Bala...................................3/27/02 OTT at NYI

47 .........Neil Little .................................. 3/28/02 PHI at CAR

48 Josh Langfeld 3/30/02 OTT vs. TB 49 Gaetan Royer 4/1/02 TB vs. NYR

50 Jason Spezza 10/24/02 OTT at BOS

51 .........Sean Avery ............................... 10/29/02 DET vs. SJ

52 Jason Doig 12/3/02 WSH at PIT

53 Jason Williams 12/5/02 DET at PHX

54 Patrick Boileau 12/19/02 DET vs. DAL

55 .........Stacy Roest .............................. 2/20/03 DET vs. EDM 56 Wade Brookbank 10/9/03 NSH vs. ANA

Julien Vauclair 10/25/03 OTT at MTL 58 Jiri Hudler 10/29/03 DET vs. STL

59 .........Curtis Joseph ......................... 10/30/03 DET at NSH

60 .........Darryl Bootland ..................... 11/8/03 DET vs. NSH

61 Mark Mowers 11/19/03 DET vs. CBJ

Nathan Robinson 11/28/03

75 Valtteri Filppula 12/15/05 DET at FLA

76 Rob Collins 12/17/05 NYI vs. COL

77 .........Manny Legace ...........................1/5/06 DET vs. STL

78 David Gove 1/31/06 CAR at MTL

79 Tomas Kopecky 2/28/06 DET at SJ

80 Alexandre Giroux 3/25/06 NYR at TB

81 .........Joey MacDonald ....................... 10/19/06 DET at SJ

82 .........Derek Meech ..............................12/7/06 DET vs. STL

83 Matt Ellis 12/18/06 DET at CBJ

84 Matt Hussey 1/26/07 DET at STL

85 .........Sheldon Brookbank......................2/6/07 NSH at PIT

86 .........Danny Syvret.........................2/27/07 EDM vs. PHX

87 Mark Hartigan 11/29/07 DET vs. TB

88 Drew MacIntyre 12/13/07 VAN at SJ

89 Peter Vandermeer 2/10/08 PHX vs. NSH

90 .........Jonathan Ericsson....................2/22/08 DET at CGY

91 Garrett Stafford 2/23/08 DET at VAN

92 Darren Helm 3/13/08 DET vs. DAL

93 Mattias Ritola 3/15/08 DET vs. NSH

94 .........Clay Wilson ...............................3/25/08 CBJ at NSH

95 .........Darren McCarty .........................3/28/08 DET vs. STL

96 Krys Kolanos 11/4/08 MIN at SJ

97 Landon Wilson 11/22/08 DAL vs. ANA

98 Bryan Helmer 11/28/08 WSH vs. MTL

99 .........Chris Chelios ......................... 12/13/08 DET at PHX

100 Aaron Downey 1/29/09 DET vs. DAL

101 Justin Abdelkader 1/31/09 DET at WSH

102 Ville Leino 1/31/09 DET at WSH

103.......Aaron Gagnon ..................... 10/16/09 DAL vs. BOS

104 Scott Parse 10/24/09 LA at PHX

105 Doug Janik 11/3/09 DET vs. BOS

106 Ryan Keller 11/25/09 OTT at NJ

107.......Jakub Kindl............................ 12/3/09 DET vs. EDM

108.......Kris Newbury ....................... 12/14/09 DET vs. PHX

109 Darren Haydar 2/10/10 COL vs. ATL

110 Andreas Lilja 3/1/10 DET at COL

111 Jeremy Williams 10/24/10 NYR vs. NJ

112.......Jan Mursak.............................12/27/10 DET at COL

113 Chris Mueller 12/28/10 NSH vs. DAL

114 Tomas Tatar 12/31/10 DET vs. NYI

115 Cory Emmerton 1/22/11 DET vs. CHI

116........Patrick Rissmiller...................... 2/23/11 ATL at BUF

117 Tom McCollum 3/30/11 DET vs. STL

118 Gustav Nyquist 11/1/11 DET vs. MIN

119 Fabian Brunnstrom 11/5/11 DET vs. ANA

120 ......Brendan Smith ................. 11/17/11 DET at SJ

121......Mark Cullen ................ 11/29/11 FLA at CAR

122 Chris Conner 12/2/11 DET at BUF

123 Joakim Andersson 12/27/11 DET vs. STL

124 Ty Conklin 3/21/12 DET at NYR

125.....Riley Sheahan ................4/7/12 DET vs. CHI

126 Brian Lashoff 1/21/13 DET at CBJ

127 Mike Knuble 1/26/13 PHI at FLA

128 Jamie Tardif 2/2/13 BOS at TOR

129.......Petr Mrazek ..........................2/7/13 DET at STL

130 Jonas Gustavsson 2/19/13 DET at NSH

131 Carlo Colaiacovo 4/1/13 DET vs. COL

132 Danny DeKeyser 10/2/13 DET vs. BUF

