Red Wings Break From Long Standing Northern Michigan Tradition
On Tuesday, the Detroit Red Wings announced that their 2026 Training Camp will be held at Little Caesars Arena, marking only the third time since 1997 that it wasn't held in Traverse City.
On Tuesday morning, it was announced by the Detroit Red Wings that they will be hosting a four-team Prospect Tournament and Training Camp at the BELFOR Training Center inside of Little Caesars Arena in September.
This breaks from a longstanding tradition for the franchise that began in 1997 of holding Training Camp in Traverse City, Michigan.
The prospect tournament will feature players from not only the Red Wings but the Dallas Stars, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Columbus Blue Jackets, starting on Sept. 12. Training Camp will commence on Sept. 17, followed by four exhibition contests.
This will mark only the third time since 1997 that the Red Wings don't hold Training Camp at Center Ice Arena. The first occasion was in the winter of 2013 at the start of the lockout-shortened 2012-13 campaign; Camp was held at Compuware Arena (now known as USA Hockey Arena) in Plymouth.
Additionally, before the shortened 2020-21 NHL season amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Camp was held at Little Caesars Arena.
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According to the staff at Center Ice Arena, it's not yet known whether this decision is a permanent one.
“We’ve been wondering what’s been going on,” Centre Ice Arena executive director Todd Spaulding said via The Traverse City Record-Eagle. “We didn’t hear anything official until the last couple days.”
“We’ve always known there was a chance they would do something different,” Spaulding continued. “I don’t know if this is a permanent deal.”
The tradition of Training Camp being held in Traverse City was the idea of Hall of Fame coach Scotty Bowman.
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