Live It All Again! by Grand Rapids Griffins

25 MEMORABLE MOMENTS FROM THE FIRST QUARTER-CENTURY OF GRIFFINS HOCKEY

THANK YOU GRAND RAPIDS

GRIFFINS FOR AN AMAZING 25 YEARS

IS PROUD TO SUPPORT OUR GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS FOXMOTORS.COM

Dear Griffins Fans –

Great moments are born from great opportunity. And – with apologies to legendary Team U.S.A. coach Herb Brooks and Miracle – that’s what we’ve had here in Grand Rapids since Jan. 23, 1995, when West Michigan scions Dan DeVos and David Van Andel announced their plan to bring a professional hockey team to Van Andel Arena.

Fast-forward more than a quartercentury, and it’s hard to recall what life was like around here before snipers Michel Picard, Donald MacLean and Riley Barber were lighting the lamp. Before stalwarts such as Travis Richards, Niklas Kronwall and Brian Lashoff patrolled the blue line. Before Jimmy Howard and Petr Mrazek robbed opposing shooters night after night. Before the likes of Matt Ruchty, Chris Neil and Dylan McIlrath made playing 60 minutes against the Griffins feel like an eternity. Before Jeff Blashill and Todd Nelson coached our team to championships and earned promotions to the National Hockey League. Like these great players and coaches, great teams and great memories stand the test of time. And as a member of the Grand Rapids Griffins organization since Year One, I’ve had the unique privilege and pleasure to experience every incredible performance, riveting comeback, amazing moment, and goosebump-inducing playoff run

right alongside the greatest fans in hockey. Where were you when the Griffins won 14 straight home games? Where were you when Darren McCarty scored a hat trick for the ages? Where were you when Darryl Bootland put a Game 7 dagger through the heart of the Moose? Where were you when the Calder Cup was brought home to the Calder City? Whether you were inside the arena cheering your heart and lungs out, listening to our Hall of Famer Bob Kaser send chills up your spine, praying silently for a game-tying goal while rocking your baby to sleep, or secretly hitting refresh on your hidden phone to get a score update during your night class, you were there. In mind, body or spirit, you were most definitely there. Like you, I wish that I could live it all again. While that is, sadly, impossible, we’ve done the next best thing, entrusting fellow long-timer and journalist extraordinaire Mark

Newman – who has been writing and taking photos for the pages of Griffiti magazine since our fledgling season – to chronicle 25 of the most memorable moments in our franchise’s illustrious history. We hope these memories bring a smile to your face, a tear to your eye, and maybe a goosebump back to your arm. Let’s Go Griffins!

Tim Gortsema President Grand Rapids Griffins

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 25

PLUS “WHERE ARE THEY NOW? – 2013 AND 2017 CALDER CUP CHAMPIONS” PAGES 30 & 32 This 25th Anniversary Commemorative Publication is published by the Grand Rapids Griffins, 130 W. Fulton St., Suite 111, Grand Rapids, MI 49503. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. All contents ©2021 Grand Rapids Griffins. Edited by Randy Cleves. Written by Mark Newman and Randy Cleves. Photos by Mark Newman, Sam Iannamico, Greg Hamil and Dave Kaye. Graphic design by Jonathan Guinn - jguinndesign@gmail.com.

Travis Richards

THE GREAT SKATE BECOMES A WINTER TRADITION W hat started as a 24-hour skating marathon in Grand Rapids became a yearly celebration of the season known for snow and ice. The Griffins’ Great Skate began on Dec. 8-9, 2002 after Bob Kaser, then the team’s executive director of broadcasting and community relations, suggested a new event that could raise funds for the Griffins Youth Foundation, hoping to expand its skating and hockey programs for boys and girls. “We wanted to expand our programming and the only way to attain those levels was to generate more funds,” Kaser said. “The idea was to create an event that would not only help us generate more funds but would also create more awareness of the foundation. The Great Skate has certainly done that and blossomed into something even beyond what we had originally envisioned, both from an increased financial standpoint as well as producing a larger community event.” Now held each January at the outdoor Rosa Parks Circle ice rink in downtown Grand Rapids, the event gives fans the opportunity to skate with members of the AHL team. Every Griffins player and coach skates for at least one hour around the clock with fans.

Jiri Hudler

Jeff Nelson, Pokey Reddick, Michel Picard (L-R)

IHL AND AHL ALL-STAR GAMES A

ll-star games highlight the best players in the league, but they also showcase the host city. The Griffins organization has been put in that prestigious position twice in its history. In both cases, the honor came shortly after the team’s entry into a league. During their inaugural season, the Griffins hosted the IHL All-Star Game on Feb. 18, 1997. Representing the franchise on the ice were center Jeff Nelson, winger Michel Picard, and goaltender Pokey Reddick. Two years after joining the AHL, Grand Rapids welcomed the league’s all-stars on Feb. 8-9, 2004. 2

Travis Richards, who served as one of the team captains, was joined by teammates Jiri Hudler and Nathan Robinson, while Niklas Kronwall missed the event due to an injury. “To be awarded the opportunity to host the all-star game in each league was an honor,” said Griffins co-owner Dan DeVos. “In both cases, we had tremendous people who helped pull it off, plus we had the support of all of the fans who came to watch.” Bob Sack, who was senior vice president of sales and marketing for the Griffins, said the star-studded events required plenty of planning and perfect

Griffins players over the years have embraced the event, although admittedly the amount of their enthusiasm can depend somewhat on their scheduled time for skating. “Even so, the guys who come out to skate at 3, 4 or 5 in the morning have been remarkably supportive,” Kaser said. In recent years, the event has grown to become the Great Skate Winterfest and include a host of attractions, from activities for kids inside a heated tent to sled dogs, ice sculptors, and horse-drawn carriages. “I’ve always said hockey players are among the most accommodating, approachable and communityminded of all,” he said. “The players and coaches have embraced the event to the point that they are helping to raise $10,000-12,000 each year through our [online pledge] program where fans can donate money in the names of their favorite players. They now have an internal competition to see who can raise the most money.” The Great Skate Winterfest has become the second-largest fundraiser – behind only the annual golf classic – for the Griffins Youth Foundation, which supports the participation of nearly 500 boys and girls in learn-to-skate and hockey programs.

execution on the part of a lot of personnel. “Hosting those games was a credit to a whole group of people, whether it was our ticket sales staff, the Griffins Booster Club, or the many volunteers who put in a lot of work to make those events happen,” he said. League executives consider their annual all-star games to be the proverbial feather in the cap of the teams that get to host the event. “In order to be awarded an all-star game, you have to show that you can put a good program together that will showcase the league and your team while being financially

successful, too,” DeVos said. Griffins co-owner David Van Andel agrees that the opportunity to host all-star games provided an ideal way to demonstrate why Grand Rapids and the Griffins organization have continued to earn kudos for more than a quarter of a century. “Those games helped put our city on the map,” Van Andel said. “People who attended games elsewhere really got to see what our facility looked like and what makes Grand Rapids special. Nobody went away unimpressed.”

BRIAN LASHOFF REACHES 500-GAME MILESTONE W hen Brian Lashoff reached the 500-game milestone with the Griffins on March 11, 2020, there was little time for celebration. The following day the AHL announced a suspension of its season due to concerns surrounding COVID-19. Two months later, the league canceled the remainder of its regular season along with the playoffs. The decision, which meant no Calder Cup was awarded for the first time since the league formed in 1936-37, overshadowed what was an impressive achievement, establishing Lashoff as only the second player in franchise history to reach that notable number of games with the organization. It had been 17 years since defenseman Travis Richards had become the first Griffins player to reach the 500game mark. (He finished his career with 655.) “When it happened, it could have felt like it was just another number, but it means a lot, especially with this franchise,” Lashoff said. “A lot of people have put a lot of blood, sweat and tears to make it a world-class operation. It’s one of the best – if not the best – organizations in this league as far as everything goes, from the fan base to the quality of the team and the facilities to the city, which is second to none. “To be one of two guys who have played that amount of games here means a lot to me.”

After some in-game acknowledgements, the organization marked the occasion later that summer by having the Voice of the Griffins, Bob Kaser, share congratulatory videos from coaches and players, past and present, during a quiet moment in the locker room. “The number means a great deal,”Lashoff said.“It goes to show that I’ve been fortunate to have been around a lot of good people, from players to coaches to the people in the front office. When I think about all of the support I’ve received [over the years], the memories flood back.” Lashoff still remembers his first game in a Griffins uniform. He made his debut late in the 2008-09 season, appearing in the second game of a back-to-back matchup against the AHL’s Phantoms at the old Spectrum in Philadelphia. “[Griffins coach] Curt Fraser asked me if I ever played forward and I said, ‘Yeah,’ but I think I was 12 when I had last played forward. It was the only way I was going to get into the lineup. So I got to play and I think we played fairly well as a line.” Lashoff played left wing with fellow rookies Cory Emmerton and Jan Mursak. All three would eventually find their way to Detroit years later, but the next game saw Lashoff return to his familiar spot on the blue line where he soon became a fixture.

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odd Nelson, the first player ever signed by the Griffins, remembers his return to Grand Rapids did not start as well as he might have hoped. In Nelson’s first season as head coach (2015-16), the Griffins stumbled out of the gate to a less-than-stellar record of 2-8-0-1. He was replacing Jeff Blashill, who had brought the franchise its first Calder Cup championship before being promoted to Detroit’s head job. “Jeff Blashill had been popular, so I had big shoes to fill,” Nelson said. “I was under tremendous pressure – I’m not lying to you – both from the organization and personally from the pressure I put on myself. Those first couple of months of the season were really tough on me. Luckily, we got the team going.” “Going” is putting it mildly. On Nov. 18, 2015, the Griffins posted the first of a franchise-record 15 straight victories, a run that would continue through Christmas. Impressively, the wins came against seven different clubs, and eight of the victories were by a margin of three goals or more. Two months later, the Griffins

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MULTIPLE WINNING STREAKS DURING THE 2015-16 SEASON enjoyed another long winning streak, taking 13 straight games from Feb. 20 to March 19, 2016, this time defeating six different teams in the process. Nine of the victories were by a margin of at least three goals, including five by four goals or more. The Griffins were steamrolling teams. Grand Rapids became the first AHL team since 2009-10 to log multiple double-digit runs in the same season. The Griffins also set a franchise mark with 14 straight home wins from Nov. 11, 2015 to Jan. 15, 2016. Following a successful regular season, the Griffins swept Milwaukee 3-0 in the first round of the playoffs before losing in six games to the eventual Calder Cup champion Lake Erie Monsters in a series that began and ended with overtime losses. The two games won by the Griffins marked the only playoff defeats suffered by Lake Erie (15-2). Most significantly, the 2015-16 season established the winning atmosphere that would help Grand Rapids capture the Calder Cup the following year.

SELLOUTS AND SEASON TICKETS

hen the news broke that there would be a new hockey team in Grand Rapids, the excitement was palpable. If there was any question about pent-up demand, it was answered when thousands responded to a blind ad querying interest in season tickets. “No matter how much we thought it made sense, we were blown away when we saw the interest,” said Bob Sack, who served as senior vice president of sales and marketing for the Griffins for more than a decade. The team sold 7,000 season tickets, the most by any franchise in the 51-year history of the International Hockey League. In truth, the organization had received even more requests, but the number was capped to allow for sufficient availability of tickets for the general public – both for group business and for single-game sales. “We needed to continue to cultivate new fans every year, so we chose to develop a broad-based appeal,” said Tim Gortsema, a member of the original staff who rose from vice president of finance and administration to current president of the Griffins organization. “The feeling was we needed to expose as many people to hockey as possible. To us, 7,000 sounded like a significant enough number, but still left us enough for groups and single-game tickets,” Gortsema said. “We needed to develop that affinity and

connection to the team, to create that fandom that is the lifeblood of any sports enterprise.” The Griffins opened the home portion of their inaugural season on a Friday night – Oct. 11, 1996, to be exact. Everyone in attendance, including nearly 4,000 individual and group ticket buyers, can attest that it was a special occasion. It marked the first of 39 sellouts that season, the only two exceptions being a Thursday night in October and a Wednesday night in January. Sack said the Griffins were determined to make a good first impression, especially that first season. “We felt like we were stewards of a community asset,” he said. “We were in charge of something very special and every game had to be approached that way. “Our original mission statement was simple: Excite and delight. It was the excitement of competition and the purity of sports, along with delighting those fans, whether they were five years old or 50 or 80. To be able to do that was really special.” “There was a sense that so many people were experiencing hockey for the first time that we realized it was like a party every night because it was new for them,” he said. “It didn’t matter if we had 10 straight sellouts because on the 11th night we could have a whole new group of fans who were going to experience hockey for the first time. “We tried to make every night special.”

