The Detroit Red Wings pushed back the start time of their season opener to 8 p.m. to overlap less with the Detroit Tigers' ALDS game against the Cleveland Guardians
The Detroit Red Wings are feeling the energy of playoff baseball — so much that they're changing the start time for Thursday's season opener against the Pittsburgh Penguins
The Red Wings postponed the game by an hour, to 8 p.m., in order to account for Game 4 of the Detroit Tigers' ALDS series against the Cleveland Guardians. The team announced the schedule change via social media.
Doors open at 5 p.m., with a number of District Detroit bars, eateries and team stores open between 3:30 p.m. and 5 p.m.
Moving the game back makes a lot of sense from multiple standpoints. First, capturing the attention of fans would be difficult with an elimination playoff game nearby at Comerica Park. It is likely that this would lower attendance for the Red Wings' season-opener, and seeing that Ilitch Holdings owns both teams, the company does not want its products competing against each other more than it has to. Second, from a logistical standpoint, fans' commutes to and from Little Caesars Arena would be difficult due to the sheer volume of traffic. First pitch of the baseball game is planned for 6:08 p.m., which would have meant that any fans trying to get to the Red Wings game early would have ran into a traffic headache.
The Red Wings' season-opener against the Penguins is the first of a difficult five-game stretch to open the season. After playing Pittsburgh, the Red Wings play a home and away game each against the Presidents' Trophy winning New York Rangers and the Nashville Predators, who added three high-profile players in free agency (Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault and Brady Skjei).