Red Wings' Joe Louis Arena 'holds a special place' in the hearts of many

DETROIT — Detroit Red Wings general manager Ken Holland compares Joe Louis Arena to "the modest house you grew up in."

Not spacious enough. Dated architecture. Short on modern conveniences.

"But you had a lot of incredible memories there," Holland said, "so it holds a special place in your heart."

Tributes about The Joe have poured in all season as the Red Wings prepared to close the 38-year-old arena with a 5 p.m. game today against the New Jersey Devils. The Red Wings will play next season in the new Little Caesars Arena, located downtown near Comerica Park and Ford Field. The Joe is scheduled for demolition.

"To me, (The Joe) was the ultimate destination point for playing hockey," said Buffalo Sabres coach Dan Bylsma, a Michigan native who saw his first NHL game when Detroit played the Edmonton Oilers in the early 1980s.

Farewell, Joe Louis Arena: The top moments, memories, photos and more

Who are the best Detroit Red Wings to play at Joe Louis Arena?

Not your average Joes: One day in the life at Joe Louis Arena

The Red Wings have won four Stanley Cups in the past 20 years and two (1997 and 2002) were won on Joe Louis ice. The Red Wings qualified for the playoffs for 25 consecutive seasons, a streak that ended this year, while playing there. Steve Yzerman grew into a legend at The Joe. Gordie Howe, playing in his last All-Star game in 1980 at Joe Louis Arena, received one of the longest standing ovations in NHL history.

Nicklas Lidstrom won seven Norris trophies while calling it home. Popular winger Darren McCarty avenged Kris Draper by pummeling Colorado Avalanche villain Claude Lemieux in this building. Scotty Bowman, the most decorated coach in NHL history, won his ninth Stanley Cup as a coach there.

The Joe was known for its festive atmosphere, and the throwing of octopuses on the ice, a tradition that was brought over from Olympia Stadium, the previous arena. The octopus was once the symbol of winning a Stanley Cup because the eight tentacles represented the eight wins that used to be required to win. Now, it takes 16, but Joe Louis fans kept throwing the creatures during the playoffs.

Al Sobotka, the long-time building operations manager, would swing an octopus overhead after he scraped them off the ice. He used to do it as he was walking off the ice until the league said he had to end his octopus swinging after he left the ice surface.   Apparently, opponents complained about octopus bodily fluids being flung about.

In 2001-02, Holland put together a Red Wings roster that now boasts nine Hall of Famers (Yzerman, Lidstrom, Brendan Shanahan, Sergei Fedorov, Luc Robitaille, Brett Hull, Igor Larionov, Dominik Hasek and Chris Chelios); plus Bowman, a Hall of Fame coach.

"They had great teams, great players," said former NHL player and New York Islanders interim head coach Doug Weight. "That goes with the building. They had a special aura."

Weight grew up in Michigan and played college hockey at Lake Superior State, but his fondness for Joe Louis Arena didn’t remain when he became a player.

"The love I had for The Joe slowly sifted out of me after defeat after defeat with Edmonton and St. Louis," Weight said. “In St. Louis, we had a great team but we just couldn’t find a way to defeat these guys.”

There is too much history for Detroit fans to have an easy choice for The Joe's greatest moment.

"But winning the first Cup (in 1997) and celebrating on the ice with Steve Yzerman and everyone was pretty incredible," McCarty said.

The Joe had limitations that made a new arena a logical decision. The building has narrow corridors in the concession areas, and the suites are located in the highest levels. The building was built without any windows or amenities. When it was first built, some fans mockingly called it the Joe Louis Warehouse.

"I think the beauty of Joe Louis Arena when it came in was that it was one big bowl," Holland said. “There are no overhangs, like they used to have. When most arenas were holding 15, 16 or 17,000, Joe Louis Arena came in at 20,000-plus.”

Bowman said what he always remembers about the building is how Detroit fans seemed to be on top of the action.

"It was a tight, tight squeeze," he said. "It was like you were all crammed in there."

The rink had quirkiness that the Red Wings used to their advantage.

“I wonder if the boards in the new rink will be as rubberized as the ones (at Joe Louis),” Weight said, smiling.

The puck was known to bounce wildly off the back boards, and some Red Wings used them like they were shooting billiards in their recreation room.

"I know Nick Lidstrom did," Weight said. "He probably got 100 (assists) off that wall."

Bowman said when he thinks of Joe Louis Arena he remembers the people, not the building.

"The people who worked in the building were the best," Bowman said. "During the playoffs, Al Sobotka would have barbecues. I loved going there in the morning and talking to everyone, from the parking attendants to the electricians. If you needed something, they got it done.”

Not every Joe Louis memory is pleasant for Detroit fans. They lost the 2009 Stanley Cup final in Game 7 to the Pittsburgh Penguins there. Bylsma was Pittsburgh’s coach at the time.

"I have stapled in my brain the last five seconds (of that game)," Bylsma said. "Every time I step on that bench I hold my breath (and think of) Lidstrom at the side of the net and the (Pittsburgh goalie Marc-Andre) Fleury save. I have those flashbacks."

In the bowels of the arena, in the corridor leading up to the dressing rooms, the names of all of Detroit’s Stanley Cup winners are stenciled on the Joe Louis walls. “I hope that goes to the new arena,” Bylsma said.

When Joe Louis Arena opened in 1979, the team was owned by Bruce Norris. He sold the team to Mike and Marian Ilitch in 1982, and the success under their ownership defined the building.

It almost seemed fitting that the Red Wings’ playoff streak would come to an end in the last season at Joe Louis Arena.

“Gordie Howe coming back to the Detroit as an All-Star and being welcomed by fans launched the new building and then Mike Ilitch buys this team and makes this a special place,” Holland said. “Now it’s 2017, and Gordie Howe had died (last June) and we’ve lost Mr. Ilitch (in February) and the building is being closed. It’s ironic, incredible anyway.”