DARREN McCARTY’S HAT TRICK T here have been many well-known hockey players who have worn a Griffins jersey during their road to recovery, whether from an injury or in an attempt to regain past glories. Chris Chelios, Curtis Joseph, Marty McSorley, Michael Nylander, Chris Osgood, Michael Samuelsson and Stephen Weiss are among the notables who have played in Grand Rapids as they did their best to get themselves back to the NHL. No player, however, had a more memorable Van Andel Arena debut than Darren McCarty, who scored three goals in his first home game for Grand Rapids on Feb. 15, 2008, bringing a flood of hats, hot dogs and even shoes to the ice when Griffins fans showered him with appreciation – not only for a magical night but for his entire career in Detroit. “On a certain scale, it was one of those moments in life that you’ll always remember, like being there for your kids’ births, your wedding day, or watching your kids have great achievements,” McCarty said. “Time stood still.” The hat trick was just the second in McCarty’s career, his other coming against the Colorado Avalanche in the 2002 Stanley Cup Playoffs. His trifecta in Grand Rapids came only 11 days after he had signed a professional tryout with the Griffins in his effort to return to the NHL. McCarty called it “a life-changing experience.” “I believe life is full of mulligans and second chances, and I was just grateful to get the opportunity to show that I still had some juice and still could play.”

The Red Wings organization dutifully took notice. Ten days later, McCarty signed a contract with Detroit, eventually appearing in 17 playoff games and earning his fourth Stanley Cup ring when the Red Wings defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins. He would re-sign with Detroit that summer and eventually retire after a 2008-09 season in which he played 13 games with the Red Wings to go with another 19 regular-season contests and a playoff run as a Griffin. McCarty had played 11 seasons with the Red Wings before the organization bought out his contract following the lockout that canceled the 2004-05 season. After a couple of seasons with the Calgary Flames, he was excited when the Griffins provided him with the opportunity to get another crack at the NHL. Describing it as “unbelievable,” McCarty believed scoring the hat trick with the Griffins was a crowning achievement of a career playing a sport that he loved. “As I’ve said at various times in my career, I couldn’t have written a better script,” he said. In a way, it was the perfect ending for McCarty, who had welcomed the birth of his first child in 1996, the same year that the city of Grand Rapids cheered the arrival of a new hockey team. Little could McCarty have known that when he chose the name for his son, it might provide some dramatic irony a dozen years later when he attempted to put his career back on track. He named his son Griffin.

Jiri Hudler reacts to Darryl’s Bootland’s game-winning goal.

PLAYOFF COMEBACK I t’s not easy to rally from a one-goal deficit in the third period, let alone two or three goals, but the Griffins did just that in staging the greatest comeback in their postseason history during the 2006 Calder Cup Playoffs. The Griffins were locked into a back-andforth second-round series with Manitoba, and things did not look particularly promising in the pivotal Game 7 at Van Andel Arena. The visiting Moose had scored four unanswered goals to take a 4-1 lead as the clock ticked down in the second period. But when replays confirmed Bryan Helmer had scored a power-play goal with less than a second left on the clock, the Griffins suddenly had hope. Re-energized by Helmer’s lamp-lighter, Grand Rapids refused to quit. The Griffins outshot Manitoba by a 14-1 margin in the third period, seemingly determined to find a way to win. Valtteri Filppula, who had made his NHL debut with the Detroit Red Wings earlier in the regular season, cut the deficit to 4-3 with a goal 2:15 into the third period. Not long after killing off a penalty, the Griffins scored again when Filppula put the puck into the net for a second time. The game-tying tally came a little more than five minutes after his first goal, breathing new life into the Griffins’ chances.

GRIFFINS BEGIN OTTAWA SENATORS AFFILIATION

hen the Grand Rapids Griffins signed their first NHL affiliation on June 10, 1999, it was a major step forward for the organization. The Griffins, who had operated as an independent during their first three seasons, agreed to accept a minimum of 12 players from the Ottawa Senators. The move to align the team with the organization centered in the Canadian capital instantly boosted the prospect pool playing in Grand Rapids. The Senators, one of the leading Stanley Cup contenders at the time, provided their top talent

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The Griffins completed their miraculous comeback with just 2:06 remaining. Darryl Bootland, off assists from Derek Meech and Jiri Hudler, scored the game-winner, eliminating the Moose and sending the hometown crowd into the night happy. It was Hudler’s fifth assist of the game, a franchise playoff record. Bootland, who claims he always tried to play every shift like it would be his last, made sure it was the last of the playoffs for the Moose, who had completed their first 100-point campaign in team history during the regular season. The Griffins’ all-time penalty minute leader with 1,164, Bootland also had a decent set of hands and a knack for scoring when it counted. “I always said that I played better when somebody was trying to kill me,” he said. “It used to be my dad and then it was the other players, so I guess things worked out.” Bootland scored 72 goals in 293 regularseason games with the Griffins, adding nine goals in 41 postseason games. None were bigger than the one he scored on May 16, 2006. “My time spent in Grand Rapids was the best time of my life,” Bootland said. “It was like college for me because I was 20 to 26 years old. The fans loved my style of play, and I loved doing it for them, so it was a lot of fun.”

during the three years of the affiliation. Between 1999 and 2002, the Griffins posted a 146-71-27 record, an impressively solid stretch that included a run to the 2000 Turner Cup Finals and winning the International Hockey League’s final regular-season championship in 2000-01. The affiliation between the Griffins and Senators was a two-way street that benefitted both clubs, even though their respective cities were separated by 600 miles. Both Grand Rapids and Ottawa resided in the top tier of their respective conferences during their three-year bond. “Good coaching, good fans, and a good city – these

things all contribute to a successful relationship,” said Marshall Johnston, who was the Senators’ general manager at the time. Jacques Martin (pictured right, with then-Griffins head coach Guy Charron) was Ottawa’s head coach during the affiliation, and he had high praise for the partnership. “Any time you can have young prospects playing under the same system, it gives them a good direction to follow,” Martin remarked. He lauded the Griffins organization as ”an excellent environment for our young players who need time to develop.” Undoubtedly, the most notable Ottawa prospect to wear a Griffins jersey was Jason Spezza, who made his professional debut with the Griffins during the 2002 Calder Cup Playoffs. Although his stay was brief – he appeared in three games, including a single game at Van Andel Arena – Spezza would certainly make a name for himself. Entering 2021-22, the second overall pick in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft and current Toronto Maple Leaf had tallied 351 goals and 619 assists for 970 points in 1,177 games over 15 seasons. One player who became a fan favorite in both Ottawa and Grand Rapids was Chris Neil, a sixth-round draft pick in 1998 who blossomed with time. Neil played 1,026 games in the NHL, all with the Senators. He ranked 20th in NHL career penalty minutes when he retired after the 2016-17 season.

“Playing in Grand Rapids was a part of my life I’ll never forget,” Neil said. “I’ve kept the scrapbooks that the Griffins boosters club put together for me, and my Griffins jersey still hangs in the sports bar in my basement.” Neil transformed himself from a player who put up points in junior hockey to an enforcer who used his fists as much as his skates and stick. “I knew I had to change my role to make it in the pros,” Neil said. “I wanted to play in the NHL so bad and I knew I had to do something to make myself stand out from other guys.” Over time, the Ottawa affiliation produced its share of coaches. Griffins coach Bruce Cassidy became the head coach of the Washington Capitals and, later, the Boston Bruins. His predecessor, Guy Charron, assumed the helm of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, while Danton Cole, who was an assistant coach during the first year of the affiliation under Charron, is now the hockey coach at Michigan State University, Cole’s alma mater. David Oliver (New York Rangers) and defenseman John Gruden (New York Islanders) started as assistant coaches during the 2018-19 season. Derek King became the head coach of the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs during the early part of that same season. Chris Kelly transitioned from player development coordinator to assistant coach for the Boston Bruins, with whom he won a Stanley Cup as a player in 2011.

Jimmy Howard

Derek King

REGULAR-SEASON CHAMPIONSHIPS T he Griffins have twice been crowned regular-season champs. Separated by five years, the two teams were almost completely different. Under the direction of head coach Bruce Cassidy and assistant coach Danton Cole, the 2000-01 Griffins had the best record (53-22-7) in the final year of the IHL. The team was a mix of veterans and prospects who were the property of the Ottawa Senators. The top scorer on the team was Derek King, who had played 830 games in the NHL and had scored at least 30 goals in an NHL season three times. King, then in his second season with the Griffins, tallied a career-high 83 points, which tied him for the league lead. Slava Butsayev and Ivan Ciernik had 68 and 65 points, respectively, for the Griffins’ balanced offense. The team included 11 players with double-digit goal totals, including David Roberts (27), Todd White (22), Ed Patterson (19), Kip Miller (16), Chris Neil (15), Chris Szysky (15), David Oliver (15), and Petr Schastlivy (10). The 2000-01 team was also strong on the blue line, led by top-scoring defenseman Travis Richards. Joel Kwiatkowski, Sean Gagnon and Dave Van Drunen provided added strength on the backend. No. 1 goaltender Mike Fountain was backed by rookie Mathieu Chouinard. In the 2001 playoffs, the Griffins swept the

Cleveland Lumberjacks in four games in the opening round before losing to the eventual Turner Cup champion Orlando Solar Bears in six games. The 2005-06 Griffins team might have been even better. Greg Ireland, who had taken over the Griffins’ head coaching job midway through the previous season, guided the team to an AHL-best 55-201-4 record. At his side was ex-NHLer Jim Paek, who was in the first of his eventual nine seasons as an assistant coach in Grand Rapids. Like the 2000-01 squad, this team featured several veterans with a group of NHL prospects – the difference this time being the young players were the property of the Detroit Red Wings, with whom the Griffins had been affiliated since 2002. The Griffins had the AHL’s highest-scoring offense, averaging more than four goals per game when the league average was closer to three. Leading the charge was league MVP Donald MacLean, who scored a franchise-record 56 goals, tying Binghamton’s Denis Hamel for league-best. Jiri Hudler, who was in his third year with the Griffins, had 36 goals and 60 assists for 96 points, the third-highest point total in the AHL that season and second-highest in team history.

The 2005-06 Griffins had 10 other players with double-digit goal totals. Tomas Kopecky tallied 32 goals, followed by Darryl Bootland (27), Eric Manlow (25), Kent McDonnell (21), Matt Ellis (20), Valtteri Filppula (20), Nate DiCasmirro (16), Bryan Helmer (12), and Clay Wilson (10). The defensive corps included AHL Hall-ofFamer Helmer, Kyle Quincey, Derek Meech, Brett Lebda and Greg Amadio. AHL All-Rookie Team goaltender Jimmy Howard posted a 27-6-2 record with a 2.58 goals-against average while Joey MacDonald and Drew MacIntyre went 17-9-2 and 8-4-0, respectively. Even Red Wings goalies Chris Osgood and Manny Legace got in the action, picking up wins in rehab assignments. Considering the number of future Stanley Cup winners on the roster, the 2005-06 Griffins seemed destined to win a title. But the Western Conference Finals saw Grand Rapids swept in four games by Milwaukee. The Admirals outscored the Griffins by a 14-7 margin in the series, thanks to a rookie goaltender named Pekka Rinne. Rinne recently retired after 15 NHL seasons, all with the Nashville Predators. He finished with a 369-213-75 record, tied for the 19th most goaltending wins in NHL history.

