Week 7 begins early as the Grand Rapids Griffins host the Milwaukee Admirals in a noon (ET) start today at Van Andel Arena.
It’s the Griffins’ sixth annual matinee game, with a record crowd for the event expected to approach 9,000 — including more than 6,000 students.
Grand Rapids owns a perfect 5-0 record all-time in its noon affair, dating back to the inaugural event in 2001. The midday event has drawn an average of 6,552 fans over the first five installments.
Students will participate in pre-game presentations and forums centered around the theme of “Building Your Future.” Starting at 10 a.m., middle- and high-school students will take part in a career forum in the arena banquet rooms with representatives from Lake Michigan Credit Union and Pioneer Construction.
Meanwhile, elementary-school students will be on the arena concourse rotating among tables staffed by experts from the construction industry, each of whom will give five-minute presentations on a given topic. Presenters include The Home Depot (using everyday math in building projects), LMCU (What is a mortgage?), Lakeshore Habitat for Humanity (building a playhouse), Home Repair Services (fixing a leaky faucet), I.B.E.W. Local 275 (electricity), Grapids Irrigation (water conservation), Kent Career Technical Center, JW Marriott, ITT Technical Institute (CAD programs), and Wolverine Building Group (safety).
On the ice, the Griffins (6-6-2-1) are looking to snap a four-game losing streak and close the gap in the North Division, where they currently sit nine points behind first-place Rochester. The Admirals (4-4-1-0) are coming off back-to-back overtime wins over the weekend as they prepare to begin a stretch of 11 games in 16 days.
You can follow the action from Van Andel Arena on theahl.com’s real-time scoreboard or by tuning into B2 Networks’ live video webcast.
