Who is on the Grand Rapids Griffins?

Okay so. I'm not actually going to go through the entire roster here. That would be way too long and I actually don't know much about them all. Instead I've been given a curated list of players from my Griffins fan bf and we'll talk about them instead! Starting with...

Sebastian Cossa

Pronounced "KOH-sa", Cossa is one of the bigger names within the Grand Rapids Griffins, for better or for worse. A 22 (turning 23) year old goaltender, Sebastian Cossa stands at 6'7 between the posts. A Canadian boy, he was born in Hamilton, Ontario but grew up in Fort McMurray, Alberta.

If you know anything about the Detroit Red Wings, you'll know they're currently in one of the craziest goalie situations in the league. This has affected the Griffins as well. During the 2024/25 season, Cossa played 41 games for the Griffins and 1 game for the Red Wings.

With the Red Wings, Cossa was able to get a shootout win as a relief goalie against the Buffalo Sabres. He netted a .857 SV% before not touching NHL ice again.

With the Griffins, Cossa was able to win 21/41 of his games played, ending with a SV% of .911. His development within the team has been a bit awkward. The Red Wings are notorious for attempting to push players to be ready faster, often not giving enough time for them to develop within the development team. This can be said for Cossa who has all the makings of an incredibly skilled player, yet has been the subject of intense scrutiny over the years.

His play seemed to dip after the AHL All-Star break, though he says he enjoys working with both the head coach and goaltending coach of the Griffins.

In his personal life, Sebastian grew up in Fort McMurray, Alberta and there was nothing to do mostly. Playng hockey is how he combat boredom. He began skating at around age 5 and started playing goalie when he was around 7 or 8 years old. Goalies were hard to come by growing up, with Cossa once saying “During my second year of atom hockey, we had three goalies to start the season and we were kind of rotating each game. By Christmas, the other two quit being goalies because they didn’t like it, so I was the one who stuck with it.”

Growing up, his favourite goalie was Carey Price. His own game being inspired by the Canadien, saying he used to spend hours watching videos of him moving around in the net. By age 12 he was being coached by Mike Brodeur and I believe still works with him during the summer.

Now this got kind of long but here's some fun facts before we move on. Cossa got married to his highschool sweetheart just last offseason, he has an older brother, and he's never liked the Oilers despite growing up in Alberta.

Nate Danielson

Danny is honestly just a little guy. At age 20 (turning 21), Danny is a 6'1 center. Born and raised in Red Deer, Alberta, he played for their youth team up until joining the Brandon Wheat Kings.

This past season he played exclusively for the Griffins, but in the 2023/24 season he played for the Brandon Wheat Kings as captain, traded to the Portland Winterhawks in January 2025, was on the Canada U20 National team, then played a few games for the Griffins during the playoffs.

Danny had an impressive 23/24 season netting 26 points in the 26 games he played for the Wheat Kings, 41 points in the 28 regular season games and 24 points in the 18 playoff games he played with the Winterhawks, and 3 points in the 5 games he played with Team Canada. During training camp, Danny also had the opportunity to play with other prospects as well as veterans of the team. This includes Patrick Kane who has said “Danielson’s really impressive. Skated with him a little bit when I first came into Detroit (this summer). A lot of skill, kind of reminds me a little bit of (Connor) Bedard, the way he plays and the way he stickhandles and shoots. I know he’s a high-end prospect as well, but he looks like he’s got a bright future.”

He played 71 regular season games with 39 points and 3 playoff games leaving with 1 point. Many eyes have been on him since getting picked 9th overall in the 2023 draft, and he seems to be meeting those expectations.

Growing up, Danny admired his older brother for his hockey skills. It's how he got into hockey, following in his brother's footsteps. His parents were also very supportive with their dad making sure both brothers were enrolled in a power skating camp up in Kelowna. He says his dad always pushed him to do better as a kid, but made sure to say he never yelled either, mostly giving feedback on how to be better.

In his freetime, Danny likes to read. He mostly reads books on how to improve himself. When he was younger, he watched a video on the athelete David Goggins which inspired him to pick up his memoire "Can’t Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds." This began his spree of reading different atheletic biographies and books.

His little fun fact is that his favourite number is 9! Which is fun due to the fact he was picked 9th overall of his draft class. Related, his number 29 was not because of the 9 in it but rather the fact that Nathan MacKinnon wears it.

Emmitt Finnie

(I just like this image)
Finnie! He's a 20 year old center/left winger standing at 6'1. From Lethbridge, Alberta, Finnie currently plays more for the WHL than the AHL but he still has a few games under his belt.

Little Finnie here has been playing for the Kamloops Blazers since the 2021/22 season and has been playing ever since. Even becoming their captain just this past season! Part of their team when they won the Memorial Cup in 2023, he came out with 35 points that season, 59 points during the 23/24 season, and 84 points during this last season.

The Griffins have been a bit of a different story. He only played 3 games in the 23/24 season and 10 in this past season, only getting 5 points in the latter total. That's not to say he's fumbling in the AHL. Many have said he is always "at the right place at the right time." and hopefully he will continue to grow during the offseason and next season.

There's actually not much to be said about Finnie but your fun fact is that he was nominated for the WHL Most Sportsmanlike Player Award this year!

Amadeus Lombardi

Yes that's his legal name. Ammo is a 22 year old center at the nice height of 5'10. From New Market, Ontario, Ammo is one of the prospects that has been watched for awhile now.

Ammo didn't have the best of seasons these past couple ones, but he was able to come out of last season with 40 points in the regular season after only playing 44 games due to injury. A good increase from his 26 points the season prior. Many see him as someone who is going to help the Red Wings in the future. Almost like a second coming of Christ.

He's also a pretty big fan favourite. Known for his personality and general likability both on and off the ice. He's honestly just kind of a little guy. Growing up, his father couldn't afford to get into hockey and rather joined a band instead. Attomik was the no. 1 indie rock band in Canada before being sued by another company named Atomic. His father then pushed those aspirations aside when Amadeus was born to focus on him.

He was a Leafs fan growing up and was already shooting into the net after being given a ministick and a tinfoil ball at a young age. Ammo grew up loving hockey, choosing it over soccer and playing for various teams in the Greater Toronto Hockey League. Getting into the OHL was a bit rougher due to both the pandemic and not being seen as a top player to be drafted.

As for fun facts, his siblings also followed the absolutely banger name pattern with Ulysses and Symphony. He also is really into psychology and said since he's not takng classes he tries to read a lot, attempting to get out of his over-thinking habits.

Bonus!

So there's a few players that are technically part of the Griffins roster but are most likely not playing for them next season due to multiple reasons.

Elmer Söderblom: Sodaaaa! 6'8 left wing from Gothenburg, Sweden. He's 23 (turning 24) and has been playing with the Detroit Red Wings and most likely going to continue to play for them next season.

Marco Kasper: Kaspy! 6'1 center from Klagenfurt, Austria. He's 21 and has been playing with the Detroit Red Wings and most likely going to continue to play for them next season. Also part of team Austria!

Anton Johansson: Anton! 6'3 defenseman from Stockholm, Sweden. He's also 21 and will be playing for Leksands IF in the SHL next season.

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.