Archive for the 'Griffins' Category

Q and A with Darren “Graybush” McCarty

Published
by
Megan Hirdes
on March 2, 2008
in 2007-2008, Darren McCarty, Griffins and Stanley Cup
. 0 Comments

Update (3. Mar, 6:19PM): More on the event from the Micheal Zuidema of the GR Press here -Sarah 

Darren McCarty held a Q and A session with Griffins season ticket holders after tonight’s 6-4 win over Lake Erie. We (Sarah and Megan) were fortunate enough to be in attendance. The first question was if he was okay, after a hard hit in the third sent him to the dressing room. For the record, he’s fine. The main thing he talked about was his journey back to hockey. He talked about the tough decisions he had to make when leaving Calgary, and that coming back to Detroit was not about hockey. He said he never expected to get this far, and he’s just taking it one day at a time. He also talked about his experience in Grand Rapids, and what the organization and fans have meant to him.

When asked about what it was like playing with so many young kids, McCarty laughed and revealed his nickname on the team. Graybush. He said he really enjoys having the opportunity to share his wisdom and help guys improve their game. He said the really cool thing was giving advice and watching the young guys put it into action. While talking about this, Darren’s face broke into a huge smile. We got the impression that this gave him a sense of accomplishment and he liked the idea of helping shape future players. It was then that the question of a possible future in coaching came up. He said he’s thought about it a little, but he was worried about the amount of work and time it would consume. However, he did say that when his kids got older he would need something to do. By the end, it really sounded like that was a path he was very interested in.

One fan asked what he expects his role to be in Detroit. McCarty first started with saying how much fun it’s been to play in GR, where he’s on the top line and PP unit. He knows that is far from what he will do in Detroit, but it was a fun change for him. As far as the Red Wings, he expects to once again offer intangibles that will help the goal scorers to do what they do.

There were a lot of questions about his past and what it was like to leave Detroit. One of those questions referred to the reports that he’d had to give up his Stanley Cup Rings during his bankruptcy. He set the record straight, saying that he was able to work something out with the trustees to save the rings for his kids. He also said some friends stepped in and saved some memorabilia for him, though he did not specify.

Darren expressed a tremendous amount of gratitude to the fans for the welcome he has received here in GR. He said that his home opener hat trick was his 3rd favorite game of his career (1st being game 4 Stanley Cup 1997, 2nd being Fight Night in Detroit). He also promised to bring the Cup to Hockeytown West when Detroit wins it this spring. He said it was the least he could do for us.

He said more, but our memories are only so good (in fact, quite bad) and we were a little starstruck. Hopefully the Griffins will post the audio later. If so, we will have a link.

On Darren McCarty’s home debut

Published
by
Matt Saler
on February 15, 2008
in AHL, Darren McCarty and Griffins
. 3 Comments

Update (11:19 PM): You can read the Grand Rapids Press recap of the game here. - Matt

Darren McCarty’s first game in front of a packed-out Van Andel was a big one. The former Red Wings bruiser scored a  hat trick and added a late assist on his way to being named the arena’s first star. He was a huge hit with the crowd, which took every opportunity to cheer him

His first goal was an easy redirect slam dunk of a the rebound of a Darren Helm pass shot on the Griffins’ second shot.  His second came on the power play in the second period was he stuffed it between the feet of the Lake Erie goalie from the side of the net. He finished the trick with a blast from the right circle that beat the goalie blocker side, just inside the left post. In addition to the goals, Mac dealt out a few big hits and provided just the spark the Griffins needed to overcome two Lake Erie leads.

I was definitely impressed with him. He’s obviously still not in tip-top shape, but he looked good. I was only disappointed he didn’t get a natural hat trick. It’s too much to expect him to contribute three goals every night, but I think his presence in the lineup had the Griffins playing closer to their potential. They certainly looked better than they had in any of the other games I’ve been to and heard about this season. That’s the value he brings to the Griffins and if he can draw crowds like he did tonight, the franchise will do better as a whole.

Because the Monsters are the primary affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche, it was interesting to see how chippy the game got as it went on. There were two all-out fights involving Jamie Tardiff and plenty of post-play scrums that got pretty nasty.

I went into the game with the aim of focusing on Jonathan Ericsson as well as McCarty. I was impressed with the big young Swede was well. He’s got great size and has a booming shot to go with a good defensive sense. His goal was a perfectly-placed snapper, just below the crossbar. He looked steady out there and definitely earned the second star. I look forward to seeing him in the Winged Wheel.

