from Ansar Khan of Mlive,
Joe Louis Arena was a wonderful home for the Detroit Red Wings, but as the site for training camp in the early to mid-1990s, it just wasn’t cutting it.
Then Centre ICE Arena opened in Traverse City in 1997, and the Red Wings have been mixing business with a lot of pleasure ever since in this scenic northern Michigan resort town, a four-hour drive from Detroit.
“When I became manager in ’97, I said to (coach) Scotty Bowman when I played I enjoyed when training camp was in a different city and players got an opportunity to bond, whether over dinners, beers or golf,” Red Wings general manager Ken Holland said.