Red Wings Training Camp in Traverse City; Sept. 20, 2024; Photo by authorOn Thursday morning, the Grand Rapids Griffins took to Twitter to make a significant announcement regarding the future of the Detroit Red Wings (training camp and pre-season). Namely, the Red Wings' annual Red & White game (an intrasquad scrimmage that concludes training camp) will not be at its traditional home of Centre Ice Arena in Traverse City, instead moving to the Griffins' home of Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids.
The Griffins' press release announcing the shift in locale notes that the Red & White game will serve as a kick-off event for the team's 30th anniversary season, though it also raises some questions about the future of Detroit's traditional Traverse City training camp.
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The release itself indicates that moving the Red & White game does not mean the team is done spending training camp in Traverse City, instead saying the scrimmage "bridges the team’s camp in Traverse City and the start of its preseason schedule." However, the idea that the Red Wings would continue to make their preseason northern pilgrimage was already in relative flux.
The Traverse City Prospects Tournament (traditionally the prelude to Detroit's camp) field had already dwindled from its peak of eight teams down to two (just the Red Wings and Dallas) this year, and the cost of taking the team and its entourage to the resort town is not insignificant.
For the time being, it doesn't appear the Red Wings intend to move on from Traverse City, but evidence continues to mount that training camp Up North may not be an organizational tradition for much longer.
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