College hockey fans converge on “The Joe” next
weekend for the two-day Final Four tournament for the Central Collegiate Hockey
Association (CCHA) crown.
The tourney makes for an exciting weekend of
fast-paced hockey for fans, but the trip to Joe Louis Arena, home to the
Detroit Red Wings, can be especially exciting for promising young players hoping
to cap their college careers with a championship.
The University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) team makes a
rare appearance at The Joe this weekend with their third trip to the famous
arena. Previous appearances in Detroit for the Nanooks include a third-place
finish in the CCHA’s 2005 Super Six tournament and in 2002, when they lost to
Ohio State Buckeyes in overtime.
UAF faces a tough challenge by playing the
University of Michigan Wolverines in the semi-final match-up because U of M’s
proximity to the school’s home in Ann Arbor, Michigan means that many Detroit
area Wolverine fans and alumni pack the game with a crowd cheering for a U of M
win.
The Northern Michigan Wildcats from Marquette,
Michigan and the Irish of Notre Dame from South Bend, Indiana face each other
in the other semi-final meet on Friday.
The winners of the Irish/Wildcat games and
Nanook/Wolverine games face each in the CCHA title match on Saturday.
One or more of the teams from this tourney have a
good opportunity to advance into the NCAA championship rounds and hopefully go
all the way through to compete in the NCAA’s Frozen Four final.
This year, the Frozen Four compete in Washington
D.C. April 9-11. The tourney’s appearance in DC marks the first time for the
capital hosting a Division I NCAA Championship event.
We’ve attended nearly every CCHA tournament at Joe
Louis because, as with the Great Lakes Invitational Tournament, we enjoy the
skilled level of play and the relative level of affordability of college hockey
tickets compared to NHL game prices. It’s also fun to see players we followed
during their college careers make it to the pros, and we can tell people we
remember seeing them play in CCHA games at Joe Louis Arena.
If four hockey games in two days aren’t enough for
hockey fans in town for the weekend, the CCHA hosts a Fan Fest at the
Wintergarden (a sunny and spacious atrium at the nearby Renaissance Hotel). Fan
fest visitors enjoy interactive games, shopping for CCHA memorabilia, trophy
displays, Zamboni displays and live music from some of the school pep bands and
local bands.
A pre-tournament presentation of CCHA team and
individual awards happens Thursday evening at Detroit’s opulent 1920s-vintage
Fox Theater.
Die-hard fans who want to see every moment of the tournament
might want to take along a magazine, newspaper or book to read during the
usually lengthy intermission between games each day. There is usually around an
hour in between games to allow plenty of time for overtimes or other delays in
the first game so that the second scheduled game starts on time each day, and
the arena does not allow ticketholders to re-enter the arena after leaving.
We used to enjoy taking photographs during the
college games, but the arena now has a fairly restrictive photography policy,
not allowing cameras with lenses over 80mm into the arena. This includes cameras
with detachable lenses or lenses that extend over 80mm, so even my little
point-and-shoot camera wouldn’t legally past the test. That’s why you only see
a shot of the arena’s exterior here.
Another caveat for fans planning to attend the games—like
many big-city arenas, Joe Louis requires fans to enter through metal detectors
and security searches purses, bags and backpacks. Save yourself a little time
by not carrying a bag or purse into the arena, or carrying items likely to trip
the metal detector in your pockets so that you have to stop and chat with
security before entering the game.
Related stories
Drop the Puck!-Great Lakes Invitational Hockey
Tournament
© Dominique King 2009
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