GROwl

The game sheet for today's Noon Griffins game shows Larsson in goal; Centomo as backup. McCollum is missing...

I apologize. The CBA raised the ceiling from $100,000 to $105,000 this year. So, Janik is still exempt from re-entry waivers.

Actually, I don't think Janik is subject to re-entry waivers even in an non-emergency recall situation. A player's AHL salary must be more than a hundred grand to be subject to them. Most 2-way player's AHL salary is less than that. Its mainly when a one-way player is sent down and then gets called back up that he has to go through re-entry. That the 50% deal (100% on the way down, but the acquiring club only gets hit for 50% of the salary if the guy is on the way up). That's how Dallas was finally able to dump Sean Avery. No one was interested for 100% of his contract when he was sent down. However, the Rangers had some interest at 50% and picked him up after being in the AHL for the minimum 2 weeks as agreed. Dallas is stuck with the remaining 50% for the rest of his contract. ps: Janik being sent down on Wednesday was in the GR Press and I received an email alert from the Griffins, so I don't think it was any big secret!

He looked great last Friday night. Driving toward the net on each possession. Also played fairly physical - almost got into a fight when a few Houston players tried pushing him around. Axelsson created some pretty good scoring opportunities.

Yeah, Janik's recall is confirmed on www.theahl.com. He's been playing well in GR and the Griffin's next game isn't until Friday anyway. Might at well let the sick-ees take the night off. The question will next be will the Wings send him back down...or will they send someone else!

Absolutely. He was a huge presence on the ice here in Grand Rapids. Further, he asked to come to the AHL for conditioning in order to get a lot of ice time to get in game shape quickly. He wasn't forced to. That was part of the reason the deal was made with GR rather than Hershey. Grand Rapids had the veteran space to get him on the ice for 5 straight games.

His 2 week conditioning stint ended Friday. I was listening to the Washington game on XM Sat Radio last night on the way to my game. I think Nylander was playing for Washington already.

Tatar had his first goal on Thursday and also played well Friday. I think the decision has been made to keep him in GR.

Jimmy was playing college hockey at McCollum's age. So its hard to compare the 3 goalies' stats. I've seen the three play in GR. Jimmy for 4 years, Larsson for 1 and McCollum for only a few games. Based on the few games, I'd say McCollum is one cool, collected kid. He was flooded by a much more active Aeros team last night, yet held them to one goal. With Larsson -except for a rare game here and there- has been pretty solid. Jimmy has more ups, but more downs too. My concern all along with him has been consistency. He needs a solid D in front of him to assist on many nights. I was hoping he'd find that with the Wings, but so far the Defense has been as spotty as his goaltending. My money long term is on the younger two.

A different team came out of the lockerroom in the third period. After successfully killing off Jakub's 4 minute penalty, they got energized. Axelsson had several good chances - thought for sure one would go in. We'll miss Nylander...his presence tonight and the last few weeks really made a difference. Hopefully the Griffins will seamlessly continue their winning streak. Oh, and McCollum looked fantastic out there!

Fights in the audience too. Another group just got ejected. Griffins moving slowly...taking a lot of penalties rather than keeping up with the Aeros.

I may be an idiot (though I like to think I'm not)...but I'm not one of THE Idiots who threw their glow cup on the ice! There is no way my daughter would ever dispose of anything with her beloved team on it - or let us do it either! Also, since our new seats were on the north end, the netting would have prevented us from tossing crap onto the ice! Even the drunks in our section figured that out pretty quickly. I left the arena free of beer spills and bruises. Sorry you weren't so successful! Hope you were able to keep your camera safe!

Must be this year's version of the Friday night jersey. I have to admit, I like the red and white Griffin better. Sad thing is, I didn't even notice Friday night that they had the different logo. I saw the red and white and just assumed that it was the same Friday night sweater as the past few years. Must be the new seats we were sitting in. Not as good as the ones we've had for the last several years - but at least we're no longer in the D-Zone for Friday games. Great pics, Pokemon!

10 of the Griffins have the flu. 4 were able to be scratched-but the other 6 had to play despite of it (including Tardif and Tatar). Though if 6-1 is the result when they are sick, it really shows the potential of this team when they are healthy!

For those who watched the game on AHL Live or listened on the radio, was anything said about why Axelsson left the game? He played well in the first period, and then he was just gone. I don't recalll a hard hit on him.

The glow mugs were definitely a bad idea. The liquid vials broke when the mugs were thrown. Glowing green ice was the result. I'm still trying to clean it off my skates. Even so, it was an entertaining game. Ritola, McGrath and Tatar looked especially good. Welcome back, Boyz!

I was in the 6th row at last night's GR game and thought Tatar looked very good in the offensive end. Had several good scoring chances and seemed very comfortable on the ice. Hope he stays.

The AHL is a development league. Therefore, the are limits on the number of veterans who can suit up each game. It could be that Hershey is at their maximum with their current roster; whereas GR may have an available veteran spot. Otherwise, he could be assigned but couldn't get game time. There has to be a reaon somewhere...

I was down at The Zone this afternoon exchanging some tix. The guys there are CONVINCED that all the young players need to get going is this Friday's game. Coming out of the tunnel with almost 11,000 screaming, beer drinking fans...that's all it will take. Score! Let's hope!

We're going to the opener and probably Sunday too. Can't make the Saturday game. Looking forward to seeing the boys again. It's been way too long without hockey.

Can't wait for the Stars to come to GR. Now that Dallas no longer needs the secondary affiliation with GR, its the only way we'll get to see Stafford, Gagnon and Wilson anymore. I never spoke to Gagnon, but Stafford and Wilson are good hockey players and great guys. Even though Wilson was only here a short time last year, he made an impact on both the team and the fans.

Word on the street is that Oulahen may not be skating before Christmas even. If this is the case, it will be a long time before he centers any line.

Looks like Oulahen won't be playing for awhile. His hip injury hasn't healed as expected. Heard he had to have surgery this summer.

Ritola has already been in GR for 2 years. That being said, he's still waiver exempt for another year, so he'd be better off getting more playing time in GR...with an occasional callup to Detroit to fill in for short term injuries.

Many of the boys who come straight from juniors have trouble in their first year transitioning to even AHL hockey. They are used to being among the top players on their team, and now they are playing among other top players...who are often older, bigger, stronger and have already made that adjustment. Mursak may have benefitted from a temp ECHL assignment. At least this year, he knows now what to expect. Hopefully, he's used this summer to hit the weight room and work on some of his skills.