This hockey road trip was highlighted by a 3rd visit to the Motor City. Since that’s a real long drive from Jersey, I broke it up by visiting family in Rochester, NY and picking up my brother for the journey. That stopover Friday Night was followed by a 7 AM departure through Canada in uneventful weather. Once in Detroit, we went to the Midtown section of the city near Wayne State University for a stop at the Detroit Historical Museum. My brother decided to take a nap in the car, leaving me to enjoy things without his look of boredom. It was a pretty good place that gave a nice overview of the city with some neat displays focusing on the auto industry and music. There also was a Red Wings exhibit that was quite detailed as they celebrate their 100th season this year. Leaving the museum and heading downtown to park for the game, thank you to Reddit for helping us find a perfect parking spot in the small section in front of Cass Technical High School. It was free and less than a 10-minute walk while just down the road were $50 lots. In this slow-to-develop part of the city known as District Detroit, we didn’t find too much for a pre-game meal and opted for Harry’s a popular nearby sports bar. Loud with slightly better than ok food, I’d pass next time and just head to an in-arena restaurant.
Little Caesars Arena is one of the newer NHL arenas, having opened in 2017. The exterior was bleh, but the concourses were excellent, with plenty of room and a street-scape design that is attractive and a good spot for hanging out when the game isn’t on. The interior features a big lower-bowl, similar to Montreal and the steepness of the seating is consistent throughout, a feature I like. The negative was a terrible upper bowl and seats in the 200s that were some of the tightest I’ve ever been in, especially given a “major”-league event. Width, length and even armrests were incredibly uncomfortable. I also don’t like the Gondola’s above, which hang over the upper deck, making the cheap seats feel even more secluded. As for the game, it was a big one…Saturday Night, on ABC, with both Detroit and Boston fighting for a playoff berth. The atmosphere was elevated and the crowd was into it and made decent noise. I do think it’s a notch below some of the other Eastern venues I’ve been to for atmosphere (including NYR, Montreal and Washington). The Wings dropped a crucial one as they lost a 2-1 lead in the 3rd and a soft goal from Nikita Zadarov was the winner.
We got back to the hotel a little after 11 PM and a broken toilet and noisy neighbors made for a rough night (never again, Doubletree Dearborn). We still managed to wake-up early for our next game, a 3 hour drive back east to St. Catharines, Ontario. That would be the home of the Niagara IceDogs, the 5th OHL venue I’ve seen. The weather was rainy and chilly, but we still got to the city’s museum which features a working lock along the Welland Canal. Downtown is 5-10 minutes away and it’s a good one. I loved the tight St. Paul Street, where many of the historic, connected buildings housed unique eateries and shops. Meridian Centre is uniquely down a hill from downtown and connected with a pedestrian bridge. The entrance into the 3rd level where the arena sits is odd and so are the congested walkways around the top of the seating bowl. Otherwise, this is a fairly standard modern arena built in 2014. They had a really good turnout for this matinee, which was also the last regular season game of the year. The IceDogs head into the playoffs on a high as they beat the Erie Otters, 6-5 in a very entertaining game. Ethan Czata had the OT winner and Canucks prospect Riley Patterson got his 40th goal of the year. The trip back to Rochester and then to Jersey the next day was routine, except for my clueless brother telling the Border Crossing officer that we were coming back from “St. Lawrence” (name of the church we grew up going to) as opposed to “St. Catharines”.
For the detailed reviews, Little Caesars Arena is complete and I’ll be wrapping up the one for Meridian Centre in less than a week. Check back soon!
Stadium and Arena Visits 