Al Sobotka, an affable man if ever there was one, is the building operations manager for Olympia Entertainment and the guy that has the enviable task — in hockey circles anyway — of resurfacing the Joe Louis Arena ice. Remember that song I Wanna Drive the Zamboni? Well Sobotka is living the dream my friends. [...]
When Detroit nabbed Marian Hossa from the Penguins last summer for the hefty price of $7.45 million for one season they had high hopes for the power forward. On paper he looked like the perfect compliment to the one-two punch that is Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg, and after Hossa scored 40 goals during the [...]
For the past 30 years the ice at Joe Louis Arena has been the platform on which Detroit’s most storied hockey personalities have plied their trade. In the Joe’s first season in operation Gordie Howe received a 10-minute standing ovation by a then record-breaking crowd of 21,002 when he was announced as a starter for [...]
Now that the Detroit Red Wings have finally washed the gag-inducing pickle loaf-like aftertaste that is the Penguins fortuitous Cup championship — a championship most Pittsburgh fans seem to forget has to actually be defended, something history has already pretty much deemed a failure — out of their collective mouths they can move on to [...]
Paul Benvin covers the Detroit Red Wings for The Hockey Writers. Feel free to contact him with tips, video, or general dissension.
At this same time last year Marian Hossa was probably going through the same pre-game preparations he’s going through right now. The same pre-game jitters. The same pre-game questions. He was probably feeling much the same way that he’s feeling right at this very moment as I sit here and type out these words on [...]
