I am very much looking forward to this venue. Hockey has little to do with my excitement for this project. Though I do enjoy hockey, I only go to 4 or 5 games a season, mostly for a good reason to get downtown for some fun. What will be really exciting is seeing who Tom Wilson can get to book in a brand new state of the art arena. He has already ripped away more than half of the concert tours that used to go to the palace and put them in the Joe, impressive considering that the Joe is a dump of a place to see a concert. I go to at least 20 concerts a year with a least half a dozen of them out of state and unlike ball games and hockey a whole lot of the concert goers are from a much larger geographic pull. I know this because more often than not I stay in sold out hotels where the elevators are cramed full of people going to the show, been to the show and the same in the restaurants and bars. This new venue is without a doubt going to bring more people in Detroit for concerts, final fours, big ten tourneys and other events that gives the city a opportunity to change its reputation to a wider group people who will be able to say " I was in Detroit to see [[ insert whomever) and we had a great time!" The location and quality of the venue has a lot to do with who you can book in it. I have little doubt that this arena is going to only improve Detroits reputation with a wider audience and throw some cold cash in the hotels, restaurants and bars making Detroit more attractive as a downtown destination or as a place to live.