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Steve Yzerman

Chris Chelios, Brendan Shanahan

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an Andel Arena was just four years old, but if it was possible to shake its foundation, the rafters were rocking when the public address announcer gave the introductions before the first Red & White Game in the venue. The Sept. 15, 2000 event was so much more significant than the fact that it was the culmination of the Red Wings’ training camp in Traverse City. Most fans did not realize that the game would prove to be the starting point for what would later become a 20-year affiliation between the Griffins and the Red Wings. When the crowd roared for Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman, the fans were recognizing nearly two decades of excellence from one of the greatest players in Detroit’s history – not knowing that he would oversee the entire organization 20 years later or that one of his teammates, Pat Verbeek, would become the general manager of the Griffins. Bob Sack was the Griffins’ vice president of sales and marketing at the time, and he remembers the pivotal nature of the game. “That game started the whole conversation,” he said. “It was that Red & White Game that got the ball rolling. I think the response to the game helped [the Red Wings] realize the value in marketing and connecting with West Michigan.” Sack said that the Red Wings had been reluctant to align with a team in the IHL, which favored more experienced, older players, while the AHL was viewed as

the younger, more developmental-oriented league. “I remember making a phone call to Ken Holland in the late ‘90s and I can recall him saying that they wanted to develop players and they liked the way the AHL developed players more than the IHL,” Sack said. “When the Wings wanted to move their Adirondack affiliation closer to home, it presented us with an opportunity.” Two things happened. In early 1999, the Wings had announced plans to move their minor league team to Rossford, Ohio – a Toledo suburb – for the 2000-01 season. As part of the agreement to relocate the franchise, the city of Rossford promised to build a $48 million entertainment complex that included a 12,000-seat arena. When the arena deal fell apart in late 2000 and the IHL folded after the 2000-01 season, the stage was set. When six IHL franchises, including the Griffins, were admitted into the AHL for the 2001-02 season, it paved the way for the Wings and Griffins to seal their partnership. Van Andel Arena would later host Red & White Games in 2002 and 2011, along with a 75-minute practice/ autograph session (“Wings for Lunch”) in 2007, but it was that first contest that ultimately proved so important to the future. So while nobody remembers the score, many can still recall the star-studded lineup of players who skated in the game, including Sergei Fedorov, Nicklas Lidstrom, Brendan Shanahan, Chris Chelios, Igor Larionov, Tomas Holmstrom, and Chris Osgood.

ROCKFORD BRAWL SETS TONE FOR FIRST CHAMPIONSHIP

ew regular-season games have been more memorable or more significant in the history of the Griffins franchise than the Jan. 19, 2013 contest in Rockford. The Griffins defeated the IceHogs in an 11-6 comeback that helped turn the tide for the future Calder Cup champions. “That was a big moment for our team,” said then-Griffins captain Jeff Hoggan. “It helped build that bond which is so important when you get toward the final games of the playoffs.” In the seventh meeting of the season between the two clubs, Rockford scored first, but the Griffins quickly erased the deficit by scoring four unanswered goals in 7:57. In the end, the 11 lamp-lighters were the most in franchise history and the most scored in an AHL game in more than

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FIRST RED & WHITE GAME V

seven years. But it was a bench-clearing brawl in the second period that distinguished the simmering rivalry between the two clubs. The teams combined for 230 penalty minutes, with the action resulting in 13 players being ejected. Eight Rockford players were given early shower passes along with the Griffins’ Tomas Tatar, Francis Pare, Brian Lashoff, Gleason Fournier, and goalie Petr Mrazek. “It was one of those old-time hockey games that just happens,” defenseman Nathan Paetsch recalled. “It was a case of teammates sticking up for teammates. Everyone cared about everybody else in that dressing room.” There had been bad blood brewing between the two teams even before the opening puck was dropped. The brawl was another escalation of their mutual dislike, a

feeling which had produced fights in the previous five meetings between the teams. After just 44 combined penalty minutes in their first two games, the next five contests saw a total of 598, or nearly 120 a game. Rockford was frustrated after being whistled with six straight infractions. The IceHogs’ Kyle Beach jumped on Riley Sheahan during a faceoff at the 11:58 mark of the second period and all hell broke loose, with even the opposing goalies facing off in the fisticuffs. “We had guys who weren’t normally fighters coming off the bench,” Hoggan said. “I remember Louis-Marc Aubry jumping over the bench, and he was a big kid but nobody knew if he could even fight. Pretty soon, we had everyone partnering up with somebody. It was no different than a

bar fight with your friends. You were making sure you had your friends’ backs.” Six players received suspensions from the AHL as a result of the bench-clearing brawl. Aubry was suspended for six games for being the first to leave the bench while teammate Triston Grant received one game. For Rockford, Rob Flick was suspended for six games for being the first on his team to leave the bench. Beach, Kenndal McArdle, and Wade Brookbank received one-game suspensions for their actions. Additionally, Rockford coach Ted Dent was suspended for two games. Both teams were fined an undisclosed amount. “Teams that win are close on and off the ice,” Hoggan said. “Everyone on the team bonded really well. We had the feeling, that vibe, that we could have something special.”

Todd Nelson

GRIFFINS REACH TURNER CUP FINALS T he Griffins had more than their share of great teams during the franchise’s first decade, perhaps none better than the 1999-2000 team that reached the IHL’s Turner Cup Finals. “We were loaded to the gills, but we ended up losing in six games,” said Travis Richards, who played his last 10 seasons with the Griffins. “If I have one regret, it’s that we didn’t win it. We got to that place where it’s so hard to win. Maybe it’s me because we never won (a championship) during my time in Grand Rapids, but you need something extra sprinkled in there.”

Michel Picard

Michel Picard was the team’s leading goal scorer and point producer (33 goals, 68 points) but he was just one of nine players with double-digit goal totals, including Slava Bustayev (28), Kevin Miller (20), Ed Patterson (20), Derek King (19), Yves Sarault (17), Petr Schastlivy (16), Ivan Ciernik (13), and John Emmons (10). The team was also strong on the defensive side of the puck. Richards was joined on the blue line by veterans Todd Nelson, John Gruden and Dave Bassegio, along with Karel Rachunek and Philippe Plante. Jani Hurme and Mike Fountain were the Griffins’ tandem in the net. Grand Rapids dropped Game 1 to the Chicago Wolves in overtime, then lost Game 2 on the road as well before winning two of the next three. But the 2-0 series deficit proved to be too much to overcome. “When you lose the first game in a series in overtime, it’s so deflating,” Richards said, noting that a year later the Griffins dropped another Game 1 in overtime before being eliminated by the eventual Turner Cup-winning Orlando Solar Bears in the conference finals. Grand Rapids dropped another Game 1 overtime contest in 2003 when it fell to the eventual Calder Cup champion Houston Aeros. “It still bothers me that we didn’t win,” Richards said. Picard said there really is no explanation for why the Griffins didn’t win the Turner Cup that season. “When you’re in the playoffs, all you think about is winning,” he said. “All you can say is that they were better than us. It’s sad, but that’s the way it is.”

FIRST GAME EVER & FIRST HOME GAME I n a hockey team’s inaugural season there are countless “firsts,” but few are more significant than the first-ever game and first home game. The Griffins opened their first season on the road, defeating the Indianapolis Ice 1-0 on October 5, 1996. Michel Picard scored the franchise’s first goal (top photo) and goaltender Pokey Reddick recorded the team’s first shutout by making 30 saves. “I remember Pokey got a lot of action that night, so much that he had to go to the hospital and get an IV because he was overworked,” said defenseman Todd Nelson, who was the first player signed by the Griffins and who was making his debut in a Grand Rapids jersey with all of his newfound teammates. Even though the new Griffins team had a roster deep with experience, Nelson said the thrill of starting a new season with the expansion team is beyond any comparisons. “Going into the first game in Grand Rapids, I think everyone had a bit of the butterflies,” he said. “There was a lot of excitement, seeing the packed barn with all the fans and seeing how excited they were to have pro hockey back in Grand Rapids. It was just an exciting time for everyone.” For Griffins owners Dan DeVos and David Van Andel, the first home game was an event that transcended the sport of hockey. “It was not just the excitement of game night,” DeVos said. “It was the buzz around town. It was all the excitement that comes from people talking about sports.

It’s something that people do and all of a sudden more people were talking about hockey.” DeVos remembers watching the waves of fans walking into Van Andel Arena for the first time. “The puck hadn’t even touched the ice yet and to see all the people walking into the arena was exciting,” he said. “It was challenging to get the team up and running and now the arena was the place to be, the place where you saw everybody.” With 10,834 fans in attendance on Oct. 11, 1996, Grand Rapids lost its first home game 3-1 to the Orlando Solar Bears. Darin Smith was credited with the first Griffins goal in Van Andel Arena. It was the first of 39 sellouts in 41 home games during the team’s inaugural season. “Most of the people there on the first night had probably never been to a hockey game in their life, and yet here we were in a brand new facility with 10,000plus fans,”Van Andel said. “All of a sudden, you realize it’s not hypothetical anymore, it’s real.” Not even a loss could dampen the enthusiasm everyone felt that first night. It was validation of all the decisions that had come before to make all the “firsts” come true. “Game after game after game, the fans were always there,” Van Andel said. “It wasn’t a case of ‘If you build it, they will come.’ We weren’t sure anyone was going to come. We weren’t sure anyone would care. So it was extremely gratifying to see the vision become real.”

MICHEL PICARD’S 100-POINT SEASON I t’s been more than 17 years since Michel Picard wore a Griffins jersey for the last time, but he still holds more than his share of franchise records. The French-Canadian scoring machine is still Grand Rapids’ all-time leader in career goals (158), assists (222), and points (380) – and nobody else is close. Francis Pare is the only other Griffin to have topped the century mark for career goals (102) and Travis Richards is a distant second in assists (182) and points (238). Picard was a true point-per-game player and then some. During the team’s inaugural season, he tallied 101 points (46 goals and 55 assists) in 82 games, a team record that remains unchallenged even after the passing of a quarter of a century. Richards thinks Picard might be the most skilled player to ever skate for the Griffins. “It was almost comical how he could score,” he said. “You would watch and think about what a gift he had. You see it sometimes in players at the highest level. They may not be the fastest or the most skilled, but they know how to score. They can shoot and they can score. And that’s who he was.” And to think that if Picard had liked Sweden a little more, he might never have found his way to Grand Rapids.

Before the start of the 1996-97 IHL season, he played three games for Vastra Frolunda in the Swedish Elite League before deciding he was ready to come back to North America. He turned to his coach from his previous two seasons with the NHL’s Ottawa Senators and AHL’s Prince Edward Island Senators. “I had started that season in Sweden and it wasn’t working out that well,” Picard recalled. “I didn’t know where to go and I knew Davey Allison was in Grand Rapids, so I gave him a call. I asked him if he needed a left winger and he said, ‘Yes, I do.’ I said, ‘OK, I’m on my way.’ It was the perfect situation.” Picard would eventually play at least part of six different seasons with the Griffins (1996-2000, 2002-04), tallying his 380 points in 364 games, and he led the team in scoring in each of his five full seasons. During the same time, he also saw action with the St. Louis Blues, Edmonton Oilers, and Philadelphia Flyers, collecting 36 points (13 goals, 23 assists) in 70 NHL games. “Every time I signed a contract in the NHL, whether it was St. Louis or the Edmonton Oilers, I always put it in my contract that if they sent me down, they had to send me to Grand Rapids and not to their farm team. I demanded that.”