Jakub Kindl, on the other hand, was a disappointment. He definitely needs more experience before he’ll be NHL-ready.

I do not regret passing up the Wings’ embarrassing loss to Columbus in favor of Darren McCarty’s home debut and three-goal night. It was a great game and I’m glad I got to see it.

It’s official: McCarty signed to PTO

Published
by
Matt Saler
on February 4, 2008
in AHL, Darren McCarty and Griffins
. 0 Comments

Via Red Wings Corner: the NHL has given Darren McCarty clearance to play in the AHL and the former Red Wing forward has been signed to a professional tryout with the Grand Rapids Griffins.

Ryan Foherty reports that Mac will practice with the Griffins today and will play his first game Friday against the Lake Erie Monsters in Cleveland.

McCarty will make his home debut on February 15th at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids. It will be the Griffins’ first homegame in two weeks. If all goes well in getting tickets, Sarah, Megan, and I will be at that game.

Wings officially announce Ellis, depth signings

Published
by
Matt Saler
on July 16, 2007
in Griffins and Roster Moves
. 2 Comments

Update (9:24 PM): This comment by James Mirtle prompted me to Google Garrett Stafford’s name to find out more about him. The first thing that comes up is his connection with an infamous incident in the AHL three years ago: Alexander Perezhogin’s vicious slash to Stafford’s face.

Anyway, his statistics are solid, and if Mirtle says he’s “not bad either,” it sounds like he’s a good signing for the organization. Good to see the Wings taking care of their AHL affiliate. - Matt

After conflicting reports a week and a half ago, the Wings have announced some minor free agent signings. The most important: Matt Ellis’ two-year extension.

The other signings: forwards Randall Gelech (two years), Carl Corazzini, Mark Cullen, and Mark Hartigan, defensemen Brad Ference and Garrett Stafford, and goalie Adam Berkhoel (one year each).

All of these guys should be Griffins next year, with the exception of Ellis, who has a shot at making the Wings.

Bad News: Ellis must clear waivers

Published
by
Matt Saler
on March 22, 2007
in Griffins, Matt Ellis and Roster Moves
. 1 Comment

Update (2:02 PM): The AHL transaction wire has Ellis listed as returned to Grand Rapids, so that confirms it. He wasn’t claimed off waivers. - Matt

Update (12:05 PM): It wasn’t really clear from Conklin’s original report , but the team apparently already began the process of sending Ellis down (making much of the post below unnecessary). Conklin informed me via email that teams had until 12:00 PM today to claim him and since I haven’t seen anything saying he’s been taken, it looks like he made it. - Matt

The Wings will soon be sending Matt Ellis down to make room on the roster, but because Ellis has played over 10 games with the Wings (16), he has to clear waivers before he can go to Grand Rapids, according to Joe Conklin of the GR Press.

Cross your fingers, folks. Ellis may not have played a lot of time, but as Conklin pointed out, he looked good when he was on the ice and he may have attracted attention. The Wings have already lost a player to waivers this season, Joey MacDonald, who was taken by Boston. Given that, it’s not too far out of the realm of possibility that Ellis will get claimed.

The move is especially necessary if everyone currently injured is to return for the playoffs. With Dan Cleary, Todd Bertuzzi, and Tomas Kopecky healthy, and Ellis on the roster, the Wings would be a man over the limit of 23 players. The only way out of sending Ellis down is keeping Kopecky on the IR, which isn’t likely since he’s been practicing and they’ve been making noises about his return for weeks now. Even if that’s what they did, the Griffins still wouldn’t have their captain for their playoff run.

Personally, I think the Wings should get a break on this rule because they needed Ellis to fill in for injured players. He wasn’t on the team for the heck of it and they shouldn’t be punished for filling that kind of a need. He’d be a big loss to the system, for the Wings but for the Griffins, especially.

