I always loved my “Give blood, fight Probie” T-shirt that honored Detroit Red Wing tough-guy-with-a-heart-of-gold Bob Probert, and I thought of that recently when reading a story on my game line-up sheet at a Plymouth Whalers’ game about the team’s recent charitable projects.
The Whalers recently hosted a blood drive where fans donated more than three dozen pints of blood to the local Red Cross.
The team also had a “Teddy Bear Toss” in early December, asking fans to bring new, stuffed animals to a game and to toss them onto the ice after the first Whalers’ goal of the game. That night, Alex Aleardi scored the first goal in a 7-5 Whalers’ win over the Guelph Storm and over 1,000 stuffed animals rained down upon the ice surface to be quickly whisked away and given to the Plymouth Community United Way for distribution to deserving children over the holidays.
One of the biggest charitable projects for the Whalers each year is the team’s annual Pink Out! game to benefit the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute. Players don specially designed pink hockey jerseys and sport some pretty fierce pink hair-dos for this game.
Pink duds and dos aside, the players aren’t afraid to mix things up a bit, and fans see at least one pretty-in-pink player drop his gloves when challenged by an opponent.
Check out some of these great Midwest-related stories I read online during this past month:
Looking for Fairy Crosses near Little Falls, Minnesota-I love searching for unusual rocks when I travel (like the red rocks along the Lake Superior shoreline you see in my blog header), so I loved this story at Travels with Children about Linda’s search for staurolite stones on the Mississippi River bank south of Little Falls, Minnesota. Many of these stones are cross-shaped and sought after as good luck charms.
Frankfort North Breakwater Light-I’ve visited this lighthouse many times in the past, and written about it here at Midwest Guest. This post at the Michigan in Pictures blog features a beautiful wintertime photo of the ice-bound lights at Frankfort and an update about the recent transfer of the lighthouse’s ownership from the Coast Guard to the City of Frankfort.
Indy to Repurpose Stadium Seats at Bus Stops-I like seeing innovative re-uses for things that outlive their original purpose. Check out this story at the Urbanophile blog about a cool re-use for seating from a now-closed minor league ballpark in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Dr. Ted’s Musical Marvels in Dale, Indiana-One of my favorite things to do when traveling to seeking out unique small town museums, and Dr. Ted’s place looks like a lot of fun. Jessica takes Little Indiana readers through this eclectic collection of large musical instruments like player pianos, calliopes, and orchestrions.
4 Unique & Boutique Museums in Indy-Looking for a fun way to spend an hour or an afternoon in Indianapolis, Indiana? Check out unique museums like the home of beloved Hoosier poet James Whitcomb Riley, the Medical History Museum and more at the Doing Indy Blog.
Discover Fort Wayne’s Burmese Heritage-Burmese cuisine and culture in northern Indiana? You’ll find it at Fort Wayne, home to the largest concentration of Burmese immigrants in the country. Check it out at the Visit Fort Wayne blog.
Shopping Safari at Jungle Jim’s-I’ve always said that one of the best places to shop for souvenirs is the local grocery store. Take a trip with Jill to a fun foodie paradise near Cincinnati, Ohio, at the Discovering Ohio blog.
Shop at the World Famous Lehman’s-Hardware stores can also be a fun shopping stop when you travel. Lehman’s is a 45,000-square-foot hardware (and so-much-store) in northeast Ohio’s Amish Country. Kendra takes Discovering Ohio readers to this Kidron, Ohio, store to shop for hardware, wind chimes, books, kitchen ware, toys and more! (I wonder if Lehman’s is a bit like Yoder Department Store in Shipshewana, Indiana? Maybe I need to revisit Yoder and check out Lehman’s as well!)
Professional Hockey in Indiana? Absolutely!-We often take in a hockey or baseball game when we travel, so I’m keeping Indiana Insider blog list of professional minor league hockey teams in Fort Wayne, Evansville and Indianapolis for future reference! By the way, check back here later this week for a post about the Plymouth Whalers, our Major Junior hockey team here in metro Detroit.
I'm back with my monthly list of Midwest-related stories I read online during the past month:
A Lincoln Highway Drive-I'm fascinated with the story of the Lincoln Highway. We've managed to travel the length of it through Ohio, along with tiny portions of it in West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Indiana. Here's a nice guide to a stretch of the Lincoln Highway through Nebraska at the Nebraska Outback blog.
Learning to Appreciate Harley-Davidson-It was fun to see Donna's take on the Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I think she looks pretty sporty atop a Harley motorcycle at her My Itchy Travel Feet blog!
