2015-16 Griffiti - Issue #2

2015-16 SEASON ISSUE NO. 2

POWER PLAY

Rugged Forward Eric Tangradi

OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS

CADILLAC CHARLEVOIX CHICAGO GRAND RAPIDS MARQUETTE NEGAUNEE TRAVERSE CITY

Ambitious goals make for remarkable achievements.

Fox Motors is proud to support the Grand Rapids Griffins.

Here’s to a remarkable 2015-2016 season.

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E CITY

Vol. 20, No. 2

TABLE OF CONTENTS STARTING LINEUP 24 MIND OVER MATTER

Eric Tangradi is thinking positively about his chances of playing in the NHL again.

32 TOUGH GUYS

The Griffins ve had their share of scrappers and fig ters over their 20 seasons.

42 TRUSTED ADVISOR

Bruce Ramsay is excited to be working alongside his former teammate and coaching buddy, Todd Nelson.

45 MR. POSITIVE

Griffins assist t coach Ben Simon remains thrilled to have found a career in hockey.

50 WORKING MEN

As Part 2 of a seasonlong series celebrating the organization’s 20th anniversary, Griffi caught up with a hat trick of former Griffins w making their marks in other professions.

62 …AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT

The AHL hopes a new format will give stars a chance to shine in its annual all-star event.

24

32

ON THE BENCH 2............Chalk Talk 4............Opposing Forces 6............Coming Soon 9............Griffins chedule 12.........AHL Tradition 15.........AHL Team Directory 19.........Detroit Red Wings 21.........Promotional Calendar 40.........Meet the Griffi

59.........Griffins ecords 68.........Griffins ll-Stars 69.........Penalty Calls 74.........Arena Map/Ticket Info 75.........Social Media 76.........It All Starts Here 79.........Kids Page 80.........Parting Shot

42

COVER:

Power forward Eric Tangradi hopes to muscle his way back into the NHL. Photo by Mark Newman

Griffiti magazine is published four times a year by the Grand Rapids Griffins, Van Andel Ar 130 W. Fulton St., Grand Rapids, MI 49503. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. All contents ©2015 Grand Rapids Griffin For advertising information, contact Griffins Sales & Marketing, (616) 774-4585; f (616) 336-5464. Unsolicited manuscripts and other materials will not be returned.

50

1

WITH GRIFFINS HEAD COACH TODD NELSON

Opening with an awful slump was not the way that the Griffins wanted to start the season.

“There was tremendous pressure on everyone,” head coach Todd Nelson said, acknowledging that one victory in the fi st eight contests was detrimental to the positive message his staff w s trying to instill. “It was almost like we were waiting for something bad to happen and it did.”

After three seasons under the direction of Jeff lashill, the team seemingly needed time to embrace Nelson’s preferred style of play.

“I think this team had a hard time adapting to some of the things I was implementing,” Nelson said. “They were trying to figu e me out and I was trying to figu e them out, and we had to strengthen our playercoach relationship.”

Frankly, the team got off n the wrong foot. In the fi st 11 contests of the 2015-16 season, the opponent scored the fi st goal in every game but one.

“You gain confide ce any time you score the fi st goal because you can build momentum,” he said. “Scoring fi st is not the be-all and end-all because you still have to play 60 minutes, but we were a team lacking in confide ce, so scoring the fi st goal becomes important.”

Nelson was more concerned with the lack of scoring in general. Th ough the fi st eight games, the Griffins had scored a paltry 11 goals, even though the team was fi ing off a league-leading 35.63 shots per game.

Using analytics, Nelson discerned that his team was plain unlucky. He contended that the

Griffins were generating more than enough scoring chances, but the puck just wasn’t going into the net.

“Believe it or not, there is such a thing as puck luck, where you are generating chances but aren’t getting rewarded for it,” he said. “What’s proven is that high shot volume produces more goals. We were outshooting teams, but we weren’t getting the results we wanted.”

His staff desi ned drills in practice to alter the trend. “We needed guys to compete harder,” he said. “On the fl p side, we needed our goaltenders to stop pucks.”

Nelson believes the turning point came in Cleveland during the weekend of Nov. 13-14.

“After a good win at home (5-2 over Iowa on Nov. 11), we went to Lake Erie and played well but lost in a shootout on Friday, then got off o a bad start on Saturday,” he recalled. “We were down three goals in the fi st period, so we aired things out in the dressing room in between periods.”

Nelson decided that he had seen enough. When the Griffins returned home, he changed systems.

The team adopted a more aggressive style of play based on a relentless forecheck that still emphasizes Red Wings-styled puck possession.

“Our philosophy is that if we have the puck, they can’t score,” he said. “We got to the point where we said ‘this is the way we’re going to play.’ I had to do things my way. I’m Todd Nelson, not Jeff lashill. I’ve had success in the past and I’m going to have success here. I don’t know if it was a turning point or not, but things were said.”

“They were trying to figure me out and I was trying to figure them out, and we had to strengthen our player-coach relationship.”

2 Grand Rapids GRIFFINS

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Every team goes through bad stretches.

Unfortunately, the Griffins’ struggles were magnifi d because they were coming at the most inopportune time – at the start of the season for a new roster under a new regime.

With a new system in place, Nelson’s team faced an uphill climb. In a fourday stretch from Nov. 1821, the Griffins had to face three strong teams. As that week began, Grand Rapids (2-8-0-1) had more regulation losses than all three of its opponents combined, as the Rockford IceHogs (9-3-1-1) and San Diego Gulls (9-3-0-1) each had three regulation losses and the Chicago Wolves (8-1-1-1) had only one.

The Griffins swept all three games, starting a six-game winning streak that raised their record to the 0.500 mark.

“I think the team has really come together the last couple of weeks,” Nelson said afterwards. “The players now know where I’m coming from and I know better what to expect from them. We’re at a point where we have a better feeling about each other because we have a better understanding of each other.

“Th players now know where I’m

coming from and I

know better what to expect from them.”

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“I like the atmosphere and team mood. We’re molding together as a group and we’ve become a lot closer. I like the way our team is responding. We had a good week, but we need to continually build off hat.”

Nelson fi ally sees the makings of the trust and respect that will make the Griffins a better and more cohesive unit in the long run.

“As individuals, it’s the players’ responsibility to make themselves better through practice and do the things necessary to hone their craft” he said. “Every day you come to work, you try to make yourself better. We have to focus on the process that will make us better as a team. That’s what we’re striving for.”

While the slow start was difficult to stomach, Nelson believes it will provide the intestinal fortitude that the Griffins will need come playoff ime.

“It’s a long season and all this adversity will make our team stronger in the end,” he said.

“We know we’re good – it’s going to click. Th s is a team that went to the conference fi als last season after winning the Cup two years ago.

We just have to make believers of everyone.”

2015-16 GRIFFINS COACHING AND TRAINING STAFF

Head Coach: Todd Nelson

Assistant Coach: Bruce Ramsay

Assistant Coach: Ben Simon

Assistant Coach: Mike Knuble

Goaltending Coach: Jeff alajko

Video Coach: Bill LeRoy

Athletic Trainer: John Bernal

Equipment Manager: Brad Thompson

Assistant Equipment Manager: Andrew Stegehuis

Strength & Conditioning Coordinator: Marcus Kinney

.I but

Grand Rapids GRIFFINS

3

OPPOSING

FORCES

The Griffins will hope to slow streaking Central Division rivals Milwaukee, Chicago and Lake Erie when the trio of Great Lakes foes make their way to Van Andel Arena in December and January.

MILWAUKEE (Dec. 9, Dec. 31, Jan. 8) Admirals center Kevin Fiala (#12) is an explosive forward with game-breaking potential. A native of St. Gallen, Switzerland, the 19-year-old Fiala was a fi st-round pick (11th overall) of the Nashville Predators in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft. is quickness and agility make him a dangerous weapon that other teams have trouble defending. A bit small by NHL standards (5-foot-10, 193-pounds), Fiala makes up for his lack of size by being creative with the puck.

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING: “When he fi st came (to North America), you certainly wouldn’t have thought ‘here’s a guy that is going to play NHL games,’ but he did last year,” said Admirals head coach Dean Evason. “His skill level is second to none and you see it every time he’s on the ice. He can do some amazing things.”

TEXAS (Dec. 18, Dec. 19) Stars center Devin Shore (#34) is a highly touted prospect who played three seasons for the University of Maine Black Bears before making his pro debut in Texas last season, tallying four goals and two assists in 19 games. A second-round pick (61st overall) by the Dallas Stars in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, he 21-year-old Shore has excellent hockey instincts to go with good playmaking abilities. Now scoring at better than a point-per-game pace, the Ajax, Ontario, native has a knack for scoring goals in bunches. Shore had 12 goals in the Stars’ fi st 16 games.

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING: “He’s a solid player, and he knows the game,” said Dallas Stars head coach Lindy Ruff. “I think he has really good potential. He’s about where I thought he would be, and it will be interesting to see where he gets to.”

4 Grand Rapids GRIFFINS

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LAKE ERIE (Jan. 9, Jan. 15) Monsters defenseman John Ramage (#5) signed a free agent contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets this past summer after spending two seasons in the Calgary Flames organization. A fourth-round pick (103rd overall) in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, he 24-year-old blueliner is the son of Rob Ramage, the former Toronto Maple Leafs captain who played 1,044 games in the NHL. The younger Ramage was a teammate of Griffins center Mark Zengerle at the University of Wisconsin, where he served as captain during the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons.

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING: “He’s a warrior as a player,” said Calgary Flames general manager Brad Treliving. “He’s a leader as a person.”

CHICAGO (Jan. 17) Wolves defenseman Petteri Lindbohm (#4) is a scrappy defenseman who likes to clear the crease and battle hard in the corners. A native of Helsinki, Finland, the 6-foot-3, 209-pound Lindbohm split last season between Chicago and St. Louis, appearing in 23 games with the NHL’s Blues. A sixth-round pick (176th overall) in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, he 22-year-old Lindbohm served as the team captain for Finland at the 2013 World Junior Championship in Ufa, Russia, where he had two assists and was plus-8 in six games.

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING: “He’s a young guy and he’s a little green, but he’s got great energy,” said St. Louis Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock. “He’s got a real feistiness to him; he loves the competition.”

ROCHESTER (Jan. 22, Jan. 23) Americans defenseman Brady Austin (#57) is a solid blueliner who needs to use his size (6-foot-3, 232 pounds) to his advantage while clearing players from the front of the net.

A seventh-round selection (193rd overall) of the Buff lo Sabres in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, ustin appeared in 66 games during his rookie season in Rochester a year ago when he tallied one goal and nine assists. A native of Bobcaygeon, Ontario, the 22-yearold Austin has surprising stick handling and passing skills for a player his size.

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING: “We need him to be more of a physical presence,” said his former coach Chadd Cassidy. “He doesn’t have to be a goon, but he has to use his body to end plays.”

TORONTO (Jan. 27) Marlies center William Nylander (#62) is a dynamic, versatile playmaker with the kind of skill that should enable him to eventually excel at the NHL level, once he improves his ability to play at both ends of the ice. The eighth overall pick by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, he 19-year-old Nylander was leading the AHL in scoring six weeks into the season after recording 14 goals in 37 games a year ago. He is the son of Michael Nylander, who appeared in 920 games with seven different NHL teams and played 24 games with the Griffins during the 2009-10 season.

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING: “He’s good. He’s as talented a guy as we have,” said Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock. “He’s got to (learn to) be a pro…and bring it every day.”

Grand Rapids GRIFFINS

5

SKATE, SKATE, SKATE! Annual two-day Great Skate will draw plenty of activity to Rosa Parks Circle.

Marathon events were originally created to commemorate a Greek messenger named Pheidippides. Legend has it that when he was sent from the battlefi ld of Marathon to Athens to announce that the Persians had been defeated in 490 B.C., he ran the entire distance without stopping before relaying his message, then collapsed and died on the spot. There are various versions of the tale, but they all tell a similar story about the creation of the marathon.

Dance marathons started in the 1920s as dance contests and developed into inexpensive entertainment events during the Great Depression. There are singing marathons, comedy marathons and marathon swimming. But the one marathon that matters to the Griffins is the event known as the Great Skate Winterfest.

The Great Skate debuted in 2002 as a 24-hour ice skating marathon held at the outdoor Rosa Parks Circle ice rink in downtown Grand Rapids, with every Griffins player and coach skating for at least one hour.

In 2009, the event expanded into a two-day, 34-hour Winterfest, with skating, winter sports demonstrations, games and activities as part of a celebration of winter in West Michigan.

The 2016 Great Skate Winterfest will begin at noon on Saturday, Jan. 23, preceding

that evening’s Griffins game against the Rochester Americans, when a Youth Jersey Giveaway presented by Comerica Bank will offer kidsize jerseys to everyone 12 and under. The Griffins will wear special fan-designed jerseys that will be available for bidding in a post-game auction.

Sled dogs, ice sculptors, horse-drawn carriages, winter sport athletes, museums and other community partners and local celebrities have all traditionally been part of the event, which is highlighted by the Great Skate, which allows fans to skate alongside their favorite players around the clock starting at 10 p.m. Saturday. A warming tent will be available, as well as hot chocolate and coff e.

Admission for all activities is free, but attendees are encouraged to sponsor their favorite player’s participation by making a donation to the Griffins Youth Foundation, which gives kids who otherwise might not have the opportunity the chance to play hockey. Rental skates are $2 for adults, $1 for kids. For more information, visit griffinshockey.com/greatskate.

DEC. 19 LEGO NIGHT PRESENTED BY FLAGSTAR BANK A Griffins skyline jersey auction and an Anthony Mantha Blockhead Giveaway (kids 12 and under) highlight Lego Night, a tribute to the Danish plastic toy building bricks that have yielded a worldwide empire that includes a hit movie, video games, retail stores and amusement parks.

JAN. 17 BRING YOUR DOG TO THE GAME PRESENTED BY NESTLÉ PURINA The Griffins hope to give the Chicago Wolves a “ruff ” time when their Central Division rivals come to Van Andel Arena. Ticket holders will be allowed to bring their canine companions to the game for an additional $5. Fans can also take advantage of $1 Pepsi drinks and $1 ice cream from 3-5 p.m.

DEC. 31 19TH ANNUAL NEW YEAR’S EVE CELEBRATION PRESENTED BY FARM BUREAU INSURANCE A 7 p.m. start is slated for the fi al game of 2015, which will pit the Griffins against the Milwaukee Admirals. A post-game fi eworks show will light up Van Andel Arena, followed by an open skate presented

by Arby’s.

JAN. 27 15TH ANNUAL MATINEE GAME PRESENTED BY BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD OF MICHIGAN Interactive and educational displays throughout the concourse will provide valuable information for elementary, middle and high school students prior to the annual matinee game, which starts at 11 a.m. when the puck drops between the Griffins and Toronto Marlies.

6 Grand Rapids GRIFFINS

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2015-16 SEASON SCHEDULE October S

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Post-Game Open Skate Huntington Bank Post-Game Autograph Session Friends & Family 4-Pack Home Game Pepsi Reading Goals Redemption Date

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Games broadcast live on

All times Eastern.

Dates, opponents and times subject to change.

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BAK - Bakersfield CHA - Charlotte CHI - Chicago IA - Iowa LE – Lake Erie MB - Manitoba MIL - Milwaukee

RCH - Rochester RFD - Rockford SA – San Antonio SD – San Diego TEX - Texas TOR - Toronto UTI - Utica

PRIMARY AFFILIATE OF THE DETROIT RED WINGS

@GRIFFINSHOCKEY

TO PURCHASE TICKETS OR FOR MORE INFO, VISIT GRIFFINSHOCKEY.COM OR CALL 1.800.2.HOCKEY. Grand Rapids GRIFFINS

9

Griffins Chief Executive Offic

Dear Griffins Fans, Michigan’s favorite musical son, Bob Seger, once sang “Twenty years now, where’d they go?...I sit and I wonder sometimes where they’ve gone.”

As the Griffins enter our 20th anniversary season, I look back upon all the memories we’ve shared and am grateful to all the people and partners who have been so integral to our remarkable success. Van Andel Arena’s staff nd the Grand Rapids-Kent County Convention/Arena Authority ensure that our home remains a world-class arena, making continual investments in amenities such as the HD video board and LED ribbon that enhance your enjoyment at a game.

We enjoy rich relationships with our Pillar Partners – Amway, Fox Motors, Huntington, Meijer, Spectrum Health and West Side Beer Distributing – and dozens of other sponsors, several of whom have been with us since our inaugural 1996-97 season.

Most crucial, though, has been the unwavering support of the best fans in hockey. After fi st setting sellout records in our early years, we’ve witnessed attendance increases in eight of the last nine seasons and led the AHL in total attendance during the 2015 Calder Cup Playoffs Such stability has been a hallmark of our organization, a welcome attribute in a sport in which change often seems to be the only constant. After three seasons of unprecedented success behind the Griffins’ bench, Jeff lashill is now the head coach for the Detroit Red Wings. He undoubtedly left ehind big shoes to fill, but fortunately we found a man with large feet: Todd Nelson, who comes full circle as the fi st player ever signed by the Griffins in 1996 and, now, the 10th head coach in franchise history.

After winning several cups during his playing and coaching careers and serving as interim head coach of the Edmonton Oilers last season, Nelson heads up a staff c mprised of fellow former Griffins Bruce Ramsay, Ben Simon and Mike Knuble, all of whom are focused on defending our seventh division title and making a run at our second Calder Cup. We’re proud of the new logo and colors that our players will be sporting on the ice this year and enthused about what’s happening off he ice as well. Under the leadership of new Griffins president and original employee Tim Gortsema, our staff s planning an exciting array of promotions and events in celebration of 20 seasons of Griffins Hockey.

