The smell of the rubber mats and the feel of the wood seat are ingrained in Ryan Getzlaf. He’s spent so much time in two specific areas of Joe Louis Arena he didn’t need the question to be completed before he started to answer.
What will he not miss about the place?
“The dressing room. The bench,” Getzlaf said. “The accommodations aren’t exactly what we call NHL standards these days.”
But Getzlaf and the Ducks have respect for the site of so much of the franchise’s memorable moments, good and bad, as they make their final regular-season appearance Saturday at the Detroit Red Wings’ home venue since 1979.