It’s partly by choice and partly because they have had no choice, but as many as 10 players who were part of the Grand Rapids Griffins’ Calder Cup championship team last season have been playing key roles in helping the Detroit Red Wings stay in the hunt for a record 23rd consecutive berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs this season.

“I looked the other day we had eight guys from that team in our lineup,” Red Wings coach Mike Babcock told NHL.com. “Any way you look at it that’s a chunk, and with that lineup we were able to win in Los Angeles (3-1) and lose 1-0 in Anaheim in a game I thought we could have easily won. They’re ready to play.”

They have had no choice but to be ready with all the injuries the Red Wings have endured this season to players such as Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Jimmy Howard, Johan Franzen, Daniel Alfredsson, Jonathan Ericsson, Darren Helm, Justin Abdelkader, Stephen Weiss and Brendan Smith.

Detroit has lost 186 man-games to injury, which was seventh in the League entering play Tuesday. They don’t have anybody on long-term injured reserve.

“We’ve had a ton of injuries but I’m tired of talking about that to be honest with you,” Babcock said. “The reality is no one seems to get better. We seem to have them and they’re key guys, but I’ve always said each year you find players when you get opportunities like this.

“It’s good because they’re ready to take people’s jobs.”

Some of them have seized the opportunity to establish themselves as regulars in Detroit’s lineup.

Joakim Andersson is one of three players (Drew Miller and Kyle Quincey) who have played in all 46 games for the Red Wings this season. Tomas Tatar is sixth on the team with 19 points. Danny DeKeyser is a top-four defenseman playing 21 minutes per game. Gustav Nyquist has 10 points in 21 games since being recalled from Grand Rapids. Brian Lashoff is playing nearly 15 minutes per game as a third-pair defenseman.

Babcock is particularly high on forwards Riley Sheahan, Luke Glendening and Tomas Jurco.

“Let’s be straightforward,” Babcock said. “In the cap world sometimes guys on your minor-league team don’t get to play on your [NHL] team even when they’re ready. Riley Sheahan is right there. Jurco is right there. Glendening is there for sure.

“Sheahan has four points in six games. He’s a big man and knows how to play. Jurco can flat-out skate and he knows how to play. Glendenning wears on people, he plays hard and we like him.”

Injuries to Howard and Jonas Gustavsson have forced goalie Petr Mrazek into four starts and six games. He has a 1.61 goals-against average and .923 save percentage. Adam Almquist played in two games on the blue line in early November when Ericsson and Smith were sidelined with injuries.

Babcock is quick to credit Grand Rapids coach Jeff Blashill, who again has the Griffins playing well. They are first in the Western Conference of the American Hockey League with 53 points in 38 games despite having to shuttle some of their top players to Detroit.

“It’s like Blashill is on our coaching staff I talk to him so much because we have so many of their guys and he knows more about them than I do. So why wouldn’t you talk to him about them?” Babcock said. “He’s doing a good job down there and we need those players.

“Will any of those guys be a star one day? I don’t know, but they’re going to play in the NHL.”

They already are.