A new era is taking fli ht. I hope you enjoy everything that this landmark season has to offer.

Sincerely,

Dan DeVos Griffins Chief Executive Offic

10 Grand Rapids GRIFFINS

DAVID A. ANDREWS RESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, DPAAVID A. ANDREWS MERICAN HOCKEY LEAGUE PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, AMERICAN HOCKEY LEAGUE

DAVID A. ANDREWS

PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, American Hockey AMERICAN HOCKEY LEAGUE League American Hockey League One Monarch Place – Springfield, MA 01144 One Monarch Place – Springfield, MA 01144 Phone: (413) Phone: (413)781-2030 781-2030 theahl.com Fax: (413) 733-4767

Dear Fans, Dear Fans, Dear Fans,

American Hockey League

One Monarch Place – Springfield, MA 01144 Phone: (413) 781-2030 theahl.com ItItItisis pleasure towelcome welcome you to the historic 2015-16 American Hockey League mygreat great pleasure to welcome to the 2014-15 American Hockey League season, ismy my great pleasure to you toyou the historic 2015-16 American Hockey League season, one that79th is sure to beofis one of the most memorable campaigns ever. season, one that sure to one of thetomost memorable campaigns our year play.

Webe are proud be entering what is sure toever. be another exciting season, continuing our tradition of excellence and bringing an entertaining, physical and We are celebrating our 80th anniversary season literally from coast to coast: From the shores of the We are celebrating anniversary season from6 coast to fans coast:inFrom theacross highly skilled levelour of 80th professional hockey to literally more than million arenas Atlantic to our five new members in California, all 30 teams will hit the ice to continue a tradition of Dear Fans, North America. shores of the Atlantic tothe ourhallmark fi e new in California, all 30 teams will hit the ice excellence that has been of members the American Hockey League since 1936. to continue a tradition has been2015-16 the hallmark of the American It is my great pleasure of to excellence welcome youthat to the historic American Hockey League Hockey season, one The AHL remains ofthe itsonce role developing more 88 percent of today’s National Hockey that issince sure to beproud one of mostinagain memorable campaigns ever.

The 2014-15 season will feature 30than teams who will be competing for theLeague AHL’s League 1936. players, as well asCup the vast majority of theand NHL’s managers, staffs, broadcasters historic Calder championship, 30coaches, National Hockeytraining League clubs who willand be We areIncelebrating our350 80th anniversary season literally from coast coast: From the officials. total, nearly AHL players were recalled to the NHL lasttoseason alone,the andshores more of than developing their top prospects and futureallstars in our cities.

Last season alone, more than The AHL remains proud of its roleinNHL in developing more 88the percent ofAHL. today’s Atlantic tofirstour five new members California, 30 teamsthan willtheir hit iceintothe continue a tradition 250 former and second-round draft picks developed skills And throughofthe 240 firstand second-round NHL draft competed in American Hockey League, National Hockey League as well aspicks thecheering vast majority ofthe thesince NHL’s coaches, excellence thatand has been players, the hallmark ofenjoyed the American Hockey League years, our loyal passionate fans have for more than 1001936. future Hockey Hall of Famers, and 347 players the ice of in more boththan the 100 AHLCalder and the NHL. and have witnessed the triumphs champions whoAHL would go on to have their managers, trainingtook staffs, broadcasters and officia . InCup total, nearly 350 players The AHL remains of its role more than 88 percent of today’s National Hockey League names engraved onproud the Stanley Cupinasdeveloping well. were recalled to the NHL last season alone, and more than 250 former firs - and secondas well as the vast majority of the NHL’s coaches, managers, training staffs, broadcasters and Weplayers, take great pride in our tradition of developing the best hockey talent in the world, with round NHL draft picks developed their skills in the And through years, loyal total, 350 AHL players were recalled to theand NHL last season alone, andour more than Toofficials. our newInfans in nearly Bakersfield, Ontario, San Diego, San AHL. Jose Stockton; tothe our returning fans in over 88 percent of today’s NHL players, coaches and having honed their skills in and passionate fans have more thanofficials 100 Hall of 250 former firstsecond-round NHL picks developed theirfuture skills inHockey the Andto through thejoin Manitoba; to all of and you whoenjoyed cheer forcheering AHL draft teamsfor across North America -- We are AHL. excited have you the American Hockey Through the years, our loyal and passionate fans have our excitement loyal and passionate fans have enjoyed cheering for more than 100 Hockey Hall of Famers, usyears, from the ofLeague. opening weekend, to the 2016 AHL All-Star Classic infuture Syracuse, andwho through the Famers, and have witnessed the triumphs of more than 100 Calder Cup champions and and have witnessed the triumphs of Playoffs. more than 100 Calder Cup whoand would go on to have their enjoyed cheering more than 100 future Hallchampions of Famers, have witnessed the thrills emotion offor the Calder Cup would go on to have their names engraved on Hockey the Stanley Cup as well. names engraved the Stanley Cup as Cup well. champions who would go on to have their names triumphs of moreonthan 100 Calder On behalf of allthe of our teams,Cup players staff, thank you again for your continuing support of the AHL. engraved on Stanley as and well.

To our new fans Ontario, San Diego, and Stockton; our fans in To our new fansininBakersfiel Bakersfield,,Ontario, San Diego, SanSan JoseJose and Stockton; to our to returning I wish you the utmost enjoyment of all the excitement that our 2015-16 season has in store.

Manitoba; to in allManitoba; of you who to cheer foryou AHL who teamscheer acrossfor North We are excited to have you join returning fans all of AHLAmerica teams -across North America to continue to deliver professional to the great fans ofand Glens Falls,the us from the excitement opening weekend, to the 2016 hockey AHL All-Star Classic in Syracuse, through Sincerely, --We’re We arepleased excited to haveofyou join us from the excitement of opening weekend, to the thrills and of the Calder Cup Playoffs.

N.Y., and weemotion welcome Allentown, Pa., to the league as the Adirondack Flames and Lehigh 2016 AHL All-Star Classic in Syracuse, and through the thrills and emotion of the Calder Valley Phantoms hit the ice this season. The AHL’s two newest entries will join the rest of CupOn Playoffs. behalf of all of our teams, players and staff, thank you again for your continuing support of the AHL. theI wish league in looking to dethrone defending Calder Cup champion Texas you the utmost enjoyment of all the the excitement that our 2015-16 season has in store.Stars in the chase for the AHL’s 2015 title.

On behalf of all of our teams, players and staff, thank you again for your continuing Sincerely, David A.of Andrews support the AHL. I wish you the utmost enjoyment of all the excitement that our On behalf&of all Executive of our teams, President Chief Officer players and staff, thank you again for your continuing 2015-16 season in Istore.

American Hockey League support of thehas AHL. wish you the utmost enjoyment of all the excitement that our

2014-15 season has in store.

David A. Andrews Sincerely,

President & Chief Executive Officer American Hockey League

David A. Andrews President & Chief Executive Officer American Hockey League /TheAHL

theahl.com

@TheAHL

Grand Rapids GRIFFINS

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A TRADITIONsinceOF EXCELLENCE 1936 THE BEGINNINGS The American Hockey League is celebrating its 80th season of play in 2015-16, continuing a tradition of excellence that began in 1936 when the Canadian-American Hockey League merged with the International Hockey League to form what is today known as the AHL. Eight teams hit the ice that first season, playing in Buffal , Cleveland, New Haven, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Providence, Springfield and Syracuse.

Frank Calder, the National Hockey League’s president at the time, was instrumental in the forming of the new league, and his name would be given to its championship trophy. The first Calder Cup was won by the Syracuse Stars in 1937; the 79th championship was captured by the Manchester Monarchs last spring.

From those roots, the American Hockey League has grown into a 30-team league that provides fans with exciting, high-level professional hockey while preparing thousands of players, coaches, officia , executives, trainers, broadcasters and more for careers in the NHL.

THE PLAYERS

Photo: Lindsay A. Mogle

In today’s National Hockey League more than 88 percent of the players are AHL alumni, including 2015 Hart and Vezina Trophy recipient Carey Price of the Montreal Canadiens. The 2015 Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks were stocked with AHL graduates as well, among them Conn Smythe Trophy winner Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Patrick Sharp, Brandon Saad, Kris Versteeg, Corey Crawford, Andrew Shaw, and head coach Joel Quenneville.

During the 2014-15 season, a total of 865 AHL alumni played in the National Hockey League, including 341 who skated in both leagues last year alone. Forty of the 49 players who skated in the 2015 Stanley Cup Final were AHL graduates, including Tampa Bay’s Ben Bishop, Ryan Callahan, Tyler Johnson, Alex Killorn, and Ondrej Palat.

More than 250 former firs - and second-round draft picks developed their skills in the AHL last season, including Teuvo Teravainen, David Pastrnak, William Nylander, Derrick Pouliot, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Ryan Hartman, Matt Dumba, and Julius Honka.

Carey Price 2015 Hart, Vezina Trophy winner 2007 Calder Cup Playoffs MV

At the start of the 2015-16 season, the National Hockey League featured 21 head coaches who were former AHL bench bosses, including former Calder Cup champions Jon Cooper, Peter Laviolette, Barry Trotz, Todd McLellan, Bruce Boudreau, Bob Hartley, Willie Desjardins, and Jeff Blashill. Stanley Cup winners Joel Quenneville, Claude Julien, Dan Bylsma, and Mike Babcock also spent time in the AHL before making the jump.

THE COACHES At the start of the 2015-16 season, the National Hockey League featured 21 head coaches who were former AHL bench bosses, including former Calder Cup champions Jon Cooper, Peter Laviolette, Barry Trotz, Todd McLellan, Bruce Boudreau, Bob Hartley, Willie Desjardins, and Jeff Blashill. Stanley Cup winners Joel Quenneville, Claude Julien, Dan Bylsma, and Mike Babcock also spent time in the AHL before making the jump.

“The time I spent in the American Hockey League was essential in my preparation to become head coach of the Detroit Red Wings. Without question, the AHL is just as valuable as a proving ground for future coaches as it is for young players.”

-- Jeff Blashil , Head Coach, Detroit Red Wings 2014 AHL Coach of the Year 2013 Calder Cup Champion Photo: Dan Hickling

12 Grand Rapids GRIFFINS

The American Hockey League has created its own legends as well, and in 2006 began honoring them with the formation of the AHL Hall of Fame. The 10th class of inductees, recognized in 2015, included Frederic Cassivi, James C. Hendy, Bronco Horvath, and Art Stratton. They join the likes of Johnny Bower, Fred Glover, Jody Gage, Mitch Lamoureux, Willie Marshall, Frank Mathers, Eddie Shore, Bruce Boudreau, Tim Tookey, Zellio Toppazzini, and others as distinguished members of the American Hockey League Hall of Fame.

Photo: AHL Archives

ner

THE LEGENDS For the past eight decades, the American Hockey League has been home to some of the greatest players in the history of our sport. In fact, more than 100 honored members of the Hockey Hall of Fame have been affil ted with the AHL during their careers. All-time greats like George Armstrong, Toe Blake, Gump Worsley, Terry Sawchuk, Glenn Hall, Brad Park, Ken Dryden, and Brett Hull came through the AHL ranks and now find themselves enshrined in Toronto, and the coveted Calder Cup is inscribed with the names of legendary AHL alumni like Patrick Roy, Larry Robinson, Gerry Cheevers, Andy Bathgate, Tim Horton, Al Arbour, Emile Francis, Doug Harvey, and Billy Smith.

Eddie Shore Honored Member, Hockey Hall of Fame Honored Member, AHL Hall of Fame

THE FANS

Photo: Lindsay A. Mogle

For the 14th consecutive season, American Hockey League teams drew more than 6.2 million fans to games across North America in 2014-15. The Hershey Bears led the league for the ninth year in a row, averaging 9,700 fans per home game, while the Utica Comets followed up their inaugural season with 27 sold-out regular season crowds at the Utica Memorial Auditorium, plus 13 more in the playoffs. And Syracuse set a new U.S. indoor pro hockey record when 30,715 fans packed the Carrier Dome for a Crunch game on Nov. 22, 2014.

Fans are also continuing to follow their teams and the league in record numbers digitally. Last season, the AHL Internet Network -- featuring TheAHL.com and the officia Web sites of all 30 clubs -- got nearly 90 million page views from fans worldwide. Meanwhile, more than one million fans follow the AHL and its teams on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

In their first ever Calder Cup playoffs ap earance, the Utica Comets sold out all 13 postseason games at the Aud.

88.8

865

341

254

519

Percentage of all NHL players in 2014-15 who were graduates of the AHL

Former AHL players who skated in the National Hockey League last season

AHL players who also played in the NHL in 2014-15

Former 1st- and 2ndround NHL draft picks who skated in the AHL in 2014-1

AHL alumni who played for the 2015 Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks

“Everywhere I’ve been, the American Hockey League has been an important part of my career. It has been the biggest part of our success in developing our players in Chicago, first with th Norfolk Admirals and now with the Rockford IceHogs.”

-- Scotty Bowman, Honored Member, Hockey Hall of Fame 14-Time Stanley Cup Champion 2-Time Jack Adams Award Winner Photo: Getty Images

Grand Rapids GRIFFINS

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2015-16 AHL DIRECTORY EASTERN CONFERENCE

ATLANTIC DIVISION: Bridgeport, Hartford, Hershey, Lehigh Valley, Portland, Providence, Springfiel , Wilkes-Barre/Scranton

ALBANY DEVILS

NHL AFFILIATION: New Jersey Devils HOME ICE: Times Union Center (6,691) GENERAL MANAGER: Ray Shero HEAD COACH: Rick Kowalsky ENTERED AHL: 2006-07 (as Lowell Devils) CALDER CUPS: None SEASONS IN PLAYOFFS: 2 of 9 2014-15 RECORD: 37-28-5-6, 85 pts.

WEBSITE: thealbanydevils.com

BINGHAMTON SENATORS

NHL AFFILIATION: Ottawa Senators HOME ICE: Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena (4,696) GENERAL MANAGER: Randy Lee HEAD COACH: Luke Richardson ENTERED AHL: 2002-03 CALDER CUPS: One (2011) SEASONS IN PLAYOFFS: 6 of 13 2014-15 RECORD: 34-34-7-1, 76 pts.

WEBSITE: binghamtonsenators.com

BRIDGEPORT SOUND TIGERS

NHL AFFILIATION: New York Islanders HOME ICE: Webster Bank Arena (8,412) GENERAL MANAGER: Garth Snow HEAD COACH: Brent Thompson ENTERED AHL: 2001-02 CALDER CUPS: None SEASONS IN PLAYOFFS: 7 of 14 2014-15 RECORD: 28-40-7-1, 64 pts.

WEBSITE: soundtigers.com

HARTFORD WOLF PACK

NHL AFFILIATION: New York Rangers HOME ICE: XL Center (15,635) GENERAL MANAGER: Jim Schoenfeld HEAD COACH: Ken Gernander ENTERED AHL: 1997-98 CALDER CUPS: One (2000) SEASONS IN PLAYOFFS: 15 of 18 2014-15 RECORD: 43-24-5-4, 95 pts.

WEBSITE: hartfordwolfpack.com

HERSHEY BEARS

NHL AFFILIATION: Washington Capitals HOME ICE: Giant Center (10,500) GENERAL MANAGER: Doug Yingst HEAD COACH: Troy Mann ENTERED AHL: 1938-39 CALDER CUPS: 11 (1947, 1958, 1959, 1969, 1974, 1980, 1988, 1997, 2006, 2009, 2010) SEASONS IN PLAYOFFS: 65 of 77 2014-15 RECORD: 46-22-5-3, 100 pts.

WEBSITE: hersheybears.com

NORTH DIVISION: Albany, Binghamton, Rochester, St. John’s, Syracuse, Toronto, Utica

LEHIGH VALLEY PHANTOMS

NHL AFFILIATION: Philadelphia Flyers HOME ICE: PPL Center (8,420) GENERAL MANAGER: Ron Hextall HEAD COACH: Scott Gordon ENTERED AHL: 1996-97 (as Philadelphia Phantoms) CALDER CUPS: Two (1998, 2005) SEASONS IN PLAYOFFS: 10 of 19 2014-15 RECORD: 33-35-7-1, 74 pts.

WEBSITE: phantomshockey.com

PORTLAND PIRATES PRIMARY MARK

PORTLAND PIRATES

NHL AFFILIATION: Florida Panthers HOME ICE: Cross Insurance Arena (6,157) GENERAL MANAGER: Eric Joyce HEAD COACH: Tom Rowe ENTERED AHL: 1993-94 CALDER CUPS: One (1994) SEASONS IN PLAYOFFS: 16 of 22 2014-15 RECORD: 39-28-7-2, 87 pts.

WEBSITE: portlandpirates.com

PANTONE 186 C

PANTONE 473 C

PANTONE 877 C

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PROVIDENCE BRUINS

NHL AFFILIATION: Boston Bruins HOME ICE: Dunkin’ Donuts Center Providence (11,075) GENERAL MANAGER: Don Sweeney HEAD COACH: Bruce Cassidy ENTERED AHL: 1992-93 CALDER CUPS: One (1999) SEASONS IN PLAYOFFS: 18 of 23 2014-15 RECORD: 41-26-7-2, 91 pts.