Bertuzzi practices in Grand Rapids

Published
by
Matt Saler
on March 15, 2007
in Griffins, Injuries, Links and Todd Bertuzzi
. 0 Comments

Joe Conklin of the Grand Rapids Press has the story. Bertuzzi had a good practice, is feeling well, and is hoping to dress next week (looks like March 22nd). (via Snapshots)

Hussey and Howard sent down

Published
by
Matt Saler
on March 7, 2007
in Darryl Bootland, Dominik Hasek, Griffins, Jimmy Howard, Josh Langfeld, Links, Matt Ellis, Matt Hussey and Mikael Samuelsson
. 2 Comments

Update (5:15 PM): Ansar Khan confirms that we can expect Mikael Samuelsson and Dominik Hasek back Friday night. - Matt

According to the AHL transaction wire, Matt Hussey and Jimmy Howard have been returned to Grand Rapids. So, it looks like Mikael Samuelsson will be ready for Friday, and Dominik Hasek will at least back up Chris Osgood.

To send down Hussey rather than Darryl Bootland, the team must have been really impressed with Darryl’s effort last night. Good to see that he’ll get another game in. Bootland, by the way, had 9:15 in ice time last night, which was almost three and a half minutes more than Matt Ellis, Josh Langfeld, and Matt Hussey had combined (2:32+2:08+1:09=5:49, via the NHL’s Official Super Stats).

Hussey was originally called up after Henrik Zetterberg went down with his back injury. If the Wings were sending down the player that was covering for Samuelsson, Josh Langfeld would be driving across the state on I-96 today. They can’t send Langfeld down, however, because he wasn’t on the Griffins’ clear day roster and cannot play for them again this season.

Griffins Reveal Clear Day Roster - Featuring Filppula

Published
by
Sarah Baker
on March 3, 2007
in AHL, Griffins, Josh Langfeld and Valtteri Filppula
. 2 Comments

The Griffins clear day roster was released yesterday - the AHL requires that all teams submit a list of 22 players at the deadline (March 1). These are the only players eligible to play in the remaining games of the season and in the playoffs. Players may be added only in case of injury. The only exception is that college and junior players may be added when their respective seasons end.

I was surprised to find upon reading the list that Valtteri Filppula was on it and Josh Langfeld was not. Surely the Griffins aren’t expecting Detroit to send the promising young Filppula down anytime soon. I mean, he’s playing on the top line right now - filling in for Henrik Zetterberg. He’s clearly made an impression on both Babcock and the Wings Organization, so I don’t see them being too eager to demote him. We should have enough roster space to keep him once the team gets healthy - as long as Tomas Kopecky doesn’t return this season, which, Ansar Khan points out, seems unlikely:

Doctors told him he could be ready to play by April. The team will decide in the next few weeks whether it’s worth the risk of having him play this season. It doesn’t sound like he will play. (via Mlive)

So why bother putting Fil on the Clear Day Roster? According to Joe Conklin of the Grand Rapids Press:

The Wings expect a long playoff run, but they want to keep their options open if there’s an early exit. Filppula isn’t subject to waivers, and he’d come back to Grand Rapids the same way Brett Lebda did last year. It also appears Langfeld is with the Wings for the long run.

I suppose that makes sense, especially considering the fact that Langfeld is considered a veteran (played more than 260 games as of the beginning of the season) by the AHL and would put Grand Rapids over the limit of 5 veterans per team. They’re not necessarily expecting to get Filppula back, but he’s on there just in case.

Griffins Update: 02/28/07

Published
by
Megan Hirdes
on February 28, 2007
in Griffins
. 3 Comments

Update (10.36AM)- Sadly, the Griffins lost in OT last night in Rochester. Bootland did manage to get them one point, however, with his goal 14 seconds before the end of the third. That point puts them 3 points ahead of Peoria, though the Rivermen do have four games at hand.  -Megan

The Griffins have improved greatly since December. They had a mediocre January, going 6-5. However, they went 8-2 in February, for a 14-7 record in 2007. This was highlighted by a six game win streak from January 27 through February 17. They have one more game, tonight at Rochester, to close out the month. Their record currently stands at 29-22-4-2. This record is good enough for the final playoff spot of the Western conference, two points ahead of Peoria.

Matt Ellis has been all but phenomenal. He scored his first career hat trick on February 16, lifting GR to a 5-2 win over the San Antonio Rampage. He scored one short handed goal, one power play goal, and one even strength empty net goal against the current team of last season’s AHL MVP, Donal MacLean. The next night, Ellis scored the game-winning goal in a 4-2 victory over the same team. This was his 20th goal of the season, making him just the fifth Griffin ever to earn back-to-back 20-goal seasons. On February 19, he was named AHL Player of the Week for the period ending February 18. He is the first Griffin to receive this honor this season. During that period, Ellis had 4 goals, 2 assists, and 6 points in 3 games. On the season, he has 21 goals, 42 points, 9 power play goals, 4 short handed goals, a +/- of 0, and 38 PIM in 52 games. In 7 games with Detroit, he has 0 points and is -1.

