After defeating the sixth-seeded Houston Aeros three games to two in the Western Conference Quarterfinals – capped off by Saturday night's 7-0 win in Game 5 at Van Andel Arena – the Midwest Division champion and third-seeded Grand Rapids Griffins will face the North Division champion and second-seeded Toronto Marlies in the best-of-seven conference semifinals.

Toronto, which authored a 3-0 sweep of Rochester in round one, will host Games 1 and 2 of the 2-3-2 format at Ricoh Coliseum on Friday, May 10th and Saturday, May 11th, before the series switches to Van Andel Arena on Wednesday, May 15th and Friday, May 17th. Game 5, if necessary, will be Saturday, May 18th at Van Andel Arena. Games 6 and 7, if necessary, will be at Toronto on Tuesday, May 21st and Wednesday, May 22nd.

All Griffins playoff games will be on NewsRadio WOOD 1300 and 106.9fm.

Tickets for Games 3 and 4 at Van Andel Arena will go on sale this Monday, May 6th at 10am They may be purchased in person at The Zone at Van Andel Arena and all Star Tickets locations, by phone at (800) 585-3737, or through griffinshockey.com. All home playoff games will continue to feature $2 beers and $2 hot dogs from 6pm til 8pm.

This will mark the second Calder Cup Playoff meeting between Grand Rapids and Toronto, following the Griffins' 4-1 series win in the 2006 North Division Semifinals. After splitting the first two contests at Van Andel Arena, including a heart-stopping 6-5 win in triple overtime in Game 1, the Griffins won the final three games of the series at Ricoh Coliseum, capped off by Game 5's 2-1 double-overtime victory.

The Griffins and Marlies, who prior to Grand Rapids' move to the Midwest Division this season had been North Division rivals since Toronto's 2005 inception, met only four times during the 2012-13 regular season. The Marlies (2-0-0-2) earned points in all four games, including victories of 3-1 at Van Andel Arena on Dec. 29th and 5-0 at Ricoh Coliseum on Dec. 16th, while the Griffins (2-2-0-0) took shootout wins of 3-2 at home on Dec. 28th and 4-3 on the road on Oct. 21st.

This clash between Grand Rapids and Toronto presents numerous storylines, including:

• Two of the most accomplished postseason performers in Griffins history are now with the Marlies organization. Toronto goalie Drew MacIntyre ranks as Grand Rapids' all-time leader in both goals against average (1.62) and save percentage (0.940) by virtue of his five appearances during the 2006 playoffs, while Marlies assistant coach Derek King recorded more playoff goals (16), assists (25) points (41) and power play goals (7) than any player in Griffins history. In addition, King's 46 playoff games (from 2000-04) rank second all time on the club;

• Griffins assistant coach Jim Paek, who helped guide the team to that 2006 series win over Toronto during his first season with Grand Rapids, was raised in Toronto after being born in Seoul, South Korea;

• Two Grand Rapids defensemen have vivid hockey memories of Hogtown. Brennan Evans notched eight points (1-7--8) and 199 penalty minutes in 79 games with the Marlies in 2009-10, while Nathan Paetsch scored his first NHL goal in Toronto (Jean-Sebastien Aubin) on March 3, 2007 as a member of the Buffalo Sabres;

• Toronto forward Kenny Ryan is a native of the Detroit suburb of Franklin, while three Griffins hail from Ontario: forwards Trevor Parkes (Fort Erie) and Riley Sheahan (St. Catharines) and defenseman Ryan Sproul (Mississauga);

• Three Griffins -- Sproul (2010-13 Sault Ste. Marie), goalie Tom McCollum (2006-09 Guelph, 2009 Brampton) and forward Jan Mursak (2007-08 Belleville) -- played junior hockey in Canada's most populous province, while four members of the Marlies played collegiate or junior hockey in the Great Lakes State: forwards Will Acton (2007-11 Lake Superior State) and Jamie Devane (2008-12 Plymouth) and defensemen Mike Komisarek (2000-02 Michigan) and Simon Gysbers (2006-10 Lake Superior State);

• The Griffins did not face a Canadian playoff foe during their first nine seasons (12 series), but the Marlies will be their sixth opponent from north of the border in eight postseason series over the last eight years.

