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Green Griffins hope for success
By Sarah Lindenau - RedWingsCentral.com / September 22, 2008The Grand Rapids Griffins will boast a new, younger look this season.
The Detroit Red Wings' top minor-league affiliate could feature as many as six first-year pros on its roster, with forwards Cory Emmerton, Jan Mursak and Justin Abdelkader, defensemen Logan Pyett and Sergei Kolosov and goaltender Daniel Larsson all slated for American Hockey League duty.
In addition, former Quebec Major Junior Hockey League MVP Francis Pare will look to make an impact after signing an AHL contract.
"This group has come up together and we're excited about them turning pro," Red Wings assistant general manager Jim Nill said. "It's going to be some good young energy down there and it's going to be good for our organization."
The chemistry developed within the young core through past training camps was evident in last week's prospects tournament in Traverse City, Mich. The Red Wings came within two shootout losses of winning the championship.
"We've played in five or six camps if you count the summer (development) camps," said Pyett, a high-scoring defenseman from the Western Hockey League. "We know each other's games and it makes you feel more comfortable."
In the past, the Griffins have iced veteran teams and results have been mixed. This could be one of the youngest teams in the history of the affiliation.
"I think the Griffins have a lot of great young talent," said goaltender Jimmy Howard, who could end up on the farm as well. "I am really excited to watch them. Hopefully Grand Rapids can do a lot better than last year."
The Griffins finished fifth in their division last season and didn't qualify for the playoffs. Head coach Mike Stothers was fired, and the Griffins hired former Atlanta Thrashers bench boss Curt Fraser as his replacement.
Fraser has spent the past week in Traverse City evaluating the talent he is expected to have at his disposal in Grand Rapids.
"I really had a good experience with the guys who were at the prospects camp," he said. "We're going to get some good young players for Grand Rapids."
The Red Wings did sign former AHL MVP Darren Haydar, who will provide tremendous leadership in Grand Rapids if he doesn't crack the NHL lineup. Ryan Oulahen, Evan McGrath and Randall Gelech are now AHL veterans.
"We have a lot of good young players coming to Grand Rapids," Abdelkader said. "There's also a nucleus of players coming back. It could be an exciting year."
The hope is the end result will be better than last season's.
"With all the young guys we might be a little inconsistent at times," Emmerton said. "I think Curt will do a great job with us and get us back on track. He'll make sure we are doing the things we need to do to make ourselves better."
— Swedish goaltending prospect Daniel Larsson is keeping his expectations realistic in his first season in North America.
"I want to do my best, but I don't have it as a goal to play in the NHL this year," said Larsson, the 92nd pick in the 2006 draft. "I am here to learn the first year. I want to learn the game over here and adjust to the American style."
The 6-foot, 170 pound goalie signed a two-year entry-level contract with Detroit after an impressive year in the Swedish Elite League. Larsson posted an impressive 2.29 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage en route to the Honken Trophy for best goaltender and the rookie-of-the-year award.
"It was really a good season for me," Larsson said. "I just went in and played my game and tried to keep it as simple as possible."
Larsson had a strong prospects tournament, although he was forced to leave midway through his first start due to cramps and dehydration.
"I think the games went well except I had one bad bounce (in the game against Atlanta)," he said. "It was a bouncing puck. The other games went good."
— Ryan Oulahen isn't even mentioned in the battle for a roster spot in Detroit, with Darren Helm, Ville Leino, Darren McCarty and Aaron Downey all ahead of him on the pecking order. But the 6-foot, 190-pound defensive-minded center wants to show he can be ready if called upon.
"I know they have a lot of players already," said the fourth-year pro and tri-captain of the Griffins last season. "My ultimate goal is to make an impression so that down the line, if they need a player I would be the first guy on the list."
— Team Abel won the gold-medal game at training camp, defeating Team Delvecchio 4-3. It was the most exciting of the three intra-squad scrimmages.
— Players from Team Abel received T-shirts reading "2008 Training Camp Champs Traverse City," and many put them on immediately.
— Marian Hossa scored a nifty individual goal and is off to a good start with potential linemates Pavel Datsyuk and Tomas Holmstrom.
— Jiri Hudler scored in the second after multiple chances in the first.
— Niklas Kronwall and Tomas Holmstrom had a good-natured battle in front of the net all game long. At one point, the duo got into a shoving match that had to be broken up by fellow Swede Jonathan Ericsson.
— Thomas McCollum stood tall in the shootout facing heavy artillery. He turned away both Hossa and Datsyuk, a difficult task for an 18-year-old.
— Valtteri Filppula did not participate in his team's practice as he continues to nurse a jammed thumb from a Downey hit. The Wings will be cautious with the 24-year-old Finn, but don't expect him to miss much time.
— Immediately following the game, the Red Wings cut their roster by 11 players and divided the remaining players into two new teams, Team Howe and Team Lindsay. The teams will alternate exhibition games.
Emmerton and Filppula are not assigned to a team because of injury, while Sergei Kolosov and several free agents also don't have spots.
— The Red Wings close out the Traverse City portion of training camp with a Red and White game scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday.
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The next wave
RWC's top 10 prospects (2008-09 end-of-season)
| 01 | F | Justin Abdelkader » | Grand Rapids (AHL) |
| 02 | F | Ville Leino » | Grand Rapids (AHL) |
| 03 | G | Thomas McCollum » | Brampton (OHL) |
| 04 | D | Jakub Kindl » | Grand Rapids (AHL) |
| 05 | D | Brendan Smith » | Wisconsin (NCAA) |
| 06 | G | Jimmy Howard » | Grand Rapids (AHL) |
| 07 | F | Cory Emmerton » | Grand Rapids (AHL) |
| 08 | F | Joakim Andersson » | Frolunda (SWE) |
| 09 | F | Mattias Ritola » | Grand Rapids (AHL) |
| 10 | F | Gustav Nyquist » | Maine (NCAA) |