WEBSITE: providencebruins.com

ROCHESTER AMERICANS

NHL AFFILIATION: Buffalo abres HOME ICE: Blue Cross Arena at the Rochester War Memorial (10,662) GENERAL MANAGER: Tim Murray HEAD COACH: Randy Cunneyworth ENTERED AHL: 1956-57 CALDER CUPS: Six (1965, 1966, 1968, 1983, 1987, 1996) SEASONS IN PLAYOFFS: 44 of 59 2014-15 RECORD: 29-41-5-1, 64 pts.

WEBSITE: amerks.com

SPRINGFIELD FALCONS

NHL AFFILIATION: Arizona Coyotes HOME ICE: MassMutual Center (6,784) GENERAL MANAGER: Darcy Regier HEAD COACH: Ron Rolston ENTERED AHL: 1994-95 CALDER CUPS: None SEASONS IN PLAYOFFS: 8 of 21 2014-15 RECORD: 38-28-8-2, 86 pts.

WEBSITE: falconsahl.com

ST. JOHN’S ICECAPS PRIMARY MARK

ST. JOHN’S ICECAPS

NHL AFFILIATION: Montreal Canadiens HOME ICE: Mile One Centre (6,287) GENERAL MANAGER: Marc Bergevin HEAD COACH: Sylvain Lefebrve ENTERED AHL: 2011-12 CALDER CUPS: None SEASONS IN PLAYOFFS: 2 of 4 2014-15 RECORD: 32-33-9-2, 75 pts.

WEBSITE: stjohnsicecaps.com Grand Rapids GRIFFINS PANTONE 2758 C

PANTONE 187 C

PANTONE 877 C

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2015-16 AHL DIRECTORY SYRACUSE CRUNCH

UTICA COMETS

NHL AFFILIATION: Tampa Bay Lightning HOME ICE: War Memorial Arena (6,010) GENERAL MANAGER: Julien BriseBois HEAD COACH: Rob Zettler ENTERED AHL: 1994-95 CALDER CUPS: None SEASONS IN PLAYOFFS: 12 of 21 2014-15 RECORD: 41-25-10-0, 92 pts.

WEBSITE: syracusecrunch.com

NHL AFFILIATION: Vancouver Canucks HOME ICE: Utica Memorial Auditorium (3,855) GENERAL MANAGER: Pat Conacher HEAD COACH: Travis Green ENTERED AHL: 2013-14 CALDER CUPS: None SEASONS IN PLAYOFFS: 1 of 2 2014-15 RECORD: 47-20-7-2, 103 pts.

WEBSITE: uticacomets.com

TORONTO MARLIES

WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON PENGUINS

NHL AFFILIATION: Toronto Maple Leafs HOME ICE: Ricoh Coliseum (7,851) GENERAL MANAGER: Kyle Dubas HEAD COACH: Sheldon Keefe ENTERED AHL: 2005-06 CALDER CUPS: None SEASONS IN PLAYOFFS: 7 of 10 2014-15 RECORD: 40-27-9-0, 89 pts.

WEBSITE: marlies.ca

NHL AFFILIATION: Pittsburgh Penguins HOME ICE: Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza (8,050) GENERAL MANAGER: Jason Botterill HEAD COACH: Mike Sullivan ENTERED AHL: 1999-00 CALDER CUPS: None SEASONS IN PLAYOFFS: 14 of 16 2014-15 RECORD: 45-24-3-4, 97 pts.

WEBSITE: wbspenguins.com

WESTERN CONFERENCE CENTRAL DIVISION: Grand Rapids, Charlotte, Chicago, Iowa, Lake Erie, Manitoba, Milwaukee, Rockford

BAKERSFIELD CONDORS

NHL AFFILIATION: Edmonton Oilers HOME ICE: Rabobank Arena (8,751) GENERAL MANAGER: Bill Scott HEAD COACH: Gerry Fleming ENTERED AHL: 2015-16 WEBSITE: bakersfield ondors.com

NHL AFFILIATION: Detroit Red Wings HOME ICE: Van Andel Arena (10,834) PACIFIC DIVISION: GENERAL MANAGER: Ryan Martin Bakersfiel , Ontario, HEAD COACH: Todd Nelson CONDORS San Antonio, San BAKERSFIELD Diego, ENTERED AHL: 2001-02 PRIMARY MARK San Jose, Stockton, CALDER CUPS: One (2013) Texas SEASONS IN PLAYOFFS: 9 of 14 2014-15 RECORD: 46-22-6-2, 100 pts.

WEBSITE: griffinshock .com

IOWA WILD

CHARLOTTE CHECKERS

NHL AFFILIATION: Carolina Hurricanes HOME ICE: Bojangles’ Coliseum (8,300) GENERAL MANAGER: Derek Wilkinson HEAD COACH: Mark Morris ENTERED AHL: 2010-11 CALDER CUPS: None SEASONS IN PLAYOFFS: 2 of 5 2014-15 RECORD: 31-38-6-1, 69 pts.

WEBSITE: gocheckers.com

CHICAGO WOLVES

NHL AFFILIATION: St. Louis Blues HOME ICE: Allstate Arena (16,692) GENERAL MANAGER: Wendell Young HEAD COACH: John Anderson ENTERED AHL: 2001-02 CALDER CUPS: Two (2002, 2008) SEASONS IN PLAYOFFS: 10 of 14 2014-15 RECORD: 40-29-6-1, 87 pts.

WEBSITE: chicagowolves.com

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GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS

PANTONE 281 C

PANTONE 172 C

PANTONE 429 C

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NHL AFFILIATION: Minnesota Wild HOME ICE: Wells Fargo Arena (8,162) GENERAL MANAGER: Brent Flahr HEAD COACH: John Torchetti ENTERED AHL: 2013-14 CALDER CUPS: None SEASONS IN PLAYOFFS: 0 of 2 2014-15 RECORD: 23-49-2-2, 50 pts.

WEBSITE: iowawild.com 2015-16

LAKE ERIE MONSTERS

NHL AFFILIATION: Columbus Blue Jackets HOME ICE: Quicken Loans Arena (19,665/10,025 lower bowl) GENERAL MANAGER: Bill Zito HEAD COACH: Jared Bednar ENTERED AHL: 2007-08 CALDER CUPS: None SEASONS IN PLAYOFFS: 1 of 8 2014-15 RECORD: 35-29-8-4, 82 pts.

WEBSITE: lakeeriemonsters.com

MANITOBA MOOSE PRIMARY MARK

MANITOBA MOOSE

NHL AFFILIATION: Winnipeg Jets HOME ICE: MTS Centre (8,812) GENERAL MANAGER: Craig Heisinger HEAD COACH: Keith McCambridge ENTERED AHL: 2001-02 (played through 2010-11; re-entered 2015-16) CALDER CUPS: None SEASONS IN PLAYOFFS: 9 of 10 WEBSITE: moosehockey.com

PANTONE 282 C

PANTONE 2945 C

PANTONE COOL GRAY 11

PANTONE 429 C

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2015-16 AHL DIRECTORY MILWAUKEE ADMIRALS

SAN DIEGO GULLS

PRIMARY MARK

MILWAUKEE ADMIRALS

SAN DIEGO GULLS

NHL AFFILIATION: Nashville Predators HOME ICE: BMO Harris Bradley Center (17,845) GENERAL MANAGER: Paul Fenton HEAD COACH: Dean Evason ENTERED AHL: 2001-02 CALDER CUPS: One (2004) SEASONS IN PLAYOFFS: 12 of 14 2014-15 RECORD: 33-28-8-7, 81 pts.

WEBSITE: milwaukeeadmirals.com PANTONE 282 C

NHL AFFILIATION: Anaheim Ducks HOME ICE: Valley View Casino Center (12,920) GENERAL MANAGER: Bob Ferguson HEAD COACH: Dallas Eakins ENTERED AHL: 2015-16 WEBSITE: sandiegogulls.com

PRIMARY MARK

PRIMARY MARK

SAN JOSE BARRACUDA

PANTONE 292 C

PANTONE COOL GRAY 4 C

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NHL AFFILIATION: Los Angeles Kings HOME ICE: Citizens Business Bank Arena (9,491) GENERAL MANAGER: Rob Blake HEAD COACH: Mike Stothers ENTERED AHL: 2015-16 WEBSITE: ontarioreign.com

NHL AFFILIATION: San Jose Sharks HOME ICE: SAP Center (8,000, curtained) GENERAL MANAGER: Joe Will HEAD COACH: Roy Sommer ENTERED AHL: 2015-16 WEBSITE: sjbarracuda.com

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SAN ANTONIO RAMPAGE

NHL AFFILIATION: Colorado Avalanche HOME ICE: AT&T Center (6,374, lower bowl) GENERAL MANAGER: Craig Billington HEAD COACH: Dean Chynoweth ENTERED AHL: 2002-03 CALDER CUPS: None SEASONS IN PLAYOFFS: 4 of 13 2014-15 RECORD: 45-23-7-1, 98 pts.

WEBSITE: sarampage.com

PANTONE 1655 C

PANTONE MEDIUM BLUE C

PANTONE 5455 C

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STOCKTON HEAT

ROCKFORD ICEHOGS

PANTONE 429 C

SAN JOSE BARRACUDA

ONTARIO REIGN

ONTARIO REIGN

NHL AFFILIATION: Chicago Blackhawks HOME ICE: BMO Harris Bank Center (5,895) GENERAL MANAGER: Mark Bernard HEAD COACH: Ted Dent ENTERED AHL: 2007-08 CALDER CUPS: None SEASONS IN PLAYOFFS: 4 of 8 2014-15 RECORD: 46-23-5-2, 99 pts.

WEBSITE: icehogs.com

PRIMARY MARK

NHL AFFILIATION: Calgary Flames HOME ICE: Stockton Arena (9,737) GENERAL MANAGER: Brad Pascall HEAD COACH: Ryan Huska ENTERED AHL: 2015-16 WEBSITE: stocktonheat.com

STOCKTON HEAT PRIMARY MARK

PANTONE 3155 C

PANTONE 429 C

PANTONE 152 C

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TEXAS STARS PRIMARY MARK

2015-16

TEXAS STARS

NHL AFFILIATION: Dallas Stars HOME ICE: Cedar Park Center (6,863) GENERAL MANAGER: Scott White HEAD COACH: Derek Laxdal ENTERED AHL: 2009-10 CALDER CUPS: One (2014) SEASONS IN PLAYOFFS: 5 of 6 2014-15 RECORD: 40-22-13-1, 94 pts.

WEBSITE: texasstarshockey.com

PANTONE 186 C

PANTONE 3425 C

PANTONE 110 C

METALLIC SILVER 877

PANTONE 425 C

PANTONE 877 C

PANTONE 142 C

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THE ROAD TO THE CALDER CUP 2015-16 PLAYOFF FORMAT Eight teams in each conference will qualify for the 2016 Calder Cup Playoffs.

MANITOBA MOOSE PRIMARY MARK

The top four teams in each division, ranked by points percentage (points earned divided by points available), will qualify for the postseason, with one possible exception in each conference. If the fi th-place team in the Atlantic or Central Division finishes with a better points percentage than the fourth-place team in the North or Pacific Division, espectively, it will cross over and compete in the other division’s bracket.

The division semifinals will be bes -of-fi e series; the division final , conference finals and alder Cup Finals will be best-of-seven series.

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2015-16

Grand Rapids GRIFFINS

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RED WINGS During the 2014-15 season, 24 of the 31 players who saw action with the Red Wings had previously worn a Griffins un orm. Those Grand Rapids alumni are now guided by their new head coach, former Griffin bench boss Jeff Blashil , who tutored many of them during his remarkable three-year tenure (2012-15) in Hockeytown West.

TOP AFFILIATE

Grand Rapids Griffin 14th Season / Through 2016-1

ARENA

Joe Louis Arena Seating Capacity: 20,066

CONTACT

(313) 394-7000 detroitredwings.com

STANLEY CUPS

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

MANAGEMENT

Executive VP/General Manager: Ken Holland Assistant General Manager: Ryan Martin

COACHING STAFF Head Coach: Jeff Blashil

Assistant Coaches: Tony Granato, Pat Ferschweiler, Chris Chelios Goaltending Coach: Jim Bedard Video Coach: Dave Noel-Bernier Strength and Conditioning Coach: Mike Kadar

GRIFFINS WHO HAVE EARNED THEIR WINGS *

Justin Abdelkader, 2008-09 Adam Almquist, 2013-14 Joakim Andersson, 2011-12 Andreas Athanasiou, 2015-16 Sean Avery, 2002-03 Ryan Barnes, 2003-04 Patrick Boileau, 2002-03 Darryl Bootland, 2003-04 Fabian Brunnstrom, 2011-12 Mitch Callahan, 2013-14 Ty Conklin, 2011-12 Chris Conner, 2011-12 Danny DeKeyser, 2013-14 Aaron Downey, 2008-09 Patrick Eaves, 2013-14 Matt Ellis, 2006-07 Cory Emmerton, 2010-11 Jonathan Ericsson, 2007-08 Landon Ferraro, 2013-14 Valtteri Filppula, 2005-06 Luke Glendening, 2013-14 Mark Hartigan, 2007-08

Darren Helm, 2007-08 Jimmy Howard, 2005-06 Jiri Hudler, 2003-04 Matt Hussey, 2006-07 Doug Janik, 2009-10 Tomas Jurco, 2013-14 Jakub Kindl, 2009-10 Tomas Kopecky, 2005-06 Niklas Kronwall, 2003-04 Marc Lamothe, 2003-04 Josh Langfeld, 2006-07 Dylan Larkin, 2015-16 Brian Lashoff, 2012-1 Brett Lebda, 2005-06 Ville Leino, 2008-09 Joey MacDonald, 2006-07 Donald MacLean, 2005-06 Alexey Marchenko, 2013-14 Darren McCarty, 2007-08 Tom McCollum, 2010-11 Derek Meech, 2006-07 Kevin Miller, 2003-04

Mark Mowers, 2003-04 Petr Mrazek, 2012-13 Jan Mursak, 2010-11 Anders Myrvold, 2003-04 Andrej Nestrasil, 2014-15 Kris Newbury, 2009-10 Gustav Nyquist, 2011-12 Xavier Ouellet, 2013-14 Teemu Pulkkinen, 2013-14 Kyle Quincey, 2005-06 Mattias Ritola, 2007-08 Jamie Rivers, 2003-04 Nathan Robinson, 2003-04 Stacy Roest, 2002-03 Riley Sheahan, 2011-12 Brendan Smith, 2011-12 Ryan Sproul, 2013-14 Garrett Stafford, 2007-0 Tomas Tatar, 2010-11 Jordin Tootoo, 2013-14 Jason Williams, 2002-03

* not including conditioning stints for Curtis Joseph (2003-04), Chris Osgood (2005-06), Manny Legace (2005-06), Chris Chelios (200809), Andreas Lilja (2009-10), Jonas Gustavsson (2012-13), Carlo Colaiacovo (2012-13) and Stephen Weiss (2014-15).

Grand Rapids GRIFFINS

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2015-16 GRIFFINS PROMOTIONAL SCHEDULE

MARK YOUR

CALENDAR! Dec. 19: Lego Night presented

by Flagstar Bank/Anthony Mantha Blockhead Giveaway (kids 12 and under)/ Skyline Jersey Auction

Jan. 17: Bring Your Dog to the Game presented

by Nestlé Purina/$1 Pepsi Drinks and $1 Ice Cream from 3-5 p.m.

Jan. 23: Youth Jersey Giveaway presented by Comerica Bank (kids 12 and under)/Fan-Designed Jersey Auction #1 Jan. 23-24: 14th Annual Great Skate Winterfest at Rosa Parks Circle

Dec. 31: 19th Annual New Year’s Eve Celebration presented

by Farm Bureau Insurance/PostGame Fireworks Jan. 9: 20th Anniversary Blanket Giveaway presented by DTE Energy

Jan. 27: 15th Annual Matinee Game presented by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (11 a.m. start) Jan. 29: ‘80s Night (continued on next page) Grand Rapids GRIFFINS

21

Feb. 6: Teemu Pulkkinen Bobblehead Giveaway presented by Lake Michigan Credit Union

March 2: Brain Injury Awareness Game presented by Brain Injury Association of Michigan

Feb. 9: Griffi & Sled Wings Game at Griff’s IceHouse

March 12: Star Wars Night presented by DTE Energy

Feb. 19: Fifth Annual Purple Community Game presented by Van Andel Institute/Purple Jersey Auction Feb. 20: Baseball Cap Giveaway presented by Option 1 Credit Union

March 8: Corks, Pucks & Brews at the Goei Center, benefiting aster Seals Michigan

March 26: Team Sock Giveaway/Superhero Night presented by Eikenhout Inc./Fan-Designed Jersey Auction #2 April 6: Griffins ooster Club Awards Banquet

Feb. 27: Tom McCollum Bobblehead Giveaway/Social Media Night presented by Michigan Office Solutions Feb. 28: Pennant Giveaway presented by Centennial Securities/$1 Pepsi Drinks and $1 Ice Cream from 3-5 p.m.

April 16: Season Finale presented

by Huntington Bank/20th Anniversary Jersey Auction

SEASON-LONG PROMOTIONS $2 Beers and $2 Hot Dogs: Every Friday, enjoy $2 domestic drafts and $2 hot dogs from 6-8 p.m., while supplies last.

Get in the D-ZONE: Every Friday night is a Griffi D-Zone night. Avoid the concession lines and get your $2 beers and $2 hot dogs served to you in your seats.

Call (616) 774-4585 ext. 2 or visit griffinsho ey.com/ dzone today! Fans can purchase a package of four or more D-ZONE tickets for any Friday night game, or customize their own ticket package with the D-Zone seven-game pack or purchase the 14-pack, which includes all Friday games this season.

