Players still love to play in the old ice barns

Mellon and Joe Louis arenas, sites of the Stanley Cup Finals, are two of the NHL’s oldest.

DETROIT (AP) — Some of the NHL’s best young talent is on display during this year’s Stanley Cup finals.

The arenas, well, they’re another story.

While players and coaches say Mellon and Joe Louis arenas are star venues in their own right, “young” is not a word used to describe two of the oldest in the NHL.

Pittsburgh’s home ice is so outdated it almost drove the team out of town. And the future of the Joe, as it affectionately is known, is the subject of periodic debate in Hockeytown.

But ask current and former players and you’ll get a fairly uniform opinion.

They love the old rinks.

“There’s a lot of character in each building,” Penguins defenseman Hal Gill said. “Sometimes you have a little more old-time hockey feeling when you play in buildings like that.”

Joe Louis’ setup is pretty simple: 20,000 seats crammed into two levels with fans so close they feel like they’re on the ice.

Opposing players notice the elevated noise level, and the Red Wings love it.

“I thought we were in Canada yesterday. Before the game was great. It was fantastic,” Detroit coach Mike Babcock said of Game 1. “It was the loudest the building has been since I’ve been here by far. ... It was fantastic, and I think it’s really important.”

The NHL is awash in sparkling new revenue-generating arenas with cozy locker rooms, plush luxury boxes and dazzling video scoreboards.

Visitors to Detroit’s 29-year-old building get very little of that kind of modernity. What they do find, however, is a loyal, energetic fan base with a high hockey IQ and a wealth of popular — if unusual — traditions.

Every fan who has caught a playoff game along the Detroit River knows about octopi flying toward the ice, rousing national anthem renditions by local songstress Karen Newman and goofy aisle dances by superfan “Mo Cheese” and his Stanley Cup hat.

More than anything, though, the Wings have qualified for postseason play each of the past 17 seasons, and Joe Louis Arena has been witness to more than a few dramatic moments.

“It’s not too often you come to a historic place like this. I think everyone enjoys being here, and we grew up watching some of the teams that have won here,” said Sidney Crosby, who was 9 when the Wings won their first Cup at Joe Louis. “There’s not too many older buildings left. And to be here and at the Mellon it’s pretty unusual.”

The Red Wings have taken full advantage of their home-ice advantage so far in the Cup finals, jumping out to a 2-0 advantage following Monday’s 3-0 win. The series shifts to Mellon Arena for Game 3 tonight.

“It’s been a few years since we played there, but from watching on TV the people are jacked up,” said Red Wings forward Darren McCarty. “Pittsburgh is a great sports town. It’s not like an Anaheim. It’s a hockey hotbed.”

Hockey Hall of Famer Paul Coffey played defense for both teams last decade and fondly recalls his days speeding down the Civic Arena and Joe Louis Arena ice.

“There’s nothing worse than an entertainer — be it a singer or a hockey player — performing in an arena that has no feel for it. These two reek of it.”