Howard and Liv have played well. Howard has played 34 games total, going 16-14-4 with 4 shutouts, a 2.81 GAA, and a .905 save %. Liv has improved greatly, going 12-10-2 in 24 games with 2 shutouts, a 2.99 GAA, and a .896 save %.

Overall, the defense has played well. One guy that stands out to me is Derek Meech. He is really coming into his own this season. In 53 games with Grand Rapids, he has 5 goals, 17 assists, 22 points, 3 short handed goals, 34 PIM and is +3. He works hard every shift, evidence by his two blocked shots on one shift in the Griffins’ 1-0 SO win over Syracuse on Saturday. He got hit in the wrist on the first one and was clearly in pain for the rest of the shift. He is currently out with an injury to his right wrist.

Eric Himelfarb is impressing me lately. He is probably the hardest worker on the team. In 48 games, he has 12 goals, 12 assists, 24 points, 4 short handed goals, 32 PIM, and is -1 . He gets a lot of chances every game, and a lot of breakaways, but he has trouble finishing.

Darryl Bootland continues to play well. In 53 games, he has 16 goals, 12 assists, 28 ppoints, 3 PPG, 183 PIM, and is +9. Hopefully he’ll keep it up, have a good camp, and finally make the Wings.

The Griffins seem determined to not only make the playoffs, but to do well, as evidenced by a recent flurry of roster changes. On the 19th of this month, the Griffins obtained LW Tony Voce from the Philadelphia Phantoms on loan. In 45 games, Voce has 8 goals, 22 points and 50 PIM.

On the 23rd, Grand Rapids got RW Adam Keefe from the Manitoba Moose. In exchange, they loaned RW Brendan Brooks to Manitoba. Keefe has 2 goals, 4 points, and 91 PIM in 22 games. Brooks had 9 goals, 17 points, and 44 PIM in 51 games.

On the 26th, they traded RW Ryan Keller to the Syracuse Crunch for C Ben Simon. Keller had 9 goals, 17 points, and 26 PIM in 38 games. Simon has 9 goals, 21 points, and 77 PIM in 56 games this season. His AHL totals are: 336 games, 60 goals, 149 points, and 363 PIM. He has also played 81 NHL games, 68 with Atlanta (6 in ‘01-’02, 10 in ‘02-’03, and and 13 in ‘03-’04) and 13 with Columbus in ‘05-’06. In those games, he has 3 goals, 4 points, and 47 PIM.

On the 27th, the Washington Capitals “reassigned” RW Jonas Johanssen from Hersey to Grand Rapids. In return, we loaned RW Scott Barney to the Hersey Bears. In 40 games with Grand Rapids, Barney had 4 goals, 12 points, and 26 PIM. Johansson was Colorado’s first pick of the 2002 draft. In 44 games with Hersey, he had 5 goals, 24 points, and 48 PIM.

Today, the Griffins signed D Jim Jackson to a professional tryout. In 54 games this season with Gwinnett of the ECHL, Jackson has 11 goals, 29 points, and 78 PIM.

In addition to all these changes, D Dan Syvret was recalled by Edmonton, and Matt Ellis, Matt Hussey, and Josh Langfeld are all up with Detroit.

Hopefully, the trades and will provide some much needed offense down the stretch. If Grand Rapids can continue to win, they should be able to keep their playoff spot ahead of the Peoria Rivermen.

Zetterberg Out Tomorrow; Hussey Recalled from GR

Published
by
Sarah Baker
on February 26, 2007
in Griffins, Henrik Zetterberg, Injuries, Matt Hussey and Roster Moves
. 1 Comment

Helene St James reports that Henrik Zetterberg will miss tomorrow’s game due to back spasms. Apparently he hurt himself at practice this morning. MRI results were good and he is expected to return Friday.

Matt Hussey got the call to fill in for Zetter tomorrow. He’s been doing quite well in Grand Rapids of late, with 16 points in his last 14 games. He impresses me more every game. I doubt he’ll get much ice time, but I’m confident he won’t waste it. Hey, if you’re bored, you can check out his new blog on the Griffins website.