Booth’s big return to the Joe
By Michael Caples –
DETROIT – It certainly wasn’t his first time at Joe Louis Arena. However, it had been a while since David Booth skated on Hockeytown’s ice.
The 27-year-old native of Detroit had played in every NHL city but Detroit, before Thursday night. Each time his former team, the Florida Panthers, played at the Joe, Booth missed the contest due to an injury.
But now, he can finally say he played in the NHL rink he grew up at.
Booth’s new team, the Vancouver Canucks, played spoiler to the Red Wings’ home win streak, posting a 4-3 shootout win Thursday night.
“It’s something I’ve been looking forward to for a while,” Booth said. “I’m glad we got the win – I think that’s the most important part – but just playing in the town that I grew up in, it’s pretty special.”
Like any Michigan-born NHL player, Booth had plenty of fans and family dispersed in the Joe Louis Arena crowd Thursday night. One of his family members, however, stood out a little bit more than usual.
A man dressed in one of the ‘green man’ outfits was rumored to be Booth’s brother, which was confirmed after the game.
“Yeah, he’s used that thing a few times,” Booth said with a smile. “He enjoyed it last year in the playoffs when some guy did it, so yeah, he’s a goofy guy.”
Booth said that there weren’t any extra distractions for his first game in his hometown, however.
“When you’re a pro, you kind of expect those things, and you get it in almost every city, having people come to your games,” Booth said. “I’m kind of used to it, but it was cool having everyone there.”
The former Spartan also had some familiar faces attacking him on the ice, as he played against Drew Miller and Justin Abdelkader. Booth and Miller were teammates in youth hockey, and the trio all played in East Lansing together. Abdelkader had the most points of the former Spartans in the game, recording a goal and an assist.
“Yeah, it’s fun playing [them],” Booth said. “Those guys have got to be excited to be playing in Detroit, after going to Michigan State. They’re good buddies, and they’re well deserving of being here, and a big part of their team’s success.”
As far as the game goes, Booth skated for 17:01 in his JLA debut, and found the scoresheet by picking up a penalty for holding late in the first period. He was +1 on the night, with three shots, one giveaway, and one blocked shot. Booth had his chances to score, however.
With less than two minutes to go in regulation, and his team down by a goal, Booth showed off his speed, splitting the Red Wings’ defensemen to earn a small breakaway on Jimmy Howard. Booth tried to deke to the forehand, but couldn’t lift the shot over Howard’s sprawling leg pad. Fortunately for Booth, teammate Daniel Sedin would tie the game with 15 seconds left in overtime on a blast from just inside the blue line.
“Just try to get the puck on net,” Booth said about his thoughts on the play. “I’ve got to lift that. It’s just going so fast, trying to beat their D and protect the puck. It would have been nice to get, but Danny responded well there with 15 seconds left.”
Booth said that it was a fun game to be a part of Thursday night. With the shootout win, the Canucks move within one point of the Wings for the top spot in the Western Conference.
“I think the reason these teams are at the top of the league is because they play like that every night,” Booth said. “That’s a hard-fought game, it was well played by both teams, an exciting atmosphere, and I think a great hockey game.”