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Joe Louis Arena
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Joe Louis Arena, nicknamed The Joe and JLA, is a hockey arena located at 600 Civic Center Drive in Detroit, Michigan. It is the home of the National Hockey League franchise, the Detroit Red Wings. Completed in 1979 at a cost of $57 million, Joe Louis Arena is named after boxer and former heavyweight champion Joe Louis, who grew up in Detroit.
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Encyclopedia
Joe Louis Arena, nicknamed The Joe and JLA, is a hockey arena located at 600 Civic Center Drive in Detroit, Michigan. It is the home of the National Hockey League franchise, the Detroit Red Wings. Completed in 1979 at a cost of $57 million, Joe Louis Arena is named after boxer and former heavyweight champion Joe Louis, who grew up in Detroit. This makes it one of the few remaining NHL arenas without a corporate sponsorship name.
In the arena's first season it hosted the NHL All-Star Game, which was played before a then-NHL record crowd of 21,002 and was made memorable when Gordie Howe of the Hartford Whalers was introduced on the Wales Conference line-up and received a ten-minute standing ovation. The 51-year-old Howe had played 25 years in Detroit, was the NHL's all-time leading scorer, and probably the most popular Red Wing of all time.
Joe Louis Arena is owned by the city of Detroit and operated by Olympia Entertainment, an Ilitch Holdings, Inc.-owned company. JLA replaced Olympia Stadium. It sits adjacent to Cobo Hall on the bank of the Detroit River and is accessible through its own station on the Detroit People Mover.
The Red Wings have been very successful since the move to JLA, winning four Stanley Cup championships (with two of them, 1997 and 2002, taking place with the Cup clinching victory at home). Budd Lynch is the arena's public address announcer.
Joe Louis Arena hosts college hockey events as part of College Hockey at The Joe and Great Lakes Invitational. It also played host to the 1980 Republican National Convention. More recently, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) has officially announced that the arena would host the professional wrestling pay-per-view event, Royal Rumble 2009.
The Detroit Pistons of the NBA used the arena for Game 5 of their 1984 playoff series against the New York Knicks when the Pontiac Silverdome was unavailable due to a scheduling conflict. In the game, Piston star Isiah Thomas scored 16 points in the final 1:34 of regulation to send the game into overtime before the Pistons lost. The Pistons were forced to return to Joe Louis Arena for 15 games during the 1984–85 season, after the roof of the Silverdome collapsed during a snowstorm.
Joe Louis Arena was the site of the decisive Game 5 of the 2006 WNBA Finals between the Sacramento Monarchs and Detroit Shock on September 9, due to The Palace of Auburn Hills (the Shock's usual home arena) already being used for a Mariah Carey concert on the same day. The Shock won the game 80–75 to clinch the championship.
Several plans for a replacement arena have surfaced in recent years, including proposals for the expansion of Cobo Hall that require JLA to be demolished. Currently, no firm plan for replacement or remodeling is in place.
A new television screen on the scoreboard was installed and debuted November 22, 2006, when the Red Wings played the Vancouver Canucks. That same day, the arena's West Entrance was named the "Gordie Howe Entrance" in honor of legendary Red Wing player Gordie Howe, and a bronze statue of his likeness was placed inside the entrance.
The arena was featured in the episode "Grosse Point, 48230" of the television show Northern Exposure.
Joe Louis Arena is also remembered for hosting the historic 1980 Republican National Convention, during which future President Ronald Reagan received the party's nomination.
Statistics
- Built: 1977-1979
- Construction Cost: $57 million
- Seating Capacity: 20,066 (including suites); 20,338 for end-stage concerts and 21,152 for center-stage concerts.
- Dimensions: 328 x 550 x 85 (ft), approximately 12 million ft³ (340,000 m³).
- Home Team: Detroit Red Wings (NHL).
- Former Teams: Detroit Rockers (NPSL) 1996–01, Detroit Pistons (NBA) for one playoff game in 1984 because of venue unavailability, and 15 games in 1985 after the roof collapsed at the Pontiac Silverdome, Detroit Compuware Ambassadors (OHL) 1991–92, Detroit Junior Red Wings (OHL) 1992–95, Detroit Drive (AFL) 1988–93, Detroit Turbos (MILL) 1989–94, Detroit Shock, (WNBA) for playoff games in 2004 and the 2006 WNBA Finals Game 5 when The Palace of Auburn Hills was unavailable because of a concert.
- Opening event: December 12, 1979, basketball game between the University of Michigan and the University of Detroit.
- Opening hockey event: December 27, 1979, the Detroit Red Wings versus the St. Louis Blues. St. Louis won that particular night 3-2.
- Other events: concerts, Alice Cooper - The Nightmare Returns (1986 Home Video Release), 1980 Republican National Convention, John Hancock (Insurance) Champions On Ice, three NCAA Frozen Four college hockey finals, college basketball, others.
- Championships: Detroit Red Wings (1996-97, 1997-98, 2001-02 & 2007-08), Detroit Rockers (1991), Detroit Drive (1988, 1989 & 1990), Detroit Turbos (1991).
- Site of WWF The Main Event 1990, Survivor Series 1991, Survivor Series 1999, and Survivor Series 2005, as well as Vengeance 2002 and the 2009 Royal Rumble.
- Has hosted numerous Monday Night Raw's and tapings of SmackDown! and ECW. Most recently a WWE Raw taping on May 12, 2008, that featured the return of Jeff Hardy.
- Site of WCW Halloween Havoc in 1994 and 1995.
- Site of the annual Great Lakes Invitational, in college hockey, as well as the annual CCHA tournament.
Recent additions
Joe Louis Arena currently houses 86 premium suites. In 2008, the arena introduced the Comerica Bank Legend's Club, a 181-person private seating location in the southeast corner of the arena. The Legend's Club is also the site of a pilot program called the SkyBOX. St. Louis-based Vivid Sky introduced the SkyBOX into the Legend's Club in January 2008. The SkyBOX gives Champion's Club patrons the ability to view instant replays and statistical information via a wireless device in the Skybox.
External links
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