Military Nights: Every home game, current members of our military can purchase up to four Upper Level tickets for $14 each or four Lower Level Faceoff tickets for $18 each with a valid military ID. The offer also extends to veterans who present a VA ID or discharge papers.

College Nights: Presented by Michigan First Credit Union, college students can show their ID at every Friday game to purchase an Upper Level ticket for $14 (or $13 in advance at The Zone). Limit one ticket per ID. Free Ride Friday on The Rapid: Ride the Rapid to and from any Friday game and enjoy a complimentary fare by showing your ticket to that night’s game. Visit ridetherapid.org for schedule information, routes and maps.

Wednesday is Hockey Night: For select Wednesday home games, show your Griffin ticket at participating Arena District restaurants and bars to enjoy Hockey Night specials all night long. Hockey Night specials are available on Dec. 9, Feb. 17, March 2 and April 13.

Visit griffinsho ey.com/hockeynight for participating establishments and more information.

Winning Wednesdays: Presented by Farm Bureau Insurance, every time the Griffin win at home on Wednesday, each fan in attendance will receive a free ticket to the next Wednesday game.

Fox Motors Fast Lane: An owner of a Fox Motors vehicle has the ability to bypass normal ticket lines on game nights by showing their keychain at the designated “Fox Motors Fast Lane” ticket window, located at Van Andel Arena’s main box office. Once presented, the keychain owner may purchase their tickets, subject to availability, at the window and proceed into the game.

Post-Game Parties at Peppino’s: After every Wednesday game, join Griffin players and staff for the officia post-game party at Peppino’s Sports Grille downtown.

Library Nights: For every Sunday and Wednesday game, fans can present their Grand Rapids Public Library card or Kent District Library card at the Van Andel Arena box office on the night of the game or at The Zone anytime during the store’s regular business hours to purchase either an Upper Level ticket for $14 (regularly $16 advance and $19 day of game) or a Lower Level Faceoff ticket for $18 (regularly $20 advance and $23 day of game). Limit four tickets per card per person, subject to availability.

Friends & Family 4-Packs: Available for all Saturday games, each pack incudes four tickets and $12 in concession cash for a great low price. Visit griffinsho ey.com/f4p or call (616) 774-4585 ext.

2. New this season, fans may use their concession cash to purchase healthy choice menu options at the stand located outside of section 125, including low-fat yogurt, apples, oranges, granola bars and smoothies.

Popcorn Packs: Enjoy all of the popcorn you can eat with this special offer that includes four or more upper or lower level tickets and a Griffin popcorn bucket good for unlimited popcorn refills throughout the game. Popcorn packs are only available by calling 616774-4585 ext. 2 or at griffinsho ey.com/popcorn.

Pepsi Reading Goals: Children with Griff’s Reading Goals bookmarks who have completed the required three hours of reading can redeem their bookmark for two free Upper Level tickets to any of the following games: Bookmark #1 – Dec. 9 and Jan. 17; Bookmark #2 – Feb. 17 and 28; March 2; and April 13.

Post-Game Open Skates: Dec. 31; Jan. 9; Feb. 27; March 12; and April 16.

Huntington Bank Post-Game Autograph Sessions: Jan. 9; Feb. 6 and 20; and March 26.

MOS Corner Office Presented by Michigan Office Solutions, this section, located on the terrace level above section 118, provides the best seats in the house for groups of up to 30 people, with La-Z-Boy chairs and an array of unprecedented amenities. Call (616) 7744585 ext. 4.

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Tangradi signed a one-year contract with the Red Wings this past July.

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24 Grand Rapids GRIFFINS

MIND

Eric Tangradi is thinking positively

OVER

about his chances of playing in the NHL again.

MATTER “Ninety percent of this game is half mental.”

– Yogi Berra Yogi Berra was talking about baseball when he articulated the importance the mind plays in a game, but he could just as easily have been talking about hockey.

When a netminder is allowing too many bad goals or a skater is mired in a scoring slump, staying positive isn’t always the easiest thing to do, especially when one’s confide ce is haunted by the specter of serial struggles.

For many players, the prescription is mind over matter: “If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.” But the reality is that psychology is a powerful piece in the puzzle of every player’s performance. Dealing with the ups and downs of a professional career, players learn that the mental aspects of the sport can be almost as important as the physical parts.

Just ask Eric Tangradi. The Grand Rapids Griffins’ power forward knows the rollercoaster ride of professional hockey all too well.

Growing up in Philadelphia, Tangradi was a diehard Flyers fan. His bedroom included Eric Lindros and Keith Primeau jerseys and a Flyers “Legion of Doom” poster. In a city where hockey took a backseat to baseball and football,

he loved playing stick sports (lacrosse was another early passion).

When it came to ice hockey, Tangradi was actually a bit of a late bloomer.

“I was playing in a fl or hockey league at the YMCA when someone suggested to my dad that I should try roller blades,” said Tangradi, the son of a postal worker who was a carrier before bad knees forced him into a desk job.

“I played a couple of years of roller hockey before someone else suggested that he try me on skates. It was like someone was looking over us and telling us the direction that Eric Tangradi was supposed to go. Once I got on skates, I knew that hockey was what I wanted to do.”

“I played all kinds of sports, but hockey was the one thing that was different. I would play baseball, football and basketball with all the kids in the neighborhood, but we had to drive 30 minutes for me to play hockey. It was like this whole separate life where I played ice hockey with a whole new group of people.”

Tangradi was always the biggest kid in class, a little overweight until he hit his growth spurt in the ninth grade. “When I look at my minor hockey films, I see this big tree being chased around by a bunch of little guys,” he chuckled.

Grand Rapids GRIFFINS

25

Born and raised in Philadelphia, Tangradi started his NHL career with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

26 Grand Rapids GRIFFINS

When he was 16, his coach was Ed “Boxcar” Hospodar, a retired NHL defenseman who was an enforcer for the Flyers and New York Rangers, among other teams. “He asked me to name my favorite players and when I said Keith Primeau, he said, ‘That’s your guy. Be like him,’ which meant playing a north-south game, being physical and strong on the puck.”

So Tangradi wore No. 25, which was Primeau’s number with the Flyers, when he played junior hockey in Belleville, Ontario, after spending a year at Wyoming Seminary Prep School in Kingston, Pa. In juniors, he became close with P.K. Subban, the future Montreal Canadiens defensemen. Both had been chosen in the same round of the OHL draft nd Tangradi was taken one pick (42nd overall) ahead of Subban in the second round of the 2007 NHL draft “Our relationship grew stronger over the years, from two kids just trying to have some fun to him playing in the World Juniors for Canada and me for the U.S.,” Tangradi said. “We learned a lot from each other. It seemed like he did well, I did well, and then we got to the NHL level and he just took off” Tangradi was traded before he ever played a game in the NHL. On Feb. 26, 2009, he was dealt along with Anaheim Ducks forward Chris Kunitz to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for defenseman Ryan Whitney.

All of a sudden, Tangradi had to change his thinking.

“It was my fi st taste of the business,” he said.

“Growing up in Philly in a family of diehard Flyer fans, getting traded to the Penguins was like being pushed across the state to the enemy,” he said. “I knew people who would only wear Penguins shirts under their Flyer jerseys while I played there.”

As a top prospect, Tangradi was expected to eventually develop into a linemate to Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin, but he struggled in several auditions with the Penguins, tallying one goal and four assists in 45 games spread over four seasons.

“I think the hardest part was being a young kid and learning how to deal with the media,” he said.

“Before you even show up to the rink, you have people writing articles about how you’re going to be the next Kevin Stevens or the next linemate to Sidney Crosby. When handled the right way, that might give you confide ce, but as a 21-year-old

kid on his own without proper guidance, it was very tough on me.”

Tangradi made the Penguins’ roster out of training camp at the beginning of the 2010-11 season but saw his minutes dwindle before he was eventually sent back to Pittsburgh’s AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

“The Penguins still had a win-now mentality and there wasn’t a whole lot of patience for a young guy,” he said. “One of the closest guys in age to me was Crosby, and he was not somebody who you could knock on his hotel room door and say, ‘Hey, can I get some advice?’ Not to fi d excuses, but it was very, very tough, and I think I wasn’t the strongest mentally at the time.”

Tangradi admits that he may have been thinking too much.

“I would go to the rink, practice and go back to my hotel room. What else was there to do? I didn’t really have anybody to talk to or vent to, so you sit in the room and you do a lot of thinking, way too much thinking,” he said. “Nobody’s going to be perfect in this league, but if you beat yourself up over the little things, it defin tely compounds over time and it can be a tough way to play.”

On Feb. 13, 2013, Pittsburgh sent their former top prospect to the Winnipeg Jets for a seventhround pick in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. or Tangradi, it was an opportunity for a fresh start.

“In Winnipeg, I got to play a lot of minutes and I did a lot of good things,” said Tangradi, who played 91 games during the two seasons with the Jets. “Playing on the fourth line, I was able to chip in a few points, get into a few scraps and play my role.”

Being relegated to the fourth line allowed Tangradi to do what he does best.

“What I learned over the years is that when you press to put points or stats on the scoresheet, it never comes,” he said. “When I was on the fourth line, I played some of my best hockey because there was no pressure to do those things.”

Winnipeg was good for Tangradi’s confide ce but not so good for his car. Winters in Winnipeg are harsh and Tangradi wrecked his car on icy roads and was dismayed when his car battery died three times in one season. “I remember a news story that said Winnipeg was colder than Mars,” he said. “It reached like minus-51 degrees.

It was something I had never experienced, that’s for sure.”

Grand Rapids GRIFFINS

27

But a coaching change in Winnipeg ended aspect of my game where it needs to be. It’s called Tangradi’s time in Manitoba and got him being in the zone, and that zone is about trying to thinking again. Was he doing something wrong? relax and doing what you’re good at.”

“I wished things had worked out in Pittsburgh Winnipeg traded Tangradi to Montreal on and I wished things had worked out in Winnipeg, Oct. 5, 2014, in exchange for Peter Budaj and but I decided to turn the page.”

Patrick Holland. Tangradi spent most of last He decided he needed to change something. season with the Hamilton Bulldogs, although “I got to play a lot of minutes in Winnipeg, but he saw action in seven games with the NHL’s I just couldn’t fi d the back of the net. I did a lot Canadiens. of good things and I was able to earn a two-year “It was very special playing for a historic contract and show that I could be a stable NHL organization like Montreal,” he said. “Putting on player in the lineup. I felt like things were starting that sweater and playing in front of that crowd, to add up and then – boom! – I was the odd man it’s one of those moments that I’ll remember for out.” a long time. But in the end, it was one of those After talking with his agent and a number of things. Getting another chance back in the NHL, former coaches, Tangradi decided to start seeing I might have put too much pressure on myself a sports psychiatrist. “My play wasn’t suffering and I wasn’t able to establish my game.” for a lack of effort on the ice Given the chance to sign or hard work in the gym,” he “If we focus on hard work and with the Red Wings this past said. “The mental aspect of determination first, the talent summer, Tangradi jumped the game is the one thing that at the offer. “I wanted to go and all of the other things will to a place where winning I never really dialed into.

“We spend five nights a take care of themselves. The is just the DNA of the week pumping iron, running organization,” he said. “When sky’s the limit for this team...” the opportunity to come to stairs, and practicing, but as hockey players, we don’t do - Eric Tangradi Detroit presented itself, it was the proper things to train our a no-brainer.” brains. After Pittsburgh and Tangradi had actually Winnipeg, I felt it was something that I needed to given thought to going to Europe to play. “I had focus on and so I’ve really started to hammer on plenty of opportunities to go to Europe and give it the last two years.” this whole thing up,” he said. “But when I looked Tangradi believes the sessions have been into the mirror, I saw that I truly believed I could therapeutic. “Th s game is so crazy that it’s not play in the NHL. At 26, I’m not too old and I easy to be focused and stay on the right path,” he think I have what it takes to play there. I came said. “The highs and lows are huge and if I miss here because I wanted another crack.” a couple of weeks, I can feel myself slowly getting He admits that he was a bit dismayed by the off- rack. It’s all about staying positive and staying Griffins’ slow start this season. on task in terms of what’s important.”

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t struggling with In Tangradi’s mind, it’s about keeping things us being 1-7. You start questioning yourself,” he simple – and fun. “You try to create a big picture said. “You just have to refocus and pay attention in your mind of why you’re playing hockey,” to the little things and know that everything will he said. “Th s sport means so much more than be OK.” putting on your gear and scoring goals. It goes Tangradi contends that the Griffins’ early back to the beginning – to your family, your season struggles are proof that games are won on parents, your faith. It’s about keeping everything the ice and not on paper. in perspective. It humbles me and, at the same “Just having a strong roster on the board time, it motivates me.” doesn’t guarantee you’re going to have success, He has learned not to sweat the small stuff. especially in the AHL,” he said. “Th s is the league “There is no conscious thought of good or bad. where hard work wins more games than it loses.

You’re just going. Now that I’ve worked with a In the NHL, you can get away with skill a little sports psychologist, I think I’ve gotten the mental more because the talent there is so amazing. In

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28 Grand Rapids GRIFFINS

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At 6-foot-4 and 233 pounds, Tangradi is the epitome of a power forward.

Your Image Our Quest

30 Grand Rapids GRIFFINS

the AHL, it often comes down to who has a little more heart, will and determination.”

Tangradi remains confide t that the Griffins will fi d their destiny.

“If we focus on hard work and determination fi st, the talent and all of the other things will take care of themselves. The sky’s the limit for this team,” he said, just before the Griffins earned points in five of six games (4-1-0-1) and posted three straight wins against Western Conference powers.

As for himself, Tangradi resolves to strengthen his standing as a potential net presence for the Red Wings. “It’s too narrow to say ‘power forward’ only. I think I can be a net-front force who can play in every situation and who can carry a team at the right time.

“I want the coaches to know what they’re going to get out of me every night. I’m playing an in-your-face style, I’m fin shing every check, I’m showing offensive tools where I can make plays and I’m creating space for the other guys. I want to be that physical force who can open up the ice for the skilled guys, maybe tilt the ice a little bit. I want to be a game-changer.”

All in all, life is good for Tangradi, a dog lover

who owns a boxer named Carson in honor of the street in Pittsburgh where he met his wife, Caitlyn Hess.

A Penn State graduate with a knack for fashion, Caitlyn started SCHEÉ (pronounced SHE-ay), a shoe company with a philanthropic twist where a percentage of each sale goes to a charity. “She’s doing well enough to stay afl at, which is all we can ask at this point, while supporting causes like autism, breast cancer and cystic fibrosis,” Tangradi said.

With its altruistic angle, SCHEE takes nothing for granted – an attitude that Tangradi fully embraces. “You have to come to the rink every day with that mentality,” he said. “The guy next to you is someone who is trying to take your job.

You have to come to the rink and do everything possible to prove you deserve to play.”

In the end, if Tangradi doesn’t play in the NHL again, he believes he will have nobody else to blame.

“What I have learned about this business is that it’s the guys who are going to give the team the best chance to win who get to play in the NHL,” he said. “You have to do something that makes you stand out as an everyday NHL player.

It’s entirely up to you.”

Anywhere, Anytime, Anyplace.

We’re there for you!

Grand Rapids GRIFFINS

31

The Griffins have had their share of scrappers and fi hters over their 20 seasons.

32 Grand Rapids GRIFFINS

Scanning the names on the Griffins’ alltime roster, you’ll come across a number of players who didn’t hesitate to defend their teammates by dropping their gloves or using their physical presence to change the tone of a game.

Bruce Ramsay, Matt Ruchty, Chris Neil, Wade Brookbank and Darryl Bootland are just a few of the tough guys who would roam the ice, dispensing justice in their efforts to enforce the rules and maintain the integrity of the game. They were working-class superheroes who were popular among teammates and fans alike.

There was a time when players of their ilk were known as enforcers or, less favorably, as goons, but there was never any debate that they were prized for their aggressive style of play and their willingness to use their checking abilities or fists to their advantage.

Some came to the task more naturally than others, but all were eager to do whatever it took to make a difference on the ice.

Photo: Jim Hill

Story by Mark Newman

man

Probably the toughest team in the 20 seasons of Griffins hockey was the fi st. But curiously, it didn’t start that way.

Grand Rapids’ inaugural 1996-97 season opened with feisty defenseman Darcy Simon patrolling the blueline, but head coach Dave Allison called for reinforcements when a particularly scrappy San Antonio team took liberties against the expansion Griffins not once but twice.

Griffins general manager Bob McNamara secured the service of Bruce Ramsay on Nov. 5, 1996, then added Matt Ruchty a week later.

“San Antonio had a rough-and-tumble team and they came into town and beat up the Griffins pretty good. Everybody knew Davey Allison’s reputation as a player and a coach and that it was something he wasn’t going to stand for,” Ramsay recalled.

Although he was only 6-foot and 180 pounds, Ramsay was about as tough as they came. “He was, pound for pound, probably one of the toughest guys I ever played with,” said Ruchty, who played more than a decade professionally. “Don’t let anyone tell you that he wasn’t a good fi hter. He had no fear.”

Photo: Jim Hill

Bruce Ramsay

Ramsay led the International Hockey League in fi hting majors with 34 during 1996-97, then fin shed second the following season with 32.

He never backed away from a fi ht. “It’s just like anything – if you want to be good at something, you want to be the best,” Ramsay said. “I always wanted to prove that I was one of the toughest and best fi hters in the league.”

He admits that fi hting was a tough way to make a living.

“You know you’re going into a battle where you might not come out unscathed. I defin tely won more fi hts than I lost, but when I lost, the repercussions often weren’t pretty.”

