OT: Griffins Win Western Conference Final

Submitted by icefins26 on
Griffins just beat OKC in Game 7, 5-4 on a late Tomas Jurco goal and now head to Syracuse for the Calder Cup Finals!

Huge win for the franchise and hockey in Grand Rapids. The Finals should sell out Van Andel. GO GRIFFINS!

Huss

June 5th, 2013 at 10:13 PM ^

Detroit's prospect pool has become pretty deep the past few years, and a lot of these guys in GR may very well be in Red Wings uniforms next year. 

Take notice of the job our scouting has done, guys.  With no early picks, we've managed to put together a farm system that's ranked near the top of the league.  Seriously.  Here's a juicy tidbit for ya:  4 different defenseman prospects in the Wings system won their leagues respect Defenseman of the Year trophys - and one of them, Ryan Sproul, was the OHL Defenseman of the Year.  Take a look at the past winners of that trophy.  That is a definitively Big Deal. 

So for all of us who are clamoring for more help - be patient.  The future is looking very, very bright for Detroit.  This so-called rebuilding phase is about to be usurped by another era of outstanding homegrown talent.

rainingmaize

June 5th, 2013 at 11:20 PM ^

Before Nyquist and Andersson came down the Griffins were doing pretty well, In fact that duo only played in three maybe four games of the entire AHL playoffs. Did they push the team over the edge, probablly, However the team has been playing well without them. Marzek, Teemu Pulkkinen, and Ferrarro have been tearing it up and each player should get their chance in the NHL. However the best of all the Wings prospects, Nyquist and Andersso included, could very well be Tomas Jurco. The rookie got off to a rough start, but has been on a tear the second half and absolutly incredible in the playoffs. A 6'2" skater that is willing to play physical like Holmstrom yet has the skill of Datsuyk, and only 20 years old...stud! 

Fhshockey112002

June 6th, 2013 at 12:04 AM ^

Yes early in the playoffs the Griffins were doing well, and I agree about Jurco, really like his game. But OKC had a 2-1 series advantage with 2 home games in games four and five when Nyquist and Andersson came down. The next two games were 4-0 and 3-0 Griffin wins.  I really think OKC wasn't ready systems wise to deal with what the Griffins were able to do moving Jurco on a line with Nyquist and Andersson. 

The DeKeyser add for the finals will be a big help, assuming he plays as well as he did in Detroit.

Huss

June 5th, 2013 at 10:47 PM ^

Nyquist and Anderson are shoo-in full timers in Detroit next year.  Tatar should be as well.  Guys like Sheahan and Ferraro (boy has he turned it around) have outside shots.  Calle Jarnkrok, who had a 9 game stint with the Griffins not too long ago, has been hailed as the best Swede import since Zetterberg - and indeed he has broken a lot of his SEL rookie records.  He could make the big club straight out of camp next year, though he'll most likely stick with the Griffins.

And I believe Martin Frk will join the Griffins next year as well.  The Vowel-less Wonder just finished up a Memorial Cup run averaging 2 PPG(!!!) in which his team basically raped and pillaged the entire junior hockey world.  I think they went 77-8-5 or something crazy like that.

WMUgoblue

June 5th, 2013 at 10:55 PM ^

Tatar is out of options I believe so doesn't he have to be in Detroit for the entirety of the season? My Griffins hockey knowledge faded once I left Kalamazoo, so I'm out of the loop a bit.

WMUgoblue

June 5th, 2013 at 10:47 PM ^

Did any of the young wings get sent back down for the playoffs once they were eliminated?? Is that even allowed, because sending Nyquist et all down seems like a ridiculous talent boost.

GRBluefan

June 6th, 2013 at 8:13 AM ^

Game 1 of the conference finals with my 4 year old son.  It was a Friday night, with $2 beer and Dog specials.  I would estimate that the arena was 30%-40% full, which was very disappointing to me. 

 

On top of that, the arena did not seem to be prepared to handle even that modest number of people.  We got out of our seats immediately after the end of the first period and went to wait in line for some popcorn.  We were not able to return to our seats until there were 8 minutes left in the second period.  It took us 38 minutes to get a popcorn and soda.  I thought that the people in line with me were going to disembowel the service staff when they reached the counter.

 

The game itself was great (Griffins won 2-1), but that concession experience was brutal.

icefins26

June 6th, 2013 at 9:33 AM ^

It's the playoffs. Ticket sales are 100% dependent on walk-up/individual sales whereas regular season games account for group sales. As for concessions, the Griffins have always struggled in terms of volume, especially with $2 beer nights. My strategy? Skip the lines and buy a $7 Labatt can and get 2 cold beers for $7 instead of 2, $2 warm beers for $4.



The finals will come close to selling out. Especially in game 4 on Friday.

GRBluefan

June 6th, 2013 at 9:54 AM ^

would be fine if I had wanted a beer, but I was getting a popcorn for my son.  No choice but to wait in line at the actual concession area for that.

 

They do have express beer lines that only sell beer and move a lot quicker than the actual concession lines.