Griffins announce 2015-16 AHL schedule
By @MichaelCaples –
The American Hockey League officially released their 2015-16 schedule this season, which means Hockeytown West fans can start planning out their schedules around the Grand Rapids Griffins’ upcoming campaign.
The Red Wings’ AHL affiliate will kick their 2015-16 season off on Oct. 9, when they travel to Bakersfield for a Friday night puck drop. Their games against Bakersfield and San Diego the next night mark the Griffins’ first visit to California since 2004, and their only road games with the new franchises in the AHL’s Pacific Division.
The home opener of the Griffins’ 20th anniversary season is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 16 at Van Andel Arena, when Grand Rapids welcomes San Antonio.
Other notable contests include:
Friday, Nov. 20 – The first-ever visit to Grand Rapids by the San Diego Gulls.
Thursday, Dec. 31 – Grand Rapids’ 19th annual New Year’s Eve game against the Milwaukee Admirals.
Wednesday, Jan. 27 – The Griffins host the Toronto Marlies for an 11 a.m. contest for their 15th annual Matinee Game.
Saturday, April 16 – The Bakersfield Condors take on the Griffins for the first time at Van Andel. Also the Griffins’ season finale.
Breakdown
The Griffins play a total of 68 games against Western Conference opponents, 34 at home and 34 on the road, while only seeing the Eastern Conference clubs eight times, four at home and four on the road.
The team faces fellow Central Division opponents 56 times, those in the Pacific Division 12 times, North eight times, all of which are evenly split between home and road contests. The Griffins will not see any Atlantic Division foes.
Grand Rapids will face the Lake Erie Monsters the most, a total of 12 times over the course of the 2015-16 campaign.
The longest home-stand will only be four games, on four separate occasions in late October, late November, late January and late February. Grand Rapids will have 14 Friday home games, the most of any day followed by 12 on Saturdays and nine on Wednesdays.
The longest road trip, meanwhile, will run for a stretch of five games from March 13-22. The Griffins will face-off for road games most on Saturday, a total of 11 times, followed by nine on Friday and seven on Sunday.
As it often happens in the AHL, the Griffins will play three games in three nights on four separate occasions: Feb. 12-14, Feb. 26-28, March 11-13 and April 1-3.