As far as he was concerned, there was no better place to play than the city where he and his wife Sonja started their family. “I always said that Grand Rapids was the best place I played,” Picard said. “It all starts with ownership and the Griffins had great people, from the general manager to the coaching staff to the players to the people in the office.” Picard played for 15 different teams during his 15-year professional career, and Grand Rapids was the one place that always put a smile on his face. “When players are happy to play hockey, they want to give their 100 percent,” said Picard, now a scout for St. Louis. “They want to give their full talent to the team. We had good teams because we were happy to go to the rink and play hockey together. It made us even better.” Richards thinks Picard might have been a star in today’s NHL. “Today’s game is completely suited for who he was,” Richards said. “The game was different back in those days, it was clutch and grab and if you were not big, it was harder to play. If he was playing now, he would have been in the NHL in the blink of an eye. “Pic was the best shooter and goal scorer that I ever played with. He could skate, he had a great shot and when he got his chances, he didn’t miss.”

JEFF BLASHILL BECOMES HEAD COACH OF THE RED WINGS

ll good things come to those who wait.” In Jeff Blashill’s case, one might want to change the wording to “things come to good guys who wait.” With the arrival of the 2021-22 hockey season, the former Griffins head coach entered his seventh season behind the bench of the Detroit Red Wings, making him the third longest-tenured head coach in the NHL. Blashill has been the steady hand, helping to guide the rebuilding efforts of the Red Wings, whose impressive string of 25 consecutive Stanley Cup appearances was snapped in his second season at the helm. For Blashill, “be careful what you wish for” might apply. “It’s a neat thing to become the head coach of an organization that was a big part of your life growing up,” he said. Blashill, of course, knew that he was inheriting an aging roster when he became the 27th head coach in Red Wings history on June 9, 2015. Joining a team in need of a rebuild did not diminish his enthusiasm for the work that lay ahead. Blashill came to Grand Rapids before the 2012-13 “

season following one year as an assistant for Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock. He proved his worth when he led Grand Rapids to the 2013 Calder Cup championship and into at least the second round of the playoffs during each of his three seasons in Grand Rapids. In fact, the Griffins played 50 postseason games during his tenure, the most ever by an AHL team in a three-year span. “I loved my job in Grand Rapids,” Blashill said. “I think the American Hockey League is a great, great league for coaches to learn in. They say it’s a great development league for players, but I think it’s just as important for coaches, and I think it’s shown by the number of NHL coaches who are AHL graduates.” It was during his time with the Griffins that Blashill earned his reputation as a good teacher. Demanding at the times he needed to be, he excelled when working with younger players. “Teaching is certainly important in the AHL,” he said. “It’s why NHL teams invest money in the American League to help players develop to the very best of their abilities, so they can ultimately become future NHL players and help their NHL club. “It’s critical to help your players become the best they can be, and that’s something that I certainly don’t think is exclusive to the AHL or NHL. There are lots of ways to maximize their abilities, whether it’s practice, skills sessions or just holding them accountable. “When they do something right, you give them ice time. When they don’t, they lose ice time.” It’s been six seasons since the Red Wings finished the

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year with a winning record, but no NHL team showed more improvement in 2020-21. Blashill points to his three seasons in Grand Rapids as time well-spent. “There’s no question that I learned a ton in Grand Rapids,” he said.“As someone who wants to get better at his craft, you learn to adapt. I think my time in Grand Rapids has been paramount to my development as a coach.” Many players, past and present, will happily attest to his strengths as a coach. In turn, Blashill is content to credit the players for any success his teams achieve. “Coaches are ultimately a reflection of their players and I’ve been fortunate to coach great people and great players,” he said. “You only win championships with great talent and great character. You can’t have just one or the other. You’ve got to have both.” Having enjoyed tremendous success in Grand Rapids, Blashill is eager to return the Red Wings to the previous heights enjoyed by the organization. “The No. 1 factor that will influence a team’s success is having players who embody the characteristics of winners: inner drive, competitiveness, selflessness,” he said. “If you have guys with those qualities, it gives you a chance to win. If you don’t, you have no chance to win. “One of my messages is to control what you can control and that’s your play,” he said. “Spend time worrying about whether you’re playing good hockey. The best way to end up where you want to be, which is the NHL, is to play great hockey.”

#gOGRG

@griffinshockey 11

RETIREMENT OF TRAVIS RICHARDS’ NUMBER O ne player is synonymous with the Griffins’ first decade in Grand Rapids; his number has been hanging from the rafters of Van Andel Arena for the past 15 years. Long before he became team captain, Travis Richards established himself as an excellent defender, a bulwark on the blue line who used his talents to stop the opponents’ top scorers. He played a record 665 games for the Griffins before a back injury curtailed his career at the age of 36. Richards, who rarely missed a game during his first eight seasons with the team, still remembers the game that put a premature end to his playing days. “We were playing in Cleveland and, after the second period, I remember going to Snitzy [Rob Snitzer, the Griffins’ medical trainer] and telling him that I felt like something was stabbing me in the back,” Richards said. “It felt like it was killing me. “I think he rubbed some Ben-Gay on it and I managed to finish the game, but I remember trying to get off the bus and I couldn’t even move. I went to the doctor and it turned out I had herniated a disk. I remember it was that specific game, but I don’t remember a particular play where it happened.” Few defensemen in the IHL or AHL were better at pushing puck carriers out of the play than Richards, who was a master at maneuvering himself with the help of his stick. “I was 187 pounds soaking wet, going up against guys who were 210 or 215, so I had to play smarter, and your stick is your biggest asset outside of skating,” he said. “I had no choice but to have a good stick. Even now when I coach, I tell kids that it’s all about your stick.” In reality, Richards might have torqued his body once too many. The cumulative impact of twisting and turning, pushing puck carriers off their desired path, might have forced his physical decline, at least as far as his frame was concerned.

Richards was the backbone of the Griffins, but his spine was not as steadfast. “You hear stories about backs and mine was really bad,” he said. “I think my wife [Angie] put on my socks and tied my shoes for four or five months. I had to sleep on the floor. That’s how bad it was. I tried rehabbing it all summer and when I came back the next fall, I thought I had found relief from the pain. “Then came October and I was right back to where I had been the previous season. I was hoping to play and enjoy one last year, but the pain was just crippling. I knew I had to fix it, so I had surgery and I knew that was it for my playing career.” Richards still skates on a regular basis as co-director of the Southside Ice Arena in Byron Center, where he coaches the Fox Motors youth program. Former teammates Dave Van Drunen and Kory Karlander also work at the facility. While Richards still suffers the occasional flare-up with general back pain, he says life is good. He looks back at Nov. 24, 2006 – the night the Griffins retired his number – as the highlight of his career. “It was the greatest thing ever,” he said. “For us to fall in love with the area and get to meet so many great people and then raise our kids here was fantastic. Obviously, the city has been my life since I first got here. Our intent was always to move back to Minnesota, but after being here 10 years, we became entrenched in Grand Rapids. The city is our life now.” “Twenty-five years later, I still don’t know if there’s a better place in the AHL to play than Grand Rapids – from the organization to the facility to the fan following, everything is the tops,” he said. “I still go to the rink every day and I feel fortunate as heck every day that it’s still my job, no longer as a player but as a coach. And it’s all because I was a Griffin for 10 years, and I can honestly say I loved everything about it.”

9 NIKLAS KRONWALL WINS EDDIE SHORE AWARD

ew athletes have shown the kind of characteristic dominance that makes their names become part of the vernacular of their sport. In baseball, “Ruthian” describes someone with the hitting power of Babe Ruth; baseball fans might applaud a Ruthian blast or a Ruthian swing. In basketball, “Jordanesque” is attached to a performance that is notable for its remarkable achievement, conjuring memories of Michael Jordan. In hockey, Niklas Kronwall became so synonymous with the delivery and execution of back-pedaling hits that players who were on the receiving end of his massive checks were said to have gotten “Kronwalled.” The longtime Red Wings defenseman left a trail of devastated puck carriers in his wake during an NHL career that lasted 15 seasons. Kronwall is particularly notable in the annals of Grand Rapids hockey because he is the only Griffins player to have been honored with the Eddie Shore Award as the

top defenseman in the American Hockey League. He was recognized for his play in 2004-05, when he played a complete season in Grand Rapids during the NHL lockout. “The lockout year was huge for me,” said Kronwall, who had split the previous season between the Griffins and Red Wings. “I got called up the year before because there were some injuries in Detroit, but I knew I needed to work on my game on the smaller ice surface. I knew I had to get better.” Kronwall was still adjusting to the smaller ice surface in North America after playing the previous four seasons for the Djurgardens team in his hometown of Stockholm in the Swedish Elite League. “After playing in Europe, I had to change. Here, it’s more intense, the angles are way different, and you have to learn how to close quicker in the corners, when to shoot, when there’s room to jump up. I was able to play in all situations and I learned a ton that year, which was important for the rest of my career.” Kronwall blossomed in his second AHL season, tallying

13 goals and 40 assists in 76 games – his 53 points made him the only defenseman in Griffins history to lead the team in scoring – while solidifying his steady play in the defensive zone. He credits his time with the Griffins as providing the foundation for his future as a stalwart on the Red Wings’ blue line. “My time in Grand Rapids was probably the most fun I had,” said Kronwall, who played 102 career games with the Griffins. “We had a young team along with good leadership from some older guys [and] you need good leadership from guys who are not just good players but also good people. “I believe in the character of the group as much as the character of the individuals. You watch the veterans and you see how they react. You watch how they treat people, not just their teammates but their opponents, referees, fans, and the media. You watch and try to learn from them.” And so Kronwall learned from veterans like Bryan

Helmer, who had already played nearly 800 games in the AHL, and Travis Richards, who was in his ninth season with the Griffins when Kronwall played his full year in Grand Rapids. “Hands down, he’s the best defenseman I ever saw at this level – without question,” Richards said. “There’s not much more you can say. And he’s humble, too. To be that good and to be so unassuming was a pleasure to see.” The Griffins provided Kronwall with the experience that would be so beneficial as years went by and his role within the Red Wings organization increased. When Nicklas Lidstrom retired following the 2011-12 season, Kronwall became the elder statesman among the defensemen in Detroit. “When you get a lot of ice time, you feel more comfortable,” Kronwall said. “The more you play, the better you get. When I [first] came [to Detroit], I realized I wasn’t playing on the level I needed to be. That’s why my time in Grand Rapids really helped me.” 13

hen Donald MacLean joined the Griffins before the 2005-06 season, he never could have imagined the year that he was about to experience. MacLean knew he liked Grand Rapids, having played in the city seven years earlier. A second-round draft pick of the Los Angeles Kings, he had originally joined the Griffins from Springfield in February 1999 after a mid-season trade for IHL All-Star Maxim Spiridonov. Only 22 at the time, MacLean struggled against players who were older and more experienced. He scored six goals in 28 IHL games after coming from the much younger American Hockey League. “It struck me that the IHL was much older than the AHL,” MacLean said. “The age of players caught me by surprise, but it is what it is.” By the time of his second stint in Grand Rapids, MacLean had played a year overseas and seen limited action in the NHL with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Columbus Blue Jackets. He won the AHL scoring race in 2001-02 with St. 14 14

DONALD MacLEAN WINS MVP

John’s when he tallied 33 goals and 54 assists for 87 points in 75 games. But few would have predicted that MacLean would scorch the nets like no Griffins player before or since. In 76 games, MacLean tallied franchise records with five hat tricks and 56 goals before a late-season promotion to Detroit. “That year, all the stars aligned for me,” he said, “and everything I touched was gold. It was one of those years when it seemed like nothing could go wrong.” Curiously, MacLean started the year in a bit of a slump. He had managed to score only one goal in the first nine games and had a total of three goals in the first 15 games on a team that was loaded with talent, including several future Stanley Cup winners. He remembers his fortunes changed after he started playing on a line with Nate DiCasmirro and Matt Ellis. “We had a deep team and Greg Ireland had to figure out who fit with who,” he said. “I didn’t have the best start out of the gate and Matty Ellis, Nate ‘DiCas’, and I were put

together for games 10 to 15. We felt like we were starting to click, so we went to Greg and asked if we could keep our line together.” MacLean remembers the line playing a strong game against the Marlies in Toronto on Nov. 20. Two days later, MacLean registered his first hat trick of the season in a 4-2 win in Manitoba. “We had a great relationship with great communication,” he said. “We communicated darn near every game, every shift, every practice, to try to help each other, and things just flowed. I can’t say enough thanks to those guys.” DiCasmirro and Ellis served as setup men for MacLean’s bullet-like shot. “I remember DiCas and Matty in the corners, just working their tails off while I found my space in the slot,” he said. “The defenseman would overcommit when those guys attacked the net and they would find me open in the slot and I was shooting BBs. My shot was dialed in. “Sometimes when you’re on a bad streak, you couldn’t

put the puck in the ocean, but I was going so good, I could close my eyes and somehow the puck would find the back of the net,” he said. “They were a huge factor in my success. I couldn’t have done it without them.” For the rest of the season, MacLean was hotter than hot. Over the final 61 games of the season, he recorded 53 goals. “Once I got started, it just poured,” he said. “It was just one of those years. I’ve thought about it many times during my life. It was like magic in a bottle.” In recognition of his performance, MacLean was named the AHL’s Most Valuable Player, the only player in Griffins history to win the award. “It was a huge honor,” MacLean said. “It was the highlight of my career and I have the plaque on my wall, so I see it every day. I look back at that year with a sense of accomplishment and fond memories. When you’ve put in the work and everything goes right, you couldn’t ask for more. “Other than winning the Calder Cup, you couldn’t have drawn up a better year.”

