Sept. 26-The Detroit Red Wings announced today the itinerary for the fourth annual MI Wings Community Tour presented by ITC, with two groups of four Red Wings players scheduled to stop at two children’s hospitals, a military base and an elementary school throughout the state en route to training camp in Traverse City on Thursday, Sept. 15.

The team’s four American players – goaltenders Ty Conklin and Jimmy Howard and forwards Justin Abdelkader and Drew Miller – will visit the Battle Creek Air National Guard Base on the opening stop of the west leg of the tour to recognize the efforts of the 300 military members working out of the base. These four players will then return to Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital in Grand Rapids to visit with more than 200 patients in the hospital’s playroom. The team last visited Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital in the first annual community tour in 2008.

The east leg of the tour will take Pavel Datsyuk, Darren Helm, Jakub Kindl and Brad Stuart to Hurley Medical Center in Flint where the players will engage with more than 100 patients in the Pediatric Unit and NICU. The tour will conclude in Bay City at Kolb Elementary with a school rally featuring 550 students. Players will answer students’ questions, take class photos with each grade and high-five students as they exit the assembly.

Every student, military member and patient will receive a co-branded Detroit Red Wings and ITC autograph poster during the community tour.

The 2010 community relations tour took the Red Wings to the Sparrow Hospital Children’s Center in East Lansing, the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans, Churchill Elementary School in Muskegon, Potter Elementary School in Flint and the Aleda E. Lutz VA Medical Center in Saginaw.

Media wishing to cover any of the stops on the tour must RSVP to Christy Hammond at christy.hammond@hockeytown.com or 313-396-7542 no later than noon on Wednesday, September 14. Please provide reporter and photographer names. Media outlets that do not RSVP will not be permitted access to the tour stops.

2011 MI Wings Community Tour Presented by ITC

EAST TOUR –  Pavel Datsyuk, Darren Helm, Jakub Kindl and Brad Stuart

                             Red Wings PR Contact: Anne Hayes, (248) 622-3819 cell

Media must check-in at the main entrance with Hurley Medical Center representative Ilene Cantor, who can be reached at (810) 625-0842. The visit will kick off with a special presentation with the players and hospital administration in Hurley’s Main Lobby. When the players are visiting kids in the Pediatric Unit & NICU wards, media will be unable to observe due to patient confidentiality. Following the room-to-room visits, there will be media availability to speak with the players and take video and photos of the players interacting with a small number of patients at 10:45 a.m. This visit is closed to the public.

Media must check-in at the main entrance of the school. Principal Brian DuFresne can be reached at (989) 415-7016. Media can speak with the players following the assembly at 1:30 p.m. This visit is closed to the public.

WEST TOUR –    Justin Abdelkader, Ty Conklin, Jimmy Howard and Drew Miller                                                                                   

                               Red Wings PR Contact: Christy Hammond, (248) 444-5142 cell

Media must check-in with security at the entrance of the base where they’ll need to state their name and that they are here for the Red Wings visit. Battle Creek ANGB representative Lt. Col Robert DeCoster can be reached at (269) 969-3555. Media can speak with the players during the media availability in the hangar at 10:30 a.m. This visit is closed to the public.

Media must check-in at the main entrance with DeVos Children’s Hospital representative Anne Veltema, who can be reached at (616) 391-7920. When the players are visiting kids in the hospital playroom, media will be unable to observe due to patient confidentiality. Following the playroom visit, there will be media availability to speak with the players and take video and photos of the players interacting with a small number of patients no later than 1:15 p.m. The hospital has asked that media outlets do not publicize this visit until after the visit has taken place, as they get a large number of unexpected visitors when visits are publicized in advance. This visit is closed to the public.