Griffins hit the ice in Traverse City
September 9, 2004 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release
Grand Rapids, Mich. â Numerous past and future members of the Grand Rapids Griffins will begin on-ice preparations for the 2004-05 season on Friday, when the Detroit Red Wings' annual prospects tournament gets underway at the Centre ICE Arena in Traverse City, Mich.
Niklas Kronwall, Jiri Hudler, Eric Himelfarb and Brett Lebda will join potential Griffins such as Todd Jackson, Logan Koopmans, Drew MacIntyre and Derek Meech on the Red Wings' prospect team that will compete in a round-robin tournament against the future stars of the St. Louis Blues and the defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning.
Griffins head coach Danton Cole and assistant Greg Ireland will coach Detroit's squad during the tournament. Tickets for all games are $5 at the door, and the schedule is as follows:
Friday, Sept. 10
10:30 a.m. - Tampa Bay practice / St. Louis practice; 1 p.m. - Detroit practice; 7 p.m. - Tampa Bay vs. St. Louis
Saturday, Sept. 11
10:30 a.m. - Detroit practice / St. Louis practice; 1 p.m. - Tampa Bay practice; 7 p.m. - Detroit vs. St. Louis
Sunday, Sept. 12
10:30 a.m. - Detroit practice / Tampa Bay practice; 1 p.m. - St. Louis practice; 6 p.m. - Detroit vs. Tampa Bay
Monday, Sept. 13
10:30 a.m. - Second place team practice / Third place team practice; 1 p.m. - First place team practice; 7 p.m. - Semifinal game (Second place team vs. Third place team)
Tuesday, Sept. 14
1 p.m. - Championship game (First place team vs. Semifinal winner)
Participants in recent prospect tournaments have included Griffins such as Paul Ballantyne, Darryl Bootland, Matt Ellis, Danny Groulx, Tomas Kopecky, Joey MacDonald and Nathan Robinson, as well as Detroit stars Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg. Last year, Robinson led the Wings with five goals and seven points in four contests, while Bootland contributed four goals.
The Griffins will commence their ninth training camp on Wednesday, Sept. 29, and will open the 2004-05 American Hockey League regular season on Friday, Oct. 15, when they host the Cleveland Barons in a 7:30 p.m. start at Van Andel Arena. Griffins full-season, mini-season and group ticket packages are currently on sale through the team's office at (800) 2-HOCKEY, while single-game tickets will go on sale later this month.
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American Hockey League Stories from September 9, 2004
- Griffins hit the ice in Traverse City - Grand Rapids Griffins
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- Big Weekend In Community For Sound Tigers - Bridgeport Islanders
- Summer Street Crunch Rescheduled For September 18 - Syracuse Crunch
- Grizzlies Issue an Open Call for Talent - Utah Grizzlies
- Cail MacLean comes back to Hershey, Bears also sign Greg Barber - Hershey Bears
- Admirals to Play in Nashville - Milwaukee Admirals
- Aeros open training camp September 27 - Houston Aeros
- Pittsburgh Penguins re-sign LW Matt Murley - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- Sharks Sign Zalesak - Cleveland Barons
- Barons Announce Preseason And Hockey Fest Plans - Cleveland Barons
- Blake Sloan returns to Grand Rapids - Grand Rapids Griffins
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
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