GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Grand Rapids Griffins’ front office earned a pair of 2017-18 Team Business Services awards from the American Hockey League during the Board of Governors’ Annual Meeting at Hilton Head Island, S.C.

The franchise received two awards within the Western Conference, earning its first-ever honor for Season Ticket Sales Growth to go with its third award for Digital Media Excellence in the last five years (2013-14, 2014-15).

In terms of new full-season equivalent (FSE) sales, the Griffins last season ranked No. 1 in the AHL in partial-season sales, No. 2 in total new FSEs sold and No. 4 in full-season sales, while producing the highest growth totals in the league in both FSE and full-season revenue. On the digital media side, Grand Rapids launched a state-of-the-art app and continued to lead the AHL in both Facebook and Snapchat followers while ranking No. 2 in Instagram and No. 4 in Twitter.

The Griffins were also strongly represented among the teams and individuals whose 2017-18 accomplishments were honored by the AHL during its Team Business Meetings in Des Moines, Iowa, last month.

Grand Rapids’ Polar Bear Plunge for Special Olympics of West Michigan on Feb. 24 was named “Most Unique Ticket Sales Promotion or Theme Night,” and the team received certificates for achieving 750 new FSE sales as well as a 15-percent increase in per-game FSE sales.

In addition, several Griffins staffers claimed Personal Achievement Awards. Season ticket sales account executives Peter Van Dame and Jessica Boyer finished 1-2 in the Western Conference in new FSE sales, while group sales account manager Zack Krywyj ranked second in the conference in group ticket sales.

Under the leadership of president Tim Gortsema, who on Thursday received the AHL’s James C. Hendy Memorial Award as the league’s outstanding executive for 2017-18, the Griffins finished sixth in the AHL last season with an average attendance of 7,960 and have drawn more than 300,000 fans for five consecutive seasons.

The Griffins will begin the home portion of their 2018-19 season on Friday, Oct. 12 at Van Andel Arena with Opening Night Presented by Huntington Bank. Additional home dates confirmed by the American Hockey League include Dec. 31, Jan. 19, Jan. 26, Feb. 9 and Feb. 16.

Single-game tickets will go on sale to the public in September. Fans can secure their full-season, select-season or group ticket packages by calling (616) 774-4585 ext. 2 or visit griffinshockey.com for more information.