The Grand Rapids Griffins struggled to secure a playoff spot as the season was expiring. Part of the reason was that the Detroit Red Wings were so banged up to finish the regular season they needed basically any bodies available to wear the Winged Wheel to field enough players to compete in an NHL game.
The Griffins loaned forwards Martin Frk, Matt Puempel, Dominic Turgeon to go along with defensemen Joe Hicketts, Jake Chelios, Brian Lashoff, and Dylan McIlrath to fill out a roster.