GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Grand Rapids Griffins and Grand Rapids Sled Wings will stage their seventh annual sled hockey game on Tuesday, Feb. 28 at Griff’s IceHouse at Belknap Park (30 Coldbrook NE).

In a new twist on the game’s traditional Griffins vs. Sled Wings format, each sled hockey squad will be comprised of players from both the Griffins and the Sled Wings, with the Griffins’ Garnet Exelby and the Sled Wings’ Tyler Anderson serving as captains for the two teams.

Festivities will begin at 6 p.m., when fans can try out a sled on the ice (minimum $1 donation) and get autographs from their favorite Griffins players. The game will begin at 7 p.m.

Tickets can be purchased at the door for $5, while children 2 and younger are free. All proceeds from the evening will benefit the Sled Wings program and the Griffins Youth Foundation.

The Sled Wings, who are sponsored by the Griffins Youth Foundation in partnership with Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital, became the first junior-level sled hockey team in Michigan upon their founding in 2001, and they have gained a national reputation by winning various prestigious tournaments and continuing to develop high-caliber players. Anderson is in his third season with the U.S. National Developmental Sled Hockey Team, Chris Melton was a teammate of Anderson’s on that squad last season, and Susie Kluting was recently named to the newly formed U.S. Women’s Sled Hockey Team.

Sled hockey rules are virtually identical to traditional hockey, except participants sit on bladed sleds. Players use two shortened hockey sticks with a blade on one end and a pick (similar to a toe-pick on a figure skate) on the other end, which enables them to propel themselves across the ice. As in traditional hockey, checking, penalties, and hard slap shots are all abundant in sled hockey.

Sled hockey made its Paralympics debut in 1994. It originated in Sweden in 1940 and was introduced in the United States in 1989, with the first team based in Minnesota.