Joe Louis Arena - Other Uses

Other Uses

Joe Louis Arena was the site of the 1980 Republican National Convention where Ronald Reagan was nominated as the Republican candidate for President of the United States.

In 1995, the Detroit Junior Red Wings won the Ontario Hockey League's J. Ross Robertson Cup, defeating the Guelph Storm.

Joe Louis Arena hosts college hockey events as part of College Hockey at The Joe and Great Lakes Invitational. The arena has also hosted several events by WWE, recently hosting the first ever Over the Limit pay-per-view in May 2010, and the Royal Rumble in January 2009. The venue has also played host to three editions of the annual Survivor Series event (in 1991, 1999, and 2005).

The Detroit Pistons of the NBA used the arena for Game 5 of their 1984 playoff series against the New York Knicks when the Pontiac Silverdome was unavailable due to a scheduling conflict. In the game, Piston star Isiah Thomas scored 16 points in the final 1:34 of regulation to send the game into overtime before the Pistons lost. The Pistons were forced to return to Joe Louis Arena for 15 games during the 1984–85 season, after the roof of the Silverdome collapsed during a snowstorm.

Joe Louis Arena was the site of the decisive Game 5 of the 2006 WNBA Finals between the Sacramento Monarchs and Detroit Shock on September 9, due to The Palace of Auburn Hills (the Shock's usual home arena) already being used for a Mariah Carey concert on the same day. The Shock won the game 80–75 to clinch the championship.

Former Arena Football League team the Detroit Drive also had success during their time at the arena, playing in six consecutive ArenaBowls from 1988 to 1993 and winning four of them. Four of the games (ArenaBowl III, ArenaBowl IV, ArenaBowl V and ArenaBowl VII) were played in Joe Louis Arena.

In addition, Joe Louis Arena is also a concert venue. Until The Palace of Auburn Hills was built in 1988, Joe Louis Arena was Michigan's largest indoor arena for concerts during the 1980s. The first concert to take place there was on February 19, 1980. The Max Webster Band was the first musical act to play there when they opened for Canadian rock group, Rush. To compensate for most of JLA's concert business being moved north, the Red Wings began a tradition of playing a home game on New Year's Eve which continues today (Exceptions were in 1994, 2004 and 2007.)