Arena #6.2 - Joe Louis Arena

My mission is to see the Flames play in all 30 NHL arenas, a mission that began in October of 2005 while at a local pub watching the Flames take on the Oilers. With the previous season’s work stoppage, and the season before’s run to the Stanley Cup Finals, Flames tickets had become a very hard item to come by. I was then struck with the idea of combining two of my favourite activities; watching hockey and travelling. You can follow my quest to visit all 30 arenas right here…

April 15, 2007 – Detroit, MI

If you can’t get tickets to a Flames playoff game in the Dome, you might want to consider heading to the other barn to see some hockey. After being unable to secure tickets for either game three or four of the Flames-Red Wings series, I decided to look into going to Detroit. Checking on the Red Wings site, I had no problem getting tickets, so it was off to Toronto, and then a nice four hour drive through Southern Ontario into the Motor City.

Game Two was an afternoon tilt at Joe Louis Arena, with puck drop scheduled for 1:00PM. We had landed in Toronto at 6:30AM, so there was plenty of time to make the four hour drive to Michigan. After touring around downtown for a couple of hours (which involved going to White Castle for burgers) we headed to the rink. Walking to the arena from our parking spot a few blocks away, I was again reminded of my dislike of watching hockey games in the afternoon. Being that this was a playoff game and in April, it was even worse. It is supposed to be dark for hockey games, not sunny and 23C outside; it just doesn’t fit.

When we arrived at the arena, we still needed to pick up our tickets at Will Call, which happened to have approximately 12,000 people in line. We found the end of the line, snaked around the corner and half way down the length of the building, and began to wait. There was still a lot of time, so that wasn’t a factor, but it was a little intimidating standing against a wall in downtown Detroit, wearing a bright red Flames jersey. There were plenty of comments, but nothing we couldn’t handle. As we exited the Will Call booth after an hour line up, I was approached by a reporter from CBC, who asked me for a few comments. Happy to oblige, I began what turned out to be a CBC radio interview, standing on the steps of the Joe. The reporter asked me the standard questions: “Are you from Calgary?” “Why come all the way to Detroit for a game?” “Do you think the Flames can win this afternoon?” among others. All easy questions really; I am from Calgary, because it’s easier to get tickets, and of course they can!

We headed into the dreaded Joe, where we were given red playoff towels, saying “Ride the Red Wave!” I guess the Red Wings wanted in on the C of Red, but it just wasn’t the same. I suppose it was better than when teams hand out white towels, which I’ve never understood, as waving a white towel is the international sign for ‘I surrender!’ Entering the seating bowl, we found a ton of Flames fans. Talking with a lot of them we found some that had made the trip from Calgary as we had, but the majority were transplanted Calgarians, now living in Toronto and Southern Ontario. The game didn’t work out as planned, and within four minutes of puck drop the Flames were down 2-0. By the end of the game it was 3-1 for the Red Wings, and a two games to none lead in the series. Dejected, we left the arena and prepared to make the long, monotonous journey back to Toronto. With a win, the drive would have seemed like going around the corner, but of course, winning makes everything better.

As we made the walk from the Joe to our car, we heard one of the greatest comments I’ve ever heard at an away game. As we waited to cross the street at a red light, a group of four Red Wings fans approached the same light on the other side of the street. They began hooting and hollering the usual things, until one yelled, “Calgary’s a dump!” This was a pretty ironic statement, as we were standing at an intersection where the only building that wasn’t abandon featured a pawn shop specializing in bail bonds. Calgary could be called many things, but in perhaps the biggest crime-ridden cesspool in the developed world, it can’t be called a dump! However, as Detroit has one of the highest murder rates in the United States, I opted not to retort and we continued on to our car.

We were back in Canada within a few minutes, and on our way back to Calgary to see if the Flames could somehow even up this series.

