Next year, the stadiums will finally be open. Detroit Red Wings fans will finally be able to cheer on their miserable sports teams in person. Although the four big Detroit teams will be the biggest attractions, don’t forget about the Wing’s minor league team: the Grand Rapids Griffins.
Prospects Arriving
The main roster in Grand Rapids is going to be really, really fun next year. Even by the end of this season, there were a handful of exciting prospects finally making their pro-debuts. Albin Grewe slowly made a name for himself on the fourth line, living up to the draft billing of a mini-Brad Marchand (Plays tough and angry). Donavan Sebrango found a surprising amount of success as a young defenseman in his first pro year, and after struggling through injuries,
Jared McIsaac finally debuted for the Griffins. Taro Hirose and Givani Smith also excelled on the top lines, and even dipped their toes in some NHL hockey through the season.
Next year, the list will only get more exciting. The loans to Europe are finally coming over to the organization; Lucas Raymond, Moritz Seider and Jonatan Berggren are all coming to North America (Albert Johansson likely will head over soon as well). Although Seider will most likely skip over the
Griffins straight to Detroit, Raymond and Berggren will probably begin 2021-22 in Grand Rapids.
That means next years roster is going to be chock full of names pushing to become NHL regulars – not just a few prospects among a pool of AHL regulars. And they’re elite prospects, too. If you’re a Red Wings fan looking towards the future, next year, you should probably buy a subscription to the AHL Network.
Because of Covid restrictions this year, I didn’t do much traveling. The no-fan rule forced me to watch from the couch while my favorite teams struggled through their seasons (Bad year to be a fan of the Lions and MSU basketball).
However, the two live events I did attend were both Griffins games, one in Grand Rapids and one in Cleveland. It was my first time watching Griffins games live, and both were a ton of fun, even with the heavy restrictions (Limited capacity put a bit of a muzzle on crowd interaction). Watching these young prospects develop their game before your eyes is just a different experience.
With next year’s roster and the return of full capacity just over the horizon in mind, do yourself a favor Wings fans: go see a couple of games in Grand Rapids.