Coyote0106

What a BS game. They absolutely DOMINATE Hamilton for the first 40. Then the Griff defense realizes they were overachieving for what they have done all year, and decides to start the turnover game. Kindl has the biggest brain cramps I've seen since...well, the guy that screwed up our national anthem to start the game. Get Kindl and Galvin off of the same pairing. Our offense is getting it done, our defense is blowing chunks. This team doesn't quite realize effort wins you these games. The players preach it to the media, the coach wont stop talking about it, and yet the team can't figure out what it means to actually do it. I can't help but wonder how big of a issue it is without having McGrath or Oulahen in the line up. Edit: Dang, I seem ticked now. It's a good thing I didn't post anything last night.

NHL or overseas for Haydar next year. My guess is the latter of the two.

That was a fun game to go to. Downey and Henry came together after a whistle, Downey drops the gloves and Henry immediately skates away. Needless to say, when he ended up in the box soon after I gave him crap for the full 2 minutes. McCarty was really fired up after his penalty, came out of the box, lit a guy up in the corner then went to the front of the net for the pass to put it in the net. It was a HUGE goal for the team, but then they come out flat to start the second. It seems like the BIG issue last night was effort. They could absolutely dominate Hamilton, then they'd get lax and Hamilton would be all over them. Our D needs to get a little better, too.

Now we are guaranteed to see the Griffs atleast 3 more times at home. Sweet!

And it just saddens me, cause I work Monday and Wednesday nights. I'm going to have to pray I can get more time off, just for the stumbling Griffs.

I disappear to Vegas for a couple days, and LGW's turns into a Downey love-fest. I love it. I might as well my Downey jersey tomorrow night now.

I talked to Downey a week ago today at a bar, and he made it sound like it wasn't a real nice injury. He was hurting just walking to the bathroom.

He's out with a knee injury.

Oh, I agree with you. I'm putting my tickets on ebay just in a prayer that a ND fan buys 'em. I guess that's the risk, buy the tickets and pray a good team actually makes it in.

Exactly. Everyone crashes the net, the guy hits Larsson good. The ref points to one of our guys, and theirs, just like it's going to be penalites. The Marlie goes to the box, then suddenly no penalties. One of his teammates came over to tell him to get his butt back on the bench.

The Griffins played well the first two games this weekend. Mursak looked really good Friday night, and the goalies were amazing. Saturday was Haydar and Leino's night. They were doing all sorts of good stuff with the puck. The Marlies played well, but just got put on the losing end of it. It was a great 2 games. The Marlies really needed more than 1 point from those games, too. Syracuse is HOT right now, and are now only 2 points back, with a game in hand. It's quite the race for the 4th and final spot in our division. Yep, game is on NHL network for me anyways. I'll be flipping between the Sparty's and the Griffs.

Griffinscentral.com usually has write ups about the game, and he specifies the lines as well.

Peoria Rivermen (33-29-1-1) @ Grand Rapids Griffins (37-16-6-6) @ Season Match-up: 11-08-08: Grand Rapids Griffins 3 @ Peoria Rivermen 5 12-26-08: Peoria Rivermen 4 @ Grand Rapids Griffins 3 (OT)[/b] 12-30-08: Grand Rapids Griffins 3 @ Peoria Rivermen 1 03-13-09: Peoria Rivermen 1 @ Grand Rapids Griffins 4 03-14-09: Peoria Rivermen @ Grand Rapids Griffins 04-11-09: Grand Rapids Griffins @ Peoria Riverment Possible line-up: Ritola - Helm - McCarty Oulahen - Abdelkader - Haydar Leino - Emmerton - Tardif Gagnon - Pare - McGrath Stafford - Jozsa Kolosov - Pyett Kindl - Peterson Goalies: Larsson Howard Team Leaders: Goals Griffins: Haydar (26) Peoria: Whitfield (18) Assists Griffins: Haydar (41) Peoria: Regier (23) Points Griffins: Haydar (67) Peoria: Whitfield, Regier (40) Penalty Minutes Griffins: Downey (103) Peoria: Neilson (175)

I just used the line-up from how they started the last game. Nice win for the boys. Hopefully they can come out and do the same tonight. That was an NHL quality goal by D-Mac. I still doubt he should ever crack the Wings, but he's still got enough in him for the AHL.

When I went to the Wings vs. Yotes game, it was a little more laid back. Hudler was poking fun of a fan that had a MTL hat on, and a Wing t-shirt. Helm and Ozzie were laughing about something, but other than that, everyone was serious.

That's awesome if he's practicing. Hopefully his head is back into it, as well.

The closer we get to the trade deadline, the more worried I become. Then I refresh all these trade trackers every 15 minutes at work until it's done. I don't really expect Leino to come back down, so while he would be a very welcomed addition, I never thought of having him for the playoffs. In net, I'd feel just as comfortable (if not more) if Larsson was the starter for them, and Howard was indeed traded. We currently have 2 goalies that I am more than confident in... it almost reminds me of the good old days with Lamothe and Joey Mac. Emmerton would be a hit that the Griffs would definitely feel. We couldn't afford to lose a player like him, if we want to have any sort of run. He might not be carrying the team, but he is a valuable asset to it. We need our guys like Abs, Kindl, Ritola, Ericsson healthy and playing for us to have a run. Which reminds me, has anyone heard anything about Ericsson? It sounded pretty serious the last time I heard anything, but it's been a few weeks.

That picture of Kolosov with the stick flex, freakin' amazing. Those are very nice.

Stafford had a real tough night. Couple really bad turnovers, and a dumb penalty. This game reminded me of some earlier in the year. It was a offensive game, with no real defense to speak of.

Larsson was pretty damn good for having the flu. He hung in there, made some nice saves. Kindl had a real nice play in the first to prevent a goal. This team had every excuse to not play well, and they showed up for the first time in quite a while. It was a really good game. Emmerton and Haydar took it to another level last night. They were skating hard, Haydar was talking to guys, showing alot of leadership. Stafford had a couple nice shots, including one in the second that you could just tell was going to end in a goal. The passes were perfect, they had numbers, and Stafford was able to finish it off. Hopefully this game didn't drain the team to the point that tonight is a sluggish start.

Larsson is out with the flu. Looks like we're throwing this kid right into the mix of things. Hope it goes good for him.

Joel Martin. He's been playing in Kalamazoo (IHL).

Toronto has scored 15 goals in the last 2 games against us. Our D is REALLY weak right now, and our goalies have cooled off. This funk due to injuries/call up/whatever needs to end quickly.

That might be the only way Oulahen or Tardiff would have a shot in the NHL.

I'm with you guys. I've sat there and wondered why noone would go to the front of the net. I remember Barnes(and to some extent even Bootland) would sit there all day long. Abdelkader is good at deflections, but I don't know if he's the one I would chose for that type of job.