Over 37 years and more than 1,300 games later, the Detroit Red Wings will step out of the locker room and onto the cold, white ice at Joe Louis Arena one last time on Sunday evening.
It will be the 1,376th regular season home game at the Joe. It comes 13,618 days after Detroit played their first game on Dec. 27, 1979, a 3-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues.
As we prepare for the end and the move to Little Caesars Arena, I want to take this time to say goodbye and thank you to Joe Louis Arena.
Thank you, Joe Louis Arena, for having some of the best sightlines in hockey. You had 20,066 seats but none had a bad view. There are no poles in your way and nothing blocking your view no matter where you sit. From row 25 in the upper level to sitting on the glass at the Joe, nothing was going to stop you from seeing the entire game. That is, unless you get stuck in one of those long bathroom lines.
Thank you for the boards that surround the ice. Just ask Nick Lidstrom and Tomas Holmstrom how important those became. As Al Sabotka told the Detroit Free Press, it was one of the few arenas that had wooden backing boards. They were so important that Lidstrom would actually shoot wide on purpose, missing the net with the intention of the puck bouncing back to Holmstrom in front of the net.
Thank you for the Stanley Cups, four in all during the team’s run at Joe Louis Arena. Only two of were actually won at the Joe; One in 1997 and the other in 2002. The 1997 championship was the Red Wings’ first in over 40 years.
Thank you for Fight Night at the Joe, one of the iconic moments in Joe Louis Arena history. You helped everyone in Detroit think of Claude Lemeiux instead of the reptile when the word 'turtle' was written or said.
Thank you for the numerous other events that have come through Joe Louis Arena in more than 30 years. You were the home of hundreds of concerts, wrestling matches, boxing matches, a future president and even a memorial for Gordie Howe.
Thank you for being a soulful Detroit destination. Detroit is a blue-collar city and you were a blue-collar arena. There is nothing fancy at the Joe but that's okay. It’s a gritty, strong, rock-solid arena just like the Detroit attitude.
Thank you for helping inspire kids to play hockey, whether it was college, pee-wee or any other age. So many tournament championships and other games were played on the ice, leaving kids with lasting memories of their first game at the historic arena.
Thank you for the exercise while going to games. It takes more than 30 steps to get inside the arena, and with seats in the upper level, there were at least 20 more steps some people would to go up to get to their seats. And let me tell you, those are some tough, small, steep steps to climb with no railing.
Thank you for your name. In an era where stadiums and arenas were getting renamed left and right with big corporate sponsors, you kept your name in honor of the Brown Bomber.
Thank you for the banners celebrating the numerous accomplishments of the Red Wings organization. From Stanley Cups to presidents’ trophies, conference championships and more, it was an endless flow of banners throughout the arena. They make what is a plain ceiling look much better.
Thank you for No. 9, No. 7, No. 10, No. 1, No. 12, No. 19 and No. 5. Those are the numbers of six retired jerseys for the Red Wings: Gordie Howe, Ted Lindsay, Alex Delvecchio, Terry Sawchuk, Sid Abel, Steve Yzerman and Nick Lidstrom.
Thank you for helping a city move forward after a tragic accident involving Vladimir Konstantinov, Slava Fetisov and team massage therapist Sergei Mnatsakanov. Thank you for being the home to remember Red Wings legend Gordie Howe after his death last year.
You were never the best arena and there was so much that could’ve been changed, but I’m glad it never was.
The smell of stale beer and popcorn, now stuck in the concrete after three decades, hits you right when you walk inside. It’s a unique smell and one that I will never forget.
The Joe only has one concourse, which makes walking around tough, especially on a busy game. The lines were always very long, but the staff always very friendly and efficient.
Don’t want to wait in a line to go to the bathroom? Good luck. You’re best bet is to head out a couple minutes before the end of the period if you want to get in and out as quickly as possible. Even the bathrooms don't have many updates.
The first time I stepped into a bathroom at the Joe, I was quite confused. I couldn’t find a urinal but instead saw a big, metal bowl to the left of the stalls. That’s when I was first introduced to a trough.
All of those things and many more make the Joe unique and special. As Red Wings play-by-play broadcaster Ken Kal said, it was an arena built for hockey and nothing else.
Finally, thank you for all of the memories. For the reasons listed above and so many more, you have given us 37 years of smiles and for the most part, great hockey.
We’ll miss you, Joe Louis Arena.
