from Peter J. Wallner of Mlive,

The Grand Rapids Griffins, after a poor start, reached the halfway point of the season Wednesday in second place in the Central Division standings.

The Griffins, at 20-12-3-3, are tied with the Chicago Wolves with 46 points, and just one point from first-place Iowa Wild.

It has been a strong turnabout for the Griffins, who under first-year coach Ben Simon got off to a 2-5 start.

"From the start that we had, the resiliency we've shown from Game 10 to Game 38 shows the character of the guys in the room," Simon said. "That has to continue, obviously. But the positive from the first half is the guys were pretty solid in development. Slow, but you can see the progress being made."...

Here's a look back at the good, bad and surprises in the first half along with points of note for the second as the team looks for its seventh consecutive playoff appearance.

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