[43] By December, the Griffins were contending for first place in the Northeast Division, largely on the strength of their goaltending and the top forward line of Picard, Metropolit and Greig. On June 16, 2015, Todd Nelson was named head coach of the Griffins. [34][35] The franchise's first season was considered a success by the IHL,[36] which held its 1997 All-Star Game in front of a capacity crowd at the 10,834-seat Van Andel Arena. The league ultimately was swayed by the community's response, which included over 8,000 season ticket requests, and the new, fully financed arena. Chris Lindberg signed with the team shortly after Picard's recall, but was later suspended by the IHL after bolting to play for Swiss team EV Zug.
The team played in the Van Andel Arena. [3] In April, however, the IHL's board of directors voted to waive one of its expansion criteria – that the city's metropolitan area comprise at least one million people – and grant West Michigan Hockey a franchise for US$7 million. For the full season-by-season history, see List of Grand Rapids Griffins seasons, The return of professional hockey to Grand Rapids, Ottawa Senators affiliation and joining the AHL (1999–2002), Detroit Red Wings affiliation (2002–present), "1996-97 Grand-Rapids Griffins (IHL) player statistics", "Pavol Demitra's hockey statistics profile", "Kevin Adams's hockey statistics profile", "1996-97 International Hockey League (IHL) standings", "1997-98 Grand-Rapids Griffins (IHL) player statistics", "1998-99 International Hockey League (IHL) standings", "1998-99 Grand-Rapids Griffins (IHL) player statistics", "Glen Metropolit's hockey statistics profile", "McNAMARA DEPARTS AFTER 15 SEASONS AS GM", Griffins and Red Wings Extend Affiliation Through 2016-17, "Todd Nelson named head coach of Griffins", "Grand Rapids Griffins win Calder Cup at home", "Red Wings and Griffins extend affiliation for five years", "Todd Nelson talks about leaving Griffins for NHL: 'I have to go, "Ben Simon named new coach of Grand Rapids Griffins", "Grand Rapids Griffins 2019–20 Regular Season", "Eliteprospects.com - Grand Rapids Griffins", The Internet Hockey Database - Grand Rapids Griffins (AHL), The Internet Hockey Database - Grand Rapids Griffins (IHL), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Grand_Rapids_Griffins&oldid=978583283#Current_roster, Detroit Red Wings minor league affiliates, Professional ice hockey teams in Michigan, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Most penalty minutes: Darryl Bootland, 1,164, This page was last edited on 15 September 2020, at 19:44. [53] Key additions who stuck with the team included forward Robert Petrovicky and Darren Rumble.