- Bruce Ramsay

“Once you earn a reputation, you look at the roster of the other team and know you might have to go against their toughest players. In my case, they were usually a lot bigger and stronger, but I never backed down from the challenge,” Ramsay said.

“It’s not only difficult physically, but it’s hard on your mind, too. You know you’re going into a battle where you might not come out unscathed.

I defin tely won more fi hts than I lost, but when I lost, the repercussions often weren’t pretty. I remember getting taken out of the building once on a stretcher because of a fi ht. Every hockey player known to drop his gloves usually has that fear of getting hurt.”

Ruchty, by contrast, was hardly a onedimensional player. As a member of the 1994-95 Calder Cup-winning Albany River Rats, Ruchty tallied 26 goals and 23 assists while collecting 348 penalty minutes. He reached double figu es in goals during five of his 10 full pro seasons.

“Growing up and in college, I never envisioned myself as that type of player, but with my style of play, it was inevitable,” Ruchty said. “I was very physical. I played the body. Hitting was a big part of my game and that evolved into me getting into fi hting. When you get into altercations, you have to drop the gloves.”

“I played with some guys who just wanted to fi ht, but I wanted to play the game. I wanted to Grand Rapids GRIFFINS

33

Matt Ruchty

bring a little more to the table.”

Like Ramsay, Ruchty admits that it isn’t easy to carry the burden of being a tough guy. “It wears on you mentally because when you get into a fi ht, you can win, you can lose. I was very fortunate that I never broke any bones. I still have all my teeth. It’s not an easy thing to do.”

Ruchty agrees that the fi st Griffins team was a tough bunch. Besides Ramsay, Simon and himself, the roster included Ben Hankinson and Jamie Linden, who also weren’t afraid to drop the gloves.

Without a clear pecking order, it often was a case of “fi st come, fi st served,” Ruchty said.

Chris Neil was probably the Griffins’ fi st bonafide eavyweight. He came into the IHL during the 1999-2000 campaign after breaking into the pros with the Muskegon Fury during the playoffs he previous season.

With three older brothers, Neil already knew what it meant to stand up for himself. Now he was eager to stand up for his teammates.

“I was a skilled player in juniors and put up some points, but 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 34 Grand Rapids GRIFFINS

to make myself stand out from other guys.

“I knew I wasn’t going to make it as a top-two line guy because there were already so many guys who were really good players. I saw a lot of good players get lost in the shuffle, so I knew I had to do something different. That’s what I did, and 16 years later, I’m still going at it.”

Neil, who recorded 301 and 354 PIM in consecutive seasons in Grand Rapids, currently ranks in the all-time top 30 for NHL penalty minutes, having played more than 900 games with the Ottawa Senators during his 14-year NHL career. He has fond memories of playing with the Griffins.

“Grand Rapids had an older group of guys when I came into the league, which really helped me,” he said. “Guys like Ed Patterson, Derek King, the Miller brothers (Kevin, Kip and Kelly), Travis Richards and Danton Cole took me under their wing and just showed me the ropes. Hockey is a game and it’s fun, but you’ve obviously got to work at it as well. Those guys were all good examples for me in terms of role models for having the proper work ethic.”

During his two seasons with the Griffins, Neil had 50 fi hting majors, none more memorable Chris Neil

Wade Brookbank

it’s easier to get out there more often because they’re so good. They could hide my mistakes and carry me a little bit.

“It worked out for me because I made a name for myself fi hting in the AHL, and it gave me an opportunity to play in the NHL.”

“I saw a lot of good players get lost in the shuffle, so I knew I had to do something different. That’s what I did, and 16 years later, I’m still going at it.”

- Chris Neil

than the one he received for his toe-to-toe tussle with Mel Angelstad on Dec. 29, 1999. He bloodied the head of the K-Wings enforcer, which boosted the price that his own blood-stained jersey got in an auction later that night.

“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.”

The city was also integral to the career of Wade Brookbank, who was assessed 337 penalty minutes during the 2001-02 season when he was still a 24-year-old prospect trying to make a name for himself.

Brookbank led the league in fi hting majors that year with 38, which was nearly double the rest of his team combined. There were other tough players on the team, but Brookbank was nearly a one-man show during his third professional season.

“I was the young guy coming up and wanting to do it,” Brookbank said. “I got to play quite a bit under Bruce Cassidy and Gene Reilly, and we had a very good team that year. We had a very good defense, too. I wasn’t the best defenseman, but when you play with five other good defensemen,

Brookbank was a young kid from Saskatchewan, the middle of three brothers. “We were all into hockey,” said Brookbank, whose older brother Leigh reached major junior hockey while younger brother Sheldon – a teammate of Wade’s for six games during that 2001-02 Griffins season – played nine seasons in the NHL. “We liked scoring goals, we liked body checks, and we liked fi hting.

I just happened to be better at fi hting.”

Besides his brothers, Brookbank credits a former Griffins defenseman, Dean Trboyevich, Darryl Bootland

Grand Rapids GRIFFINS

35

with being helpful to his development as a fi hter.

Trboyevich, who played in Grand Rapids during the Griffins’ fi st two seasons, was a teammate during Brookbank’s fi st full season in the West Coast Hockey League.

“I played with him when I was 21, coming up with the Anchorage Aces,” Brookbank said. “He was a tough, older defenseman, and he went out of his way to show me the ropes of how to fi ht, when to do it and how to defend myself.”

Brookbank eventually played 127 games in the NHL, making appearances with Nashville, Vancouver, Boston and Carolina spread over five different seasons, but he looks back at his year in Grand Rapids as the one that set his career in motion.

“It was defin tely one of my better fi hting years,” Brookbank said. “It did a lot for my reputation. After that, I bounced around the NHL a lot. I couldn’t stick up there – the game’s a little too fast and too skilled for me – but I gave it a shot. In my mind, it was defin tely the year that springboarded me to the NHL.” Darryl Bootland also has fond memories of playing with the Griffins. Now in his 14th season and playing in the ECHL at age of 34, Bootland started his pro career in Grand Rapids, where he played for five seasons and became the team’s alltime penalty minute leader with 1,164.

“You get young guys coming up, wanting to make a reputation for themselves and they know right where to go.”

- Darryl Bootland

“I’ve always been a fi hter. I enjoyed it from day one,” said Bootland, who “blames” his older brother Nick and a friend for getting him started while playing pond hockey. “I never did anything like that on the streets, but I saved it for the ice.”

Always an agitator, Bootland was often eager to drop the gloves and fi ht.

“It didn’t matter who you were or what you were doing, it was time to go,” Bootland said. “At that point, I was trying to get to the next level. I was one step away, so I was fi hting for a job, fi hting for a career. When you’re younger, you’re willing to fi ht anyone and everybody.”

36 Grand Rapids GRIFFINS

Peter Vandermeer

One of his mentors in Grand Rapids was veteran enforcer Peter Vandermeer, who collected 310 penalty minutes with the Griffins during the 2004-05 season. “To learn from someone who had been doing it for almost 10 years, it was amazing how much I could learn,” Bootland said. “He was probably one of the most influential guys in my whole career. I can’t thank that guy enough.”

Bootland proved he was hardly a one-hit wonder. During the 2005-06 season, he registered 27 goals and 29 assists in 77 games while amassing 26 fi hting majors and a franchise-record 390 penalty minutes.

“Playing with Tomas Kopecky and Valtteri Filppula, it was pretty easy to score 27 goals – I probably should have had 50 that year,” Bootland said. “I probably got a contract a couple of times later in my career just because of that year.”

Like many tough guys, Bootland said he probably has fought less as he’s gotten older, although it’s not always easy. “You get young guys coming up, wanting to make a reputation for themselves and they know right where to go,” he said. “I’d like to say not many want to come my way, but it happens once in a while.”

No fi ht “M said. since and p never Br Chic he fo “A your does of it, still t In these legisl Broo a bad “W on p said. game reaso

Not that Bootland minds taking a break from fi hting.

“My body has defin tely taken a toll,” Bootland said. “I’ve played the same game the same way since I was 16 years old. I defin tely feel the aches and pains a little longer now, but it’s something I’ll never be able to take out of my game.”

Brookbank, who is now a pro scout with the Chicago Blackhawks after retiring in 2014, said he fought fewer times late in his career.

“After 10 or 15 years, you lose a little bit of your edge,” Brookbank said. “Not everybody does, but I defin tely did. I wouldn’t say I tired of it, I just didn’t go looking for it as much, but I still took care of it when something happened.”

In general, fisticuffs re a lot less frequent these days, as leagues are doing what they can to legislate fi hting out of the game. In his opinion, Brookbank said he thinks that’s not necessarily a bad idea.

“When you break down fi hting and put it on paper, it sounds barbaric and ridiculous,” he said. “I’m fi e with getting rid of that part of the game where you have tough guys fi hting for no reason. I don’t think you can make a case for it,

“In general, fisticuffs re a lot less frequent these days, as leagues are doing what they can to legislate fi hting out of the game.”

- Wade Brookbank

especially in this day and age.”

Neil may be the last of a dying breed. He is only one of two active players among the NHL’s top 100 all-time penalty minute leaders. The only other player, Boston Bruins captain Zdeno Chara, is at No. 97, nearly 900 PIM behind Neil, who is currently in the 29th slot.

“I’ve been vocal about (being against) staged fi hting because I’m not a big fan of it,” Neil said. “I’m not saying I haven’t done it, I’m just not a fan. Sometimes you’re battling in front of the net and you look into the other guy’s eyes and you know you’re going. That’s the way I like to do it.

“I take pride in being able to get under the skin of the other team. I’m a guy who likes to go out and create a spark for my team, whether it’s

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37

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“It’s a different era,” a hit or you’re battling in front of the net.

Ruchty said. “The “I take pride in being able to get When the intensity under the skin of the other team. I’m game is different now.

I think it’s changed for level is high, that’s a guy who likes to go out and create a the good in terms of when you see your spark for my team, whether it’s a hit entertainment value. best fi hts.

“I look back fondly or you’re battling in front of the net.” Guys today are so big and fast and skilled. on the days of old - Chris Neil But there’s no fear school hockey. Bob factor anymore. I don’t Probert was a prime know if that’s better or worse, but it’s changed.” example of a guy who could play the game and Neil hopes it doesn’t change too much more. make something happen, whether it was going He would like to play one more season, which out and scoring a goal, making a hit or getting would likely allow him to top 1,000 games into a fi ht. I think there’s still room in the game played for his NHL career. for it because it’s an exciting part of the game “I’ve been very blessed and fortunate to be and fans still love to see it.” with the Ottawa organization for so long,” he Ruchty is another person who doesn’t believe said. “After being drafted by the Senators in the fi hting should ever completely disappear from late rounds, I was a long shot to make it, but I the sport.

“If anybody says that people don’t like fi hting, worked hard and I think they appreciated it.

“Making it to 1,000 games would be cool. just watch how the crowd reacts when there’s a Obviously that’s a milestone I would like to fi ht,” Ruchty said. “Everybody stands up and the crowd cheers, even more so than for a goal in reach,” Neil said. “We’ll see how it goes. I still feel good. Playing with a lot of young guys, I feel certain circumstances. The crowd loves it.” like I’m 25. I feel like I have lots left in he tank.”

Even so, he admits the times have changed.

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39

2015

2016

12

ANDREAS ATHANASIOU Forward 6-2, 200 lbs.

Born: 8/6/94 London, Ont.

45

22

LOUIS-MARC AUBRY Forward 6-4, 212 lbs.

Born: 11/11/91 Arthabaska, Que.

11 COLIN CAMPBELL

31

Forward 6-0, 200 lbs.

Born: 10/5/93 Pelhrimov, Czech Republic 40 Grand Rapids GRIFFINS

Goaltender 6-6, 220 lbs.

Born: 11/5/91 Perth, Ont.

10 TRISTON GRANT

Forward 6-1, 221 lbs.

Born: 2/2/84 Neepawa, Man.

15

MITCH CALLAHAN Forward 6-0, 195 lbs.

Born: 8/17/91 Whittier, Calif.

T

2 JARED COREAU

Forward 6-1, 205 lbs.

Born: 12/18/78 Carbonear, Nfld

23 MARTIN FRK

TYLER BERTUZZI Forward 6-1, 195 lbs.

Born: 2/24/95 Sudbury, Ont.

DANIEL CLEARY

Forward 6-1, 205 lbs.

Born: 4/17/91 Toronto, Ont.

27

39

SCOTT CZARNOWCZAN Defenseman 5-11, 183 lbs.

Born: 5/29/91 Macomb, Mich.

14 JEFF HOGGAN Forward 6-1, 190 lbs.

Born: 2/1/78 Hope, B.C.

NICK JENSEN

Defenseman 6-0, 195 lbs.

Born: 9/21/90 Minneapolis, Minn.

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18

BRIAN LASHOFF

8

Defenseman 6-3, 221 lbs.

Born: 7/16/90 Albany, N.Y.

21

ANTHONY MANTHA Forward 6-5, 204 lbs.

Born: 9/16/94 Longueuil, Que.

37 ZACH NASTASIUK

Forward 5-8, 175 lbs.

Born: 4/15/88 Detroit, Mich.

Forward 6-1, 200 lbs.

Born: 3/30/95 Barrie, Ont.

4 XAVIER OUELLET

Defenseman 6-1, 200 lbs.

Born: 7/29/93 Bayonne, France

7 Defenseman 6-3, 205 lbs.

Born: 1/13/93 Mississauga, Ont.

Defenseman 6-5, 228 lbs.

Born: 7/1/93 Jablonec nad Nisou, Czech Republic

TOMAS NOSEK

Forward 6-2, 210 lbs.

Born: 9/1/92 Pardubice, Czech Republic

5 ROBBIE RUSSO

Forward 6-4, 220 lbs.

Born: 6/14/87 Milwaukee, Wisc.

13 Forward 6-4, 233 lbs.

Born: 2/10/89 Philadelphia, Pa.

Goaltender 6-2, 215 lbs.

Born: 12/7/89 Sanborn, N.Y.

JOEL RECHLICZ

Defenseman 6-1, 195 lbs.

Born: 3/30/83 LeRoy, Sask.

TOM MCCOLLUM

19

RICHARD NEDOMLEL

44

ERIC TANGRADI

30

Defenseman 6-3, 210 lbs.

Born: 1/2/92 Moscow, Russia

NATHAN PAETSCH

26 RYAN SPROUL

ALEXEY MARCHENKO

42

ANDY MIELE

16

3

Defenseman 6-0, 195 lbs.

Born: 2/15/93 Westmont, Ill.

9 MAREK TVRDON Forward 6-2, 217 lbs.

Born: 1/31/93 Nitra, Slovakia

MARK ZENGERLE Forward 5-10, 185 lbs.

Born: 5/12/89 Rochester, N.Y.

Grand Rapids GRIFFINS

1:15 PM

41

Story and photos by Mark Newman

TRUSTED ADVISOR

Bruce Ramsay is excited to be working alongside his former teammate and coaching buddy, Todd Nelson.

Ramsay brings 11 seasons of head coaching experience to his job as an assistant with the Griffi .

Bruce Ramsay had every intention of becoming a teacher.

He had just fin shed his university degree when he got an opportunity in 1994 to try out for the Prince Edward Island Senators, the American Hockey League team affiliated with the NHL’s Ottawa Senators.

Ramsay had played three seasons for Thunder Bay in the Colonial Hockey League, a lowerlevel circuit where he made a living dropping his gloves, twice collecting 313 penalty minutes in a single season. He didn’t know the head coach, Dave Allison, but he did his best to impress the new boss behind the bench.

42 Grand Rapids GRIFFINS

“I did what I did best in training camp,” Ramsay said. Fighting for a roster spot, he took the the challenge quite literally. He knew opportunities to play at a higher level didn’t come around that often, so he knuckled down and worked hard to get noticed.

Ramsay didn’t earn a roster spot out of camp, but he was eventually called up to play a couple of games for the 1994-95 Senators team that included no less than seven players who would one day play for the Grand Rapids Griffins.

One look at the scoresheet seemingly told you everything you needed to know about Ramsay.

He amassed 462 penalty minutes in 62 games for the Thunder Bay Senators during the 1994-95 season, when he added 14 goals and 29 assists, impressive totals given the amount of time he was spending in the sin bin.

Ramsay had 400 penalty minutes in 56 games with Thunder Bay the following season, when he also appeared in three games in the International Hockey League with the Milwaukee Admirals.

He was not one to sit quietly, waiting for opportunities to come. Th s was not a man sitting on his hands.

He quickly earned a reputation as a standup guy, an energetic enforcer who was eager to defend his teammates without hesitation or fear.

At age 26, he became a player-assistant coach in Thunder Bay when he received another call from Allison.

Allison had become the new head coach of the expansion team in Grand Rapids, and he had taken issue with the fact that San Antonio Dragons had taken liberties with his Griffins squad not once but twice during the fi st month

of the team’s inaugural 1996-97 season.

“He persuaded me to come here for a couple of games to see what it was like and I took advantage of the opportunity,” Ramsay said. “A two-week tryout turned into three years with the Griffins and the opportunity to meet my wife, Jennifer.”

Two decades later, Ramsay is back in Grand Rapids as an assistant coach to former teammate Todd Nelson. Even though he retired as a player long ago, Ramsay, now the father of two children, Natalie, 14, and Reid, 11, remains as competitive as ever.

“I’ve probably settled down a bit from my playing days, but I still have that energy and fi e,” he said. “When I played, there was never any question that I wanted to win more than anyone else. That’s always been my approach.”

