schulzte

I know many of you have seen this before, but I've redone the Website and cleaned up the drawings. This is the last time I'm going to do it, but I wanted to get them as nice as I could. Here are a couple pics, but visit http://www.newolympia.blogspot.com to see the new web site.

18,000 must be a magic number that someone came up with when penciling out how to maximize arena revenue vs. marginal construction cost. The way arenas are built now, those 2,000 extra seats makes the building taller, the footprint bigger, and mechanical and service portions of the arena increasingly large. Those 2,000 extra seats will generate the least amount of revenue and have the most marginal cost per seat. That said, the Red Wings have been more or less regularly selling out 20,066 in an underwhelming building for the better part of two decades now; I think it would be nice for the new rink to hit 20,000.....perhaps 19,500 with significant SRO places. The last 11 arenas constructed for NHL teams have all been between 17,125 (Phoenix) and 18,819 (Toronto), averaging 18,186 (not including Winnipeg). Here's hoping..........New Olympia Stadium

If the CCHA season ended today, all four teams in the Lower Peninsula would get first round byes and host second round games simultaneously. The top 4 in order are Ferris St., Michigan (Boo), Western, and Michigan State (Yea). Its very cool that Ferris is ranked #1 in the country right now and that Michigan State is looking better. Hire of Tom Anastos is looking good, hopefully MSU is in good shape in time for Big Ten play down the road.

Many of you may have seen this already, but its been updated with a video. New Olympia Stadium Website

People who are arguing for ESPN are missing the fact that Versus is going to carry 90 games next year. ESPN was offering 1 per week on ESPN 2. So Versus is going to broadcast 3 times the games. 80 million homes with 3 games a week is better than 100 million homes with 1 game a week. That 80 million homes will be up to 90 million very quickly, with NBC getting involved. ESPN should be nervous, Versus (or what ever the new name is going to be) is going to be going after college football and basketball and will have the Olympics. The NHL has actually made all the right moves in getting away from ESPN, and sticking with a network for the long haul instead of jumping around every four years. New Olympia Stadium

My thought is that the Palace could be the main concert venue from October-May, with the sports events and some other events held downtown during that time. The major events could then move downtown after the playoffs end until sports seasons begin once again. The Palace could close down for the summer to save costs, because DTE will get lots of concerts too. The lower bowl of the Palace could even be reconfigured to have more seating directed toward the stage instead of the playing surface. As much as I would like to see a new building downtown, completely abandoning the Palace would be such a waste. I think the venues managed together could both succeed. New Olympia Stadium

I don't really have a preference for where to sit in an arena other than high up in the opponent's shoot twice end. Even at the Joe, those seats are a long way from the action when there is a power play on the opposite end of the ice. If your going to be high up in the arena, center ice is better. In the lower bowl, center ice or the home shoots twice end is best. The good thing about the New Olympia design is that those highest end seats are pushed closer to the ice horizontally, so they are closer to the ice than at the Joe. The third level on the ends would be pretty steep and feel like they are hanging over the ice. New Olympia Stadium

I wouldn't go so far as to say the Joe was designed masterfully...it didn't even have a press box when it opened. However, it does provide simple, good viewing for 20,000 fans and the upper bowl isn't in the stratosphere with two levels of suites below to push it higher. I think the New Olympia plan provides enough suites and club seats without sacrificing the experience for the majority of the fans, like many arenas do, including the one proposed by the architects featured in the Detroit News. New Olympia Stadium

If you click on the link below, you can see drawings of previous Kadushin projects. The Red Wings proposal in the News appears to be a total rehash of previous projects, particularly a Windsor Arena proposal. Kadushin Sports Proposals New Olympia Stadium

Yeah, its Google Sketchup, and its the first building I ever made on it, so it isn't perfect. But I think its not bad for my first try.