THE SIGNING OF TODD NELSON L ong before his name became significant in the history of the Griffins, Todd Nelson was establishing himself as a dependable defenseman and a proven winner. Three seasons before becoming the first player ever signed by the new Grand Rapids franchise on July 24, 1996, Nelson had been a member of the 1994 Calder Cup-winning Portland Pirates, playing alongside his brother Jeff and the high-scoring Michel Picard, both of whom would become members of the inaugural Griffins team. In Portland, Maine, Nelson was coached by Barry Trotz, whom he credits with being the biggest influence on his subsequent coaching career. Trotz, who would later be the head coach with the Nashville Predators, Washington Capitals, and New York Islanders, is the third-winningest coach in NHL history behind only Scotty Bowman and Joel Quenneville. “Barry was a coach who I thought was ahead of his time, the things he did, and the way he handled the

team,” Nelson said. “He’s been my mentor and I’ve tried to model myself after his coaching style. I have nothing but respect for Barry. He’s an excellent coach.” Nelson was already familiar with West Michigan before he became the original Griffin. During the 1990-91 season, he had played for the Muskegon Lumberjacks. He was thrilled to have the opportunity to play for a brand new team. “When you drove the S-curve, you’d see the old buildings with the broken windows near downtown,” Nelson said. “As time passed, you could see Grand Rapids starting to grow with the construction of the new arena. “When I got the call to come to Grand Rapids as the first player signed, I was excited because I could see where the city was going. The downtown area was becoming more vibrant with a new arena and the new entertainment area that was developing around it. “I was starting a family and I wanted to sink in roots somewhere and have a home base regardless of where

I played in the future, so we made Grand Rapids our home.” To mark the occasion of signing the first player for their new team, the Griffins organization held a press conference on the floor of Van Andel Arena, which was still under construction. “Everyone wore hard hats,” Nelson recalled. “There were only two sections that had seats and that’s where representatives from the organization and the media gathered. [Griffins co-owner] Dan DeVos and [general manager] Bob McNamara introduced me.” Nelson played all or parts of four seasons with the Griffins before he finished his professional playing career where it began. He won his first Colonial Cup in Muskegon during the 2001-02 season while serving as a player and assistant coach of the UHL’s Fury. He began his coaching career full-time as an assistant coach with the Griffins in 2002-03, helping the team reach the Western Conference Finals after winning the Central Division. He spent the next three

seasons (2003-06) as head coach of the UHL’s Fury and tallied a 149-58-25 mark and won consecutive Colonial Cups (2004, 2005). Following two seasons (2006-08) as an assistant coach for the AHL’s Chicago Wolves, which culminated with the 2008 Calder Cup, Nelson served as an assistant to the NHL’s Atlanta Thrashers from 2008-10. In 333 games as the head coach of the AHL’s Oklahoma City Barons from 2010-15, he posted a 176-111-12-34 regular-season record, which included the Western Conference’s best record in 2011-12 and consecutive trips to the conference finals (2012, 2013). He rejoined the Griffins after leading the Edmonton Oilers for 46 games as the interim head coach during the 2014-15 season. “I was looking for a job after my stint in Edmonton and I came here to win a championship,” said Nelson, who led the Griffins to the Calder Cup in 2017, his second season as head coach. “Things worked out. I couldn’t ask for anything more.”

Dan DeVos, AHL President David Andrews

GRIFFINS JOIN THE AHL G riffins and the phoenix are different mythological beasts, but both have wings. They found common ground at the turn of the century when the fortunes of several franchises were resurrected from the ashes of a hockey league. The Grand Rapids Griffins had been members of the International Hockey League (IHL) since the team’s inception in 1996, but overly optimistic expansion, exploding travel costs, and the loss of salary subsidies from NHL clubs ultimately led to the league’s demise, and it folded after the 2000-01 season. Like the legendary phoenix rising from the ashes, the Griffins and five other IHL teams (Chicago, Houston, Manitoba, Milwaukee and Utah) found new life on June 4, 2001 when they were admitted into the American Hockey League (AHL) for the 2001-02 season. It marked a critical turning point in the annals of Griffins hockey as the organization suddenly found itself competing in a league that emphasized youth over experience. While only a handful of IHL teams had NHL affiliations, every AHL club had an NHL connection as the league took pains to promote its developmental status. David Andrews, who presided over the AHL as president and CEO from 1994 to 2020, trumpeted the fact that the new alignment allowed hockey to have a single top development league for the first time in more

than half a century. “We created something that had been a vision of many in our industry for 30 or 40 years,” he said. “There are so many reasons why one league makes sense, starting with the fact that every team has the same mission: to develop players for the National Hockey League.” Andrews called the situation “a dream expansion” and lauded the addition of a half-dozen organizations that all had something in common. “We essentially added six teams with very strong ownership, very strong fan bases, and very strong traditions in terms of the game of hockey.” Indeed, former IHL teams won the next three Calder Cup championships, with the Chicago Wolves (2002), Houston Aeros (2003) and Milwaukee Admirals (2004) all taking home minor league hockey’s top trophy. The Wolves won their second Calder Cup in 2008, a feat matched almost a decade later by the Griffins winning in 2013 and 2017. The league has subsequently grown into a 31-team, coast-to-coast league that has prepared thousands of players, coaches, officials, executives, trainers, broadcasters and more for careers in the NHL. Nearly 88 percent of all NHL players in 2020-21 were graduates of the AHL, including 268 players who played in both leagues. A total of 193 former first- and second-round NHL draft picks skated in the AHL during the 2020-21 season.

5 I

RED WINGS AFFILIATION

t wasn’t quite inevitable, but it was the outcome that most hockey observers deemed almost inescapable. When the Griffins held a press conference at The B.O.B. on Jan. 24, 2002 to announce that they would become the top minor league affiliate of the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings starting with the 2002-03 season, it was the culmination of months and months of negotiations between the two organizations. “Our goal was always to eventually become affiliated with the Red Wings,” said Dan DeVos, co-owner of the Griffins with David Van Andel. “We knew they were the right team, from their proximity in the state to their ownership to the avid fan support for the Red Wings locally and beyond. “We knew that the ability to watch players move through Grand Rapids to Detroit could generate a lot of excitement.” Scott Gorsline (pictured left), senior vice president for DP Fox Sports & Entertainment, oversaw the negotiation process for the Griffins. “Dan gave very clear direction to make it happen,” Gorsline said. “Very early in the process, we realized that the Wings really wanted it to happen, too. They knew the Griffins were a top-tier team that did things right. We had a beautiful new arena and we were selling out most of our games. “[Aligning with Grand Rapids] would allow the Wings to send guys back and forth while enabling their hockey staff to make the two-and-a-half-hour

drive here to watch their young guys play. It seemed like a no-brainer deal, but there could have been various reasons why one or the other could have walked away.” Gorsline and then-Griffins general manager Bob McNamara had multiple meetings with Red Wings general manager Ken Holland and assistant general manager Jim Nill. “Mac and I went to Detroit early on and we were meeting with Ken and Jim in this big conference room and in walked Mr. Ilitch [Mike Ilitch, who bought the Wings in 1982],” Gorsline said. “I had never met him or seen him in person. It was like this out-of-body experience. “He sat with us for 15 minutes and he was very pleasant. He talked about how he thought it was going to be a great thing for both franchises and how the deal made a lot of sense. He talked about his respect for the DeVos family. Meeting Mr. Ilitch was kind of a surreal experience.” Gorsline said Holland was involved in all high-level discussions but left some of the lesser points for Nill to hammer out with the Griffins. “We would say ‘nickels and dimes,’ but Ken would say ‘gyps and clips.’ He used that term all the time. ‘Let’s focus on the big picture. You guys can figure out the gyps and clips.’ We still don’t know what ‘gyps and clips’ means, but we managed to figure out the details.” The first affiliation deal was a five-year agreement that was not unlike the

previous arrangement with the Ottawa Senators, with whom the Griffins had been aligned for three seasons. The Red Wings agreed to provide a minimum of 13 players (one more than Ottawa). The Griffins, meanwhile, were responsible for the coaches and support staff, along with the balance of the roster. “Considering our history, starting as an independent, we weren’t ready to hand over the reins of our team,” he said. “It was very much a mutually beneficial arrangement. It was very clear that they saw the benefits as well. They wanted their young guys where they would be treated well and wouldn’t feel like second-class citizens.” The affiliation agreement was an exclusive deal. “They couldn’t send their players to other teams and we couldn’t take players from anywhere else,” Gorsline said. “Certainly it’s more ideal from a development perspective when you can have your players easily going back and forth.” Even so, both sides approached the affiliation with some caution. The Red Wings were super protective of their trademark while the Griffins remained reluctant to relinquish control. With each new deal (each time for a period of five years), the level of trust between the organizations grew. “In the beginning, they weren’t super supportive on the marketing side,” Gorsline said. “Of course we wanted to splash the winged wheel everywhere and I remember Ken saying that Mr. and Mrs. Illitch needed to approve anything with their logo.”

The second deal upped the Red Wings’ commitment to a minimum of 14 players, but the reality was the NHL club was already providing more than that number. The Red Wings also assumed the responsibility of hiring the coaching staff. Their first hire was Mike Stothers, but the 2007-08 season did not go well. The Griffins finished out of the playoffs with a 31-41-2-6 record. Stothers was replaced by former NHL and IHL head coach Curt Fraser, but the team resumed struggling after making the playoffs in 2008-09. Eventually, after missing the playoffs all but once in a five-year span (2007-12), the organization had become increasingly anxious. “Even though we’re a developmental team, our owners, our staff and our fans want to win,” Gorsline said. “When we missed the playoffs four out of five years, we made it clear that this didn’t work for us. If we felt they didn’t care, we could have walked, but they fixed it.” The Red Wings announced that one of their assistant coaches, Jeff Blashill, would take over the head coaching duties for the Griffins’ 201213 season, which was the first under the third affiliation deal inked by the two teams. The Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., native proceeded to pilot the team to the franchise’s first championship. “Detroit wants their players to develop in a winning environment,” Gorsline said. “You can’t put your players on a bottom-of-the-barrel AHL team and expect them to have a championship attitude when they go up to the parent club. They always said that and we believed them.” Through the 2020-21 campaign, 105 different players had skated in at least one game for Detroit after playing for Grand Rapids. Now, as the Griffins begin their second quarter of a century as a franchise, Gorsline and the Griffins will have a new negotiating partner, as the fifth deal will be the first since Steve Yzerman became the Red Wings’ general manager. “I remember Ken [Holland] once saying we cannot screw this up because it makes too much sense for both sides,” Gorsline said. “There are always bumps in the road with any relationship like this, but both sides have always felt like we have a great thing. We’re working with a storied Original Six franchise and they get to put their prospects on one of the top-tier teams in the AHL.”

