Fans turn out in droves for Wings camp

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Samuel Malloy, 3, of Brimley, watches from the stands Saturday during the Detroit Red Wings training camp at Centre Ice. "We're hoping hockey is in his blood," said his mother, Phyllis Malloy, of Samuel, who was adopted from near Moscow, Russia. Record-Eagle/Keith King
Bob Vezino, of Lowell, takes pictures Saturday during Red Wings Training Camp at Centre Ice. "This is our third year up here," Vezino said. Record-Eagle/Keith King
Fans watch as the Detroit Red Wings hold training camp Saturday at Centre Ice in Traverse City. Record-Eagle/Keith King

September 19, 2010

Fans turn out in droves to see their favorite team on ice

BY SHERI McWHIRTER smcwhirter@record-eagle.com The Record Eagle Sun Sep 19, 2010, 07:14 AM EDT

TRAVERSE CITY — Brian Wolf is more than a Detroit Red Wings fan. He's a Red Wings fanatic.

"They're probably going to make it back to the playoffs," said Brian, 14, of Allegan.

And he's confident about that, like many who attended the 13th annual Red Wings Training Camp in Traverse City on Saturday.

Brian stood in the parking lot at Centre Ice Arena and struggled to pull on his special Red Wings jersey — special because it has goalie Chris Osgood's autograph on it.

"I wear it when I go to games. I don't want it to get rained on," Brian said, as he turned his eyes toward the dark cloud-filled sky.

Wolf and his family, sister Caroline, 12, father Tom and mother Heidi, came to Traverse City just to catch a close-up view of their favorite hockey players.

"We love the Red Wings and have never been to training camp before," Tom Wolf said.

Nearby, Ashley Hollenbeck, 9, of Monroe, impatiently fidgeted while her grandmother Mary Gentner pulled on a sweatshirt, anxious to get inside the ice arena for her first look at Henrik Zetterberg, her favorite Red Wing player.

"I want him to sign my jersey," she said.

"I'm just having hockey withdrawals. I'm ready for hockey season to start," Gentner said.

Inside the arena hundreds of fans packed the stands, creating a sea of red T-shirts, sweatshirts and jerseys.

Among them was Chris Duce, who sat in the front row and still leaned forward as he snapped photographs of Osgood in the net.

"We drove seven and a half hours to come here from Hamilton, Ontario. I wanted to see them skate, but for her, it's all about Ozzie," he said, motioning to his fiancee Heather Delange.

Delange blushed and said if Osgood weren't already married, Duce would be out of luck.

Marty Miklos, of Ann Arbor, stood on the balls of his feet while leaning against the back wall at the top of the stands.

"I'm sneaking up a little bit higher," he said, as he craned his neck in time to see recently drafted goaltender Petr Mrazek block a shot.

Miklos plays goalie in a men's hockey league in Ann Arbor and his father, Steve Miklos, of Leland, landed him tickets for the Red Wings training camp.

"I could learn a thing or two from these guys," Marty Miklos said.

The father-son duo predict the Red Wings handily will return to the playoffs this season.

"They're always contenders. I think they'll make it to the Stanley Cup finals at minimum," Marty Miklos said.

"I think we're right there together on that. We share a lot of Wings philosophy," Steve Miklos said.

Dakota Hughes-Johnston, 14, of Traverse City, stood on the top bleacher in the newly constructed mezzanine area, filming the players on his iPhone. His favorite player is Pavel Datsyuk, he said.

"The first hockey stick I ever got was one of his. I think he's an amazing stick-handler and great at deking," he said.

Dakota said seeing the Red Wings on the ice in Traverse City is amazing.

"One day you're watching them on TV and then the next day you're right here, 100 feet from them. It's better than HD," he said.

The merchandise store upstairs had a constant stream of fans who snapped up clothing and memorabilia, all donning the well-known Red Wings logo.

"I don't know, it's a tough one," said George Pettit, as he tried on two Red Wings hats while looking in a mirror. "The white one probably will get dirty, so I'll probably go with the red and gray one."

Pettit, of Saginaw, said he refused to leave the training camp without a great souvenir.

Outside in the parking lot, Chris Bronson clutched a red binder full of high-quality photographs of virtually every member of the Red Wings team, all kept in alphabetical order. He waited in the cordoned off area for any players to come along and offer an autograph.

"I've waited for the hockey season all summer. I'm a die-hard hockey fan," Bronson said.

On the other side of the building, Larry Dabrowski could be found hanging around the media entrance, hoping for a glimpse of the players. He shuffled through hockey trading cards, including some printed in Swedish.

"I want to try to get some autographs. They're all so friendly," he said.

Dabrowski didn't have any tickets for Saturday, but today will be inside the arena mingling with another sold-out crowd.