GRIFFINS GO CAMPING WITH WINGS

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Thirty-two players with Grand Rapids Griffins playing experience will be among the 64 Detroit Red Wings stars, prospects and invitees who will take to the ice this Saturday, Sept. 18 for the start of Red Wings training camp at Centre ICE Arena in Traverse City, Mich.

Nineteen players who skated for the Griffins’ 2009-10 squad are expected to be on hand, including goaltenders Thomas McCollum and Jordan Pearce; defensemen Travis Ehrhardt, Doug Janik, Jakub Kindl, Sergei Kolosov, Brian Lashoff, Sebastien Piche and Logan Pyett; and forwards Justin Abdelkader, Willie Coetzee, Cory Emmerton, Landon Ferraro, Jan Mursak, Jordan Owens, Francis Pare, Mattias Ritola, Jamie Tardif and Tomas Tatar.

Also participating in camp will be 13 other former Griffins – Greg Amadio, Joakim Andersson, Aaron Downey, Jonathan Ericsson, Valtteri Filppula, Darren Helm, Jimmy Howard, Jiri Hudler, Niklas Kronwall, Joey MacDonald, Derek Meech, Chris Osgood and Brent Raedeke – and several players who could spend time with Grand Rapids this season, including defenseman Brendan Smith and forwards Ilari Filppula, Jamie Johnson, Kirk Maltby and Chris Minard.

Griffins head coach Curt Fraser and assistant coach Jim Paek will assist the Red Wings’ coaching staff during the camp, which concludes next Tuesday, Sept. 21.

The camp schedule for Saturday through Monday calls for three player groups to practice at 9:30 a.m., 11 a.m. and 1:05 p.m. each day, with two of those groups scrimmaging at 11:45 a.m. Camp will conclude Tuesday with a Red vs. White game at noon, before the Red Wings dive into their eight-game preseason schedule on Wednesday, Sept. 22 by visiting Pittsburgh for a 7 p.m. start.

For the fourth consecutive year the Griffins will conduct their own training camp at Detroit’s Joe Louis Arena to facilitate their players’ participation in the Red Wings’ preseason games. Grand Rapids’ camp will begin on Wednesday, Sept. 22 and culminate on Thursday, Sept. 30 with a closed scrimmage against the Lake Erie Monsters at 5 p.m. at Joe Louis Arena. The Griffins’ first local practice is currently scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 2 at 11 a.m. at Griff’s IceHouse.

The Griffins will open the American Hockey League’s regular season at home for the first time in five years on Friday, Oct. 8, when they host the Abbotsford Heat at 7 p.m. For ticket information, visit griffinshockey.com or call the Griffins at (616) 774-4585.