CAMPING FOR THE WEEKEND

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Forty-two players with Grand Rapids Griffins playing experience will be among the 74 Detroit Red Wings stars, prospects and invitees who will take to the ice this Friday, Sept. 15 for the start of Red Wings training camp at Centre Ice Arena in Traverse City, Mich.

Twenty-seven players who skated for the Griffins during the 2016-17 season are slated to participate, including goaltenders Jared Coreau and Jimmy Howard; defensemen Dennis Cholowski, Joe Hicketts, Filip Hronek, Nick Jensen, Brian Lashoff, Patrick McCarron, Dylan McIlrath, Dan Renouf and Robbie Russo; and forwards Mike Borkowski, Tyler Bertuzzi, Colin Campbell, Matthew Ford, Martin Frk, Axel Holmstrom, Matt Lorito, Anthony Mantha, Zach Nastasiuk, Dylan Sadowy, Dominik Shine, Givani Smith, Ben Street, Evgeny Svechnikov, Eric Tangradi and Dominic Turgeon.

Also present at camp will be 15 other former Griffins – Justin Abdelkader, Danny DeKeyser, Jonathan Ericsson, Luke Glendening, Darren Helm, Niklas Kronwall, Dylan Larkin, Tom McCollum, Petr Mrazek, Pat Nagle, Gustav Nyquist, Xavier Ouellet, Riley Sheahan, Ryan Sproul and Tomas Tatar – and several players who could make their Grand Rapids debuts this season, including goaltender Matej Machovsky; defensemen Kevin Tansey and Vili Saarijarvi; and forwards Corey Elkins, Turner Elson and Luke Esposito.

Griffins third-year head coach Todd Nelson and assistant coaches Ben Simon, Bruce Ramsay and Mike Knuble will assist the Red Wings’ coaching staff, headed by former Grand Rapids bench boss Jeff Blashill, during the camp, which concludes next Monday, Sept. 18.

Players will be divided into three groups for practices and scrimmages during camp. Daily on-ice practices will begin with the first group hitting the ice at 9:30 a.m. Friday through Sunday. Monday will see a Red vs. White Game at noon, with the players not participating in the game practicing at 10 a.m.

Upon breaking camp, the Red Wings will begin their eight-game preseason slate with a three-games-in-three-nights road stretch that starts Tuesday, Sept. 19 at 7 p.m. against Boston. Detroit begins its home preseason schedule on Saturday, Sept. 23 versus Boston at 7 p.m. in the first-ever hockey game at Little Caesars Arena.

Many players who will eventually comprise the Griffins’ roster will remain with the Red Wings throughout the preseason, until Grand Rapids opens its training camp on Monday, Oct. 2.

The complete Red Wings roster and camp schedule can be found at detroitredwings.com.

The Griffins will raise their 2017 Calder Cup championship banner and begin the defense of their title on Friday, Oct. 6 at Van Andel Arena against Manitoba when the puck drops on the 2017-18 season with Opening Night presented by Huntington Bank.

Single-game tickets will go on sale to the public on Sept. 8. Fans can secure their full-season, select-season or group ticket packages by calling (616) 774-4585 ext. 2 or visit griffinshockey.com for more information.