Sean Avery became the first of 105 Griffins to play for the Red Wings when he suited up in Detroit’s 3-2 win over San Jose on Oct. 29, 2002.

BIRTH OF A NAME

Dan DeVos speaks during a rally in downtown Grand Rapids.

hen it comes to creating an identity for a sports team, few things help set the tone better than the name and logo. Every organization is different, of course, but the choices generally come down to selections that suggest something connected to the local area or in some way capture the competitive component so central to any sports enterprise. Alliteration – when you have the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent words – is often a plus. So when it became clear that pro hockey was returning to Grand Rapids for the first time in many years, the people behind the new organization deemed it necessary to poll the public for their opinion on the matter. Nearly 3,000 submissions were received in a name-the-team contest. Nobody recalls all the different suggestions, although Griffins team president Tim Gortsema remembers one particular suggestion because it curiously combined the concept of hockey with the history of the city. “Someone submitted Grand Rapids Cheapskates, which was a play on the city’s Dutch heritage,” he said, chuckling at the memory. In the end, eight people recommended the winning choice of the Griffins, which – after some initial headscratching – was embraced as an exciting alternative. “Nobody knew what a Griffin was, but it quickly became apparent that it was an appropriate and very fitting nickname for a hockey team,” said Bob Sack, who was overseeing the marketing of the fledgling operation. A griffin is a creature with the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion. The organization enlisted

the services of a Calvin College professor to attest to the appropriateness of the mythological beast and eventually discovered its outlines were already etched into a number of buildings in the downtown area of Grand Rapids. “It didn’t sound like a standard sports mascot name, so there was a lot of energy around its uniqueness,” Gortsema said. “It wasn’t another version of Lions, Tigers

and Bears. People felt it was different and stood apart from other names.” With the newly dubbed Griffins organization needing a logo, the task of fleshing out the identity fell to a New York design firm that had previously worked with the Seattle Mariners, Florida Panthers and Toronto Raptors. The organization sought a logo that was “fierce, tough,

aggressive, wise, and a little smart-aleck,” as described in the original design brief. Over the years, there have been various changes. The wings disappeared from the shoulders on the players’ jerseys; the color green was dropped when the Griffins became the primary affiliate of Detroit. The biggest alteration came in 2015 when the organization embraced a radical redesign of its primary logo. The Reebok-designed logo featured Griff fiercely protecting the skyline of Grand Rapids, reinforcing the pride that the Griffins have in their city while portraying an aggressiveness that was absent from the original logo. A Red Wings patch was added to one shoulder of the team’s jersey. Even the color scheme changed. Blue was replaced by black, while silver and red were carried over. Prior to its adoption as the primary logo, the Griff-with-skyline artwork had been featured on the Griffins’ home Wednesday jerseys since 2012. “Each season we review every aspect of our business and look for ways that we can improve,” Gortsema said. “While the traditional and original Griff has been and always will be a storied part of our team’s history, we desired a fiercer incarnation that also incorporates our amazing city’s skyline.” Not every consideration is adopted. Gortsema, who concedes there is no set timing for refreshing a team’s identity, said the organization once considered melding Detroit’s winged wheel with the wings of Griff. “We ultimately rejected the idea,” he said. “This is our team. We’re the Griffins, not the baby Red Wings.”

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THE RETURN OF PRO HOCKEY

t started with a dream. Long before the impossible became a reality, few could have imagined a professional hockey team in a new downtown arena in Grand Rapids, playing against teams from Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Las Vegas, Milwaukee, Phoenix and other big cities. Years had passed since the city had its own pro hockey team. It was nearly 40 years since the Grand Rapids Rockets had played the last of their six seasons. The Grand Rapids Owls had ceased operations in 1980 after only three seasons. A new arena, scheduled to open in the fall of 1996, was the catalyst. “Our family had made the decision that we wanted to be the lead donor for an arena, but there had been talk about a new arena for a long time,” said David Van Andel. “Finally, in the mid1990s, there was enough momentum to overcome the naysayers and make it a reality. Eventually, the project – with the help of the Grand Action committee and others – coalesced to finally happen.” Van Andel said the family felt putting the arena in the Heartside district of the city would be key to transforming the downtown area. “We knew an arena would be very important for Grand Rapids, but our family, especially my father, wanted the arena to be built in the city,”Van Andel said. “There were more abandoned buildings and empty lots around that location than anywhere else in Grand Rapids, so the

location of the arena did not happen by accident. Once that decision was made, then you start to think about the things that will attract people to the building and make the best use of this new asset in the community.” When plans were announced for the construction of the new arena, talk quickly turned to finding a hockey team to become the primary tenant of the facility. Dan DeVos was in the process of stepping away from Amway, the multi-level marketing company his father, Rich, had started with Van Andel’s father, Jay, in 1959. “I thought I’m between jobs right now. I might as well give it a shot and see what could be put together,” DeVos said. “I started talking to people, including Dave Van Andel, and we decided to investigate the possibilities of bringing professional hockey back to Grand Rapids.” DeVos was no stranger to the world of hockey. He had gotten a good taste of the sport by becoming an owner of the Barrie Colts in the OHL, one of Canada’s top junior leagues. “I learned just enough about hockey to be dangerous,” he said. Both DeVos and Van Andel admit that they were taking a leap of faith. The early success of baseball’s West Michigan Whitecaps and basketball’s Grand Rapids Hoops gave them needed encouragement to move ahead with their plans for hockey. “Seeing their success and the community support shown by their fans certainly gave us a lot more comfort moving forward,” DeVos said. “Knowing the excitement that the new arena in itself was creating also helped support our thoughts as we were putting our plan together.”

To gauge interest of sports fans in the West Michigan area, a blind ad was placed in The Grand Rapids Press. Thousands of fans responded. “It was amazing,” DeVos said. “We were hopeful, but we never anticipated the level of excitement that we encountered. It was just a matter of being in the right place at the right time.” On Jan. 23, 1995, West Michigan Hockey, Inc. revealed its intention to bring “the coolest game on earth” to Grand Rapids. “Obviously, fans were familiar with the Owls and the Rockets, but this was a new team,” DeVos said. “It was hockey reimagined in a new arena, back downtown with all the bars and restaurants that were opening in anticipation of a new venue. There’s nothing like a new building to draw people downtown. Even today, 25 years later, Van Andel Arena is still a great building and still a great draw.” The group began exploring its options for securing a minor league hockey franchise. Discussions were undertaken with the International Hockey League (IHL), American Hockey League (AHL), and the second-tier East Coast Hockey League (ECHL). Bruce Saurs, owner of the IHL’s Peoria Rivermen, visited Grand Rapids to discuss the potential relocation of his team. With the consensus leaning to making the biggest splash possible, the decision was made to choose the IHL, which was expanding into larger markets across the country, over the AHL, a developmental league that was more closely aligned with the NHL but was primarily located in in smaller markets on the Eastern Seaboard. In April 1995, the IHL’s board of directors voted to waive one of its expansion criteria – that the city’s metropolitan area comprise at least one million people – and opened the door for West Michigan Hockey to join the IHL, which had been operating since 1945. The league was swayed, in part, by the community’s response, which included over 8,000 season ticket requests.

Dan Devos rewards hockey fan Irene Erickson with a sweatshirt for being first in line when tickets went on sale for the team's Oct. 11 home opener. More than 550 people were in line at 8 a.m. at the Tickets PLUS outlet inside the Cascade Meijer store. “We were shooting for the highest quality hockey and we felt the league would provide our fans with the highest level of hockey outside of the NHL,” DeVos said. “We thought the IHL was the stronger league and working within that league would give us a better opportunity to build a better team.” In June 1995, the new organization announced a “name the team” contest, with Griffins being chosen as the winning entry. The team’s logo and colors were unveiled on Nov. 20, 1995 and, two months later,

Bob McNamara, assistant general manager of the Cleveland Lumberjacks, was appointed general manager to begin the process of assembling the team. “As all these things started to cascade, one decision after another, it just felt right, from the moment that we made the decision – “yes, let’s do this” – to the moment when we dropped the puck at the first game in a sold-out arena,” Van Andel said. “All along the way people were supportive. They wanted us to be successful because they saw the Griffins as a big plus for Grand Rapids.” Cautious optimism gave away to ever-growing excitement. “We felt like we had a winning combination, but we could never have imagined that it was going to take off like it did,” DeVos said. “The fans were supporting us – now we had to deliver. We had to make sure that we put a good hockey team on the ice and that we put together a team from a business perspective that made sure we delivered on the entertainment side.” Their dream became a reality and fan support hardly wavered during the first three seasons when the average attendance was 10,509 over 123 home dates. “It’s the support of the community that makes everything happen,” DeVos said. “We didn’t know what we were doing when we started, but we started down a path and with the right people in the right places at the right time, you can make anything happen. “The fans are the ones who drive the team. We’re here to open the doors and make sure that everybody has a good time.”

Petr Mrazek

2013 CALDER CUP CHAMPIONSHIP A

storybook season with its share of plot twists and turns saw the Griffins capture their first championship in franchise history on June 18, 2013. The memorable season started with a determined group of dependable veterans and a process-driven head coach in his first year at the helm at the pro level. Add a hotshot goaltender whose confidence proved contagious and a couple of timely arrivals and this was a team that overcame the odds. The team did not have the best of starts. Three weeks into the 2012-13 season, the Griffins had a 2-4-1-1 record and head coach Jeff Blashill, who had been an assistant coach with the Red Wings during the previous season, knew the situation demanded action. He called a meeting with his veteran corps, which included team captain Jeff Hoggan and Nathan Paetsch, Brennan Evans and Triston Grant. “We had a sit-down with Blash, who is a great communicator,” Hoggan said. “I remember sitting in that room with those guys, along with Blash and [assistant coach] Jimmy Paek and talking about how we were going to figure it out. “The way you get through those moments is through confidence and poise and keeping everyone on point. Blash was great at keeping the older players involved, keeping that message clear. He was transparent. We had talented players and we were playing hard, but we needed a spark.” The Griffins found their spark in Petr Mrazek, a

20-year-old goalie from the Czech Republic who had started the season with the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye. Mrazek looked impressive during his three starts with the Red Wings’ second-tier minor league affiliate and was going to get the chance to prove what he could do at a higher level. Mrazek won his AHL debut on Nov. 2, 2012, collecting 29 saves in a 4-1 victory over the Texas Stars. The victory marked the start of an eight-game winning streak for the Griffins and the beginning of an impressive AHL rookie season for Mrazek, who won 12 of his first 15 appearances, setting a franchise record in the process by winning his first six starts. But good goaltending is not enough to win championships. “Everyone did a good job of recognizing their role,” Hoggan said. “Credit to all of the other people who contributed any way they could. It was never one guy.” Paetsch said the veterans did their best to keep the younger players focused. “We tried to be leaders right from the start, but it always takes time because it has to be organic – it’s not something you can push. You have to build trust,” Paetsch said. “What made us successful as leaders is that we sincerely cared about the younger guys and I think it took a little time to gain their trust. They began to see that we were there just as much for them.” Hoggan said it helped that the veterans recognized their role as mentors. “It’s so key to have veterans who have the respect

of the younger players because they see that we have been around. It’s like ‘Hey, this guy knows what he’s talking about because he got to the NHL.’ It’s hard to lead if you’re not willing to compete and show guys the way yourself. “So we all took ownership. I think all of our veterans were at peace with the idea that the NHL might not be there for them anymore, but this was almost as good. We wanted to contribute, but we weren’t worried about our goals or assists from a personal standpoint. And when the younger guys saw that and realized that we were playing for the team, not ourselves, I think they saw what it takes to win.” Paetsch said the team was able to gain the necessary confidence. “It took some time to find that cohesion and camaraderie that a team needs, but it continued to build over time,” he said. “Things started to fall into place and everybody started to believe.” East Grand Rapids native Luke Glendening, who joined the Griffins right before Christmas after starting the season in Toledo, said it was easy for the team to rally behind Hoggan and the other veterans. “I think our confidence came from the leadership,” Glendening said. “Hoggie was a guy who never gave up. That’s the way he carried himself and that’s the way he played. He might have been playing on one good leg, but he kept working. “All of our veterans were great. I think the team was emboldened by them and said we’re never going to give up. We kept battling because we never felt out of it.” Grand Rapids did lose five of its last seven games of the regular season, but the team still managed to win the Midwest Division with a 42-26-4-4 record, finishing three points ahead of the second-place Milwaukee Admirals. In the playoffs, the Griffins advanced to the Western Conference Finals against Oklahoma City by besting the Houston Aeros and Toronto Marlies. The Barons were led by Todd Nelson, the former Griffins defenseman who was in his third season as head coach of the Edmonton Oilers’ top affiliate. The Barons took a 2-1 series before Mother Nature proved herself to be a Griffins fan when a tornado and subsequent flooding from heavy rains forced the postponement of Game 4 in Oklahoma City. It provided a chance for a breather and time for reinforcements to come from Detroit.

