GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A top prospect for the Detroit Red Wings was headed to Grand Rapids to begin his season with the Griffins but accidentally ended up in small-town Ohio — in a village also called Grand Rapids.
Red Wings forward Jonatan Berggren said he and his girlfriend rented a car last week, planning on making the trip from Detroit to Grand Rapids.
“It was a two-hour drive and everyone said it would take two hours to Grand Rapids,” Berggren said.
Two hours later, they thought they had to be getting close.
“I’ve seen pictures of Grand Rapids, so I knew it was a big city, so when we were coming up, I was like, ‘Whoa, what is this?'” he said. “It was like a farm town.”
It wasn’t until he typed in the address of the Griffins’ practice arena that he realized he was in the wrong place. He wasn’t on the banks of the Grand. Instead, they were along the Maumee River, in tiny Grand Rapids, Ohio.
It proclaims that it is the “place to be” on its website, but it wasn’t where Berggren was supposed to end up. The whole town could fit into one section of Van Andel Arena.
“I type in the Grand Rapids we were at and it was like 700 people,” Berggren said. “So it’s a small town.”
Three hours and 200 miles later, they finally arrived in Grand Rapids, Michigan: population 199,000; home of the Griffins.
Berggren will make his debut with the Griffins on Friday when the team opens the season at Van Andel Arena. You can watch the game on WXSP.