The Grand Rapids Griffins, champions of the Midwest Division and a No. 3 seed in the Calder Cup Playoffs, will face the sixth-seeded Houston Aeros in the best-of-five Western
Conference Quarterfinals.

The Griffins (42-26-4-4, 92 pts.), who are in the postseason for the first time since 2009, will begin their chase for the cup by visiting the Toyota Center for Games 1 and 2 on Friday, April 26 and Sunday, April 28, before returning to Van Andel Arena on Wed., May 1 for the first of as many as three straight home games. The complete schedule is as follows:

* If necessary    All times subject to change.   

All games will be on Newsradio WOOD 1300 and 106.9fm.

Tickets for home Game A (series Game 3), which are included in Griffins full season ticket packages, are now on sale for $33, $27, $23, $19, $17 and $15 (additional $2 per ticket on day of game), reflecting a league-wide increase of $1 over regular season prices. Playoff tickets may be purchased in person at The Zone at Van Andel Arena and all Star Tickets locations, by phone at (800) 585-3737, or through griffinshockey.com.

In celebration of the team’s return to the Calder Cup Playoffs, the Griffins are adapting their popular Friday promotion and will offer $2 beers and $2 hot dogs for all home playoff games, including Fridays, from the time doors open until one hour after the start of the game. In addition, the first 4,000 fans for Game 3 will receive a Griffins playoff poster, while the first 2,500 will receive a playoff rally towel courtesy of Auto Value Parts Stores.

This will mark the second Calder Cup Playoff meeting between Grand Rapids and Houston, following the Aeros' triumph in the 2003 Western Conference Finals. In that memorable seven-game series, the Griffins won Games 5 and 6 in overtime before falling at home in Game 7 to a Houston team that went on to win the Calder Cup.

The Griffins and Aeros (40-26-5-5, 90 pts.) met six times this season, with Grand Rapids winning the series 4-2 (1-2 at Van Andel Arena and 3-0 at the Toyota Center). Grand Rapids won each of the last three clashes, including a 5-1 win in Houston on April 2.

American Hockey League President and CEO David Andrews announced today that the league’s Board of Governors has approved the following:

    • The relocation of the franchise owned by the National Hockey League’s Minnesota Wild from Houston, Texas, to Des Moines, Iowa, beginning with the 2013-14 season.

   • The transfer of ownership of the Peoria Rivermen franchise from the St. Louis Blues to the Aquilini Investment Group, owners of the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks. No determination has been made relative to the operation of the franchise for the 2013-14 season.

In operation since 1936, the American Hockey League continues to serve as the top development league for all 30 National Hockey League teams. Nearly 90 percent of all players competing in the NHL are AHL graduates, and through the years the American Hockey League has been home to more than 100 honored members of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

The 2012-13 regular season ends on Sunday, and then 16 clubs will continue to vie for the league’s coveted championship trophy when the 2013 Calder Cup Playoffs get underway next week

Tickets for the Grand Rapids Griffins’ first home game of the 2013 Calder Cup Playoffs will go on sale to the public on Friday, April 19th at 10:00am.

The date and opponent for “Game A” will be announced no later than this Sunday night, as the Griffins’ playoff seeding will be determined by results of the final weekend of the AHL’s regular season. Currently the third seed in the Western Conference, Grand Rapids is two points away from clinching the Midwest Division title and has an outside shot at the No. 2 seed with three games left on its schedule, beginning with its regular season home finale against the Peoria Rivermen on Friday at 7:00pm.

Tickets for Game A, which are included in Griffins full season ticket packages, are priced at $33, $27, $23, $19, $17 and $15 (additional $2 per ticket on day of game), reflecting a league-wide increase of $1 over regular season prices. Playoff tickets may be purchased in person at The Zone at Van Andel Arena and all Star Tickets locations, by phone at (800) 585-3737, or through griffinshockey.com.

In celebration of the team’s return to the Calder Cup Playoffs, the Griffins are adapting their popular Friday promotion and will offer $2 beers and $2 hot dogs for all home playoff games, including Fridays, from the time doors open until one hour after the start of the game.

