OT: Wings likely to play at the Joe next season
According to this article I found on espn.com the Wings are likely to play at the Joe for another season.
This is good news for me as I live in Ann Arbor and it is much easier to get to the Joe than the pain in the ass drive to the Palace.
You're only talking 15 minutes more to get to the palace. I'm not for or against a new venue, but you make it sound like they would be playing in Saginaw or something.
I never said the drive to the Palace was longer but the route to get there is not direct and you have to deal with numerous traffic lights and alot of stop and go traffic.
I prefer the straight shot down 94 and then parking at Hockeytown and taking the shuttle. Much easier to get home afterwards as well.
I can give you that. I drive it every day, so I suppose I am more desensitized to it than others now.
I can understand that. I guess the reason I can't stand that drive is one season a friend of my had season tickets to the Pistons and he brought me to quite a few games and driving there on Weekdays at rush hour just made it that much worse. Driving to the Joe on a weekday isn't great on 94 but it isn't horrible.
You can get to the Palace without leaving the expressways. When you get on 696, stay on it until you get to the interchange with 75. You can then take 75 straight up. I'm not sure if this is any faster or slower, but you would avoid traffic lights.
It adds about 10-15 minutes because 696 starts to head south and then on 75 you backtrack west a little bit. The trick to Telegraph is that the lights are timed for 55mph, so as long as you average that you should hit the lights in stride. It gets a little more difficult with more traffic and construction (which usually isn't an issue in the winter), but it is definitely doable.
75 isn't the issue there; you want to go northwest at that point. You do go out of your way east to get to the interchange, though.
"go out of your way east" = "backtrack west"
I live in Plymouth and work in Auburn Hills. the drive just sucks eggs. 15min difference -- yeah right.
I always thought the Wings would return to the Joe. I never thought Illitch would take them out of downtown, even if for a season or two. I can't even think of any precedent for this, i.e. a major pro team moving to a non-brand new arena.
Wasn't the plan to relocate to the Palace for a couple years while they completely renovate the Joe and then move both teams there?
Illitch wants a brand new downtown arena. If the Pistons wanted to join in with them that would have been a bonus.
the plan was to scare the city of detroit into ponying up a little money or other incentive to help out Illitch. I kinda got the feeling from everything I've read that there's no plan to leave Detroit. Build a new arena? Yes.
Play in the Palace while doing it? No.
Not everywhere is Detroit though. If something like that was to happen, it'd probably be a Detroit team considering the rough shape the city is in.
I have some old classmates who work in the organization. They apparently have the land already but the financing is not available and they're hoping to allow the Pistons ownership situation to work itself out to see if the new owner would want to build an arena downtown together.
This will be short term leases until they build a new stadium downtown. When that will be will likely have a lot to do with what happens to the Pistons.
Illitch is a Detroit guy. He'll never abandon the City in the longterm.
My guess is they'll keep re-newing they're deal with the city every year until they can get some funding to build a new one downtown. I'd expect it to be around Comerica somewhere. Illitch bought a bunch of buildings around the area, so at some point they'll have something new. When they do, I hope they build it somewhat like the Shark Tank, because that place is loud.
my guess too. And I hope it remains just hockey, I've never liked sharing venus. I can't think of anything wrong with it, just personal preference because I lack sanity. I also REALLY hope that the new arena would have a real name, from the history of the Wings/city/just someone awesome and not something like "Pepsi center" or "BP Ice Arena" or something like that, but I'm not going to hold my breath.
Amen on both counts! I love going to the Joe, and all you see is Red Wings history, statues, posters, paraphenalia, etc. - walking around the concourse, you really feel part of something. And then there's the banner issue. The Wings have SO many, it's just glorious to look up into the rafters & see rows upon rows of our storied history (plus, in years when all is well, seeing a Michigan banner or two for the CCHA/GLI titles won there). I'm a Pistons fan too, but somehow having the banners mixed together would just feel weird.
Also, yes, please no "Walmart Ice Rink" or any of that nonsense. Even Ford Field I'm ok with, since Ford is a major part of Detroit's history & identity, so something like that is ok. But really, I just want to keep the Joe.
When you put a basketball court over the ice, you can get condensation on it, which could cause injury when players step on slick spots and slip.
I'm pretty sure the Palace already has ice under the floor - or at least, it did while the Detroit Vipers played there. Many arenas are shared by NHL and NBA franchises. It's rarely an issue.
Actually there is an insulation barrier they put over the ice so that doesn't happen. When you see the condensation on the floor that means the staff either put the ice floor in wrong or it is not working properly.
I realize there's insulation, but that doesn't mean there won't be condensation. This happened in January in Boston.
Players for both sides complained about the conditions, noting it made for a slippery -- and dangerous -- track.
They can't renew the deal with the city, which is a sweetheart deal for the Wings. The city wants to renegotiate and the Wings are going to go with the best deal between JLA and the Palace.
If Illitch buys the Pistons, the Palace becomes a rent-free building.
has said a million times that he has no interest in the NBA/Pistons. I've heard talk about him buying the Palace for Olympia Entertainment, but not buying the Pistons.
If he buys only the Palace, it's still free rent until he builds the new Olympia.
Nobody, outside of the russian Mark Cuban that bought the Nets, is buying NBA teams right now because of how overvalued they have become. Paying tens of millions to role players is funally catching up to the NBA owners and no one wants to touch the NBA until they renegotiate with the players union.
I'm moving to Royal Oak at the end of June and I can't wait to start going to Wings, Lions, and Pistons games again. But most of all, Michigan games (in case you thought I missed the obvious)!
Has Illitch expressed an interest in buying the Pistons? I know Mrs. Davis wants to sell, but I have a hard time imagining the NHL, NBA, and MLB being down with one guy owning three franchises in one city.
Stan Kroenke(sp?) owns the Nuggets, Avs, Pepsi Center and a minority position in the Rams (he has been trying to get the whole team, but NFL rules prohibit owing more than a just an NFL team.)
He has said that he isn't an NBA fan, so it's doubtful.
Good news. I love the Joe. So many great moments have happened there and it's named after a local sports figure instead of The Highest Bidder Inc.
Love the Joe. Glad to hear it