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I was there for the preview on Saturday, the 5k on Sunday, and the first Kid Rock show on Tuesday. Overall, the place is stunning and like something out of a dream. I can't believe this is ours. I think people are going to love it. There were a lot of people walking around in awe. Now for the details, in no particular order. They say the internet bandwidth flowing into the arena is insane. Like enough to provide for all of southeast Michigan. I ran a test and got 75MB down on Sat with a light crowd. During the Kid Rock show I got 45MB down so it was still plenty good. Connectivity was fine despite the big crowd. The concourse is for the most part very wide and you don't feel cramped even when there are a lot of people. The bathroom situation is a huge improvement over the Joe. I had basically no wait at all. Even the ladies seemed to have very little wait. Food and drink prices are somewhat similar to the Joe. Maybe 2-3 bucks more for certain things. Nowhere near as offensive as Ford Field prices. I got a slice of Little Caesars for $4.25 and it was the size of a quarter of a whole pizza. Lots of food options and varieties. One thing I thought was cool was this place that had grab and go beer. Cooler full of a tall cans. Just grab em and pay at the checkout at the front. Quick, easy, no wait. The Chevy plaza outside is huge and I could see it being really cool to hang out out there even if you did not have a ticket. The screen is big and of real good quality. Behind it is the beer garden. Looks like you can freely come and go out there during events. Some neat hangout areas out there. The seats are a little bit wider and it seems like there is more leg room. Where I was sitting there was not another seat in front of me so I can't say just how much better it was. The portal system to get to your seating area is handy and takes a bit of confusion out. On the upper concourse, at the railing theres like a drink/food ledge that goes all the way around. Makes it handy to have some place to eat that is not just like the top of a trash can. As for the dazzle stuff. The jewel skin projection is awesome. It was showing motion graphics of the team and ads but down the road it should show video too. The ceiling in the arena bowl is insane. The LED grid is a killer feature. You won't give a s*** about the LED roof that we didn't get that you'd never see anyway. I can't wait to see hockey played in this place, even if the team is terrible. This is all I can think of off the top of my head.

There what is? You're the one that brought up that $5.25M for a 3C is "outstanding". I'm assuming that was sarcastic? Well who signed that 3C to that $5.25M x 6 year contract?

A $5.5 million 3C is just outstanding

I don't follow Malik, or Helene. Not a fan of either (to put it mildly). My go-to has and always will be Khan.

As much as I'd love to have a line with the Svechnikov bro's in the future, Dahlin looks to good to pass up (if we have the opportunity). An absolute stud, can't miss, elite, number one defenseman that we sorely need, being labeled as a cross between Hedman and Karlsson... Yes please! Maybe our (new?) GM can pull off some magic like Burkie did back in '99 and get us the top 2 picks (I know Burke got #2 and #3), and get both Dahlin and Svechnikov...

Yeah, I'd be okay with that top 4, but everything I've read has indicated that Ouellet will likely start as our number 7, so I highly doubt he will start on the top pair. I've also read that Larkin is likely to at least start the season as our 2C, leaving Nielsen as our 3C. And also that Glendening may be slotted on Sheahan's wing... But yeah, a lot can happen in training camp / preseason, so we shall see how it all plays out...

I'd be cool with Ouellet-Green / Daley-DeKeyser as our top-four. I feel Daley and Green are too similar and having them together could make our pairings imbalanced, too top-heavy. Re: the center situation...I was just assuming Glendening would be our 4C and that Sheahan being at center therefore meant Blashill had him slotted as our 3C. I think Sheahan should be our 4C and it sounds like that's the plan, so hurray for that, I s'pose. As for Larkin...probably 3C, right? Overall, I think your roster's realistic. If Bertuzzi makes the cut, he's probably a fourth-line winger. Guess we'll see what we see. ehhhh...