Group ticket packages for playoff games are available by calling the Griffins at (616) 774-4585 ext. 4. Fans can also enter to win one of 25 pairs of tickets to Game A by visiting griffinshockey.com.

The Detroit Red Wings on Monday recalled goaltender Jonas Gustavsson from the Grand Rapids Griffins and assigned goaltender Petr Mrazek to the Griffins.

Gustavsson was successful in his one-game conditioning stint with the Griffins,
winning his debut on Sunday with 26 saves in a 2-1 victory over the Charlotte
Checkers. The win improved the 28-year-old’s career AHL record to 4-1-1, with a
1.11 goals against average and a 0.956 save percentage. The Danderyd, Sweden, native owns a 39-45-15 record, a 2.98 GAA and five shutouts in 108 career NHL games.

A native of Ostrava, Czech Republic, Mrazek made his first two NHL appearances while with the Red Wings, posting a 1-1 record, a 2.02 goals against average and a 0.922 save percentage. The 21-year-old netminder has appeared in 25 games with the Griffins, sporting a 16-7-1 record, a 2.26 GAA, a 0.916 save percentage and one shutout.

The Griffins will play three games in three nights this weekend, starting with
a return to Rockford for the eighth and final game this season against the
IceHogs on Friday at 8:00pm. The team will welcome the San Antonio
Rampage for back-to-back home games on Saturday at 7:00pm and Sunday at 4:00pm.

Making his Griffins debut on a conditioning loan from the Detroit Red Wings, Jonas Gustavsson stopped 26 shots to backstop Grand Rapids to a 2-1 win over the Charlotte Checkers on Sunday in a battle of Western Conference powers at Van Andel Arena.

Gustavsson showed no signs of the groin injury that had sidelined him since Detroit’s season opener on Jan. 19, coming within 2:13 of a shutout and stifling a Checkers team that had won three straight and owned a five-point lead over Grand Rapids entering the day. He is expected to rejoin the Red Wings early this week.

The first-place Griffins (29-16-2-2), who tied a season high with their fourth straight home win, now possess a seven-point lead over Chicago in the Midwest Division race. on Friday night, they’ll to Rockford, the site of their infamous bench-clearing brawl with the IceHogs on Jan. 19.

Triston Grant’s fourth goal of the campaign put the Griffins ahead just 2:39 into the game. After tracking down a loose puck in the right corner, he turned and flung a sharp-angle shot on goal that deflected off a Checkers defender and past Justin Peters.

Luke Glendening was awarded a penalty shot after being hauled down at the Charlotte blue line 7:51 into the second period, but his backhand attempt on Peters went wide left of the net. The Griffins would still take a 2-0 lead about six minutes later, though, when Andrej Nestrasil intercepted a pass at center ice, skated to the top of the left circle and fired a shot that was redirected past Peters’ glove at the 14-minute mark for his first of the season.

Charlotte (30-17-2-3) awoke from its slumber in the third to out-shoot Grand Rapids 11-6, but Gustavsson kept the door shut until a fluky goal at the 17:47 mark, when Jeremy Welsh’s try from the left corner immediately deflected off Gleason Fournier's stick and sailed over the 6-3 netminder.

Peters finished with 24 saves for Charlotte, which suffered only its seventh regulation defeat on the road this season (17-7-2-2).

Notes: Gustavsson’s victory made Red Wings goalies 4-0 all time when making their Griffins debuts during conditioning stints, as he joined Curtis Joseph (20 saves in a 4-1 win over Utah on Oct. 24, 2003), Chris Osgood (22 saves in a 6-3 win at San Antonio on Oct. 19, 2005) and Manny Legace (20 saves and an assist in a 7-2 win over Hamilton on Dec. 30, 2005) in the win column…In six career AHL games, Gustavsson owns a 4-1-1 record with a 1.11 goals against average and a 0.956 save percentage…With only three goals and four penalties,
the game finished in a crisp 2:07.

Three Stars: 1. GR Gustavsson (W, 26 saves); 2. GR Grant (goal); 3. GR Nestrasil (game-winning goal)