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Griffins notes: Terry preps for All-Star Classic; Hronek ‘just alright’ in return

Chris Terry, Grand Rapids Griffins
Photo credit:Jenae Anderson/www.accesshockeymi.com
Tom Mitsos
5 years ago
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — After a 4-0 drubbing by the San Jose Barracuda on Friday, the Grand Rapids Griffins exacted some revenge, winning 3-2 in a shootout Saturday night at Van Andel Arena.
The Filip Zadina hype train continues to chug, as he scored the Griffins’ first goal in the second period to cut the deficit to 2-1 off a nice no-look back pass from AHL All-Star Chris Terry. Zadina has 11 goals and 10 points in 36 games this season.
Terry leaves for Springfield, Massachusettes, Sunday morning to participate in his third straight AHL All-Star Classic and fourth overall.
Terry chuckled a bit when asked him if he was practicing his fancy passes for the All-Star game.
“Trying to make plays out there, whatever is available,” he told Wings Nation. “Some work, some didn’t tonight.”
The 29-year-old is tied for eighth in AHL scoring with 42 points and leads the league in goals with 23. For the Griffins, he has six more points than second-place Matt Puempel.
Terry said he likes the 3-on-3 format the AHL has adopted for the All-Star game.
“It’s entertaining, it’s a lot of fun,” he said. “It’s high scoring, it’s 2-on-1 breakaways. Overall, the whole experience is a lot of fun.”
Despite being nominated for his third straight All-Star game, Terry had no intention of sitting this one out, like when Alex Ovechkin straight up said he wasn’t going to participate in the NHL All-Star festivities.
“I had an injury last week that luckily healed up,” Terry said. “But I’m not going to play in All-Star games my whole life, so I’m going to take advantage of that when I can and cherish those. It’s an honor to be chosen and represent this team.”
Terry added he hopes to able to defend his accuracy shooting title he won last year but didn’t know Saturday night which events he would be participating in.

Hronek struggles in return

There’s always an adjustment period when players come from the NHL back to the AHL. Filip Hronek has done it before, but coach Ben Simon said he knows the Czech defenseman can be better.
“I thought Fil was just alright tonight,” Simon said. “I think he knows he has to be better and again, it’s an acclimation period from coming down that he’s just gotta settle in and get going down here.”
He had one major blunder in the third period when an attempted cross-ice no-look back pass resulted in a breakaway the other way. Luckily for him, Harri Satari bailed the Griffins out, keeping the score tied.
However, Hronek also generated some chances on the power play, although the Griffins were unable to score on all five of their opportunities. Over the last three games, Grand Rapids is 0 for 17 with the man advantage.
On Friday, Hronek told reporters being sent down to Grand Rapids doesn’t change anything for him.
“It’s part of the business,” he said. “I think mentally I was fine.”
Hronek said he enjoyed his prolonged stay in Detroit and added the pace of the game is one of the biggest differences between the AHL and NHL.
“It was fun, I got experience,” he said. “I tried to take some positives from there and move forward.”
Hronek had three goals and seven assists in 23 games with the Red Wings; he has no points in his last two games with the Griffins.

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