Ramsay was a rugged competitor whose toughness was unmatched. More than one teammate has proclaimed that Ramsay was, pound for pound, the toughest guy they knew, and it was hardly a surprise when he signed a contract with the St. Louis Blues following his fi st season in Grand Rapids.

It gave him his fi st and only taste of an NHL training camp.

“It was an incredible thrill, especially when you consider the players who were there at the time: Brett Hull, Adam Oates, Chris Pronger, Al MacInnis, Steve Duchesne, Grant Fuhr and the list goes on. It was especially cool for me because Pronger was from my hometown, Dryden, Ontario, and even used to date my sister.”

The Blues’ roster also included Pavol Demitra, whom Ramsay had befriended the prior year because both of their careers went back to Prince Edward Island. “We got tattoos together with Matt Ruchty,” he recalled. “I got a ram and he got a bulldog.”

Ramsay was assigned by St. Louis to Worcester (AHL) after the camp, but he never played there as the Griffins bought out his contract so he could return to Grand Rapids. “I thought I had a real good training camp, but there were 70-plus players there and I was a little older, so I don’t think I fit into St. Louis’ plans.”

After playing two more seasons with the Griffins – for whom his 781 penalty minutes still rank second all time – Ramsay departed to become a player-assistant coach for Allison in

Fort Wayne during the 1999-2000 season. He played a year in the Central Hockey League with the Wichita Thunder before fin shing his playing career in Muskegon.

Ramsay and Todd Nelson were serving as player-assistant coaches under Danton Cole in 2001-02 when the Muskegon Fury captured the Colonial Cup as UHL champs. “There’s no better feeling after working so hard for a whole season than experiencing the results of being the best in the league,” he said.

Although Ramsay and Nelson became close that season, their bond had been forged much earlier.

“When I got called up to the Griffins, my fi st game was in Quebec City and my roommate was Todd Nelson,” he recalled. “Right from the beginning, we hit it off. We stayed close through the years, and after Nellie got the head coaching position in Muskegon, he relied heavily on me to help him out.”

In 2002-03, Ramsay had left he UHL to accept his fi st head coaching position in the Atlantic Coast Hockey League, but he returned to lead the Port Huron Beacons through the 2003-04 campaign.

Nelson, meanwhile, led the Fury to backto-back UHL titles in 2004 and 2005 before losing out in the second round in 2006. When Nelson left o become an assistant coach with the Chicago Wolves, he recommended Ramsay to be his successor.

Ramsay was the head coach in Muskegon for three seasons before taking the head coaching position with the CHL’s Tulsa Oilers in 2009-10, one year before Nelson became the head coach of the Oklahoma City Barons.

All told, Ramsay coached six years in Tulsa, giving him a total of 11 seasons of head coaching experience at the AA level.

“When you’re the head coach and director of hockey operations at that level, you’re in charge of recruiting, immigration, housing, scheduling… basically every aspect that falls under running a team,” he said. “It was a very hands-on experience.”

For the past five seasons, Ramsay and Nelson were the only two professional hockey coaches in Oklahoma.

“We were only 90 minutes away, so I’d visit him sometimes in Oklahoma City and he’d come Grand Rapids GRIFFINS

43

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MR. POSITIVE Griffins assistant coach emains thrilled to have found a career in hockey.

Story and photos by Mark Newman

Ramsay played three seasons with the Griffi , from 1996 to 1999.

fish with me in the summertime,” Ramsay said.

“I loved Tulsa, a great city with friendly people.

It was really hot in the summer, but the winters were nice.”

When Nelson succeeded Jeff lashill to become the 10th head coach in Griffins history, Ramsay got the offer to join his old teammate and coaching buddy in Grand Rapids. He didn’t hesitate before saying yes.

“Nellie is an intelligent coach who understands the game extremely well,” Ramsay said. “He knows how to motivate players to strive to be their best. And, like I do, he believes in having a healthy locker room where guys want to play for the guy beside them, where the whole team is working for each other.”

Ramsay was thrilled to be given the opportunity to not only rejoin the Griffins but also to work with the Red Wings organization.

“I think 24 straight seasons in the playoff says everything about the standards that are set in Detroit,” he said. “Developing players is their specialty and I’m excited that I’m now going to be part of that process. As a coach, you want to work with the best players you can, and I now get to work with future NHLers. That’s really exciting.”

Simon is in his first season as an assista t coach under Griffins head oach Todd Nelson.

Ben Simon counts his blessings every day.

Making a career in hockey is something that he never imagined when he was young.

“I didn’t really play year-round,” he said.

“I played baseball with the same group of friends, and in the summer we were on our bikes, cruising the neighborhood. We were just hanging out with our buddies. It wasn’t hockey, hockey, hockey, like it is now.”

But Simon played hockey every year, through mite, squirt and pee wee, until he played Junior-A hockey for the Cleveland Barons. He tried out and played for Team USA in a tournament in Japan and soon found himself on the radar of a number of colleges.

He made five offi al campus visits before choosing Notre Dame, drawn by the allure of being in the fi st recruiting class of head coach Dave Poulin, a 13-year NHL veteran who had played for the Philadelphia Flyers, Boston Bruins and Washington Capitals.

“It’s a football school, no question, but there’s a mystique about Notre Dame,” Simon said.

Grand Rapids GRIFFINS

45

“Everybody thinks there’s a mystique about their alma mater, but there’s something about that school that makes it quite the experience.

The tradition of athletics and academics made a win-win situation.”

Simon not only earned a degree in sociology, but he also met his wife there. Beth Cooper was a Kalamazoo Central High graduate who was a member of the women’s golf team at Notre Dame.

“You talk about what the game of hockey can do for you. I was a kid from Cleveland who played a game because my brothers played it and had fun doing it and all of a sudden I get a scholarship to a great academic institution, I meet my wife, have kids, travel to different countries, get the job I have now – all because of chasing a stupid puck.

“It’s funny what a game can do for your life.”

The job Simon now has is being an assistant coach for the Grand Rapids Griffins, a position for which the seeds of success were sown many years earlier.

Drafted in the fi h round (110th overall) in 1997 by the Chicago Blackhawks, Simon saw his rights traded to the Atlanta Thr shers (“for a

bag of pucks,” he jokes) before he ever played a game professionally. He was a winner right from the start, capturing championships in his fi st two pro seasons. On both occasions, his team defeated the Griffins during its playoff un.

In 2000-01, he was a member of the Turner Cup-winning Orlando Solar Bears, a team that was led by Todd Richards, Mark Beaufait and Jarrod Skalde. (The roster included several players – Hugo Boisvert, Bryan Adams, Yves ramSarault, Wade Brookbank and David Gove – familiar to Griffins fans).

“We had 10 or 11 rookies – it was a young group of guys who were enthusiastic about coming to the rink every day,” he said. “You may not remember all the wins and loses, but you remember the people and the times you went through together as a team and the fun you had at the rink.”

In 2001-02, Simon won a Calder Cup with the Chicago Wolves, a team led by Steve Maltais, J.P. Vigier, Cory Larose and goaltender Kari Lehtonen. He also saw his fi st NHL action, appearing in six games with the Thr shers. “Once you get a taste, you want more,” he said.

After another season split between Chicago

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and Atlanta, Simon signed a contract with the next season, but he went unsigned and played in Nashville Predators. But his 2003-04 season Springfi ld instead. A year in Germany followed, began on a sour note when a former teammate, then he auditioned with the ECHL’s Kalamazoo Dan Snyder, died in a tragic car accident.

Wings at the beginning of the 2009-10 season “He was one of my best friends and any time before he was called back to the AHL by the you lose a friend, it’s tough,” he said. “I was Toronto Marlies. struggling because I felt “Dave Poulin, my old like I wanted nothing to coach at Notre Dame, do with hockey.” was director of hockey Playing for the operations in Toronto, Milwaukee Admirals, and I had played with Simon returned from a (head coach) Dallas two-week road trip to Eakins in Chicago, so learn he had been traded I was happy when they back to Atlanta. He spent called,” he said. Simon the rest of the season played 44 games with in the NHL. He scored the Marlies, but it was three goals in 52 games becoming evident that he as the fourth-line center was nearing the end of of the Thr shers. his playing career.

“What came out of Unable to secure a that whole experience job in the AHL, Simon is that you can’t take headed to England to anything for granted,” become the player-coach he said. “Come to the of the Sheffield Steelers. rink every day, have fun.

“I wanted to play one Every day is a chance more season and nothing to get better. Every day was really popping over presents an opportunity here,” he recalled. “My to embrace the agent found the Sheffield Simon played 21 games with the Griffin challenge. I really took job and it was a good during the 2006-07 season. those things to heart. opportunity to explore The game of hockey has coaching a little bit. A a funny way of teaching you life lessons.” lot of players think it’s a natural progression, but During the 2004-05 NHL lockout, Simon was I wasn’t sure if I would like it. I figu ed it was a back in Chicago. The Wolves reached the Calder good way to get one more year of playing out Cup Finals, losing to a Philadelphia team that of my system while fi ding out whether or not included Mike Richards and Patrick Sharp. “That coaching was for me.” might have been some of the best hockey I ever His team won the regular season played,” he said. “Both teams were stacked with championship with a record of 43-10-0-1. some really good prospects who were right at the “Sheffield is an old steel town where the cusp of breaking through.” original Stanley Cup was made,” he said. “It By the 2005-06 season, Simon had reached was a new cultural experience. We saw some proverbial journeyman status. He signed with cool parts of the country, Ireland, old castles, the Columbus Blue Jackets and bounced up and Belfast, and Saint Andrews.” down between the NHL and the team’s AHL More signifi antly, he discovered he loved affiliate in Syracuse until then-Griffins general coaching. manager Bob McNamara, another Notre Dame “From the coaching side, it was a blast,” he grad, brought him to the Griffins a couple of said. “It really taught me organizational skills and months before the end of the 2006-07 season. things like time management, because the job Simon had hoped to stay in Grand Rapids the included things like marketing, ticket sales and Grand Rapids GRIFFINS

47

payroll. It was a good learning experience, plus I got to play a little bit, too.”

Simon returned to the States in 2011 to become an assistant with the Rockford IceHogs.

He was hired by Stan Bowman, another Notre Dame graduate. “When I interviewed, it was the fi st time we met,” he said. “It was a tremendous organization. Chicago does a lot of things right and they do a great job of developing players. It was fun to be a part of their 2013 Stanley Cup run as black aces.”

Unfortunately, he was looking for work again after the 2012-13 season when Rockford downsized to one assistant. He became the head coach of the Cincinnati Cyclones for 2013-14, leading the team to the ECHL fi als where the Cyclones lost to Alaska in six games.

All the while, Simon was becoming a stronger coach.

“You get a little sharper in terms of picking things out, little habits that can help players,” he said. “You learn systems, ways of presenting, how to approach guys. It’s no different than a job in a factory or a farm. You get better with age. For better or worse, you learn something from every experience.”

48 Grand Rapids GRIFFINS

Simon spent last season in Toronto, where he was an assistant coach for the AHL’s Marlies.

“It was a chance to work for the Toronto Maple Leafs organization with two people I thought the world of. Gord Dineen, who was the head coach, is one of the most down-to-earth, humble people you’ll ever meet, and associate coach Derek King is one of the most personable, fun-loving guys with the biggest heart in the world.

“It was fun going to the rink with them every day. I learned a lot. We had a lot of young guys and had a slow start. We began the year 5-12, but we fin shed the year 25-15. We clawed our way into the playoffs nd then we played Grand Rapids.

“We were up 2-0 in games and we were rolling, and then all of a sudden we poked the bear. We had a lot of young guys and I think that played into how we let the series slip away. Blash (Jeff Blashill, then Griffins head coach) obviously did his homework. He made some corrections and his team responded.”

It was a devastating loss for Toronto. “At the end of the year, they blew everything up,” he said.

“They got rid of the GM, the coaches, the scouts.

They were going to rebuild.”

After Blashill was promoted to Detroit, Simon reached out to Red Wings assistant general manager Ryan Martin and Todd Nelson, who was rumored to be the leading candidate to replace Blashill, to express his interest in coming to Grand Rapids.

Simon is thrilled to be back with the Griffins.

He sees it as not only a good move for his career but also for his family. His daughters, Meg, 12, and Kate, 9, both play travel hockey. “They love life and they’re having fun,” he said.

Best of all, he’s doing what he loves.

“Hockey is Xs and Os, but at the end of the day, you’re dealing with people. The game doesn’t change. It’s the same game that eightyear-olds play, it’s just the people and the teams that change. It’s managing personalities and egos. It’s giving a guy a pick-me-up when he’s sent down, it’s the thrill of telling a kid that he’s been called up.

“You can’t put a price on the smile you get when you give a kid the news. Of course, you’ve got to give full credit to the player, but as a coach it’s hard not to think that you had a little something to do with it. It’s pretty cool to see them achieve their boyhood dream.

To help facilitate that feels almost as good as doing it yourself.”

He is doing his best to provide the direction and guidance that will help the Red Wings’ top prospects reach the next level.

“You try to keep them accountable,” he said.

“You have to hold players to a high standard.

There’s a fi e line between being too nice and laying down the hammer when it’s needed. In pro sports, if you’re not doing your job, somebody else is going to come along and take it away.

“Each person is wired differently and that’s the fun of coaching. You’ve got to figu e out how to press these guys’ buttons, how to get them to react and produce. That’s our job as coach and there are a lot of moving parts, but that’s what we’ve got to figu e out.”

The Griffins’ slow start failed to put a damper on his enthusiasm.

“Winning is contagious,” he said. “Being positive is contagious, just as a negative attitude is, too. Whether you’re winning or losing, it’s important to have that positive environment, a place where guys want to work, compete and have fun. At the end of the day, it’s still a game.”

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As Part 2 of a season-long series celebrating the organization’s 20th anniversary, Griffi caught up with a hat trick of former Griffins now making their marks in other professions.

50 Grand Rapids GRIFFINS

he ht

BRAD FERENCE: QUENCHING THE COMPETITIVE FIRES When Brad Ference saw his career coming to an end in Grand Rapids during the 2007-08 season, he began to think about what was next.

He wasn’t yet 29 years old, but a bad wrist injury and a couple of years in the American Hockey League had left him ondering whether his NHL career was over after 250 games with the Florida Panthers, Phoenix Coyotes and Calgary Flames.

Ference had suffered a radiocarpal dislocation of his wrist when David Ling hit him from behind and sent him crashing into the boards during a game in Toronto. “The doctor compared the damage to the ligaments to an injury suffered in a car crash,” he said. “If the bone had broken, I’d probably have been better off.”

He thought about a career in commercial real estate. He considered a career in the oil and gas industry, which was thriving at the time in Calgary. He thought about going back to school. “Hockey had been my whole life, so it was a big decision.”

Ultimately, he found the idea of becoming a

city fi efi hter in Calgary the most appealing.

“My dad was a city employee in the planning department for many years,” he said. “Being a fi efi hter is a good stable job and it’s as close to a hockey team as you can get.”

Ference was attracted to the camaraderie and sense of teamwork that exists in a fi e hall, not to mention the physical demands of the profession.

“Plus it offers a pretty good schedule for the family – two 10-hour days, two 14-hour nights and then four days off,” he said.

He went through 16 weeks of fi e academy training, undergoing various degrees of systematic training, from fi e ground tactics to aerial pumping. He was one of a couple thousand people applying for 20 positions, but he made the cut.

Ference started in the Calgary Fire Department in January 2009. He is one of 1,500 fi efi hters who staff he city’s 43 fi e halls.

“What I enjoy is that every call is different,” he said. “You never go on the same call twice. Every time the alarm rings, we’re on the truck going Grand Rapids GRIFFINS

51

somewhere to something interesting. It’s usually people’s worst day, but that’s what we’re trained for.”

He is also a member of the department’s water rescue team. The Bow River is a popular destination in Calgary plus there are a number of man-made lakes in the area, so there are any number of potential opportunities for Ference to put his training into action.

“It’s a highly sought after position, but I’ve always been a good swimmer,” he said. “I’ve been a boat guy since I was a kid. My family went to the lake in the summer and I bought a lake house in British Columbia a few years ago.”

During the summer, Ference patrols the river and talks to people about water safety. River rescues are almost a daily occurrence during the warmer months, and occasionally a driver will put their car through the ice during Calgary’s freezing winters.

Ference was present at one of the biggest fi es in Calgary in the past 10 years – a five-story condo building covering an entire city block.

“I was inside the fi e, looking in the attic when we had to pull out,” he recalled. “The size and magnitude of the fi e was a once-in-a-lifetime event. It was a crazy call.”

Working in potentially dangerous situations, Ference’s hockey background comes into play.

“When the adrenaline runs high, you have to stay calm and be instructive while staying safe,” he said. “If we end up hurting ourselves, we’re no good to the people we’re there to help.”

Like a hockey team, fi efi hters are a closeknit bunch. “We’ve had the same crew for a full three years at my fi e hall,” he said. “We know each other’s families. We have Christmas dinners together. We’ve got to have each other’s backs in those situations.”

Their work doesn’t go unnoticed. “When policemen show up, they’re the bad guy, but when you call the fi e department, everybody is happy to see you,” Ference said. “It’s gratifying when little kids come by the fi e hall to thank the

crew for saving their home or an elderly woman drops off a ake or coffee in appreciation for a smoke detector.”

While there are long hours, the schedule allows him the freedom to spend more time with his family. Ference and his wife, Kristin, have two children: Morgan, 6, and Easton, 3. “Not many dads have the time to pick up their kids from school and take them to their activities,” he said while making a backyard rink on a Saturday afternoon.