133 ......Luke Glendening.......... 10/12/13 DET vs. PHI

134.......Xavier Ouellet........................... 10/21/13 DET vs. SJ

135 Adam Almquist 11/4/13 DET at WPG

136 Chad Billins 11/5/13 CGY at MIN

137 Patrick Eaves 12/14/13 DET vs. PIT

138.......Tomas Jurco............................. 12/15/13 DET vs. TB

139 Jordin Tootoo 12/19/13 DET vs. CGY

149 Dylan Larkin 10/9/15 DET vs. TOR

150 Kevin Porter 10/10/15 PIT at ARI

151 ......Andreas Athanasiou ..... 11/8/15 DET vs. DAL 152.....Tomas Nosek.............. 12/26/15 DET

Marc Lamothe 2/23/04 DET at EDM

68 .........Anders Myrvold .......................2/26/04 DET at CGY

69 Mathieu Chouinard 2/29/04 LA at ANA

70 Brett Lebda 10/5/05 DET vs. STL

71 Mark Eaton

140 Alexey Marchenko 1/4/14 DET at DAL 141 Teemu Pulkkinen 3/14/14 DET vs. EDM

142.......Landon Ferraro ....................... 3/18/14 DET vs. TOR

143.....Calle Jarnkrok .............. 3/21/14 NSH at CGY

144 Mitch Callahan 3/25/14 DET at CBJ

4/26/22

Alex Chiasson 3/4/23 DET at NYI

Bold = Has played in the NHL this season (as of March 9, 2025)

Italics = Had name engraved on the Stanley Cup after playing for Grand Rapids

Don’t miss any of the action this season!

Listen to Bob Kaser’s play-by-play both home and away, and Larry Figurski’s analysis for home games, on Newsradio WOOD 106.9 FM / 1300 AM. Stream the action on iHeartRadio!

A BIG THANKS TO OUR RADIO SPONSORS FOR THEIR HELP IN BRINGING GRIFFINS HOCKEY TO YOU THIS SEASON.

“KEEP YOUR HANDS TO YOURSELF!”

All of us with siblings have surely heard our parents say these words at some point during a brotherly or sisterly conflict. Ignoring the stern command often means a visit to timeout: a few minutes alone to think about your actions before you can get back to annoying each other.

Similarly, not keeping your hands – or legs or stick – to yourself on a hockey rink usually results in a referee’s raised arm and a trip to the penalty box: two minutes (and sometimes more) by yourself, and you feel shame. And then you get free. To do it all over again. How well do you know the actions that get hockey players in trouble? Match each penalty with its description (or turn to page 73 if you need a little help). Good luck!

DESCRIPTIONS

A. Punching, or attempting to punch, an opponent

B. Using the stick or blade to impede the progress of an opponent

C. Engaging in fisticuffs or shoving

D. Causing an opponent to be thrown violently into the boards

E. Clutching an opposing player’s body with the hands, arms or legs

F. Taking a run at an opposing player using more than three strides to build up speed

G. Using an elbow to impede an opponent

H. Striking an opposing player with the stick

I. Impeding the progress of an opponent who is not in possession of the puck

J. 10-minute or disqualification penalty for excessive or additional misbehavior

K. Using a knee to impede an opponent

L. Called for actions such as disputing an official’s decision

M. Delivering a check or block with both hands on the stick and no part of the stick on the ice

N. Using the stick like a spear

O. Making contact with an opponent while carrying the stick above shoulder height

P. Using the stick, arm or leg to cause an opponent to trip or fall

PARTING SHOT

“Out there in the spotlight

You're a million miles away Every ounce of energy

You try to give away” – Bob Seger, “Turn the Page”

Gabriel Seger (a Swede, unrelated to Bob) quietly steps onto the ice at Van Andel Arena, ready for another practice far away from the cheers of the crowd.

Photo by Macy Mineni

EASY TO DRINK EASY TO ENJOY