Chris Minard has been soaring since he started his comeback from post-concussion symptoms.

Since returning to the Griffins’ lineup on Jan. 15, Chris Minard’s scoring prowess has been giving opponents plenty of headaches.

He can certainly relate.

Minard missed the first 36 games of the season, struggling with post-concussion symptoms from a blindside hit that he suffered while playing for the AHL’s Springfield Falcons two seasons ago.

He tallied 12 goals in his first 16 games this year, including two hat tricks, as he regained the scoring touch that had led the Detroit Red Wings to sign him to a two-year contract before last season. And after registering eight goals, 13 points and a plus-seven rating in 10 games during February, he was named the Griffins’ first-ever Reebok/AHL Player of the Month.

Minard has rediscovered the love of the game that he shared with his older brother Mike, a former pro goaltender and current assistant coach for the Portland Pirates, while growing up in Owen Sound, Ontario.

“When you’re away from the game, you miss the fun of being around 25-30 guys and being able to still act like a little kid,” Minard said. “You can’t do that in the real world, and that’s what makes it fun. You just want to come to the rink and play, and you miss it when you can’t.”

So it was especially frustrating for Minard when he wasn’t allowed to skate, let alone play, this fall as a result of the headaches and dizziness he had been experiencing for longer than he cares to remember.

Fabian Brunnstrom is willing to pay the price to earn his place in the National Hockey League.

Fabian Brunnstrom is hot on the trail of the flawless hockey stick.

He knows he may never find it, but it’s not going to stop him from trying.

“I’ve been working on my sticks for my whole career, and I still haven’t gotten it right,” he said recently, taking a break from his perpetual pursuit. “I’m looking to make the perfect one. I know how I want it, but it’s hard to do it in reality.”

He is focused on this particular day not on the curve of the blade but on how it rests on the ice. Or more precisely, on how it does not touch the ice.


“When I’m standing on the toe, I want more of the blade to lay on the ice,” he continued, positioning his body as if he were ready to take a faceoff. “I need to straighten it out, but it affects the other angle.”

Brunnstrom admits that it may be a never-ending quest. “I guess so,” he said. “But I want to make it as good as it can be.”

In many ways, the story of his career is not much different.

The Grand Rapids Sled Wings continue to provide athletic avenues for kids with disabilities.
 
Tyler Anderson and Susie Kluting may not appear as mobile as other young adults, but thanks to an opportunity provided in part by the Grand Rapids Griffins Youth Foundation, they’ve been to places that most people their age have never visited.

Both are members of the Grand Rapids Sled Wings, a team of physically challenged athletes who travel near and far to compete on the ice against other teams in a unique version of ice hockey.

Unable to walk due to being born with spina bifida, Anderson and Kluting were both introduced to the sport more than a decade ago by Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital, which has sponsored the Sled Wings with the support of the Griffins Youth Foundation since the team’s founding in 2001.

Neither has allowed their physical disabilities to slow them.

The 21-year-old Anderson, a 2009 graduate of Jenison High School, is in his third season with the U.S. National Developmental Sled Hockey Team. He has played wheelchair basketball and tennis, competed in the Fifth Third River Bank Run’s 25K hand cycle race, and kayaked in Alaska.

Kluting, 19, was recently named to the newly formed U.S. Women's Sled Hockey Team, becoming the Sled Wings’ third national-caliber player in as many years. Zeeland resident Chris Melton was a Team USA teammate of Anderson's last season.

The Detroit Red Wings found their place in the NHL record book, thanks to key contributions from a number of former Griffins.

By extension, the Grand Rapids Griffins have every reason to relish their relationship with the Detroit Red Wings.

The Red Wings' soon-to-be 21-season streak of making the playoffs is the longest active run of any team in the four major professional sports leagues (NHL, NFL, NBA, MLB).

For the last 10 of those years, the Griffins have supplied dozens of players as Hockeytown’s primary minor league affiliate.

As impressive as that streak may be, the Red Wings recently set an NHL record by stringing together 23 consecutive victories at home, smashing the old mark of 20 first established by the 1929-30 Boston Bruins and later matched by the 1975-76 Philadelphia Flyers.

“It’s beyond impressive,” said Red Wings coach Mike Babcock after his team finally saw its streak come to a close. “I don't care what era. It was just a real good run for our Red Wings. We’re thrilled to have done it. It sets us up in a good situation playoff-wise.”

The Griffins played more than a small part in the home winning streak.

A total of 15 Griffins alumni played at Joe Louis Arena during the streak, including five who played in all 23 games (see chart). And every victory was backstopped by one of the Griffins’ top two all-time leaders in goaltending wins.

Veteran Garnet Exelby has polished his play over the years to become a dependable defenseman coveted by coaches.

Coaches can teach skating, stickhandling and how to play defense, but one thing they can’t teach is experience.

So when the Detroit Red Wings saw an opportunity to add Garnet Exelby in the offseason, the NHL club signed the veteran blueliner to provide depth within the organization.

When he was assigned to Grand Rapids, Exelby was a natural choice to become the captain of the Griffins. He entered the 2011-12 season having played in 408 NHL games, nearly as many as his 22 other teammates combined.

Griffins head coach Curt Fraser believes Exelby has been everything he was advertised to be and more.

“I think he’s been even better than we thought,” Fraser said. “He’s a good leader on the ice as well as in the locker room. He’s been a real stabilizing force who helps all of our young defensemen, plus he’s physical and can find the back of the net once in a while, which is a bonus.”

There’s no secret to why a player like Exelby is a good fit on a young team like the Griffins. He is the epitome of “what you see is what you get” – a strong defenseman who isn’t afraid to pressure the opposition and who likes to throw his weight around when the opportunity presents itself.