21 Questions with Zamboni Paul-I've always wanted to ride an ice resurfacing machine (a.k.a. Zamboni), so I loved Heather's interview with this long-time Zamboni driver for Indiana's Fort Wayne Komets.
Louis Bromfield and Loving the Land in Ohio and Visiting a Pioneer of Sustainability-Malabar Farm is on my list of places I need to visit. Meanwhile, I enjoyed Vera Marie Badertscher's stories about Bromfield's experiment in sustainable agriculture, his books and his pretty glamorous connections to 1940s Hollywood at her own Traveler's Library blog and at the Attainable Sustainable blog.
Pitstop at the Peoria RiverFront-Here's a great story about one of Nicole's favorite roadside stops in Peoria, Illinois. Her little Arrow loves this park and the opportunity to take a break during a long road trip. Check it out at Nicole's Arrows Sent Forth blog.
Marina City-Chicago's "Corn Cobs" have to be among the city's most striking buildings, and the authors at the designslinger blog tell us they may be the two most photographed buildings in the city. Check out this story about a unique mixed-used residential development along the Chicago River that, while revolutionary for its time (built in 1959), helped revitalize this urban neighborhood by attracting residents to an area that previously had none.
Miller Brewery Tour-So the title of this one speaks for itself! Check out Carl from Chicago's recent visit to the free brewery tour in Milwaukee, which includes a couple of great overhead views of the factory's bottling operation.
Belle Isle Bridge-I've crossed this bridge over the Detroit River many times by car to visit Belle Isle, but I really enjoyed this story from our intrepid two-wheeled adventurer Charlie taking a closer look at the MacArthur Bridge. And here I thought I was the only one who got excited about things like bridge railings! Oh, and check out my story about two smaller bridges at Belle Isle.
Looking for high-quality, fast-paced and affordable hockey in metro Detroit? You'll want to check out the Plymouth Whalers as they drop the puck on their home hockey season on Saturday, September 24 against the Erie (Pennsylvania) Otters at Plymouth's Compuware Arena.
Whaler mascot, Shooter, gets revved up for the game
We've long had season tickets to Whalers' games, where we've seen many soon-to-be great NHL players develop during their formative years before going on to play in the Big League.
The Whalers are part of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), a Junior Major-level team where 16- to 20-year-old athletes often start their professional hockey careers.
Whaler games are particularly family- and wallet-friendly. There are plenty of deals and special packages for groups and families that include the popular $5 Fridays where you can score seats in an end zone during all Friday night home games (the team recommends purchasing these tickets in advance as there are a limited number of $5 seats).
Regular prices for individual tickets range from $12 to $16, and parking is $5. I figure my center-ice season tickets (a 34-game package that includes parking) are a great deal at $425 apiece.
We got a sneak peek at this year's team during pre-season play at Farmington Hills Ice Arena early this month where the Whalers beat cross-river rival, the Windsor (Ontario) Spitfires, 2-1. Both teams let their rookies play, with the Whalers scratching many of their NHL-draft players for the game, so it was a good chance to see some new talent.
The game seemed fast-paced throughout with fewer flubbed passes and missed opportunities due to late-in-the-game-fatigue as I've seen in seasons past. I'm hoping this is a good omen for the Whalers as they head into this season, opening in an away game tonight against the 2011 OHL Champions, the Owen Sound (Ontario) Attack.
Check out the Plymouth Whalers on Facebook, or follow the team on Twitter, where Plymouth's Pete Krupsky (Whalers' Director of Communications and radio broadcaster for Whaler games) often tweets about the on-ice action during games.
Check out The Memorial Cup: Canada's National Junior Hockey Championship by Richard M. Lapp and Alec Macaulay to read about the history of Major Junior hockey and the coveted Memorial Cup awarded in a tournament each year among teams from the Canadian Hockey League. The book is a year-by-year history of the cup contests from the first one in 1919 through 1997, including the story of the 1995 Memorial Cup final between the then-Detroit Junior Red Wings (which became the Whalers soon thereafter) and the Kamloops Blazers. The book, which I bought a while ago for myself, doesn't include more recent years. However, real fans of junior hockey should still find it a fun read with plenty of stats and vintage photos.
Here are some great Midwest-related stories I read online during the past month:
Gooseberries on ice and Ice caves of the Apostles-Folks in the northern Midwest know how to embrace the season and find plenty of winter fun. We've visited Minnesota's Gooseberry Falls State Park and the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore in Wisconsin during past summers, but after reading these stories at Midwest Weekends, I really hope we can eventually visit these places during the wintertime.