By looking at it, I figured 14,000 max for capacity. There is hardly any end seating; you would need 80 rows along the side boards to get to 20,000. And then with his 48 inch wide rows, the balcony seating would be horrendous; way too far from the ice. I posted a few new interior shots of my New Olympia Stadium prototype that you can compare to. They aren't as clean or refined, but I think they convey a look closer to what people would actually want. You can see them here New Olympia Stadium

This talk about the Red Wings only being at 97% capacity is kind of silly. We're talking about less than 500 unsold tickets a game. When the Joe was opened, it had 19,250 seats. So we're still over the original capacity of the building each game (not that everyone shows). I also don't like this argument about the sun belt teams failing. Expansion in the NHL has always been hit and miss. The North Stars, Whalers, and Rockies moved, Cleveland folded, Pittsburgh has clung to life over time. Tampa Bay still has the all-time record for attendance at a playoff game. It isn't just a Southern thing when it comes to attendance; the bigger problems with those teams is that the do not draw well on TV. Give some props to San Jose and Dallas, which have been very successful in non-traditional markets. And 15,000 in attendance for crappy teams such as Carolina and Anaheim isn't bad either. Remember when the Whalers moved to Greensboro and were averaging 8,000 a game? They've actually come a long way. Attached is a good resource for NHL attendance over the past 40 years. It's interesting to see trends, which teams have done well and which haven't over time. The authors are listed, I had nothing to do with it. New Olympia Stadium NHL Attendance Figures1.pdf

I don't agree with Cherry on much, but I saw the clip and thought it was great. He's dead right, random fan opinions don't belong on HNIC. New Olympia Stadium

I like going to four divisions again. Division titles are meaningless anyway. I don't like Detroit in the East unlike most people. Northeast New York Rangers New York Islanders New Jersey Devils Buffalo Sabres Boston Bruins Toronto Maple Leafs Montreal Canadians Ottawa Senators Southeast Philadelphia Flyers Pittsburgh Penguins Washington Capitals Tampa Bay Lightning Florida Panthers Atlanta Thrashers Carolina Hurricanes Nashville Predators Central Detroit Red Wings Columbus Blue Jackets St. Louis Blues Dallas Stars Minnesota Wild Chicago Blackhawks Colorado Avalanche West Phoenix Coyotes San Jose Sharks Anaheim Ducks Los Angeles Kings Vancouver Canucks Calgary Flames Edmonton Oilers 35 or 36 in division games (either 5 or 6 games against division teams, depending on size of division) 46 or 47 out of division games (2 games against the rest of the league, 3 against a couple teams) Top four teams from each division make the playoffs Crazy plan or sane?

I'm glad you like the New Olympia concept, and I hope it gets some traction in the public and among the fans. I agree that there is a better chance of a comet hitting Joe Louis Arena than a new arena being named Olympia Stadium. This doesn't bother me that much however. If a corporation wants to contribute $100 million over 20 years for a new arena, thats money taxpayers aren't spending and puts the Red Wings that much closer to a new building. I'm more interested in the building itself that the name. As long as it isn't named after a nuclear waste disposal company, like Salt Lake City's arena is now. I draw the line at nuclear waste disposal, and maybe toothpaste. I don't want the Red Wings new arena to be named the "Aquafresh Centre" or "Listerene Arena". Actually now that I think about it, "Colgate Centre" or "Crest Centre" might not be too bad compared to some new names. New Olympia Stadium

I haven't heard anything official, somebody here in Northern Michigan is reporting on the radio that this could be the last regular season game at the Joe, but it seems they would have announced that by now if a move was imminent. I wish they would make up their mind so their wasn't much speculation. The Palace's sightline for hockey would be fine. It is built with a 200x85 foot floor if you look at a seating chart, so its not like America West Arena was when the Coyotes moved and one end couldn't see the goal beneath them. Upper bowl seating would be farther away however. I don't think the Palace would make a bad hockey venue itself, but it just isn't the Wings and it isn't downtown, so it just wouldn't feel right. I don't think there would be any actual hockey viewing issues whatsoever. 3d Interactive Palace Map New Olympia Stadium

Another very good point. He who casts the first stone!

Why are people so insistent on a team in Winnipeg? Quebec City was far more supportive of the Nordiques than Winnipeg was of the Jets. The Nordiques were drawing very well when they moved to Colorado. The other problem with Winnipeg is that it is surrounded by wheat fields! There are no other feeder cities to draw from. There is a much larger population base in Quebec, and they have a track record of supporting an NHL team better than Winnipeg. Even Winnipeg didn't see itself with the NHL in its future, otherwise they would have built the MTS Centre 6 rows taller. And if we want to get silly about this and "hockey crazed" is your criteria, lets put six new expansion teams in Canada in the prarie provinces. How about Red Deer, Moose Jaw, Swift Current, Lethbridge, Brandon, and how about a big market team like Saskatoon?

