Skip to main content

Grand Rapids Griffins (AHL, 2012-13)

2012-13 Regular Season:
Griffins vs. Hamilton Bulldogs
     Despite being one of the largest cities in Michigan, Grand Rapids had trouble making professional hockey work in town. The last pro franchise in town was the IHL's Owls, who arrived midway through the 1977-78 season from Dayton, Ohio. Despite a successful 1978-79 season, the team ended up folding in 1980 after being evicted from Stadium Arena due to unpaid rent bills. Stadium Arena was considered obsolete for the IHL even then, so pro hockey went dark in Kent County.
      That changed in 1996, with the opening of Van Andel Arena in downtown Grand Rapids and the arrival of the IHL's Grand Rapids Griffins. The Griffins were a huge hit in town, and were one of the highest-drawing teams in the IHL's later years. When that league folded in 2001, the Griffins joined the American Hockey League. 
     By 2011-12, the Griffins were the top farm club of the Detroit Red Wings for the past ten years. Unfortunately, that didn't translate to wins on the ice. The team had missed the postseason for three of the last four years. This season was no different, as Grand Rapids went 33-32-11, good enough for fourth place in the North Division. Their 77 points were nine back of second place Rochester.
     Former Atlanta Thrashers head coach Curt Fraser was behind the bench for his fourth, and final, season. Despite the subpar record, the Griffins actually had a pretty strong offense, finishing second overall in goals with 245. The team had a couple of future Red Wings leading the charge on offense. Tomas Tatar (now with Montreal) led the team with 24 goals and 58 points. Gustav Nyquist, now with Columbus, was right behind with 22 goals and tied Tatar with 58 points. Jamie Johnson (21), Joakim Andersson (21) and Chris Menard (21) were the other 20-goal scorers.
     It was the defense that hurt Grand Rapids that season, as the Griffins allowed the third-most goals in the AHL with 249. The team used four netminders in 2011-12. Joey MacDonald and Tom McCollum were the two main goaltenders. MacDonald, who played in the NHL with Detroit, Calgary, Toronto, the Islanders and Boston, played 26 games for Grand Rapids, sporting a 11-11-3 record, a 2.63 GAA and 3 shutouts. McCollum, who played 3 games for Detroit in his career, was in net for 28 games, with an 11-16-3 record and 3.49 GAA. The other two netminders that season were Jordan Pearce and Red Wings backup Ty Conklin. 
     My brother went to a Griffins-Hamilton Bulldogs game on St. Patrick's Day 2012, a 5-3 Griffins win in front of 6,452 at Van Andel. This game was Free BBQ Set Night! Also, the team was holding a "Love for Lokomotiv" fundraiser for the KHL team that was wiped out by a plane crash in September. This game was my first, and so far only, game at Van Andel, though I've been to Grand Rapids a couple times. Van Andel is one of the best minor-pro rinks I've been to, just a beautiful arena. I also remember downtown Grand Rapids just crawling with people throughout the day, looking for a drink. 
     As for the program, it's 72 pages and is half the length and width of a typical program. However, it's all in color and was free, something you don't see too often. Chris Minard, one of the veteran players signed by the Griffins, is featured on the cover. This was Minard's final season in Grand Rapids, and would play the last five years of his career in Germany. There are articles about Fabian Brunnstrom, the Grand Rapids Sled Wings (a hockey team for physically-challenged athletes), Chris Minard and several ex-Griffins who were helping to continue the Red Wings 21-season playoff streak.
     Local ads include Rogers Printing, T&W Electronics, The Rapid and Superior Asphalt, Inc. 

Aftermath: In 2012-13, the Griffins would rebound in a big way. Led by current Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill, Grand Rapids would improve to 42-26-8 and capture the franchise's first-ever Calder Cup Championship and the city's first pro hockey championship since the 1977 Blades. 
 

Reference:
American Hockey League Season Statistics: 2011-12, from hockeydb.com.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Port Huron Hockey: Flags/Wings (1962-81)

Now, on to Port Huron.      Port Huron has had a long, yet checkered, history of pro hockey. The most successful franchise, by far, was the Port Huron Flags (also called Wings for a few years) of the IHL. The Flags were, for the most part, a competitve team on the ice, making the Turner Cup Finals seven times and winning the Cup on three occasions. For three years, (1971-74), the franchise was a farm team of the Detroit Red Wings, and sent numerous players on to the NHL in it's existence. However, the team had problems drawing big enough crowds. While the Flags lasted for nearly 20 years, former GM Morris Snider later admitted that the franchise could have folded three years before it actually did, due to declining attendance. I've found some Flags/Wings programs online over the years, and here's what I have. 1963-64 Regular Season--Flags vs. Windsor       1963-64 was the second year of existence for the Flags. After missing the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Indianapolis Checkers (IHL, 1985-86)

1985-86 Regular Season Checkers vs. Flint Spirits      The Indianapolis Checkers were back for their second season in the IHL after five seasons in the defunct Central Hockey League. The Checkers remained a secondary affiliate of both the New York Islanders and Minnesota North Stars. Larry Woods purchased the Checkers after the 1984-85 season and moved the team to the 15,900-seat Market Square Arena, home of the NBA's Indiana Pacers. The team kept their Islanders-styled uniforms, but changed the logo.      Former Port Huron Flags coach Ron Ullyot was named Coach/GM of the Checkers, and his team greatly improved on their first IHL season. Indy finished with a 41-35-6 mark. They finished last in the very competitive West Division, which had all the teams win at least 40 games. The Checkers' 88 points would have easily taken fourth place in the East.     Indy scored just 296 goals that year, better than only Flint and Toledo. Longtime minor lea...
Post a Comment
Read more

Muskegon Mohawks (IHL, 1965-84)

I know, I said earlier I was going to look at Detroit's minor league teams. That would mean the Vipers would be next, but I decided to cover them later when I had time (I have a TON of programs from that team). Instead, I'm going to look briefly at Muskegon.  Muskegon has had a long, colorful past in professional hockey. It all started in 1960 with the expansion Muskegon Zephyrs of the IHL. Five seasons later, 1965-66, the Zephyrs became the Mohawks, and remain so until 1984-85, when they became the Lumberjacks. The Lumberjacks would remain in town through the 1992-93 season. After that season, the franchise would relocate to Cleveland, Ohio. Here are the Mohawks programs I have, along with a couple bonus scans.        The Mohawks existed from 1965-84, about 20 seasons, and had two vastly different eras of success. From 1965-76, the Mohawks finished above .500 10 times, winning the Huber Trophy (Regular Season Championship) six times and the ...
Post a Comment
Read more