Minneapolis Millers Hockey-Regular Midwest Guest readers know that I love hockey and minor league sports, so it should be no surprise that I enjoyed this nostalgic look at minor league hockey in Minneapolis (with cool vintage photos) at the Nokohaha blog.
Museums Galore: Discover the Unexpected Arts + Culture of Cleveland Plus!-Being outdoors in the cold weather isn't your thing? Check out some great museums. We visit Cleveland fairly often and we've been to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame + Museum and the Cleveland Museum of Art, but I found quite a few places that sound interesting for future visits on this list of the city's lesser known museums at What Locals Like About Cleveland Plus: An Insider's Look at the Lake Erie City.
Next Stop, Cleveland!-Matt recently took his family to Cleveland where they enjoyed some of my favorite places there, including the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Check out Matt's story at Road Trips for Families.
Where The Honk of the Motor Horn is Heard-We visited the North American International Auto Show in Detroit early last month, and I will post some photos from that visit later. Meanwhile, I got a charge out of the vintage photos and story of the beginnings of Detroit's famed auto show at Belle Isle Home. Check out the early electric car!
2011 North American International Auto Show
Yes There Are Grocery Stores in Detroit-It annoys James that visiting journalists continue to spread falsehoods about Detroit like the untruth that there are no grocery stores in the city. I linked to a story James previously published about a third-generation, family-owned market in the city on his Sweet Juniper blog, and I enjoyed his most recent debunking of the Detroit-has-no-grocery-stores myth hosted at the Urbanophile: Passionate About Cities blog.
Stop Treating My City Like the Fat Kid in Gym Class-Check out Jen's equally passionate debunking of media myths about Flint, Michigan, on the University of Michigan-Flint's University Relations blog. Jen's list of Flint's positive features includes its well regarded farmers market, which is on my list of places to visit soon.
Landmark for Peace: A tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy-Nicole writes about one of her favorite Indianapolis landmarks at the Indiana Insider Blog. The Landmark for Peace Memorial in Martin Luther King Jr. Park honors King and commemorates a speech Kennedy gave in Indianapolis on the night of King's assassination stressing the importance of honoring King by continuing to carry on his life's work.
Good Food: Iowa's Maid Rite-Road food is a favorite topic among travelers, and it's always fun to check out some of the best in regional eats as you travel. Linda checks out a classic Maid Rite diner and its loose meat sandwiches along the Lincoln Highway in Iowa. Yup, I thought of The Lanford Lunch Box, the loose meat sandwich restaurant Roseanne owned in her television show, too!
The Plymouth Whalers were certainly in the pink when we saw them earn a 4-1 victory over cross-river rivals Windsor Spitfires earlier this month, but the players hope their pink jerseys and pink 'dos contribute to victory against a much bigger foe.
The fun started prior to this year's October 16 Pink Out! game for Twitter followers of @PWhalers, who posted a series of updates and links to pictures as the players visited a local salon for their new pink hairdos. Several Whalers sported Mohawks dyed a bright shade of pink, and most observers agreed that player Austin Levi's pink Mohawk shaved into the shape of a breast cancer awareness ribbon was among the best of an amazing array of blindingly pink styles.
Whalers' mascot Shooter joins in the fun with a pink hat
Scott Wedgewood took over in goal from Shooter as the game began
Coach Mike Vellucci and Associate Coach Joe Stefan encouraged the team efforts to raise money by agreeing to dye their own hair pink if the team raised $10,000 before the game. Former Whalers players like David Legwand (Nashville), Chad LaRose (Carolina), James Neal (Dallas), Jared Boll (Columbus) and James Wisniewski (New York Islanders) now playing with National Hockey League teams boosted current Whalers' efforts with their own donations.
A crowd of 3,127 fans arrived at the arena on game day to find the pink-haired players wearing specially designed pink-and-black hockey jerseys and Coaches Vellucci and Stefan behind the bench with their own newly dyed locks (although Vellucci's hair looked more purple than pink to me!).
A series of pre-game fundraisers and game-day activities like a silent auction for the players' game-worn jerseys and a 50/50 auction augmented money raised from ticket sale proceeds to push the total raised over the $18,000 mark.
Defenseman Max Iafrate in action
The Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Center holds a special place in the heart of the Whalers' organization and team owner Peter Karmanos.
Peter Karmanos' first wife died after a battle with cancer in 1989. In 1995, he donated $15 million to a coalition of Detroit-area cancer centers and foundations to fund cancer research, patient care, and education. He declined the offer to put his name on the new cancer center, but finally relented to allow it to bear Barbara Ann's name.
The Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Center is the only one of the nearly 40 major cancer centers in the United States named for a woman.
Wedgewood makes another stop in goal!
The weekend after the Pink Out! game the Whalers were back in regular jerseys, a few fans showed up wearing pink jerseys they won at auction, and there were few signs of the temporary color used to create those sporty pink hairdos. But I'm sure the team and their fans already look forward to next year's Pink Out! game.
A little discussion at the end of the game
Whalers' games are a great family-friendly alternative for hockey fans visiting southeastern Michigan and seeking great hockey action at an affordable price. Check out the Plymouth Whalers' site for schedule and ticket information.
Thanks to Debbie Dubrow of Delicious Baby for creating and coordinating Photo Friday to link travel photos and blog posts across the Web.
The Plymouth Whalers offer fast-paced and high-quality
hockey, not to mention a great alternative to high-priced and hard-to-score NHL
or college hockey tickets.
The Whalers are part of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), a
Junior Major-level team where 16- to 20-year-old athletes often start their
professional careers. The league itself is part of the larger Canadian Hockey
League (CHL), which includes teams in Maine, Oregon, Washington, Pennsylvania
and Michigan as well as teams from all over Canada.
I've owned season tickets for the Whalers since the early
1990s (when they started out as the Detroit Ambassadors, then becoming the
Detroit Junior Red Wings before moving to Plymouth and becoming the Whalers). I've
watched many players in the early stages of their pro careers, before they
eventually landed in the National Hockey League. Some of the players I've
enjoyed watching as Whalers (or Detroit Junior Wings or Ambassadors) before
they played for the NHL include:
Last season was especially exciting, as there were several
opportunities to see Whaler Tyler Seguin and Windsor Spitfire Taylor Hall play
against each other as excitement built through the season around speculation
about how each of these players would fare in the NHL 2010 Draft. Edmonton
eventually picked Hall first overall in the draft, with Seguin going to Boston
as the second first-round pick.
There really isn't a bad seat in Plymouth's 3,500-seat arena.
My center-section aisle seats behind the penalty boxes are a great place to catch
a peek of the replays in the off-ice officials' monitor and practice a bit of
lip reading as we watch the on-ice officials discuss calls with the team
captains. Yes, we're that close to the action, although being near the top of
the section also means we're up above the glass a bit for a better view of the
game as well.
I think it's pretty difficult to beat the deal with season
ticket packages that range from $269 to $399 for 34 games and include parking.
Individual game ticket prices range from $11 to $15, and parking costs $5.
Whaler games draw lots of families and groups with
affordable tickets and special packages. Birthday parties, special end- zone sections
with $5 tickets on selected nights, and four packs (4 tickets, 4 pops, 4 game
line-up cards) are just a few of the most family- and budget-friendly options.
Things I enjoy about the Whalers' hockey beyond the great
hockey action? Singing both the Canadian and American national anthems before
each game (even on nights when two U.S.-based teams play), reasonably priced
beer, and fist-bumping or high-fiving the team mascot Shooter when he visits
our section.
So, be there on September 25 as the puck drops for the first
home game of the Plymouth Whalers' season. We will!
Check out The Memorial Cup: Canada's National Junior Hockey
Championship by Richard M. Lapp and Alec Macaulay to learn more about the
history of Major Junior hockey and the coveted Memorial Cup awarded in a
tournament each year among teams from the Canadian Hockey League. The book
offers a year-by-year history of the cup contests from the first one in 1919
through 1997, including the story of the 1995 Memorial Cup final between the
then-Detroit Junior Red Wings and the Kamloops Blazers. The book, which I bought
a while back for myself, doesn't include more recent years. However, real fans
of junior hockey should still find it a fun read with plenty of stats and
vintage photos.
Note:
"Where I live" posts are part of a series of periodic stories about
special events and people in, and around, metro Detroit. "Where I
live" posts are stories I'll post in addition to my regular schedule of
stories about attractions around the larger Midwestern region. I hope you enjoy
reading them as much as I enjoy writing them.
I've noticed a couple of posts lately telling how some
folks are enjoying minor league baseball games this summer as a family-friendly
and affordable alternative to high-priced Major League games.
Baseball season is winding down soon, so let me
offer another alternative for those seeking affordable family fun and
fast-paced sports action--Junior Major Canadian Hockey League (CHL) games!
The CHL includes teams in Maine, Oregon, Washington,
Pennsylvania and Michigan as well as teams from all over Canada. Team players
are 16- to 20-year-old athletes at the beginning of their professional hockey
careers, so you'll see a high level of play and watch at least a few players
who will eventually play in the National Hockey League (NHL).