Easton is already on skates, which pleases Ference, who still skates at least once a week himself. He is a member of the Calgary Fire Department’s ice hockey team that won the gold medal at the World Police and Fire Games in Fairfax, Virginia, this past July, beating Moscow Fire by a 5-4 score in the Gold Medal Final.

The World Police and Fire Games is a biennial athletic event, open to active and retired law enforcement and fi e service personnel throughout the world. The Games attract approximately 10,000 entrants, slightly fewer than the Summer Olympic Games.

“Our team is pretty good,” Ference said. “We have about a dozen ex-pro players, including Chris Herperger, who played 169 NHL games, and Todd Ford, our goalie, who was a thirdround draft ick of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

All of our defensemen played at least major junior hockey.”

Ference said his team won silver and bronze at previous Games in Vancouver and New York City. “The next Games will be in Montreal, Quebec, in 2017 and I will probably go to that one, but probably not the 2019 Games in China,” he said.

He also participates in an intrasquad league, which helps satisfy his competitive urge. “I love my work; it’s a great job, so getting to play hockey with the guys is a nice bonus.”

— Mark Newman

KEVYN ADAMS: DEVELOPING ELITE HOCKEY PLAYERS Kevyn Adams has fond memories of the 1996-97 season. Not only was it his fi st as a professional after four years at Miami University, but it was also the inaugural season of the Grand Rapids Griffins.

“Everything was a big deal,” Adams recalled.

52 Grand Rapids GRIFFINS

“I remember our fi st win in Indianapolis, the fi st game in the arena, playing in front of soldout crowds every night. It was fun playing with a group of good guys in a great league.”

Adams signed with the Griffins after failing to come to contract terms with the Boston Bruins,

who had chosen him in the fi st round (25th overall) of the 1993 NHL Entry Draft. I needed some place to play and, as a 21-year-old kid out of college, I learned a lot in a short time,” he said.

“I was fortunate to have some success on the ice, which helped my career moving forward.”

He singled out Todd and Jeff elson, Brian Dobbin and Michel Picard as some of the veterans who helped him make the transition to the pro lifestyle. It was a good lesson for Adams, who would spend 10 seasons in the NHL, including 2005-06 when he was a member of the Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes.

“I had an amazing run of wonderful teams and teammates,” said Adams, who also played for Toronto, Columbus, Florida and Chicago. “I had a lot of great experiences over the years, and winning the Stanley Cup is at the top of the list.

The journey was great.”

Once he was established in the NHL, Adams did his best to be a good elder statesman, helping younger players make the adjustment to the pros as the Griffins once did for him.

“There were guys I tried to take under my wing, like Eric Staal and Andrew Ladd in Carolina or Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews in Chicago,” he said. “They didn’t need my help on the ice – they were world class players from the get-go – but I tried to show them how to be a pro and how to approach the game. I took on that role late in my career and I really enjoyed it.”

Knee injuries ended Adams’ playing career, but a chance meeting with Buff lo Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff at a golf tournament in 2009 led to his becoming the player development coach for the NHL team. Two years later, he became an assistant coach under Ruff.

“It seemed like a natural progression from the role I had assumed late in my career,” he said.

“Player development was something I took very seriously. I read a lot of books and even went back to school to get my MBA. I was fascinated by the process of player development and what it takes to get better.

“I loved coaching, too. I loved the strategic, behind-the-scenes work and all the things you did to prepare, as well as the day-to-day interaction with the players. I really enjoyed my two years behind the bench.”

After the Sabres parted ways with Ruff, Adams lost his job following the 2012-13 season. But it opened a new opportunity as he joined the management team of the new HarborCenter in downtown Buff lo, the dream project of Terry and Kim Pegula, owners of the Sabres and Buff lo Bills, who envisioned creating a worldclass destination for aspiring hockey players from western New York and southern Ontario.

“I was close to taking a job with another NHL team when I sat down for coffee with Terry and Kim to talk about their vision of doing something special in the hockey world,” Adams said. “Their big vision lined up with everything I am passionate about from the development side.”

As vice president and director of the complex’s Academy of Hockey, Adams oversees a fulltime staff f seven development coaches who run a slate of rigorous on-ice training programs designed to help the dedicated hockey player reach their highest potential.

Taking a holistic approach, the Academy Grand Rapids GRIFFINS

53

strives for a 360-degree education experience that emphasizes skill progression, innovation and personalized contact befitting a close coach-to-player ratio that allows for consistent communication and correction.

The Academy has programs for all ages and abilities, from youngsters who are 4, 5 or 6 years old up to NHL players looking to push their skills to the next level. “We’re trying to provide opportunities for young players who want to be taught the right way,” he said. “We’re targeting the serious hockey players who want to get better.”

HarborCenter, which is connected to First Niagara Center (the home of the Buff lo Sabres), includes two NHL rinks, a full-service Marriott Hotel and a Tim Hortons restaurant. “It’s a phenomenal facility in a unique market,” Adams said. “We’re changing the mindset in terms of how you need to look at the whole picture when it comes to developing a hockey player.”

In two short years, Adams said the Academy has impacted nearly 2,000 players. “I really love what I’m doing,” he said. “But what trumps everything for me is that I’m able to be with my family every day. I get to coach my son’s hockey team or my daughter’s soccer team or watch my

other daughter’s theater performances.”

Adams and his wife, Stacey, have three kids.

Emerson, 14, is a high school freshman. Paulina will soon turn 11 and Jackson, who plays hockey on the same team as the son of former Griffins captain Matt Ellis, is 8.

“What’s fun for me is not only do I coach his youth team, but he also gets to spend a lot of time with me at the Academy. I’ll pick him up from school and he’ll do his homework and then do the programs here. The opportunity to spend time with him is priceless.”

Adams is working on developing partnerships with area youth hockey programs as well as with players and coaches from Europe. “We would like to bring players and coaches here in the summer and then reciprocate by sending players and coaches to them.”

Outreach is an important component of the goals of the Academy, and Adams sees plenty of opportunities to make the HarborCenter a premier destination for players and coaches alike. “The chance to do something special and lasting in my hometown would obviously be very rewarding.” — Mark Newman

DAVE VAN DRUNEN: ICE IN HIS VEINS During his 14-year pro career, Dave Van Drunen came to the rescue more than once. He was a solid, steady defenseman whose play made him a valuable addition. He played five seasons in Grand Rapids (1999-2004), plus four more with the Muskegon Fury.

So it seems appropriate that the goodnatured defender became a paramedic after he retired from hockey following the 2010-11 season. “I probably would have toughed it out for a couple more years, but the body just didn’t cooperate,” he said.

Van Drunen endured a particularly tough fi al season. He had his nose and jaw broken during the exhibition season when he was sucker punched in a brawl. It took 18 screws and four plates to repair the damages.

“I came back two months later and played for about a month before I stopped a slapshot similar to those I had blocked a couple of million times in my career,” he said. “Somehow it hit a funny spot and split my kneecap in two.”

The knee never healed properly. “When they 54 Grand Rapids GRIFFINS

pulled out the screws and I started skating, the knee swelled up really bad,” he said. “I had an MRI instead of an X-ray and my knee looked like

s. ina key ns

his time m o

hips with d like mer

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Pac-Man, so I needed a second surgery and my knee never quite healed like it should have.”

Van Drunen started attending fi e school in Odessa, Texas, where he had been captain of the Jackalopes in the Central Hockey League his last three seasons. He attended Odessa College and took six months of basic EMT training, then spent 18 months in the paramedic program.

When his schooling was fin shed, he returned to Michigan and landed a job with Rockford Ambulance.

“Getting to help people gives you a good feeling,” Van Drunen said. “Knowing that you can go out and do some good for people makes every hour of the long days worth it.”

Working 24-hour shifts nd confronting highpressure situations in the process requires the stamina and mental fortitude that allowed Van Drunen to excel on the ice.

“Obviously the stakes are a lot different, but your body reacts the same way,” he said. “You get that rush of adrenaline, but you have to try to stay calm and in the moment and do what you have to do, then there’s a big sigh of relief when it’s over and you feel exhausted.”

Like changing on the fly in a hockey game,

Van Drunen quickly became accustomed to the ups and downs of the work. “Whether it’s two in the morning or two in the afternoon, you go when the calls come,” he said.

“If you’re not busy, you’re either sitting in the ambulance or you’re back at one of the satellite stations trying to catch some sleep. When you’re running 24 hours straight and you get some high stress calls, it can mentally wear on you.”

The life of a paramedic requires responding to everything from toenail fungus to really bad car accidents, according to Van Drunen. “The worst is seeing little kids in bad car accidents. There’s a lot of stuff hat you see that you can’t unsee.”

It’s the calls with happy outcomes that make the drudgery worth it. “One of my favorite calls involved a gentleman who actually collapsed in the ambulance on the way to the hospital and died,” he said. “His wife was with us and within a couple of minutes, we were were able to shock him and bring him back.”

Once Van Drunen was assigned to follow a SWAT team making an entrance into a home.

“We sat around the corner, waiting in case someone got hurt or shot,” he said. “We never got the call, but that was pretty cool.”

he n like Grand Rapids GRIFFINS

55

But the sobering calls are the ones that he thinks about, whether it’s fishing a body out of the river or responding to a fatality involving a six-month-old child who had died after falling off a couch while sleeping.

“Usually fatalities involve an older person in bed who passed away in their sleep, but in this instance I walked into the room where this was this little body that was such a blue color, I thought it was a doll,” he said. “Then it hits you, ‘Oh no, that’s not right! To see the parents in their shock and disbelief, it’s pretty tough to deal with.”

Of course, there are moments of levity. Van Drunen jokes that one of his best saves involved a snapper turtle trying to cross a country road. “We pulled the ambulance over and turned on our lights,” he recalled. “We helped it across the road by nudging it.”

All in all, Van Drunen said the work of a

paramedic is rather fulfilling. “If you don’t get a good feeling from being able to go out and do something for somebody else that needs help, you don’t want to be a paramedic,” he said.

The schedule is not exactly the best for raising a family. Van Drunen and his wife, Jill, have two children: Connor, 11, and Brooke, 8, so when his old pal and teammate Travis Richards called with an offer to become the rink operations manager of the Southside Ice Arena in Byron Center, he couldn’t pass up the opportunity.

“A bad day at the rink is still a good day,” he said. “I love being at the rink. I’ve always felt that way.”

Van Drunen is still a licensed paramedic and has given thought about working both jobs, but he’s been too busy at the rink to get serious about it. “I had never paid much attention to what it takes to maintain ice, but you just don’t freeze it. A lot goes into it,” he said. — Mark Newman

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Miche

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ALL-T ACTIV SING

2014-

Martin

ALL-T ACTIV SING 2014-

* Led L

RECORD BOOK AND LEADERS (Through Nov. 24, 2015)

GAMES PLAYED

GOALS

ASSISTS

ALL-TIME: ACTIVE LEADER: SINGLE-SEASON: 2014-15:

Travis Richards....................... 655 Mitch Callahan (16th)............ 251 5 players tied......................... *82 Jeff oggan/Kevin Porter....... *76

Michel Picard............................158 Mitch Callahan (T14th)...............61 Donald MacLean (2005-06)......*56 Teemu Pulkkinen......................*34

Michel Picard.................................. 222 Nathan Paetsch (T10th).................... 88 Jiri Hudler (2005-06)........................ 60 Andy Miele....................................... 44

Michel Picard

Travis Richards

Darryl Bootland

POINTS

PLUS/MINUS

PENALTY MINUTES

ALL-TIME: ACTIVE LEADER: SINGLE-SEASON: 2014-15:

Michel Picard......................... 380 Mitch Callahan (20th)............ 116 Michel Picard (1996-97)........ 101 Andy Miele.............................. 70

Travis Richards...................... +131 Nathan Paetsch (T6th)............ +53 Ivan Ciernik (2000-01)...........*+41 Nick Jensen/Tomas Nosek......*+30

Darryl Bootland............................1,164 Mitch Callahan (17th)..................... 300 Darryl Bootland (2005-06)............. 390 Chris Bruton................................... 124

GOALIE GAMES PLAYED

GOALS AGAINST AVERAGE

ALL-TIME: ACTIVE LEADER: SINGLE-SEASON:

Joey MacDonald..................... 210 Martin Prusek..........................1.83 Tom McCollum (2nd)............. 203 Jared Coreau (8th)....................2.53 Joey MacDonald (2004-05).... *66 Martin Prusek (2001-02)........*1.83

2014-15: Tom McCollum......................... 37 Jared Coreau............................2.20

Martin Prusek

Tom McCollum

WINS

Joey MacDonald............................. 109 Tom McCollum (3rd)......................... 89 Joey MacDonald (2004-05).............. 34 Mike Fountain (2000-01).................*34 Tom McCollum.................................. 19

Joey MacDonald

SHUTOUTS

SAVES

SAVE PERCENTAGE

ALL-TIME: ACTIVE LEADER: SINGLE-SEASON: 2014-15:

Joey MacDonald....................... 20 Tom McCollum (T6th)................ 6 5 players tied............................. 6 Jared Coreau/Petr Mrazek.......... 3

Joey MacDonald.....................5,362 Tom McCollum (2nd)..............5,003 Joey MacDonald (2004-05)....1,785 Tom McCollum..........................949

Martin Prusek...............................0.930 Jared Coreau (T6th)......................0.918 Joey MacDonald (2003-04)..........0.936 Jared Coreau.................................0.927

* Led League

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…AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT The AHL hopes a new format will give stars a chance to shine in its annual all-star event.

AHL All-Star Games are typically Wild West shootouts in which unfortunate goaltenders are barraged with more than enough shots to give them nightmares for weeks. The past 10 contests have yielded an average of more than eight goals per team.

More goals, however, do not necessarily equate to more excitement.

In a radical departure, the 2016 Toyota AHL All-Star Challenge will feature a new game format when the league’s all-stars assemble in Syracuse, N.Y., on Feb. 1 at the Onondaga County War Memorial Arena.

Abandoning the traditional 60-minute game format, the league’s all-stars will be divided into four teams, one representing each of the league’s divisions (Atlantic, North, Central, Pacific) The teams will play a round-robin tournament featuring six games, each nine minutes in duration.

The fi st half of each game will be played 4-on-4, and the second half will be 3-on-3.

The two teams with the best records at the end of the round-robin portion will face off or the championship, a six-minute game played at 3-on-3.

“We have been working on developing an AllStar Challenge concept since last spring, and this tournament idea is the result of many discussions with players, coaches and general managers around the league,” said David Andrews, AHL president and chief executive offic . “We all believe that this will be an exciting showcase event for our players and fans alike as we highlight the skill, energy and excitement that has been a hallmark of the AHL for 80 years.”

Each team will be comprised of 11 skaters and two goalies. Coaches will be determined based on the best points-earned percentage in each division at the end of play on Dec. 31.

The 2016 Toyota AHL All-Star Skills Competition, which precedes the new format on Jan. 31, will keep its traditional format. All-stars from the two Eastern Conference divisions will 62 Grand Rapids GRIFFINS

square off gainst the all-stars from the two Western Conference divisions in seven skills events.

The league’s top talent will be on display during both days. Of the 679 players to take part in the AHL All-Star Classic since 1995, more than 93 percent have competed in the National Hockey League, including a number of current Red Wings players: Jonathan Ericsson, Jimmy Howard, Jakub Kindl, Niklas Kronwall, Alexey Marchenko, Petr Mrazek, Gustav Nyquist and Teemu Pulkkinen.

Meanwhile, the skill and intensity that have made 3-on-3 overtime a popular addition to the NHL this season will also be on display in the revamped format of the 2016 Honda NHL All-Star Game at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on Jan. 31.

Like the AHL, the NHL hopes the 3-on-3 component will be attractive to fans. “We are introducing a creative new format this year in Nashville not only as a way to enhance the competitiveness of the event, but also as a vehicle to highlight and emphasize the incredible skill, speed and athleticism it takes to play our game,” NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said.

The NHL instituted the five-minute 3-on-3 overtime for the 2015-16 season after the AHL tested a hybrid format (three minutes of 4-on-4 before another four minutes of 3-on-3, then a shootout, if necessary) last season. The change has worked.

The NHL has seen a signifi ant rise in the percentage of games that end in overtime instead of the shootout, largely because of the implementation of the 3-on-3 format. Th ough the fi st seven weeks of the season, 67.9 percent of the games that extended beyond regulation had ended in overtime (38 of 56). It was 44.4 percent last season (136 of 306), when the NHL was still using the 4-on-4 format in overtime.

NHL will continue to develop officials in A In early November, the AHL announced a new four-year agreement with the NHL, extending the partnership that allows the AHL to serve as the

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top development league for the NHL’s referees through 2018-19.

Under the terms of the agreement, the NHL and AHL offi ating departments will continue to work together in all aspects of recruitment, training and development of on-ice offi als.

NHL-contracted referees will continue to be assigned to offi ate approximately one-half of American Hockey League games each season, with the balance of AHL games to be worked

by AHL-contracted referees who have been identifi d as top offi ating prospects.

The new agreement also continues the leagues’ implementation of the two-referee system in the American Hockey League, with the ultimate goal being to have every AHL game worked by two referees by 2019. It is anticipated that 60 percent of AHL regular-season games and all Calder Cup Playoff g mes will be offi ated using the two-referee system during the current 2015-16 season.

“Our long-term relationship with the National Hockey League offi ating department has provided our players and fans with the best offi ating outside the NHL, and has established an outstanding career path for young offi als,” said Andrews. “Th s new agreement will continue to further both of those objectives.”

“There is no doubt that our young offi als

benefit greatly from time spent offi ating in the American Hockey League,” said NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly. “Because AHL games feature so many future NHL players and are played at a pace and skill level that most closely replicate conditions in the National Hockey League, they serve as a perfect training ground for offi als who later graduate to service in the NHL. Our arrangements and cooperative relationship with the AHL over the years have been critical to our ability to develop the best hockey offi als in the world.”