You can't judge Phoenix on this year's attendance. The fans didn't know they would have a team until a couple weeks before the season started. I remember when the Winnipeg Jets moved to Phoenix. Winnipeg was getting less attendance than Phoenix is now. That coupled with the weak Canadian dollar and that team was doomed. The Canadian media is utilizing revisionist history when they say Winnipeg should have never moved. The attendance at Coyotes games when the team was downtown instead of the suburbs was much stronger as well, despite the arena improvement. The Phoenix metro area is SIX TIMES larger than Winnipeg, and anyone that can do math can figure out that a professional team has a better chance long term in a city of 4,300,000 than a city of 700,000, I don't care how hockey crazed Winnipeg suddenly is. I would generalize by saying that hockey has not been a failure in the South, as Dallas, San Jose, Los Angeles, and Anaheim have been strong franchises. Hockey in the Southeast HAS generally been a failure, they are so football crazed and closed minded. And it isn't just hockey, basketball teams in Charlotte, Memphis and Atlanta don't draw well either. Atlanta, Nashville and Carolina should all move to Seattle, Milwaukee, and Quebec City respectively. And the Islanders need to go too. I know its a big market, but New York does not need three teams and the Islanders haven't been relevant in twenty years. Defending Gary Bettman isn't a popular opinion usually, but the Penguins and Sabres have been in dire straights in the past ten years, and look where they are now. Bettman didn't want them moving, and the league is better for it. Perhaps Phoenix is the next turn around story. New Olympia Stadium

I like the idea of using Ford Field temporarily for hockey a lot. The sight lines would be decent if the ice was placed across the end zone like they are doing for the Frozen Four. It would be very cool to have some 25,000+ crowds for the Wings. The big problem with that is that once an ice rink is built at Ford Field, it takes a while to dismantle and rebuild, probably a few days at least. I don't know that they would be interested in taking down and rebuilding and ice rink three times a month. Once the rink was built and kept in place, any other events would be limited to the other half of the dome not being used for hockey. I don't think it is completely crazy to think that the season could actually be split, with October-January Games played at the Palace and February-May or June (Optimistically) played at Ford Field. That might be the best of both worlds. The most important games of the season being played downtown in front of big crowds, while avoiding conflicts with the Lions and only tying up the heavily used Palace for four months. New Olympia Stadium

I'm glad you like them. I figured out how to put the model into Google Earth 3-D, and I thought "wow, this is really cool". I think it would look great right in line with the other two stadiums. The only thing better would be to put it right on Grand River in that neighborhood, but there are a couple little buildings in the way. There are no buildings now where I placed it on the map. Those cars parked next to the building were in the Google Earth Map, I couldn't really take them out. Needless to say, there won't be cars in front of the front doors.

There is some new 3-D modeling of the New Olympia Stadium at www.newolympia.blogspot.com

I had read that the Pistons were going to struggle this year at the gate, but I didn't expect last night's number. Red Wings vs. Bruins - 19,167 at Joe Louis Arena Pistons vs. Magic - 15,487 at the Palace of Auburn Hills 15,487 would be the lowest attendance for a Pistons game in eight years. The Red Wings attendance has dropped a little since 2007, but 15,487 is over 6,500 unsold tickets at the Palace, which hasn't been approached at JLA. Interesting that ESPN didn't have anything to say about this. The Pistons have outdrawn the Red Wings since 2001-02, but that is going to end this year.

I think it would be cool if Winnipeg and Quebec got teams back. There is more sentiment for Winnipeg, but the Nordiques drew much better attendance than Winnipeg back in the day. Quebec was averaging 14,000+ in a 15,000 seat arena when they moved to Colorado. How is Winnipeg going to get a team with its arena being too small? They are going to have to expand it somehow to get a team in the long run. Phoenix and Nashville will be the two teams to move.

Very good point-No one not named Gretzky and Lemiuex scored more points in a season than Yzerman in 88-89. Interesting about Probert scoring 62 points, I had no idea he could be such a prolific scorer. Going back into the old stats, some of the penalty minute totals from the mid 80's are unreal. The 85-86 season had 10 players with 100+ Penalty Minutes. Man, that team must have been awful. GAA of 5.04