Did I mention that I've always wanted to ride an ice resurfacing machine?
Whaler games draw lots of families with affordable
tickets and special value or group packages.
Kids attending Whaler games enjoy interacting with
Shooter, the team mascot. You may meet up with Shooter in the stands, and some lucky
kids may even get to join Shooter on the ice for a little one-on-one hockey.
Check out my post from yesterday for a few more
hockey action shots, and find out what I like so much about Whaler games!
Regular readers of Midwest Guest know it's occasion
for celebration as I hold a harbinger of advancing autumn in my hand--tickets
for a Plymouth Whalers pre-season hockey game.
The Whalers are part of the Ontario Hockey League
(OHL), a Junior Major-level team where 16- to 20-year-old athletes competing to
become part of a National Hockey League (NHL) team often start their
professional careers.
Our Whaler season tickets are an affordable
alternative to high-priced NHL "Big League" tickets and mean we can
feed our hockey fix with high-level, fast-paced hockey throughout the entire
season.
We've had Whaler season tickets since the early
1990s, so we've seen former Whalers like David Legwand, Chad LaRose, Pat Peake,
Todd Harvey, Robert Esche, Fred Brathwaite, James Wisniewski, Chris Thorburn and Bryan Berard at the early stages of their
professional careers--before they eventually landed in the NHL.
The Whalers, mindful of their largely
family-oriented audience and Michigan's sluggish economy, held the line on
ticket prices this year. A 34-game season ticket package costs $269 to $399,
while individual game tickets cost $11 to $15. The team offers several other
value package and group pricing plans, including a special 9-pack ticket
package for $90 to help celebrate the team's upcoming 20th OHL season.
We've got great center-ice seats, although there
isn't a bad seat in the venue's 3,500-seat hockey arena configuration (the
arena holds as many as 4,500 for concerts, graduations and other events).
Some of my favorite things, beyond the great hockey
action, about watching a game at the Whalers' arena? Great aisle seats,
reasonably priced Canadian beer (not the over-priced, watered-down dreck that
passes for beer at the NHL arenas I've visited) and the Whaler practice of
playing both Canadian and American national anthems before each game, even for
games between two U.S.-based teams.
We always look out for hockey action when we travel,
even in the summer.
We went out to Erie, Pennsylvania last month and
checked out the home arena of the OHL Erie Otters. I tried a door, and it
opened. Imagine our surprise to find we'd stumbled onto an Erie Otter practice
session!
As you can tell, I'm more than ready for the season
to start and eagerly anticipating our first look at this season's team at 2
p.m. on Saturday, September 5 at a pre-season game with our cross-river rivals,
the Windsor (Ontario) Spitfires.
The Whalers open their regular home season at 7:05
p.m. on Saturday, September 19 against the Oshawa (Ontario) Generals at the
Whalers' Compuware Arena in Plymouth, Michigan.
Joe College dons his graduation cap and gown, as
well as a hockey mask and skates, and prepares to take the ice at Detroit’s Joe
Louis Arena each year between Christmas and New Years Day.
No, this isn’t some sort of bizarre hockey school
graduation ceremony! But it probably is a dream come true for many young hockey
players as they prepare to play on the same ice known as home to many Detroit
Red Wing hockey heroes and as home to the annual Great Lakes Invitational (GLI)
College Hockey Tournament.
We’ve attended nearly every GLI since the tourney’s
debut at the Joe because we enjoy the skilled level of play and find tourney
tickets more accessible and affordable than going to pro hockey games. It’s
also interesting when players we followed during their college careers make it
to the pros, and we can tell people we remember seeing them play in the GLI at
the Joe.
Michigan Tech and the University of Michigan teams
serve as the official tournament hosts, with Michigan State University as a
traditional third tournament participant. The fourth tournament team comes from
among one of the other top men’s college hockey teams in the nation, with the
Fighting Sioux from the University of North Dakota filling the fourth tourney
berth for 2008.
The teams quickly get down to some serious hockey
once the whistle blows, though.
Two games played during the GLI’s first day
determine the line up for Day Two’s consolation game and final championship
game to determine which team raises their banner to hang in the Joe’s rafters
until the next Great Lakes Invitational.
The GLI is definitely one of our favorite holiday traditions!
I often travel on my own time and my own dime. Whenever I do receive a complimentary product, service, or accommodations as a result of my blogging activities, I will disclose that at the time I write about it. Midwest Guest is a member of an affiliates program in association with Amazon. If you click through the links to Amazon from here and purchase something at Amazon.com, I receive a small commission on the items.