“We had Europeans like Mrazek and Jan Mursak who had never heard a tornado siren in their lives and now they’re watching the little twister icon on the TV screen,” Hoggan said. “We’re in the bubble of playoff hockey and suddenly we’re talking about people’s lives. There’s a state of chaos outside and your parents are calling because you’re in Oklahoma and that’s what was on the news.” The Red Wings, who had been knocked out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs by the Chicago Blackhawks two days earlier, sent Gustav Nyquist and Joakim Andersson back to the Griffins, providing a needed shot in the arm at a time when the team was facing an uphill battle. “When the stars align, they align. Getting Andy and Nikey was huge for us,” Hoggan said. “By that round, we were starting to get fatigued and they provided a big boost.” The Griffins won the next two games, 4-0 and 3-0. “You can’t win a championship without strong goaltending,” Paetsch said. “We were exhausted – guys were on life support at that point – but Petr stood on his head and we stole two games from them.” After dropping Game 6 by a 4-3 margin, the Griffins headed to the Calder Cup Finals when Tomas Jurco scored the game-winner in a 5-4 victory in the decisive Game 7 at Van Andel Arena. Mursak had a pair of goals while Nyquist and Tomas Tatar also scored. Tatar would be the eventual playoff MVP, tallying 16 goals in the team’s 24 games. “Tomas Tatar had that swagger,” Hoggan said. “Nobody was going to tell him what he is not. He went out and showed you what kind of player he is.” In the finals, Grand Rapids faced the Syracuse Crunch, who had an 11-1 playoff record coming into the series. The Crunch included several familiar faces from the 2012 Calder Cup-winning Norfolk team which had gone 15-3 in the playoffs, from head coach Jon Cooper to such future Tampa Bay Lightning players as Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat and Richard Panik. The Griffins won the first two games, which were played in Syracuse, surprisingly nearly everyone expecting a blowout by the hometown team. “Everybody likes being the underdog and I think we embraced that role,” Hoggan said. When the Griffins won Game 3 at home by a 4-2 margin, the city of Grand Rapids was ready to celebrate

Luke Glendening

its first Calder Cup, but the Crunch had other plans and stole the next two games with 3-2 and 5-2 victories at Van Andel Arena. “Winning championships is hard,” Hoggan said. “When you have a chance to win a championship, it happens the way it’s supposed to happen. Sure, you always want to win at home, but you really just want to win. Your fans will share in it either way.” The Griffins flew back to Syracuse, determined to finish what they started. Having missed on their two Triston Grant, Brennan Evans, Jeff Hoggan, Nathan Paetsch (L-R)

chances to close out the title on home ice, they instead celebrated in front of a capacity crowd in Syracuse after defeating the Crunch 5-2 in Game 6. The title was the first in the 17-year history of the Griffins franchise. Hoggan gives a lot of credit to Blashill, who preached the importance of following a process while breaking the season down into five-game segments. “Blash set the culture and we echoed the message,” he said. “You want people who can communicate and treat people right but also demand results, and he did. I find myself thinking about the stuff he did and the stuff he shared with us. When you have a winning message, you want to keep using it.” In the end, though, it was the players on the ice who got the job done. “Through all the highs and lows, there was a lot of poise in that room from a number of good people,” he said. “Everybody was playing to win a championship. Nobody was playing to get called up. It was playoff time and we needed everyone on the same page and we came together at the right time.” Glendening said that there was a certain esprit de corps that the 2013 team embraced on its way to success. “One of the great lessons of hockey is that it’s a team sport,” Glendening said. “You’re there to push each other past what you think is possible. That’s what characterized that first championship team. We pushed each other to succeed beyond what anyone else thought was possible.”

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Dan Renouf embraces Mike Borkowski.

2017 CALDER CUP CHAMPIONSHIP

hen a team wins a championship, all the pieces seem to fit. That was certainly true for the 201617 Griffins team, a collection of highly competitive individuals who were cobbled together and became a cohesive group that knew exactly what it took to win when it mattered the most. The Griffins finished the regular season with a 47-23-1-5 record (a .658 points percentage that is tied for the fifth-highest in franchise history), but the team was nearly unbeatable in the playoffs, winning the Calder Cup with only four losses in postseason play. “Everything came together at the right moment,” said defenseman Nathan Paetsch. “We had a very good team but we were not a dominant team. It just felt like we were built to be a playoff team. We ended up going 15-4 in the playoffs, so we were a tough team to beat. We were a bunch of guys who refused the idea that we weren’t going to be together anymore. We didn’t want to go home, so we refused to lose.” Todd Nelson, who was in his second season as the head coach of the Griffins, also felt that the team was built to win. “It starts from the top, so you need solid ownership and it was a big reason for our success in Grand Rapids,” he said. “Both Dan DeVos and Dave Van Andel gave us the resources we needed in Grand Rapids while Ryan Martin and the Red Wings

assembled the team – of course, Ken Holland was really supportive, too. “Any time you have to develop players for the organization but they also want you to win, it bodes well for the organization in the future, and the proof is in the number of the players who either graduate to the NHL or move on to other organizations.” Paetsch, who served as captain of the 2017 team, was one of only three players who remained from the 2013 Calder Cup-winning club (Brian Lashoff and Mitch Callahan were the others). Matt Lorito and Ben Street, the Griffins’ top two scorers during the regular season, were new to Grand Rapids but had previous AHL experience. Matthew Ford, another newcomer, had spent the eight previous seasons in the AHL, including two in Oklahoma City during Nelson’s tenure as head coach there. Evgeny Svechnikov, Kyle Criscuolo and Dan Renouf were young players in their first full pro seasons, as were Joe Hicketts and Dominic Turgeon. During the regular season, the Griffins had 10 players with double-digit goal totals. Martin Frk, who was reclaimed on waivers after making his NHL debut with the Carolina Hurricanes at the start of the season, led all scorers with 27. He was followed by Street (25), Lorito (22), Svechnikov (20), Criscuolo (17), Eric Tangradi (17), Callahan (16), Tomas Nosek (15), Ford (14) and Tyler Bertuzzi (12). “We had a very balanced scoring attack,” Nelson

said. “We had four solid lines but it didn’t matter if we classified them as first, second, third or fourth. I could play my fourth line against the other team’s first line and that was a nice luxury to have. We also had six solid defensemen and good goaltending, and that’s what it takes.” If there was a missing piece, it was toughness – someone to make sure that the opposition didn’t neutralize the team’s offensive abilities – but the Red Wings solved the problem with the acquisition of defenseman Dylan McIlrath at the 2017 trade deadline. It also helped that the team managed to stay relatively healthy during its playoff run. “Guys were playing hurt, as everybody does at that time of the year,” Nelson said. “Tyler Bertuzzi was not supposed to play in Game 6 of the Finals because he got into a fight in Game 5 and his hand got infected. But he sucked it up and scored a big goal for us to tie the game in the third period. And everybody knows who scored the game-winner.” Bertuzzi recorded his 19th point of the playoffs in his 19th game when he scored just inside the right post at 3:50 of the third period to tie the contest against the Syracuse Crunch, the same team that the Griffins had faced in the Calder Cup Finals in 2013. When Frk delivered the game-winner with one of his patented blasts from the right point at 12:41, the Van Andel Arena crowd erupted as it had never done before. “That was a shot that only Martin Frk could do,” Paetsch said. “It was the hardest shot in the world.” Nosek, who assisted on the goals by Bertuzzi and Frk, was the “heart and soul” of a very special team, according to Paetsch. “Bert won the MVP, but those playoffs were the coming-out party for Tomas Nosek and now you can see the successful NHL career that he’s had since,” Paetsch said. “He was really strong for us and he carried our team with consistent play. He’s that 200-foot hockey player who plays a complete game.” Nelson agrees. “Nosek could have easily won the MVP award. He was a good two-way player for us and he ended up being one of our top point producers. His performance earned him a chance at the National Hockey League because Vegas grabbed him in the NHL Expansion Draft. He carved out a nice NHL career with them and now he’s going to continue with the Boston Bruins.” The 2017 Griffins won games on the strength of their special teams. For most of the regular season, the Griffins threatened to set a new AHL mark for power-play efficiency until late-season call-ups slowed its pace. In the end, Grand Rapid shattered the franchise record with a power play that scored on 24.4% of its chances, utilizing a five-forward lineup for 35 of its 80 power-play goals. The Griffins’ penalty killers were nearly equally strong. “We had two really responsible guys who were very detailed in Colin Campbell and Dominic Turgeon plus smart players like Ben Street and Matt Ford who could do the same, so we always had six solid penalty killers,” Nelson said. In the end, every player on the 2017 team found a way to contribute. Nelson got able support from his assistants, which included current Griffins head coach Ben Simon, Bruce Ramsay, Mike Knuble, Brian Mahoney-Wilson, and the late Bill LeRoy. Winning the Cup at home for the first time made it all that more special. “When we won Game 6 at home, things were just electric,” Nelson said. “It was one of the most exciting games I’ve ever been a part of as a player or coach and to win it on home ice was just a great experience. I can’t explain the feeling, but it felt really good that we were able to give something back to the people of Grand Rapids because they had given so much to the players over the years through their attendance.” “It was the defining night in my career,” Paetsch

said. “If I’m ever asked, I can say it was my most memorable moment in hockey. To be able to grab the Calder Cup with that group of people – the players, the coaches, and the staff – was the best. We were like family and we’ll always be lifelong friends. The connection will always be there.” Asked to compare to the two Cups, Paetsch said each was special in its own way, but winning at home might give the edge to the second title. “When you win your first pro championship, it’s always going to be extremely special, but winning in front of the home crowd is a whole different level,” Paetsch said. “I wouldn’t trade either one of the championships for the world, but being able to do it in front of your fans is a completely different experience. You could feel the electricity in the building.” For Paetsch, the 2017 championship brought a fitting close to his time with the Griffins. No other player in franchise history can claim Calder Cup victories as bookends to their career in Grand Rapids. “You can’t draw it up any better – the fact that the last time I ever put on a Griffins jersey in Grand Rapids, a place so special to me, and that I had the ‘C’ on my chest when I got to lift the Calder Cup in front of the home fans is simply amazing,” Paetsch said. “You hear people say they want to go out on top and I can say I did that in Grand Rapids. The city, the fans and the staff mean so much to me. To have that as my last memory of my last game in a Griffins jersey is pretty incredible. It’s something I’ll carry for the rest of my life.”

Nathan Paetsch accepts the Calder Cup from AHL President David Andrews.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW? 2013 AND 2017 CALDER CUP CHAMPIONS

Conor Allen * Defenseman 2017 After spending the last three seasons in the Czech Republic, he retired from an eight-year pro career in September and is now a sales executive at The Rubicon Group in Chicago.

