All Grand on the Griffins

The Grand Rapids Griffins passed through the Ricoh Coliseum for a date with the Toronto Marlies, losing 3-2 to the host club. The Detroit Red Wings AHL affiliate was a fairly young group simmering with underlying talent, while a pair of ex-Marlies, Kris Newbury and Jeremy Williams returned to the Ricoh for the first time in away silks. Williams registered a goal, while Newbury was as feisty as ever. McKeen's correspondent Gus Katsaros was at the game and had these notes on several Griffins' players.

Cory Emmerton (Det), C, Grand Rapids

Plays the first unit on the powerplay and the penalty kill, taking crucial faceoffs in both situations .. struggled below the goal line and didn't wander into open ice when he could have .. stops moving his feet and seemed confused identifying lanes, playing a rigid, uncreative game without much puck presence early on .. a big burst of speed off the wing let him cut to the net in the second for a good scoring chance in a fairly unimaginative game .. needs to develop some stick strength for better faceoff success, having trouble with bigger opponents on the draw .. seemed to initiate more speed and cut from the wing as the game progressed, highlighting a knack with a wide stride to protect the puck, while stickhandling with the other .. lone forward playing on a 5-on-3 .. worked hard in all three zones, but lost majority of board battles, boxed out often and watched the puckcarrier other times, missing defensive assignments.

Evan McGrath (Det), C, Grand Rapids

Sports an 'A' on his chest as team leader .. plays special teams, but is a better on the pk than on the pp .. has a propensity to stop moving his feet and coasting, generating just enough speed from footwork to keep up with the play and not pulling away, even while leading the rush .. coasts and misses momentum, trying to do too much from a stationary position .. lack of momentum allows players to beat him wide with even the slightest bursts .. makes up for the lack of motion with good overall positioning and an active stick to take away passing lanes .. economic, but questionable decision making on the ice and seems to play a more reactive than creative game overall.

Dick Axelsson (Det), LW, Grand Rapids

Waits for the play to come to him and doesn't make concerted efforts to get involved, especially along the boards where he hovers letting teammates fight to get pucks free .. doesn't play much of a physical game, relying on speed/acceleration and quick transition to utilize good vision and preparedness .. slightly unbalanced in cuts and turns - his inside leg bounces in sharp turns instead of gliding along the ice .. took exception to a late hit after the whistle and shadowed the player yapping, but not challenging like dropping the gloves, throwing verbal warnings instead .. doesn't like physical contact, initiating none, and taking exception to every form of contact, regardless of legality .. imaginative with decent distribution skills, seemed to want to take the puck in himself with a shoot first, pass later mentality.

Mattias Ritola (Det), LW, Grand Rapids

Wide, horseshoe stride with a good start up .. treated the puck like a hot potato early in the game, passing it off in most instances and playing a support role .. slick hands with a variety of dekes and maneuvers, particularly in tight areas with corresponding footwork in close quarters .. loses steam on longer shifts and coasts in the perimeter .. works diligently as a penalty killer, including getting himself in passing lanes, always moving his feet .. found puckhandling skills as the game progressed and distributed with better vision and anticipation of the play when directing pucks to his teammates .. plays more of a roving position like a center, and gets low in defensive zone to help out the defense instead of manning his point assignment as a winger .. should also keep his stick on the ice, both in the offensive zone to get passes, and in the defensive zone to take away passing lanes, especially if he's playing deeper than normal.

Jakub Kindl (Det), D, Grand Rapids

Active and always moving using inertial leverage to burst into his plays .. played a versatile role on special teams along with a regular shift .. smooth and fluid skater that is defensively aware with a sense to take lanes away .. quick release on wrist/snapshot, but a weaker one-timer .. has a tendency to over handle the puck, especially when pressured .. puck skills and stickhandling is complemented with good vision to find teammates and anticipation to read the play .. has a 'hopping' gait, on first few backward strides where he bounces into a full skating stride .. can be overtaken physically for such a big body, and struggled throwing his weight along the boards .. takes space away quick and limits room between himself and the boards, cutting it down very fast and forcing opposition to hurry their play .. loses attention watching the puck late in the game, instead of taking a man and defending the zone, which almost led to a late goal .. must be kept tuned in.