They managed to tie to end the game at 4-4, and it was their second tie in a row. Much of the garbage ended up on the ice during the game, delaying play many times.” The Nordiques pulled ahead scoring four goals before the Red Wings got on the board in the second period. By that point, Olympia Stadium – a 4-story brick building a block wide and another long – was in the “inner city” and “sometimes the roof leaked and sometimes it was hard to find a clean, dry towel in the men’s room.” Bill McGraw wrote for the Detroit Free Press, “Hockey games at 14,200-seat Olympia in many fans’ memories have been characterized by big crowds, witty banners, a smoky atmosphere and aggressive behavior – by the fans if not always the players.” Uncertain whether Olympia would be torn down or sold to Wayne State University, Howe said, “Save me a brick.”įor their last game there, 15,609 fans entered Olympia Stadium “armed with banners (such as ‘Thanks for 7 Cups and 52 years of memories’), boat horns, toilet paper, eggs and a fish. Ironically, their opponents, the new-to-the-NHL Quebec Nordiques, were playing in Detroit for the first time. After 52 years there and 1,790 home games, the Red Wings played there for the last time.
It took them an extra year to actually begin playing in Detroit, at Olympia Stadium (and just six months later, Gordie “Mr. The Chicago fans happily watched their team win their fifth straight game by defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-1.ĭetroit seemed to delay building and moving into each of their stadiums. The biggest crowd at the Coliseum was only 8,500. As of the day before the game, only about 10,000 tickets had been sold, but the final count put the crowd at 14,212. According to the Chicago Tribune, the “opening of hockey in the largest indoor stadium on the continent” would have the “largest crowd ever to see a hockey game in Chicago.” The NHL governors – including President Frank Calder and owners of each team – planned to attend since they were in town for a meeting the following day. Three days later, they said hello to Chicago Stadium, where the “setting was excellent” because of the “wide tiers of red seats” and the ice was “far keener” because the Stadium was kept colder. They went out “in a blaze of glory” when they defeated the Montreal Maroons “in the closing seconds,” 4-3. Via Wikimedia CommonsIn Chicago, the Blackhawks and their fans had said goodbye to Chicago Coliseum on December 12, 1929. The pre-game and intermission performances included “a program of fancy skating by some of the foremost skaters, including the famous Charlotte and the team of Peterson and Charlotte.” Mayor Hylan performed the first ceremonial puck drop at Madison Square Garden. Both groups led the musical program before the game by playing the national anthems of their respective countries. The game would be for the benefit of the Institute. The day of the game, the Royal Foot Guards and the West Point Cadets marched up 5th Avenue from the Canadian Club to the Neurological Institute of New York at 2:30 for a concert. That afternoon, the Royal Foot Guards of Governor General Lord Byng paraded up Broadway to City Hall. Leading up to the game on December 15, 1925, the team conducted an exhibition at their workout on the morning before. However, of Madison Square Garden, the Daily News enthused, “Never before has hockey been staged in such a splendid setting.” It had an “ice field” of 185×85 feet that the audience would be able to see “no matter what part of the amphitheatre they may be seated in.” For their first home game, Tex Rickard insisted they play the Montreal Canadiens, a decision he may have regretted once the Canadiens defeated the Americans 3-1 and brought home the Prince of Wales Trophy. The New York Daily News predicted that it would be the “greatest throng that ever witnessed a hockey contest” and that judging by their enthusiasm, “professional hockey is an assured success in New York.” The Americans had already played their first game, in Pittsburgh, on December 2. The first NHL team in New York opened (the third) Madison Square Garden with a high-society affair with the full house of about 17,000 dressed for a night out. 1925-26 NY Americans, via Wikimedia Commons
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