Colin Campbell * Right Wing 2017 Eighth on the Griffins’ all-time games played list (319), he signed a one-year contract with the Augsburger Panther of Germany’s DEL in June, marking his second straight season in Europe.

Adam Almquist * Defenseman 2013 A Second Team AHL All-Star with Grand Rapids in 2013-14, he is playing his fourth season in the KHL and second in Belarus with Dinamo Minsk.

Daniel Cleary * Right Wing 2017 A veteran roster presence who did not appear in any games during the 2016-17 season, he is in his fifth season in the Red Wings’ front office, currently as the assistant director of player development.

Spiros Anastas * Assistant Coach 2013 The former head coach and director of hockey operations for the ECHL’s Brampton Beast was named a pro development scout by the AHL’s Manitoba Moose in September. Joakim Andersson * Center 2013 After playing four seasons in the Swedish Hockey League, most recently with HV71, he retired in December 2020 due to a hip injury. He now works as a customer representative for Scanfast AB, a construction fastener company in Uddevalla, Sweden.

Jared Coreau * Goaltender 2017 The backbone of the Griffins’ second championship, he’s playing his second season in Europe’s ICE Hockey League, having signed a one-year contract with Austria’s Black Wings Linz in July.

Martin Frk * Right Wing 2017 His rocket from the right point secured the Griffins’ second Calder Cup, then his 109.2 mph blast at the 2020 AHL All-Star Skills Competition was the hardest shot ever recorded. He is currently in his third season with the AHL’s Ontario Reign. Luke Glendening * Center 2013 After serving eight seasons in Detroit as one of the NHL’s most reliable faceoff men, the East Grand Rapids native signed a two-year contract with the Dallas Stars in July. Triston Grant * Left Wing 2013 The Griffins’ record-holder for penalty minutes in one period – 34! – he’s gone from laying the wood to working with it as a carpenter in Grand Rapids.

R E D CUP L A C Kyle Criscuolo * Center 2017 A Calder Cup champion as a rookie with Grand Rapids, he returned to the Red Wings’ organization in 2020-21 after three seasons. After re-signing a two-year contract with Detroit in July, he is back with the Griffins.

Cal Heeter * Goaltender 2017 He retired in 2018 and is currently an employee benefits representative at Sun Life in St. Louis. Joe Hicketts * Defenseman 2017 Tenth on the Griffins’ all-time assists list (102), he signed a two-year contract with the Minnesota Wild in July and is playing for the AHL’s Iowa Wild.

P I M O A NS H C

Louis-Marc Aubry * Center 2013 He is playing his fifth consecutive full season in the DEL, Germany’s top league, after re-signing a Danny DeKeyser * Defenseman 2013 One of only three players in Griffins history to one-year contract with ERC Ingolstadt in May. never play a regular-season game (Dylan Larkin Tyler Bertuzzi * Left Wing 2017 and Jason Spezza), he joined the roster during Winner of the 2017 Jack A. Butterfield Trophy the 2013 Calder Cup Finals. The nine-year Red as the AHL’s playoff MVP, the 2020 NHL All-Star Wing is in the final season of a six-year extension Game selection re-signed a two-year contract signed in 2016. with Detroit in July and is now in his fourth full Brennan Evans * Defenseman 2013 season with the Red Wings. His lamp-lighter in Game 6 at Syracuse clinched Chad Billins * Defenseman 2013 the Griffins’ first championship, and now he The former Ferris State Bulldog, who represented powers up HVACR systems as a technician for the Griffins at the 2013 AHL All-Star Classic, is Accu-Air in Edmonton. playing his seventh season in Europe and first with Landon Ferraro * Center 2013 HV71 in Sweden’s HockeyAllsvenskan league. He re-signed a one-year contract with Jeff Blashill * Head Coach 2013 Germany’s Kolner Haie in April and is playing his He won the AHL’s Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial third season in the DEL. Award as coach of the year in 2013-14 and is now in his seventh season as the Red Wings’ Matthew Ford * Right Wing 2017 Captain of the Griffins during the final three bench boss, making him the third-longest seasons of his career (2017-20), he’s the owner tenured head coach in the NHL. and operator of the Ford Hockey School in Mike Borkowski * Center 2017 Chicago. After playing the majority of the 2013-14 season with the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye, he hung up his Gleason Fournier * Defenseman 2013 After winning a pair of EIHL championships and skates and is currently a global technology and CEO & board practice associate at Heidrick & earning defenseman of the year honors during a Struggles in New York City. five-year run with the Cardiff Devils, he’s playing his second season in the ICE Hockey League and Mitch Callahan * Right Wing 2013 and 2017 first with Hungary’s Fehérvár AV19. One of only three players to earn two Calder Cups as a Griffin, he played for the Rødovre Mighty Bulls in Denmark before retiring in May. He’s now an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Jr. Kings 18U AAA squad and the head coach for their 10U and 8U teams. 30

Jeff Hoggan * Left Wing 2013 Set to have his jersey No. 10 raised to the Van Andel Arena rafters on April 2, the longesttenured captain in Griffins history is the senior vice president of corporate development at 88 Tactical in Omaha, Neb. Axel Holmstrom * Center 2017 Having returned to Europe following the 201819 season with Grand Rapids, he plays for Vaasan Sport in the Liiga, Finland’s top circuit. Filip Hronek * Defenseman 2017 He made the full-time jump to Detroit in 2019 and re-signed a three-year contract with the Red Wings in September. Tomas Jurco * Right Wing 2013 He helped his native Slovakia earn the 12th and final men’s ice hockey berth at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, by virtue of winning their Olympic qualification tournament in August. Mike Knuble * Assistant Coach 2017 The Kentwood native and veteran of 1,068 NHL games is in his ninth season as a Griffins assistant coach. Brian Lashoff * Defenseman 2013 and 2017 No. 2 on the Griffins’ all-time games played list and one of the franchise’s three two-time Calder Cup champions, he signed a new one-year contract with Detroit in July and is playing his 13th season in Grand Rapids.

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WHERE ARE THEY NOW? 2013 AND 2017 CALDER CUP CHAMPIONS

Bill LeRoy * Video Coach 2013 and 2017 A member of the Griffins’ coaching staff for nearly two decades, he passed away unexpectedly on Nov. 1, 2019 while the team was in Winnipeg, Manitoba, to play the Moose.

Tomas Nosek * Center 2017 After leading the Griffins’ second championship run by scoring a team-high 10 goals and 22 points, he logged four seasons with the expansion Vegas Golden Knights before signing a two-year contract with the Boston Bruins in July.

Dan Renouf * Defenseman 2017 After winning a second Calder Cup with Charlotte in 2019 and making his NHL debut with the Colorado Avalanche last season, he returned to Detroit on a one-year contract in July and is back on the Griffins’ blue line.

Chris Osgood * Goaltending Development Coach 2013 He continues to serve as a studio analyst for Red Wings telecasts on Bally Sports Detroit.

Dylan Sadowy * Right Wing 2017 The sixth-year pro is playing his first season with the ECHL’s Tulsa Oilers.

Matt Lorito * Left Wing 2017 The top regular-season scorer on the Griffins’ 2016-17 squad, he is playing overseas for the Gustav Nyquist * Right Wing 2013 first time after signing a one-year contract with The Griffins’ top scorer during the 2012-13 Djurgardens IF of Sweden’s SHL circuit in August. regular season, he is back with the Columbus Blue Jackets after missing the entire 2020-21 Brian Mahoney-Wilson * Goaltending Development Coach 2017 campaign due to an injury. The Griffins’ goaltending guru is in his sixth season with the team.

Ryan Martin * General Manager 2013 and 2017 A builder of both championship squads, he was named an assistant general manager of the New York Rangers in August. He also serves as GM for the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack. Tom McCollum * Goaltender 2013 Grand Rapids’ all-time leader in wins, saves, goalie games played and minutes, he re-signed a one-year contract with Innsbruck of the ICE Hockey League in May and is back in Austria. Dylan McIlrath * Defenseman 2017 Fifth on the Griffins’ career penalty minute list (402), he signed a two-year contract with the Washington Capitals in July and is now with the AHL’s Hershey Bears. Petr Mrazek * Goaltender 2013 After playing the last three seasons for the Carolina Hurricanes, the backstop of the Griffins’ first championship team signed a three-year contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs in July. Jan Mursak * Right Wing 2013 Second on the Griffins with 11 goals and 17 points during the 2013 playoffs, he’s returned to Sweden for a second season with the SHL’s Frolunda HC. Todd Nelson * Head Coach 2017 He led Grand Rapids to the AHL title in the second of his three seasons as bench boss and is now in his fourth season as an assistant coach with the Dallas Stars. Andrej Nestrasil * Right Wing 2013 He played four seasons in the KHL before signing a contract with HC Ocelari Trinec of his native Czech Republic in July. Jim Nill * General Manager 2013 The longtime Red Wings assistant general manager and the primary architect of the Griffins’ first Cup team, he’s now in his ninth full season as the GM of the Dallas Stars.

32 32

Jim Paek * Assistant Coach 2013 After nine seasons in Grand Rapids that made him the longest-tenured coach in franchise history, he’s in his eighth year as director of hockey for the Korea Ice Hockey Association and head coach of the Korean Men’s National Team. Nathan Paetsch * Defenseman 2013 and 2017 Following a Griffins career bookended by Calder Cups, the second of which was earned under his captaincy, he retired after three seasons with the AHL’s Rochester Americans and was named a development coach by their parent club, the Buffalo Sabres, in August. Francis Pare * Right Wing 2013 Second all time on the Griffins in goals (102) and third in points (237), he is playing his ninth season in the KHL and first for Avangard Omsk. Eddie Pasquale * Goaltender 2017 He re-signed a two-year contract with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl in May and is in the midst of his third KHL season. Jordan Pearce * Goaltender 2013 Transitioning from tending goal to tending bodies, he’s in the fourth of what will be five years in the Spectrum Health/Michigan State University Orthopaedic Surgery Residency program in Grand Rapids. Teemu Pulkkinen * Right Wing 2013 The prolific goal scorer is playing for the KHL’s Traktor Chelyabinsk, marking his fourth straight season in that league. Bruce Ramsay * Assistant Coach 2017 Now in his third season with the ECHL’s Wichita Thunder, he earned the rare distinction of being voted that league’s coach of the year and general manager of the year for 2020-21.

Robbie Russo * Defenseman 2017 A member of the AHL’s All-Rookie Team in 201516 and participant in the AHL All-Star Classic in 2016-17, he signed a two-year contract with the New Jersey Devils in July and is skating with the AHL’s Utica Comets.

Riley Sheahan * Center 2013 The NHL veteran signed a one-year contract with the expansion Seattle Kraken in September and scored the franchise’s first-ever goal during a preseason game on Sept. 26. Ben Simon * Assistant Coach 2017 The former Griffins forward and assistant coach is now in his fourth season as the team’s head coach. Brett Skinner * Defenseman 2013 He is in his fifth season as an assistant coach for the USHL’s Sioux Falls Stampede. Ben Street * Center 2017 His 25 goals led the Griffins during the 2016-17 regular season, and he took his talents to Europe for the first time in August after signing a oneyear contract with EHC Munchen of Germany’s DEL league. Evgeny Svechnikov * Right Wing 2017 After signing a one-year contract with AHL’s Manitoba Moose in August, he inked a one-year deal with the parent Winnipeg Jets in October and began the season in the NHL team’s lineup. Eric Tangradi * Left Wing 2017 After returning to Grand Rapids for a second tour of duty in 2019-20, he retired in May and is now a realtor at Piatt Sotheby’s International Realty in Pittsburgh. Tomas Tatar * Left Wing 2013 Winner of the 2013 Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as the AHL’s playoff MVP after pacing the Griffins with 16 goals and 21 points in the postseason, he signed a two-year contract with the New Jersey Devils in August. Dominic Turgeon * Center 2017 Tenth on the Griffins’ all-time games played list (306), he signed a two-year contract with the Minnesota Wild in July and was assigned to their AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild.

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