GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – On the heels of achieving their fourth attendance increase in the last five seasons, the Grand Rapids Griffins have been named the recipient of the American Hockey League’s 2010-11 Ticket Sales Department of the Year award.

The honor, bestowed last month during the league’s Marketing Meeting in Springfield, Mass., was among five awards that the Griffins received for business excellence, including:

• Team Achievement Award, for averaging more than 1,500 group tickets sold per game;
• Most Unique Promotion, for “Hockey Day in West Michigan”;
• First place for New Season Ticket Sales (Western Conference), to marketing and season ticket account manager Kevin Curnow;
• Second place for Group Ticket Sales (Western Conference), to group ticket sales manager John Hoffa.

These awards continue an impressive recent run of league recognition for the Griffins, who also captured AHL Team Business Services Western Conference awards for fan experience in 2009-10 and both community service and overall ticket sales growth in 2008-09.

During the 2010-11 season, the Griffins finished fifth among the AHL’s 30 teams with an average attendance of 7,241, representing an increase of 3.2% over the 2009-10 campaign (7,016) and an total increase of 10.6% since the 2005-06 season (6,548).