Minor-league hockey grants fans a glimpse of future stars before they move onto the NHL or sign lucrative contracts to play an experimental season inside a walk-in freezer. Watch tomorrow’s pros take off with today’s deal: for $70, you get a ticket package for four to see the Grand Rapids Griffins play the Texas Stars at Van Andel Arena on Wednesday, April 4, at 7 p.m. (a $142 total value). The package includes the following:

• Four tickets for lower-level, center-ice seating in sections 107–109 and 121–123 (a $22 value each)
• One Red Wings hockey glove drink koozie (a $34 value)
• One official Griffins game puck signed by a top Red Wings prospect (a $20 value)<p>

As the top AHL affiliate of the Detroit Red Wings, the Grand Rapids Griffins glide through Van Andel Arena on the prowl for a late-season surge into the Calder Cup playoffs. Rather than repeatedly napping on his favorite spot on the bench, All-Star rookie Gustav Nyquist has marked his territory on the ice by stockpiling 54 points in 52 games, landing him in the league’s top ten scorers and helping propel the Griffins’ offense to first in the AHL. Alongside Nyquist, center Jamie Johnson has rifled 18 goals past opposing goalies, and veteran netminder Ty Conklin has reinforced the defense since his arrival in late February, rerouting shots by decorating the goal crease with an assortment of detour signs.

Inside Van Andel Arena, bone-rattling checks and supersonic breakaways jettison 12,000 fans from their seats. Having sent 123 former players to the NHL, the Griffins’ roster doubles as a launching pad for future NHL stars, whose autographed pucks can be added to memorabilia collections or traded to mascots Griff and Finn in exchange for a tour of their nest in the arena’s rafters.