RWC REPORT: Griffins' rough season not a lost cause

By Matthew Wuest - RedWingsCentral.com / April 14, 2008

The Grand Rapids Griffins fell well short of expectations this season, but the Detroit Red Wings still have plenty to smile about on the farm.

The Griffins, who missed the American Hockey League playoffs with a 31-41-2-6 record, have at least four players who are close to graduating to the Red Wings, meaning the young blood will continue to flow in Detroit next season.

Goaltender Jimmy Howard, defensemen Jonathan Ericsson and forward Darren Helm are showing all the signs of becoming long-time contributors for the Red Wings, and any one of them could evolve into an impact player.

Howard is closing in on NHL backup duty and could become a No. 1; Ericsson could be a No. 5 blueliner immediately and eventually a top four; and Helm is a grind-line type who has the hands to develop in the mold of Dan Cleary.

Defenseman Kyle Quincey, meanwhile, will be in the mix for a roster spot in the fall, and could replace Andreas Lilja with his physical, defensive style.

One more bright spot in Grand Rapids was center Evan McGrath. His 35-point campaign won’t turn many heads, but his finish was exceptional and an encouraging sign for next year. McGrath, who had an awful first half, collected 10 goals among 15 points in his final 20 games and 22 points in his final 30 games.

The following players were recalled at season’s end to serve as Black Aces with the Red Wings during the playoffs: Howard, Ericsson, Helm, Quincey, defenseman Jakub Kindl and forwards Mattias Ritola and Cory Emmerton.

Kindl, Ritola and Emmerton are good prospects for the future, too, but are a couple of seasons away from cracking the lineup in Motown.

Here’s a look at the other prospect news from last week.

• Forward Jan Mursak (Belleville, Ontario Hockey League) has helped his team into the semifinals after the Bulls eliminated the Barrie Colts in a four-game sweep on Tuesday. The Bulls will go up against John Tavares’s Oshawa Generals. Mursak is the only Red Wings prospect still active this season.
• Forward Igor Grigorenko and defenseman Miroslav Blatak captured the Russian Superleague title this week with Salavat Yulaev. Grigorenko, who had missed three weeks with an injury, returned for Game 5 of the best-of-five series against Yaroslavl. He had one assist in four playoff games.
• Forward Dick Axelsson (Djurgarden, Swedish Elite League) was a candidate for Team Sweden at the IIHF world championship in May, but an off-ice incident has reportedly derailed whatever chance he had. The Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet reports Axelsson had an argument with police and spent a night in jail. It’s not clear if this incident will hurt his chances of signing with Detroit.

The following is an up-to-date statistical report for skaters:

NAME	TEAM	LEAGUE	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM
A H L
Evan McGrath	Grand Rapids	AHL	78	18	17	35	26
Jonathan Ericsson	Grand Rapids	AHL	69	10	24	34	83
Darren Helm	Grand Rapids	AHL	67	16	15	31	30
Ryan Oulahen	Grand Rapids	AHL	75	14	16	30	47
Mattias Ritola	Grand Rapids	AHL	72	7	15	22	62
Kyle Quincey	Grand Rapids	AHL	66	5	15	20	149
Francis Lemieux	Grand Rapids	AHL	59	6	11	17	55
Jakub Kindl	Grand Rapids	AHL	75	3	14	17	82
Randall Gelech	Grand Rapids	AHL	70	7	8	15	37
Johan Ryno	Grand Rapids	AHL	12	3	4	7	8
Zack Torquato	Grand Rapids	AHL	11	1	0	1	8
Cory Emmerton	Grand Rapids	AHL	7	0	1	1	0
Igor Grigorenko	Grand Rapids	AHL	5	0	0	0	4
R U S S I A
Miroslav Blatak	Salavat Yulaev	RUS	57	2	12	14	34
Igor Grigorenko	Salavat Yulaev	RUS	27	4	6	10	24
Gennady Stolyarov	Moscow Dynamo	RUS	37	3	2	5	22
S W E D E N
Dick Axelsson	Djurgarden	SWE	47	12	13	25	44
Anton Axelsson	Timra	SWE	54	10	10	20	10
Johan Ryno	Djurgarden	SWE	30	2	7	9	18
Joakim Andersson	Frolunda	SWE	9	1	0	1	2
Joakim Andersson	Boras	SWE-2	33	6	17	23	26
Joakim Andersson	Frolunda	SWE-J20	6	8	2	10	30
C H L
Zack Torquato	Erie	OHL	66	25	42	67	112
Jan Mursak	Belleville	OHL	57	17	47	64	23
Cory Emmerton	Brampton	OHL	54	25	36	61	16
Logan Pyett	Regina	WHL	62	20	34	54	54
Randy Cameron	Moncton	QMJHL	62	12	37	39	30
N C A A
Justin Abdelkader	Michigan State	CCHA	42	19	21	40	107
Brendan Smith	Wisconsin	WCHA	22	2	10	12	26
Bryan Rufenach	Clarkson	ECAC	35	3	3	6	12
Nick Oslund	St. Cloud State	WCHA	38	4	1	5	27
Nils Backstrom	Alaska-Anchorage	WCHA	16	1	2	3	18

The following is an up-to-date statistical report for goaltenders:

NAME	TEAM	LEAGUE	GP	W-L-O	GAA	SPCT
Daniel Larsson	Djurgarden	SWE	46	--	2.29	.921
Jimmy Howard	Grand Rapids	AHL	54	21-28-2	2.83	.907

The following is an up-to-date playoff statistical report for skaters:

NAME	TEAM	LEAGUE	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM
R U S S I A
Gennady Stolyarov	Moscow Dynamo	RUS	8	1	0	1	2
Miroslav Blatak	Salavat Yulaev	RUS	13	1	0	1	10
Igor Grigorenko	Salavat Yulaev	RUS	4	0	1	1	0
S W E D E N
Anton Axelsson	Timra	SWE	11	2	2	4	4
Joakim Andersson	Frolunda	SWE	4	1	1	2	2
Dick Axelsson	Djurgarden	SWE	5	1	0	1	2
Johan Ryno	Djurgarden	SWE	5	0	0	0	2
C H L
Jan Mursak	Belleville	OHL	9	5	6	11	4
Logan Pyett	Regina	WHL	6	1	3	4	0
Cory Emmerton	Brampton	OHL	5	0	2	2	2

The following is an up-to-date playoff statistical report for goalies:

NAME	TEAM	LEAGUE	GP	W-L-O	GAA	SPCT
Daniel Larsson	Djurgarden	SWE	5	--	2.64	.920

LEAGUE LEGEND: AHL -- American Hockey League; RUS -- Russian Elite League; SWE -- Swedish Elite League; SWE-2 -- Swedish second level; SWE-J20 -- Swedish under-20 league; OHL -- Ontario Hockey League; WHL -- Western Hockey League; QMJHL -- Quebec Major Junior Hockey League; CCHA -- Central Collegiate Hockey Association; WCHA -- Western Collegiate Hockey Association; ECAC -- East Coast Athletic Conference.