Priorities 1. Rasmus Dahlin 2. Andrei Svechnikov 3. Brady Tkachuk

Everyone please stop fighting, ur gonna kill eachother

Yeah, those pairings are basically what I'd like to see (aside from the 3rd pair), not what I think we'll see. DeKeyser proved last season that he's better suiting in a 2nd pairing role, and although I'm not sure if Daley would be any better, to me it's worth a shot... Yeah, everything I've heard / read has indicated that Larkin will be given every opportunity to start at center, and that it's a toss-up between he and Nielsen as our 2nd / 3rd line center. I've heard a lot of rumblings on this potential trade, but I honestly doubt it happens. It wouldn't be the worst thing though if we gain a mid to high pick, and give us the cap space to get Athanasiou signed...

I'd say yes, Especially if Andreas Athanasiou still bolts to the KHL, If AA stays with Detroit then the answer is probably no.

I lasted 25 seconds before I had to turn this garbage off.

I just realized that my the first pre-season game is next week! I am pumped as I did buy tickets. Ill try to remember to take some pics and post.

Training Camp starts this weekend, with intersquad practices and scrimmages on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and the Red & White game Monday afternoon. Team Delvecchio Forwards: Justin Abdelkader, Tyler Bertuzzi, Luke Glendening, Darren Helm, Dylan Larkin, Anthony Mantha, Frans Nielsen, Gustav Nyquist, P-A Parenteau, Riley Sheahan, Ben Street, Tomas Tatar, Luke Witkowski, Henrik Zetterberg Defensemen: Dennis Cholowski, Trevor Daley, Danny DeKeyser, Jonathan Ericsson, Mike Green, Nick Jensen, Niklas Kronwall, Xavier Ouellet, Ryan Sproul Goaltenders: Jimmy Howard, Petr Mrazek Team Howe Forwards: David Booth, Colin Campbell, Corey Elkins, Turner Elson, Luke Esposito, Matt Ford, Martin Frk, Axel Holmstrom, Matt Lorito, Dylan Sadowy, Dominik Shine, Evgeny Svechnikov, Eric Tangradi, Dominic Turgeon Defensemen: Joe Hicketts, Filip Hronek, Brian Lashoff, Pat McCarron, Dylan McIlrath, Dan Renouf, Robbie Russo, Vili Saarijarvi Goaltenders: Jared Coreau, Matej Machovsky, Tom McCollum Team Lindsay Forwards: Mike Borkowski, Austen Brassard, Oliver Castleman, Connor Crisp, Zach Gallant, Brady Gilmour, Isaac Johnson, Sean Josling, Luke Kutkevicius, Zach Nastasiuk, Michael Rasmussen, Givani Smith, Lane Zablocki Defensemen: Marcus Crawford, Simon Denis, Evan Fiala, Cole Fraser, Jordan Sambrook, Libor Sulak, Kevin Tansey, Reilly Webb Goaltenders: Corbin Boes, Kaden Fulcher, Pat Nagle The rosters are divided up a little different this year. Usually the teams are pretty even, with each team having one or two lines from Detroit and Grand Rapids with junior players and invitees sprinkled in. This year it looks like Team Delvecchio is more or less what we'll see in Detroit on opening night, Team Howe is what we'll see in Grand Rapids, and Team Lindsay consists of players headed to Toledo, back to junior and invitees. It is interesting to see Parenteau and Cholowski on Team Delvecchio. It looks like Parenteau may have the edge over Frk and Svechnikov, which I don't hate. As for Cholowski, there's no way he makes the team, they just needed to fill the roster with a 9th defenseman. Still cool he got the nod over any of the other defensemen though.

There is nothing about this place that doesn't look top notch.

Got some images from the preview today here http://wingsarena.tumblr.com

Lets make LGW great again. The constant whiners must go.

Some people like their team win or lose. This place has become unbearable with the needless whining about irrelevant stuff just for the sake of complaining. Not everything that enters your brain needs to be shared. I've had to avoid this site altogether because their is absolutely no insightful conversation. Complaining about a cap hit we (likely won't) be stuck with for two years after Holland got great value for 6+ years (with a Stanley cup and Conn Smythe) is just another example of talking for no real reason