Who are the Grand Rapids Griffins?

Hi! I'm bored and avoiding life so I thought I would make a "little" informational post about the AHL team the Grand Rapids Griffins.

So who are the Griffins?

Well the Grand Rapids Griffins are the AHL affiliate team for the Detroit Red Wings. Based out in Michigan, the Griffins were founded in 1996 under the IHL (International Hockey League) and ran independently until 1999. There were a few teams out in Grand Rapids before but this isn't about them.

In 1999 the Ottawa Senators chose the Griffins as their IHL affiliate team. Then in 2001, the IHL folded and the Griffins were one of the six IHL teams to be added to the AHL! However due to the AHL not allowing owners to have multiple teams, this caused the Orlando Solar Bears and Kansas City Blades to fold. This isn't about them though.

In 2002 is when the Detroit Red Wings revealed their five year deal with the Griffins. The Red Wings previously had an AHL team called the Adirondack Red Wings based out in New York, however they sold the team after management had plans to move the team to Toledo, Ohio that fell through. This left the team dormant until it was later sold and turned into the San Antonio Rampage. But this still isn't about them!

Just being 2 hours away from Detroit, the Griffins thrived as their new AHL team. Winning the Bud Poile Trophy in 2002 and the John Chick Trophy in 2003, it was no surprise when Detroit announced their contract extension with the Griffins in 2007.

With both Detroit and the Griffins on a hot streak, they won the Stanley Cup in 2008 with 9 former Griffins. After that there wasn't many awards up until 2013 when they beat the Syracuse Crunch in 6 games, winning their first ever Calder Cup. They would then repeat this in 2017 once again beating the Syracuse Crunch in 6 games to gain their second ever Calder Cup.

As of the last 5 seasons, the Griffins have made it to the playoffs twice. Both in the last 2 seasons. Making it to the 2nd round in 2024 before being knocked out by the Admirals and only making it to the first round in 2025 before being knocked out by the Texas Stars.

What about the people on the team?

We'll get into some of the players on another post but here's their full roster if you're that interested.

As for their staff...
Steve Yzerman, for better or for worse, is the current Detroit Red Wings GM. There's a whole section I could write about him and his "Yzerplan" however this isn't about him and I hate him and I hate him. I'm not even a big Red Wings fan.

Anyways the Griffins have their 5 coaches! Dan Watson, their head coach; Steph Julien, assistant coach; Brian Lashoff, another assistant coach; Roope Koistinin, goaltending coach; and Erich Junge, the video coach. With the exception of Dan Watson, all of these coaches are in either their first or second year of coaching at the AHL level. However Koistinin is the goaltending coach for the Finnish U20 national team which I think is pretty neat :)

Their mascots I kind of have a personal and one-sided beef with.

Meet Griff (left) and Finn (right). Yes they have two mascots. Yes they put eyelashes on the girl one so you know she's a girl. Generally fine mascots to be honest. They're well loved I just personally would throttle them.

They are showing off the Griffins jersey though. Which I'm told is one of the best by my very biased boyfriend.

What about future Griffins?

Right now things are semi up in the air. I go into it in my other post about the actual players but the TLDR is that the Red Wings have a development problem. Forcing players to get better too fast and expecting them to be their prodigies right out of the gate. It has worked sometimes but sometimes it doesn't. And with a lot of players being from the SHL they are often choosing to head back there instead of continuing with the Griffins.

The future is bright though, with new prospects and a new year.

Thanks for reading! The real Red Wings and Griffins fan is actually my boyfriend so feel free to ask any questions to him as well.