The AHL has served as the top development league for NHL on-ice offi als since its earliest days, with every current National Hockey League referee having worked in the AHL. In operation since 1936 and celebrating its 80th anniversary this season, the AHL is also the top development league for the players, coaches, managers, executives and broadcasters of all 30 National Hockey League teams. More than 88 percent of today’s NHL players are American Hockey League graduates, and more than 100 honored members of the Hockey Hall of Fame came through the AHL.

MEET YOUR FAVORITE GRIFFINS PLAYER And raise money for EASTER SEALS MICHIGAN Join us on March 8, 2016 Tickets are on sale this January Like Easter Seals Michigan on Facebook to get event updates.

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2014 AHL All-Star Alexey Marchenko Photo by Jeff arsons/AHL

2015 AHL All-Star Teemu Pulkkinen Photo by Lindsay A. Mogle/AHL

2013 AHL All-Star Petr Mrazek Photo by Alan Sullivan/AHL

2012 AHL All-Star Gustav Nyquist

Photo by PhotoGraphics Photography/AHL

GRIFFINS ALL-STARS 1996-97 1997-98 1998-99 1999-00

2000-01

2001-02

2002-03 2003-04

2004-05 2005-06

2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15

Jeff elson, Michel Picard, Pokey Reddick Ian Gordon, Kerry Huffman, Michel Pi ard Robert Petrovicky, Maxim Spiridonov John Gruden, Jani Hurme, Kevin Miller, Petr Schastlivy Mike Fountain, Joel Kwiatkowski, Travis Richards, Todd White, Bruce Cassidy (co-coach) Chris Bala, John Gruden, Kip Miller, Martin Prusek, Petr Schastlivy, Bruce Cassidy (head coach), Gene Reilly (asst. coach) Marc Lamothe, Mark Mowers Jiri Hudler, Niklas Kronwall, Travis Richards, Nathan Robinson Niklas Kronwall, Joey MacDonald Valtteri Filppula, Jiri Hudler, Donald MacLean Derek Meech, Kip Miller Jonathan Ericsson, Jimmy Howard Jakub Kindl, Daniel Larsson Patrick Rissmiller Ilari Filppula, Brendan Smith Gustav Nyquist Chad Billins, Petr Mrazek, Gustav Nyquist Alexey Marchenko, Jeff Blashill (head coach Xavier Ouellet, Teemu Pulkkinen

2011 AHL All-Star Ilari Filppula

Photo by JustSports Photography/AHL

2013 AHL All-Star Chad Billins Photo by Alan Sullivan/AHL

2013 AHL All-Star Gustav Nyquist Photo by Paul Yacovone III/AHL

2010 AHL All-Star Patrick Rissmiller

Photo by Sports Action Photography/AHL

P E N A LT Y C A L L S

Billins

AHL

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

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

MISCONDUCT 10-minute or disqualifi ation penalty for excessive or additional misbehavior on the ice.

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

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

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

ROUGHING Called for engaging in fisti uff or shoving.

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

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

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

SLASHING Striking an opposing player with the stick.

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

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

SPEARING Called for using the stick like a spear.

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

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

Nyquist

I/AHL

ssmiller

aphy/AHL

WASH-OUT When used by the referee, it means goal disallowed. When used by linesmen, it means there is no icing or no offsid .

Grand Rapids GRIFFINS 69

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GRIFFINS IN THE NHL

IT ALL STARTS HERE Since their inception in 1996, the Griffin have sent 151 players to the National Hockey League, 15 of whom have gone on to win the Stanley Cup. In fact, a Griffin alumnus has had his name engraved on Lord Stanley’s chalice in five of the last eight years and in seven of the last 11 seasons.

In chronological order, here are the 20 goalies and 131 skaters who have worn an NHL sweater after playing for Grand Rapids, along with the dates of their NHL debuts/returns.

1................Pavol Demitra...............................................3/17/97 STL at PHX 2................Kevyn Adams............................................. 10/1/97 TOR vs. WSH 3................Tyler Moss....................................................10/28/97 CGY vs. PIT 4................Michel Picard........................................................1/6/98 STL at SJ 5................Jeff Nelso ............................................... 10/10/98 NSH vs. FLA 6................Patrick Traverse........................................10/10/98 OTT at COL 7................Mark Greig.........................................................1/7/99 PHI vs. NYI 8................Radim Bicanek..............................................2/1/99 OTT at VAN 9................Robert Petrovicky...........................................2/15/99 TB at NYI 10.............Andrei Vasilyev.............................................3/5/99 PHX vs. DET 11.............Todd Hlushko...................................................4/25/99 PIT vs. NJ 12.............Patrick Lalime...............................................10/2/99 OTT at PHI 13.............Glen Metropolit.........................................10/2/99 WSH at FLA 14.............Kevin Miller.................................................10/31/99 OTT at ATL 15.............Karel Rachunek.........................................10/31/99 OTT at ATL 16.............Erich Goldmann....................................11/11/99 OTT vs. NSH 17.............Yves Sarault................................................... 11/20/99 OTT at NJ 18.............John Gruden.............................................11/30/99 OTT vs. CHI 19.............Mike Fountain................................................12/3/99 OTT at NJ 20.............Dave Van Drunen...................................12/13/99 OTT at TOR 21.............Petr Schastlivy..................................................1/3/00 OTT vs. NJ 22.............John Emmons..............................................1/6/00 OTT vs. PHX 23.............Slava Butsayev............................................1/28/00 OTT at BUF

KEVYN ADAMS

PAVOL DEMITRA

24.............Aris Brimanis..................................................2/13/00 NYI at NYR 25.............Dieter Kochan...............................................3/28/00 TB vs. DAL 26.............Jani Hurme.........................................................4/9/00 OTT vs. TB 27.............Shane Hnidy................................................10/5/00 OTT at BOS 28.............Donald MacLean...................................10/14/00 TOR vs. OTT 29.............David Oliver................................................. 11/4/00 OTT vs. CBJ 30.............Jamie Rivers.............................................. 11/12/00 OTT at CAR 31.............Sean Gagnon............................................11/26/00 OTT at NYR 32.............Joel Bouchard..........................................11/29/00 PHX at COL 33.............Mike Crowley.............................................12/8/00 ANA at MIN 34.............Ivan Ciernik....................................................1/23/01 OTT at NYI 35.............Darren Rumble.................................................2/6/01 STL at COL 36.............Joel Kwiatkowski.......................................2/19/01 OTT at BUF 37.............Todd White....................................................2/19/01 OTT at BUF 38..........Chris Neil....................................... 10/3/01 OTT at TOR 39.............Toni Dahlman..............................................1/3/02 OTT vs. WSH 40.............Steve Martins...............................................1/11/02 OTT at FLA 41.............Kip Miller...............................................................1/17/02 NYI at SJ 42.............Jody Hull...............................................................2/4/02 OTT at TB 43.............Dmitry Afanasenkov.........................................2/6/02 TB at FLA 44.............Simon Lajeunesse............................................3/7/02 OTT at SJ 45.............Martin Prusek.............................................3/23/02 OTT vs. ATL 46.............Chris Bala.........................................................3/27/02 OTT at NYI

TOMAS KOPECKY

JIMMY HOWARD

JIRI HUDLER

CHRI

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DLER

47.............Neil Little..........................................................3/28/02 PHI at CAR 48.............Josh Langfeld................................................3/30/02 OTT vs. TB 49.............Gaetan Royer....................................................4/1/02 TB vs. NYR 50..........Jason Spezza..............................10/24/02 OTT at BOS 51.............Sean Avery....................................................10/29/02 DET vs. SJ 52.............Jason Doig......................................................12/3/02 WSH at PIT 53.............Jason Williams............................................12/5/02 DET at PHX 54.............Patrick Boileau........................................12/19/02 DET vs. DAL 55.............Stacy Roest.................................................2/20/03 DET vs. EDM 56.............Wade Brookbank................................... 10/9/03 NSH vs. ANA 57.............Julien Vauclair..........................................10/25/03 OTT at MTL 58..........Jiri Hudler.....................................10/29/03 DET vs. STL 59.............Curtis Joseph...........................................10/30/03 DET at NSH 60.............Darryl Bootland........................................11/8/03 DET vs. NSH 61.............Mark Mowers............................................11/19/03 DET vs. CBJ 62.............Nathan Robinson...................................11/28/03 DET vs. NYI 63.............Blake Sloan.......................................................12/4/03 DAL at LA 64..........Niklas Kronwall........................... 12/10/03 DET at BUF 65.............Ryan Barnes..............................................12/15/03 DET vs. FLA 66..........Chris Kelly........................................ 2/5/04 OTT vs. TOR 67.............Marc Lamothe...........................................2/23/04 DET at EDM 68.............Anders Myrvold........................................2/26/04 DET at CGY 69.............Mathieu Chouinard...................................2/29/04 LA at ANA 70.............Brett Lebda......................................................10/5/05 DET vs. STL 71.............Mark Eaton........................................................10/5/05 NSH vs. SJ 72.............Chris Osgood................................................10/29/05 DET at CHI 73..........Kyle Quincey.............................11/25/05 DET at ANA 74..........Jimmy Howard.............................11/28/05 DET at LA 75..........Valtteri Filppula............................12/15/05 DET at FLA 76.............Rob Collins.................................................12/17/05 NYI vs. COL 77.............Manny Legace................................................1/5/06 DET vs. STL 78.............David Gove..................................................1/31/06 CAR at MTL 79.............Tomas Kopecky.................................................2/28/06 DET at SJ 80.............Alexandre Giroux.........................................3/25/06 NYR at TB 81.............Joey MacDonald..........................................10/19/06 DET at SJ 82.............Derek Meech...................................................12/7/06 DET vs. STL 83.............Matt Ellis........................................................12/18/06 DET at CBJ 84.............Matt Hussey...................................................1/26/07 DET at STL 85.............Sheldon Brookbank........................................2/6/07 NSH at PIT 86.............Danny Syvret...........................................2/27/07 EDM vs. PHX 87.............Mark Hartigan............................................ 11/29/07 DET vs. TB 88.............Drew MacIntyre...........................................12/13/07 VAN at SJ 89.............Peter Vandermeer..................................2/10/08 PHX vs. NSH 90..........Jonathan Ericsson....................... 2/22/08 DET at CGY 91.............Garrett Stafford.......................................... 2/23/08 DET at VAN 92..........Darren Helm................................. 3/13/08 DET vs. DAL 93.............Mattias Ritola.............................................3/15/08 DET vs. NSH 94.............Clay Wilson....................................................3/25/08 CBJ at NSH 95.............Darren McCarty............................................3/28/08 DET vs. STL 96.............Krys Kolanos...................................................11/4/0x8 MIN at SJ 97.............Landon Wilson......................................11/22/08 DAL vs. ANA 98.............Bryan Helmer........................................ 11/28/08 WSH vs. MTL 99.............Chris Chelios ............................................12/13/08 DET at PHX 100..........Aaron Downey.........................................1/29/09 DET vs. DAL 101........Justin Abdelkader...................... 1/31/09 DET at WSH 102..........Ville Leino.....................................................1/31/09 DET at WSH

CHRIS KELLY

VALTTERI FILPPULA

103..........Aaron Gagnon.......................................10/16/09 DAL vs. BOS 104..........Scott Parse.....................................................10/24/09 LA at PHX 105..........Doug Janik..................................................11/3/09 DET vs. BOS 106...........Ryan Keller..................................................... 11/25/09 OTT at NJ 107........Jakub Kindl.................................12/3/09 DET vs. EDM 108..........Kris Newbury..........................................12/14/09 DET vs. PHX 109...........Darren Haydar............................................2/10/10 COL vs. ATL 110..........Andreas Lilja...................................................3/1/10 DET at COL 111...........Jeremy Williams.........................................10/24/10 NYR vs. NJ 112..........Jan Mursak.................................................12/27/10 DET at COL 113..........Chris Mueller...........................................12/28/10 NSH vs. DAL 114........Tomas Tatar................................12/31/10 DET vs. NYI 115..........Cory Emmerton.........................................1/22/11 DET vs. CHI 116...........Patrick Rissmiller.........................................2/23/11 ATL at BUF 117 . .......Tom McCollum . ........................................3/30/11 DET vs. STL 118 .......Gustav Nyquist ..........................11/1/11 DET vs. MIN 119 ...........Fabian Brunnstrom........................................11/5/11 DET vs. ANA 120 . ......Brendan Smith..............................11/17/11 DET at SJ 121.........Mark Cullen.................................11/29/11 FLA at CAR 122..........Chris Conner................................................12/2/11 DET at BUF 123........Joakim Andersson....................12/27/11 DET vs. STL 124........Ty Conklin .....................................3/21/12 DET at NYR 125.......Riley Sheahan.................................4/7/12 DET vs. CHI 126..........Brian Lashoff.................................................1/21/13 DET at CBJ 127..........Mike Knuble...................................................1/26/13 PHI at FLA 128..........Jamie Tardif..................................................... 2/2/13 BOS at TOR 129........Petr Mrazek .....................................2/7/13 DET at STL 130....... Jonas Gustavsson.......................2/19/13 DET at NSH 131.......Carlo Colaiacovo...........................4/1/13 DET vs. COL 132.......Danny DeKeyser.........................10/2/13 DET vs. BUF 133.......Luke Glendening.......................10/12/13 DET vs. PHI 134..........Xavier Ouellet..............................................10/21/13 DET vs. SJ 135..........Adam Almquist .......................................11/4/13 DET at WPG 136..........Chad Billins...................................................11/5/13 CGY at MIN 137.......Patrick Eaves...............................12/14/13 DET vs. PIT 138.......Tomas Jurco.................................12/15/13 DET vs. TB 139.......Jordin Tootoo............................12/19/13 DET vs. CGY 140.......Alexey Marchenko.........................1/4/14 DET at DAL 141.......Teemu Pulkkinen .....................3/14/14 DET vs. EDM 142.......Landon Ferraro........................... 3/18/14 DET vs. TOR 143.......Calle Jarnkrok..............................3/21/14 NSH at CGY 144..........Mitch Callahan.............................................3/25/14 DET at CBJ 145..........Ryan Sproul...................................................4/13/14 DET at STL 146.......Andrej Nestrasil..........................10/9/14 DET vs. BOS 147..........Stephen Weiss.........................................11/24/14 DET vs. OTT 148.......Mattias Janmark..........................10/8/15 DAL vs. PIT 149.......Dylan Larkin................................ 10/9/15 DET vs. TOR 150.......Kevin Porter..................................10/10/15 PIT at ARI 151.......Andreas Athanasiou..................11/8/15 DET vs. DAL Bold = Has played in the NHL this season (as of Nov. 30).

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

All photos by Getty Images.

NIKLAS KRONWALL

CHRIS NEIL

JASON SPEZZA

78 Grand Rapids GRIFFINS

KIDS

PAGE

THE MEN BEHIND THE MASKS Since the Griffi s franchise began play in 1996, a total of 41 men have stood between Grand Rapids’ pipes as the team’s last line of defense.

Find the last name of each Griffi s goaltender by searching horizontally, vertically and diagonally, both forward and backward. Have fun!

L E E P M L Q T V I L Y L N N C H A K V

C F Q B X I G A R O P A Y O A O P Y E T

N O S S V A T S U G J K L S H K O E S X

M N N D L L G Y I E D W J S C M H R U U

I R O K E M Q O U T R I K R O C C S R H

Chad ALBAN Mike AYERS Frederick BEAUBIEN Adam BERKHOEL David BROWN Mathieu CHOUINARD Ty CONKLIN Jared COREAU Ryan CYR Sylvain DAIGLE Mike FOUNTAIN

E Q A G L E A N R Y K O N A K C H N P U

S L A Z C I E C K D O C H L D O O E I X

G E U P C T E V P A M S R R E U E S U K S K O T N W R N S G A Y D M N O P O S R O E N B P N J A L I T T P A O X L D A I L L U M U I N A I B U A W E P R S Z N O

Ian GORDON Jonas GUSTAVSSON Jimmy HOWARD Jani HURME Curtis JOSEPH Dieter KOCHAN Logan KOOPMANS Blaine LACHER Simon LAJEUNESSE Patrick LALIME Judd LAMBERT

E P L D V S O J C Z X F L U G A R E A J

S R H W R U U J R E P M M O E A I H C Y L I Q H N J W T W F Y S S R E J E J A D B D L E R Y B H D E R B O F C M U K H M

E L N H M A I C I M A K L B T C A E N I L R U D K T O D O R F E Q Z E R S E Z B O M H A N N G A D L M H E O U O T A J W E D H A U H T R O B C D D W W A F H N R

Marc LAMOTHE Daniel LARSSON Manny LEGACE Neil LITTLE Stefan LIV Joey MACDONALD Drew MACINTYRE Pat MAZZOLI Tom MCCOLLUM Tyler MOSS Petr MRAZEK

N I R A C I V V C N L M O S G O O D K L

Pat NAGLE Chris OSGOOD Jordan PEARCE Martin PRUSEK Pokey REDDICK Cody RUDKOWSKY Dan TURPLE Dominic VICARI

Grand Rapids GRIFFINS

79

PARTING SHOT

Veteran Dan Cleary joined the Griffins e lier this season after 609 games in a Red Wings jersey, a total that is second only to the 659 games played by Darren McCarty before his stint in Grand Rapids during the 2007-08 season.

Photo by Mark Newman 80 Grand Rapids GRIFFINS

T

on after d only to tint in