Latest:

MiHockey

Your Hockey – Our Hockey – MiHockey

Editor's picks For Coaches For Fans For Parents For Players Griffins Pro Red Wings The Latest 

Tim Gortsema named president of the Grand Rapids Griffins

MiHockey Staff

Featured_Griffins

By @MichaelCaples –

The Griffins announced their new head coach today, but they had some big front office news, as well.

Griffins majority owner Dan DeVos announced that Tim Gortsema has been promoted to president of the Griffins’ hockey club.

Gortsema was previously the senior vice president of business operations for the Griffins.

“As an organization, we’re pretty excited about approaching our 20-year anniversary, and we’re even more excited about what the next 20 years are going to bring for us,” DeVos said. “We’ve had great support over all these years from the community and all of our fans, and from all of the corporations and sponsors that we work with every day. We’ve been very fortunate to have a lot of success on the ice, and our relationship with the Red Wings has been extremely positive and very productive. This is an important day for our organization, not only in terms of the hockey operation side, in terms of who will guide our team on the ice, but also in regards to the leadership of the front office as we head into our 20th anniversary season.

Today, I’m pleased to announce the promotion of Tim Gortsema to a new position of president of the Grand Rapids Griffins. Tim has been a member of our management team since the very beginning. The oversight of the Griffins for the past eight years has been one of the primary reasons why we are one of the AHL’s premiere franchises. We owe much of our success to Tim and the great team that he works with every day here at the Van Andel Arena.”

Gortsema takes the position formerly held by DeVos himself.

From the Griffins’ release:

Although DeVos is relinquishing the title of team president, he and other members of his management team at DP Fox Ventures will remain actively involved with the Griffins and will continue to work closely with Gortsema and other members of the Griffins’ staff.

In addition to serving as the organization’s primary liaison to the Red Wings, Gortsema will continue to oversee all business-related activities for the Griffins, including finance and administration, sales and marketing, public relations, community relations, arena advertising and Griff’s IceHouse. Under his leadership, the Griffins have seen consistent growth and improvement in all aspects of their business operations.

Notably, the Griffins have achieved attendance increases for five straight and eight of the last nine seasons, finishing 2014-15 with an average attendance at Van Andel Arena of 8,082, the team’s largest figure in 15 years. Other accomplishments during Gortsema’s eight-year tenure as senior vice president include:

•    Leading the AHL in total attendance (50,939) during the 2015 Calder Cup Playoffs ;
•    Launching some of the franchise’s most popular and successful promotions ever, including Winning Wednesday and $2 beers and hot dogs, as well as the Pillar Partner program that has garnered partnerships with some of the largest and most prestigious companies in West Michigan;
•    Signing a 25-year lease at Van Andel Arena;
•    The Griffins leading the AHL in Facebook fans and Instagram followers, while ranking second in Twitter followers.

“The American Hockey League is about developing talent, both on the hockey side as well as the business side,” said DeVos. “We were thrilled to see Jeff Blashill hone his coaching skills in Grand Rapids for three years before taking the head coaching position with the Red Wings, and we’ve obviously seen many talented young players develop in Grand Rapids as well. Similarly, Tim started with us as a young accountant in 1995 and has developed his skills over the years to become president of the Griffins – another great success story.”

Gortsema, who in 2011 received the Griffins’ inaugural Founders “Overtime” Award for his career contributions to the organization, earned his bachelor’s degree from Hope College in Holland and his MBA from Western Michigan University. Prior to joining DP Fox Sports, he was a manager in the audit department at Deloitte & Touche, LLP.

He and his wife, Suzanne, have two daughters, Danielle and Madelyn, and one son, Justin.