Today, the city of Detroit is known as "Hockey Town". Built on a rich history with their beloved Red Wings, the Motor City has witnessed their team win an incredible 11 Stanley Cups over the years. But the love for their team was not born in Little Caesars Arena or even the storied Joe Louis Arena, but in a grand arena meant specifically for civic pride. This is the story of Olympia Stadium.
The Conception
Largely due to the rise of the Ford automobile plant, the city of Detroit was overflowing with money in the mid-1920's. With Henry Ford introducing the $5 workday and 40 hour work weeks, Detroiters had money itching to be spent at the latest attractions. However, aside from the Tiger's Navin Field, which had recently been expanded by 7,000 seats, Detroit lacked the facilities necessary to compete with America's other large markets.
In 1926, a group of Detroit businessmen purchased the Victoria (BC) Cougars hockey team with the intention of moving them to the Motor City. However, with no suitable arena available, they were forced to play in Windsor, Ontario while their new arena was being built on the corner or Grand River Avenue and McGraw Street.
But the city of Detroit took a long hard look at the new arena's plans and decided that it could just be for hockey. No, this new arena had to be state of the art, opulent enough to host crowds as large as 20,000 while holding anything from boxing matches and hockey games to political events.
Infused with a cash flow from several civic leaders such as Henry and Edsel Ford, the Cougars owners hired the architect C. Howard Crane to lead the project. As a connoisseur of the opera and theatre world, he had gained renowned fame for his designs of the Majestic Theatre, Orchestra Hall and the Detroit Opera House. With his insightful knowledge of acoustics, the Cougars knew that they had found the right man for the job. Mayor John W. Smith laid the soon-to-be constructed arena's cornerstone on March 8, 1927 and construction was soon underway.
A False Start
America's largest indoor skating rink opened on October 15, 1927 to an eight day rodeo. On October 26th, it hosted the first of many boxing matches. A throng of 15,000 watched as New Zealand's Tom Heeney beat Cleveland's Johnny Risko in ten rounds.
The Cougars made their long-awaited Motor City debut on November 11th of that year. Having recently opened the Wolverine's "Big House", the University of Michigan's marching band ended a memorable year that day by playing "America", "the Star Spangled Banner" and "The Maple Leaf Forever" in between periods. The Cougars lost to the Ottawa Senators that day by a score of 2-1 and the city of Detroit had to wait five more days to finally watch their team win a game at home, a satisfying two-point shutout of the Montreal Canadiens.
The audience quickly fell in love with the venue's steep rows of seats as they always felt like they were right on top of the action. However, disaster was right around the corner. the Great Depression hit the Motor City like a tornado. In a span of two years, vehicle production at the Ford plant fell from 5.34 million units a year to 1.3 million.
Of course, with such a steep fall, jobs were soon to go as the unemployment quickly skyrocketed from 19, 412 to 223, 568 in a little more than a year. Suddenly customers became scare at the two-year old Detroit Olympia and its owners were having trouble paying the bills. Not even the Cougar's minor league hockey team (very rare for that era), the Olympics could save the arena from bankruptcy. As America's hardest hit city, Detroit feared that its new arena would die before it could really blossom.
The Glory Years
By the Winter of 1932, the Detroit Olympia was in dire straights. Facing bankruptcy, its owners could even afford new hockey sticks and were forced to resort to buying food from hawkers. It didn't help that it's most famous tenant, the NHL's Cougars continued to struggle at the box office. Detroiters just hadn't yet embraced hockey in those days.
All looked doom and gloom until Chicago grain magnate James E. Norris bought the Cougars and its home for $100,000 and immediately went about making sweeping changes. He had fallen in love with the game as a youth in Montreal, playing for the Winged Wheelers and decided to change his new team's name to something similar: the Red Wings.
Just three year later, they won the their first Stanley Cup, beating the Toronto Maple Leafs in Maple Leaf Gardens. The Red Wings' triumph the following year was even sweeter as Marty Barny's three points clinched the title over the New York Rangers 3-0 at the Olympia. Stadium.
In addition to hockey, Olympia Stadium became a top destination for boxers and was the location where local legend Joe Louis began his pro career in a January 1935 defeat of Patsy Peroni. The Olympia also held a slew of other events such as circuses, bicycle races and wrestling tournaments. It had a brief foray in basketball as it hosted both the Falcons of the BAA in 1946-1947 and the Pistons of the NBA from 1957 to 1961.
Thirteen years after their resounding victory over the New York Rangers, the Red Wings brought the roar back to Olympia Stadium when George Gee found Pete Babando for the Stanley Cup-clinching goal in double overtime of Game Seven against the Rangers, winning 4-3. the Red Wings would clinch three more Stanley Cup championships at home over the next six years.
In total, the Red Wings won seven Stanley Cups in that era, while clinching five of those at home. With stars such as Gordie Howe, Ted Lindsay, Sid Abel and Terry Sawchuck commanding the ice, Detroit forged an identity as the top hockey town in America. But as good as their hockey team was, times were changing.
The End of an Era
The neighborhood surrounding the Olympia Stadium was deteriorating and with the rise of luxury boxes the arena was quickly becoming outdated. By the end of the 1970's it was obvious to all that the red Wings needed a new arena. So they built Joe Louis Arena on the waterfront in downtown Detroit and prepared to move. The Red Wings' last game at the Olympia Stadium was a 4-4 tie against the Quebec Nordiques on December 15, 1979. They moved into their new home immediately after.
The Olympia Stadium was demolished In July of 1986 and today, the Michigan National Guard's Olympia Armory currently sits on the site where so many hockey wars were waged and where the "Hockey Town" title was first forged. All that remains of the old building are the letters spelling out the "Olympia", which were installed in Little Caesars Arena, the Red Wings third home since moving to the Motor City.
References
Comments