-TheRev

Joe Louis Arena Fast Facts

Seats: Section 217B; $63; Red Wings Website
Score: Flames 1, Red Wings 3
Unique Concession: Little Caesar’s Pizza
Souvenir Stick: none
Public Transit: Detroit People Mover across the Street
Unique Arena Trait: One-tiered seating bowl
Swag: ‘Red Wave’ Playoff Towel

Arena #7 - Rexall Place

My mission is to see the Flames play in all 30 NHL arenas, a mission that began in October of 2005 while at a local pub watching the Flames take on the Oilers. With the previous season’s work stoppage, and the season before’s run to the Stanley Cup Finals, Flames tickets had become a very hard item to come by. I was then struck with the idea of combining two of my favourite activities; watching hockey and travelling. You can follow my quest to visit all 30 arenas right here…

March 3, 2007 – Rexall Place, Edmonton, AB

The Battle of Alberta. I don’t think it gets much better as far as rivalries go. True, this rivalry is not as intense as it was in the 1980’s, but there’s still a strong hatred between the two teams. For my first trip to the Chuck, I rounded up a group of ten Flames fans, and we headed North in a rental van. Getting ready for a game at Rexall had a different feel than previous road trips, as we were heading to an arena filled with actual hockey fans; and not just hockey fans, but Oiler fans. For weeks I prepared by talking slowly and avoiding words with more than two syllables.

To set the mood on the trip up the #2, we drank beer (well everybody else did, as I was driving the van) and watched a DVD of game six of the 1989 Stanley Cup Finals. It was great to see fans cheering for a game that took place 18 years earlier as if they had never seen it before.

We arrived at our hotel in downtown Edmonton a little later than we had planned, so we dropped the luggage and van off, and headed directly to the rink on Edmonton’s LRT. As we made the brief walk from the hotel to the nearest station, all clad in red, waving Flames flags and hollering, we were greeted with honking horns, obscenities and several flipped birds. It was great! The LRT station at Rexall is immediately beside the arena, making it great for going to a game.

Entering Rexall, we ran into our first problem; they wouldn’t let us bring our Flames flag in to the building. The reason was that the flag was attached to a three foot wooden dowel, which Rexall security said could be used as a weapon. Despite our pleading, we were forced to check our flag in with Public Relations, for pick up after the game. It pissed me off pretty good, as I purchased the flag in the Saddledome, during a Flames game, and had bought it specifically for this trip. We continued, flag-less, into the seating bowl to watch the warm-up that had just begun. Looking to capitalize on the Oilers trade of Ryan Smythe only one week earlier, we had come equipped with a homemade sign that read “Brrrrr….it’s cold in Edmonton. It’s -94!!” The sign was great for some laughs, and we even managed some chuckles from Petr Nedved and a couple of other Oiler players.

Our seats were in the 2nd level, and we paid handsomely for them. It wasn’t easy to get ten tickets together, but I found these on StubHub with the only catch being we had to pay much more than face value. However, it beat watching the game on TV. During a quick stop at the concessions before heading to the seats, we came across perhaps the most fitting concession in the NHL; perogies. Like tacos at a game in California, perogies just fit with Edmonton!

The game was a great one to attend, as the Flames dominated from start to finish, and defeated the Oilers 4-2. Yelle, Moss, Langkow and Iginla were all able to slip the puck past Dwayne Roloson (not necessarily an exclusive club), while Fernando Pisani scored both Oiler goals on what can only be described as bullshit luck. Few things in life are as sweet as beating the Oilers, and I was quite relieved to leave Rexall Place with a victory; the last thing I wanted to do was walk around Edmonton listening to Oiler fans yapping away.

To celebrate the Flames’ triumph, we headed to a downtown bar, which as we sat down was beginning to show the game’s replay on CBC. We got to go through the entire game again over beer and pizza, and were able to throw a couple more jabs at some of the Edmontonians in the bar.

Seven arenas down, twenty-three to go…


-TheRev


Rexall Place Fast Facts

Seats: Section 232; a lot of $$$’s; Stubhub
Score: Flames 4, Oilers 2
Arena Rating: 7.2/10
Unique Concession: Perogies
Souvenir Stick: Blue, Oilers, plastic
Public Transit: LRT station right next to the arena
Unique Arena Trait: Dressing room access is through the concourse
Swag: None

Arena #6 - Joe Louis Arena

My mission is to see the Flames play in all 30 NHL arenas, a mission that began in October of 2005 while at a local pub watching the Flames take on the Oilers. With the previous season’s work stoppage, and the season before’s run to the Stanley Cup Finals, Flames tickets had become a very hard item to come by. I was then struck with the idea of combining two of my favourite activities; watching hockey and travelling. You can follow my quest to visit all 30 arenas right here…

February 11, 2007 – Detroit, MI

I woke up the day of this game in Buffalo, NY, where we had attended the Flames-Sabres game the night before. I had my alarm set for five in the morning, as there was an eight hour drive ahead of us and we needed to be in Detroit for a 6:00PM puck drop. I was awakened by my phone beeping however, alerting me to a new text message. Checking the message, I learned that Kobasew and Ferrence had been traded to the Bruins for Wayne Primeau and Brad Stuart. Surprised at the announcement, I headed to the hotel lobby to confirm the trade on their internet station. Sure enough, the two had been traded, and both Primeau and Stuart would both be paying in the game in Detroit that night. We had left the arena in Buffalo after 11:00 the night before, and within six hours, two players had been traded! Such is the hockey business I suppose.

