Shaved Ice – June 20

What a wild last few days…

Since the last time we wrote a Shaved Ice blog, the Griffins won the first pro hockey championship for the City of Grand Rapids and the Red Wings officially announced their plans for a new arena. Oh yeah, and the Meijer State Games are starting today. Crazy times for a hockey publication in Michigan…

First up, let’s give the Griffins their due. We’ve got two photos below that will take you to two different articles. Check out the captions beneath for more details.

The Griffins captured the Calder Cup, and we were in Syracuse to cover the historic night for Grand Rapids. (Photo by Matt Gajtka/MiHockey)

 

Four Michigan natives played huge roles in the Griffins' title. Click the image to read more about them. (Photo by Jennifer Leigh/MiHockey)

 

And now, let’s get to the Red Wings’ news. In a wild few hours, plans for a new arena and entertainment district were revealed and then approved by Detroit’s Downtown Development Authority.  Then the Red Wings released more information about the project, which we summarized for you right here.

Long story short, the Wings are incredibly close to breaking ground on a new arena that will put them near the Detroit Tigers and Detroit Lions, at I-75 and Woodward Ave. Having all three of the teams in one location will be incredible for the City of Detroit – I can’t wait to see what downtown will be like when at least two of the teams are playing at the same time.

Check out this article on the Meijer State Games – some of the best players in the state are currently gearing up for a big weekend of hockey out in Grand Rapids.

The MWJHL announced that they will have eight teams competing in the league next year, with seven of them calling Michigan home. Check out this link for more info on the AAU-sanctioned junior league.

The Kalamazoo K-Wings have announced their 2013-14 schedule – check it out here.

And the same management team that runs the Michigan Warriors will be taking over the Flint Junior Generals for the upcoming season, as well. Firland Management LLC also oversees Perani Arena in Flint.

Check out WOOD TV 8’s footage from last night’s celebration at Van Andel Arena.

In a familiar scene for Red Wings fans, Brent Seabrook scored a huge OT goal for the Blackhawks last night. It didn’t win the series for Chicago, but it tied it up. That means the Stanley Cup Final is now a best-of-three series, with Game 5 taking place at the Madhouse on Madison Saturday night.

The World Juniors will be taking place (kind of) close to home. It was announced today that Toronto and Montreal will co-host the prestigious tournament in 2015 and 2017. The medal round will take place in Toronto in 2015, and then in Montreal for 2017. We’re already looking at hotel rooms…

The Flyers are buying out the rest of Danny Briere’s contract, which will make the skilled forward a free agent. More buyout talks can be read about right here.

Flames goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff is leaning towards retirement.

The Sharks have re-signed Raffi Torres. Not completely sure why though…

And the Sabres have re-signed Ryan Miller’s back-up, Jhonas Enroth, to a two-year deal.

Another HNIC intro video? Why not.

What do we do tonight?