GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Grand Rapids Griffins will kick off training camp on Monday at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids in advance of the franchise’s 20th anniversary season.
The Detroit Red Wings on Saturday assigned forwards Martin Frk and Marek Tvrdon, defenseman Richard Nedomlel and goaltender Jake Paterson to Grand Rapids. They also released forward Jeff Hoggan and defenseman Nathan Paetsch from their tryouts, returning them to the Griffins in time for training camp.
This group will be joined by 16 others – forwards Kurt Etchegary, Alden Hirschfeld, Jean-Paul LaFontaine, Evan Rankin, Joel Rechlicz, Josh Shalla, Tyler Sikura, Austin Wuthrich andDominic Zombo; defensemen Matt Corrente, Derek Docken, Ralfs Freibergs, Jared Nightingale, Andrew Prochno and Steve Spinell; and goaltender Neil Conway – on the Griffins’ roster.
The schedule of practices is as follows (subject to change):
Monday, Sept. 28 at 11 a.m.-12:15 p.m. at Van Andel Arena;
Tuesday, Sept. 29 at 10-11:15 a.m. at Griff’s IceHouse;
Wednesday, Sept. 30 at 10-11:15 a.m. at Griff’s IceHouse;
Thursday, Oct. 1 at 10-11:15 a.m. at Van Andel Arena;
Friday, Oct. 2 at 10:15-11 a.m. at Van Andel Arena.
The Griffins will conclude camp with a pair of neutral-site preseason games against the Lake Erie Monsters. Grand Rapids will first battle the Monsters this Friday, Oct. 2 at 6:30 p.m. at the Bowling Green State University Ice Arena, home to the WCHA’s BGSU Falcons, before squaring off again on Saturday, Oct. 3 at 7:05 p.m. at the Windsor Family Credit Union Centre in Windsor, Ontario, where the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires play. For tickets, click here.
The Griffins will drop the puck on their regular season with an Oct. 9-10 road trip to Bakersfield and San Diego, marking their 20th campaign overall, 15th as members of the American Hockey League and 14th as the primary affiliate of the Red Wings. The following weekend, Grand Rapids will kick off the home portion of its schedule with back-to-back games against the San Antonio Rampage on Oct. 16-17 at 7 p.m. at Van Andel Arena.