We hit the road shortly after, making our way to Detroit along I-90, passing through Cleveland, OH. We arrived in the Motor City a couple of hours before puck drop, checked into our downtown hotel, and made our way to the arena. “The Joe,” as it is commonly referred to, is situated on the banks of the Detroit River, which separates the city from Windsor, Ontario to the South. Detroit, it should be noted, is the only place in the continental United States that you can enter Canada by heading South. Much like Buffalo, Detroit’s proximity to Canada means that many of the Red Wings’ season ticket holders hail from Windsor and Southern Ontario, which is only a bridge or tunnel crossing away. In fact, the City of Windsor even operates a bus line that crosses the border and circles downtown Detroit; making it very easy for Canadians to get to the arena.

Joe Louis Arena is unique in many ways. Opened in 1979, The Joe is the fifth oldest arena in the NHL, and as a result, lacks many of the amenities taken for granted in most facilities across the league. First off, there are stairs everywhere. There are stairs to get into the arena, stairs to get into the seating bowl, and stairs to get into your seat; not a very handicap-friendly venue. Concessions in the Joe Louis Arena are, for the most part, pretty standard. Most of them are generic arena food outlets, and the rest are Little Caesar’s outlets, which makes sense as the Red Wings are owned by Little Caesar’s founder Mike Ilitch. Another curiosity about The Joe, and something I’m not a fan of, is the restrooms. Instead of the standard urinal, Joe Louis Arena uses the old fashion trough. There is nothing worse than peeing into a trough and it was probably my least favourite thing about this arena!

There is only one level to enter the seating bowl, and your seats are either up or down from there. In our case, we were up, sitting in section 202B. The seating bowl of the Joe is also unique from most arenas. There really is only one level of seating, instead of the tiered seating at most arenas, with only a small walkway that circles the arena between the “upper” and “lower” sections.

The game didn’t turn out very well for the Flames, as the Red Wings jumped out to a 4-0 lead after one period, and eventually had a 6-1 lead early in the 3rd. A late charge got the Flames to within 2 goals, but Johan Franzen scored with 90 seconds left, putting the game away once and for all. The two newest Flames did not contribute offensively and seemed, understandably, a little out of place with their new team. One reprieve from the Flames less than inspirational performance happened during the 2nd intermission. The Red Wings select people to ride the Zamboni during the intermissions, and during the 2nd, one of the Zambonis had a guy in his late 20’s, wearing a blue jacket and ball cap. As the machine crossed center ice, he stood up and removed his jacket, revealing a Calgary Flames t-shirt. The Flames fan started to raise his arms to encourage the crowd, who promptly booed him for the rest of his ride.

Following the game we exited out the South side of the building onto Atwater Street, which runs between the Arena and the river. At street level, the Flames’ team bus was parked only a few yards away, and there was a small group of Flames fans cheering as they boarded the bus. When Jarome Iginla came out, he strayed from the line, and approached the gate we were all standing next to and had the security guard open the gate up. Iggy then signed autographs and posed for pictures for everyone there. I was able to get my jersey signed, but unfortunately my camera’s batteries had died. It was impressive to see a star player take the time to sign autographs after a fairly lopsided loss.

We then left the Joe Louis Arena on foot, and headed to the downtown district of Greektown, which is filled with restaurants, bars and casinos. It was a great place to go and forget about our unsuccessful road trip that saw the Flames go 0-1-1 in Buffalo and Detroit.


