The Red Wings' new Little Caesars Arena, set to open in September '17, will feature an "oversized lower bowl with a steep rake designed to put the fan on top of the ice," delivering a "noise-inducing experience," according to SI.com's Tim Newcomb, who takes an in-depth look at the venue. But the arena "isn't just a trend-bending sunken bowl design" that gives it a "new vantage for hockey fans." The "sunken bowl meshes with the community." Olympia Entertainment President & CEO Tom Wilson said, "We brought in (Red Wings Exec VP & GM Ken Holland) to find which was the most intimidating place we play. Without question it is Montreal. There is no light. No open concourses. Just a sea of red jerseys screaming at you in French. We went there to see it and, my gosh, they are on top of you." HOK co-Founder & Senior Principal George Heinlein, whose firm designed the venue, said that the arena "borrows the vertical rise in Montreal's Bell Centre, but with added legroom." Heinlein: "It is about the steepness of the seating bowl. But also the proximity of those fans to the rink." Newcomb noted the arena puts "about 10,500 of the total 19,600 seats in the lower bowl." Heinlein: "It will be one of the most intimate arenas in the NHL, if not the most intimate. [The Red Wings] have coined it the baddest bowl in the NHL." The arena "eliminates the trendy concept of opening up the concourses to the rink." Instead of "creating sightlines through the entire venue, the Red Wings wanted to focus on creating noise, eliminating any holes where noise or energy could escape" (SI.com, 7/10).
