GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The first-ever meetings with the Hartford Wolf Pack and Manchester Monarchs and the greatest variety of opponents in franchise history will highlight the Grand Rapids Griffins’ 2008-09 American Hockey League schedule, which is expected to be released around Aug. 1.

The schedule format, announced by the Griffins on Friday, features 19 of the AHL’s 28 other teams, marking Grand Rapids’ most diverse schedule in its eight seasons as a league member and 13 years overall.

Never in their existence have the Griffins faced more than 18 different teams overall (1996-97 in the IHL) or welcomed more than 16 teams to Van Andel Arena (1996-97), and never before as an AHL club have they faced or played host to more than 15 teams (several times each). Grand Rapids will play all 19 teams on its 2008-09 schedule at least once both at home and on the road.

Hartford and Manchester, two accomplished AHL franchises that have never missed the Calder Cup playoffs in a combined 18 seasons of play, are among five Eastern Conference foes that will grace the Griffins’ docket, as Norfolk (last meeting in 2002-03), Philadelphia (2006-07) and league finalist Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (2006-07) all return to the schedule following absences. The format represents a marked improvement from the Griffins’ 2007-08 slate that featured only 14 different teams, all from the Western Conference.

“We made a concerted effort this offseason to bring some new opponents onto our schedule and increase the variety of teams that our fans would see,” said Tim Gortsema, Griffins senior vice president of business operations. “Combined with the fact that no single team will make more than four visits to Grand Rapids, we are thrilled with the results.”

The Griffins’ 2008-09 schedule will consist of 68 games against the Western Conference (36 North, 32 West) and 12 against the Eastern Conference (eight East, four Atlantic). Grand Rapids’ frequency of games against each AHL opponent is as follows: eight games (four home, four road) versus Lake Erie, Milwaukee and Toronto; six games (three home, three road) versus Hamilton, Rochester and Peoria; four games (two home, two road) versus Chicago, Manitoba, Philadelphia, Quad City, Rockford and Syracuse; and two games (one home, one road) versus Hartford, Houston, Iowa, Manchester, Norfolk, San Antonio and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Griffins full-season, mini-plan and group ticket packages for the 2008-09 season are now on sale. For more information, click here or call the Griffins office at (616) 774-4585.