Drove up to Van Andel last night and the building is buzzing. Grand Rapids has ripped off the best start in franchise history, sitting around 16-1-0-1. Cossa has been a wall, Lombardi is producing, and the AHL vets are doing the dirty work. I have watched a lot of Griffins hockey over the years and I have never seen a depth chart this deep this early. The puck management out of the D zone is the thing that jumps out. Anyone else been making the drive?
16-1-0-1 is genuinely absurd for an AHL club. The encouraging part for me is that it is not just one guy carrying it. Cossa stabilizing the crease plus Lombardi up front plus a veteran spine is exactly the development environment you want for the kids filtering through.
great, the farm team is contending and the big club misses the playoffs for the 47th straight year. winning at the wrong level as usual lol
Larry I knew you would show up. A healthy farm team winning is how you build a healthy NHL team eventually. This is the pipeline doing its job.
This is the part of the plan people forget about. You want the AHL club to be a winning, demanding place. Habits travel. A 16-1 start tells me the standard down there is real now.
back in my day the farm club was a bunch of guys nobody wanted. now its the best team in the org. tells you something.
Saw a couple of these guys at camp in the fall and the compete level was noticeable even then. Not shocked it is translating. Cossa especially looked locked in.