Grand Rapids Griffins Scoring Records

The Grand Rapids Griffins professional hockey franchise was established for the 1996-97 IHL season. The Griffins played in the IHL from 1996-97 to 2000-01 before moving to the American Hockey League. Grand Rapids currently remains in the AHL. The Griffins are affiliated with the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League.

The individual single season scoring records of the team are decent, considering the team was born at the end of the era of offense in North American pro hockey. The following records include both the years the Griffins spent in the IHL and AHL.

Goals – Donald MacLean

MacLean scored 56 goals in 76 games for the Griffins in 2005-06. He also assisted on 32 for 88 points. The goal total tied him with Denis Hamel of the Binghamton Senators for the AHL lead. Both have their name on the Willlie Marshall Award. However, MacLean gets the edge for playing one less game than Hamel. In 2005-06, Donald was also awarded the Les Cunningham Award as AHL most valuable player. In addition, he had a three game stint with the Red Wings.

Donald was originally a second round pick of the Los Angeles Kings in 1995. He appeared in a total of 41 regular season NHL games over his career with the Kings, Toronto Maple Leafs, Columbus Blue Jackets, Detroit and the Phoenix Coyotes.

MacLean won a scoring title in the AHL in 2001-02. He was awarded the John B. Sollenberger Trophy with 87 points in 75 games for the St. John’s Maple Leafs. Donald finished off his pro career in Europe from 2007-08 to 2010-11, playing in Austria, Switzerland, Sweden and Denmark. He is currently the assistant coach of Medvescak Zagreb of Austria’s EBEL. Zagreb was the last team he played for.

Assists – Jiri Hudler

The same year Donald MacLean was setting the Griffins record for goals, Jiri Hudler set the mark for assists in a season. Hudler assisted on 60 while scoring 36 of his own for 96 points in 76 games. Jiri finished third in the AHL for assists that year.

Hudler was a second round pick of the Detroit Red Wings in 2002. He has just passed the 450 game mark in his NHL career while playing for the Red Wings and Calgary Flames. 2014-15 will be his third year with Calgary.

Points – Michel Picard

In the first year of existence for the Griffins, 1996-97, Michel Picard set the team record for points that currently stands today. In 82 games for the IHL Griffins, Picard totalled 101 points on 46 goals and 55 assists. His point total placed him fourth in the IHL that season.

Picard was a ninth round pick of the Hartford Whalers in 1989. Over his career, he played in 166 regular season NHL games with the Whalers, San Jose Sharks, Ottawa Senators, St. Louis Blues, Edmonton Oilers and Philadelphia Flyers. Michel led the American Hockey League for goals in 1990-91, scoring 56 as a member of the Springfield Indians. He retired from hockey in 2008-09 after five years in Quebec’s LNAH.

Portland Pirates Of The AHL By The Numbers

The Portland Pirates have been a franchise in the American Hockey League since the 1993-94 season and are currently affiliated with the Phoenix Coyotes of the NHL. The Pirates have roots in the Erie Blades, an AHL team that began play in 1975-76. In between Erie and Portland, the franchise made a stop in Maryland and were known as the Baltimore Skipjacks from 1982-83 to 1992-93. In this article, when referring to team records and championships, it is just for the Portland Pirates from 1993-94 forward.

1. The Pirates have been crowned Calder Cup champions on just one occasion. It happened to be their first year in Portland, 1993-94. The team finished third overall during the regular season and took out the Albany River Rats and Adirondack Red Wings in the first two rounds. Portland received a bye through the semi-finals before meeting up with the Moncton Hawks in the finals. The Pirates came away with the championship in six games.

17. The most career shutouts by a goaltender in a Portland Pirates jersey is 17 by Maxime Ouellet. Ouellet played for the Pirates from 2001-02 to 2004-05 but the 17 shutouts all occurred in the 2002-03 and 2003-04 seasons with seven the first year and 10 the next.

2003-04 was a really unique year for a goalie to record ten shutouts. Maxime played 52 of Portland’s games. The Pirates won just 15 games, meaning 67% of the games they won were when they did not allow a single goal.

Ouellet was a first round pick by the Philadelphia Flyers at the 1999 NHL Entry Draft, 22^nd overall. On March 19, 2002, he was traded to Washington from Philadelphia for Hockey Hall of Fame member Adam Oates. Maxime played in the National Hockey League from 2000-01 to 2005-06 with the Flyers, Washington Capitals and Vancouver Canucks.

37. Olaf Kolzig wore the number 37 for the Pirates between 1993-94 and 1995-96. Each of those three years were split between Portland and the Washington Capitals. In the two previous seasons, Olaf played for the Baltimore Skipjacks.

In 1993-94, Kolzig was honoured with the Harry Holmes Trophy for the AHL’s best goaltending duo. He was also awarded the Jack Butterfield Trophy as the AHL’s Calder Cup playoff MVP. Olaf went on to win the Vezina Trophy in 1999-00. He played for the Capitals and Tampa Bay Lightning between 1989-90 and 2008-09. His time in Tampa was limited to just eight games in his final NHL season. Olaf Kolzig is an honoured member of the ECHL Hall of Fame.

41. The most goals scored in a single season for the Pirates is 41 by Michel Picard over just 61 games in 1993-94. Picard played 166 regular season games in the NHL between 1990-91 and 2000-01 with the Hartford Whalers, San Jose Sharks, Ottawa Senators, St. Louis Blues, Edmonton Oilers and Philadelphia Flyers. In 1990-91, he led the AHL in goal scoring with 56 as a member of the Springfield Indians.

48. In 1998-99, the Portland Pirates lost 48 games, the most in any single season for the franchise. Portland finished last in the Eastern Conference with 55 points, 16 points behind the next team, the Saint John Flames. Overall, the Pirates were 17^th in the 19 team league.

53. In 2005-06, the Pirates set a team record for most wins in a season with 53. Their 114 points placed them first in the Eastern Conference and second overall in the AHL behind the Grand Rapids Griffins. Portland then fell in the Eastern Conference finals to the Hershey Bears. The series went the full seven games with three decided in overtime, including game seven.

355. Mark Major set the club’s record for most penalty minutes in a single season in 1997-98 with 355 over 79 games. He then sat 52 minutes over ten playoff games that year. Over 364 career AHL regular season games, Major sat 1,238 PIM playing for the Providence Bruins, Adirondack Red Wings, Portland and the Hershey Bears. As a junior in the Ontario Hockey League, he sat 691 PIM over 183 games with the North Bay Centennials and Kingston Frontenacs. In the IHL, it was 927 minutes over 320 games with the Muskegon Lumberjacks, Detroit Vipers and Houston Aeros. Mark played two games in the NHL with the Detroit Red Wings in 1996-97.