Six arenas down, twenty-four to go…


-TheRev


Joe Louis Arena Fast Facts

Seats: Section 202B; $49.75USD; Ticketmaster
Score: Flames 4, Red Wings 7
Arena Rating: 6.8/10
Unique Concession: Little Caesar’s Pizza
Souvenir Stick: Steve Yzerman, black, wooden
Public Transit: Detroit People Mover Station across the street
Unique Arena Trait: One-tiered seating bowl
Swag: None

Photos

Arena #5 - HSBC Arena

My mission is to see the Flames play in all 30 NHL arenas, a mission that began in October of 2005 while at a local pub watching the Flames take on the Oilers. With the previous season’s work stoppage, and the season before’s run to the Stanley Cup Finals, Flames tickets had become a very hard item to come by. I was then struck with the idea of combining two of my favourite activities; watching hockey and travelling. You can follow my quest to visit all 30 arenas right here…

February 10, 2007 – Buffalo, NY

We flew to Toronto for this February trip, where we would be taking in two Flames games; one in Buffalo against the Sabres, and another in Detroit against the Red Wings. We made the two hour drive from Toronto to Buffalo on the day of the game and arrived at the arena about two hours before puck drop. The HSBC arena is located in downtown Buffalo, at the Eastern tip of Lake Erie, less than a kilometre from the Canada/US border. As we were driving to the game, I didn’t notice what public transit connections were available, but since the arena is centrally located, I’m guessing there are buses readily available.

I had an “American Encounter” before the game, as we were waiting to enter the arena. Standing on the sidewalk, I struck up a conversation with a Sabres fan as with both stood huddled on the sidewalk, trying to protect ourselves from the cold winter wind blowing off the lake. The sidewalks were covered in ice and waist-high piles of snow, which lined the sidewalks and parking lots in every direction, as the temperature hovered around 15C below zero. After telling the man I was from Calgary, he said, “it must be good to get out of the cold and snow of Canada.” Standing there is disbelief, I asked him if he was serious.
“What do you mean?” he asked, genuinely puzzled.
“Well, Canada’s right there,” I said, pointing to the international boundary that was a mere five minute walk from where we stood.
“So, there isn’t way more snow there?” he continued, still confused.
“Well, no, it’s just on the other side of the river, so there’s the same amount of snow,” I told him, not bothering to mention that Calgary was over 2000 miles away, and had never had as much snow on the ground at one time as the streets of Buffalo had on that Saturday. While I don’t expect him to be familiar with Calgary weather, I found it quite amusing that he assumed the weather across the river in Canada, which he can probably see from his house, was much colder and snowier than Buffalo.

There was a brief security check at the doors, where they went through bags and purses, but no metal detectors. After passing that, we entered the giant atrium that greets all visitors to the HSBC Arena. A full two storeys, and stretching nearly the entire length of the arena, the atrium includes a massive team store at one end and ticket windows at the other. Between the two is a large media area with a sports ticker and several TV’s showing various games and sports highlights. On the 2nd level of the atrium is the Headlines Sports Bar, which overlooks the lower level and has great views of the downtown skyline.

Like other new arenas, and unlike the Saddledome, the concourses of the HSBC are wide and clean, making it easy for lots of traffic to get around the arena. We headed to the upper concourse for a beer and a snack, and came across a unique concession item, the bologna sandwich. Essentially, it was a grilled cheese sandwich with bologna and onions, and it tasted delicious. We washed those down with a beer at a neat little bar nestled in the corner of the concourse called, The Poor Man’s Aud Club. The bar featured artifacts taken from Buffalo’s former arena, the Memorial Auditorium. While sitting there enjoying our beers, we saw Flames play-by-play man Peter Maher buying some french fries. I bet he couldn’t walk around the Saddledome like that without being bothered by a legion of fans.

The seating bowl of the arena is fairly standard, with lower and upper bowls of roughly the same size. In between the two is a level of luxury suites and a level of club seats. Our seats were located in the very last row of the arena, in the upper tier. We were sitting next to a group of 20 hockey fans from Fort Erie, Ontario, who often make the half hour trip into Buffalo for games. One of them mentioned that 30% of the Sabres’ season ticket holders are Canadian.

The game was a tightly fought battle, as the two teams traded goals, resulting in a 2-2 tie after regulation and overtime. The game went to a shootout, where Phaneuf, Lombardi and Huselius failed to score, while Buffalo’s Ales Kotalik was able to get one past Mikka Kiprusoff.

Five arenas down, twenty-five to go…


-TheRev


HSBC Arena Fast Facts

Seats: Section 308; $40.00USD; Sabres website (tickets.com)
Score: Flames 2, Sabres 3 in a shootout
Arena Rating: 7/10
Unique Concession: Fried bologna sandwich
Souvenir Stick: Sabres stick w/team autographs, wooden
Public Transit: Unknown
Unique Arena Trait: Giant Entrance Pavillion
Swag: None

Photos




Next up is a trip to the Motor City to see the Flames take on the Red Wings…