The USA Hockey Arena is a multi-purpose

arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...

Plymouth Township, Michigan Plymouth Township, officially the Charter Township of Plymouth, is a charter township in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 27,524 at the 2010 census. The city of Plymouth is surrounded by the township but is administ ...

, opened in 1996. Originally known as the Compuware Sports Arena, its name was shortened to Compuware Arena on September 11, 2007, to better market the venue for non-sporting events it hosted. It was renamed again to USA Hockey Arena in 2015 when the USA Hockey Foundation purchased the arena.

History

Peter Karmanos Peter Karmanos Jr. (born March 11, 1943) is an American businessman who was most recently the minority owner and alternate governor of the Carolina Hurricanes franchise until June 30, 2021. He served as their principal owner from 1994 (when the Hu ...

, the President of

Compuware Compuware Corporation was an American software company based in Detroit, Michigan. The company offers products aimed at the information technology (IT) departments of large businesses, and its services also include testing, development, automation ...

and owner of the

Detroit Whalers The Detroit Whalers were a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League for two seasons from 1995 to 1997. The Whalers were based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. History The creation of the Detroit Whalers resulted after a failed takeover bi ...

, arranged to build the Whalers a new home as soon as the 1995–96 season ended after playing that season at

Oak Park Ice Arena Oak Park Ice Arena is an indoor arena located in the Detroit suburb of Oak Park, Michigan. It was built in 1971 and was a temporary home for the Detroit Whalers of the Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; french: Ligue de hoc ...

and

The Palace of Auburn Hills The Palace of Auburn Hills, commonly referred to as the Palace, was a multi-purpose arena built in 1988 and located in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It was the home of the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA), the Detroit Shoc ...

. The Compuware Sports Arena was constructed in six months time, ready for the 1996–97 season. The team remained the Detroit Whalers after moving to Plymouth Township and then were renamed the

Plymouth Whalers The Plymouth Whalers were a major junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League. They played out of Compuware Arena in Plymouth, Michigan, USA, a suburb of Detroit until 2015 when they were relocated to Flint, Michigan. History The Whalers ...

in 1997–98. The complex features two arenas: the main arena, where the Whalers played their home games, is standard NHL-size and has seating for roughly four thousand people; it also has a larger (in terms of ice area) Olympic-size ice surface, which has much more limited seating (800 seats) on only one side of the ice. The Olympic Arena is the home ice of

Detroit Catholic Central High School Detroit Catholic Central High School, commonly known as Catholic Central (CC), is a private, Catholic, all-male, college preparatory high school in Novi, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1928 in Detroit, Michigan by the Archdiocese of Detroi ...

although they occasionally play games in the main arena when strong attendance is anticipated. The two arenas share concession stands, both of which have openings for both arenas simultaneously, allowing one set of staff to serve both arenas simultaneously. Attached to the complex is "CJ's Brewing Company". The arena was home to the now defunct

Detroit Ignition The Detroit Ignition were an American indoor soccer team that has played three seasons, most recently 2008–09. In April 2006, Greg Bibb, president of Hantz Group Sports and Entertainment, introduced the teams as a new Major Indoor Soccer Leag ...

, a Major Indoor Soccer League /

XSL In computing, the term Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) is used to refer to a family of languages used to transform and render XML documents. Historically, the W3C XSL Working Group produced a draft specification under the name "XSL," which ...

team, as well as the Compuware Ambassadors minor hockey program. Previously, the arena hosted the now defunct

Detroit Rockers The Detroit Rockers were an indoor soccer team in the National Professional Soccer League from 1990 to 2001. They played in Joe Louis Arena and Cobo Arena in downtown Detroit, Michigan as well as The Palace of Auburn Hills and Compuware Sports A ...

of the National Professional Soccer League during its last season in 2000-2001 The arena also hosts the annual MHSAA high school state championships for boys ice hockey. On October 22, 2006, TNA hosted

Bound for Glory (2006) Bound for Glory (2006) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, which took place on October 22, 2006 from the Compuware Sports Arena in the Detroit suburb of Plymouth Township, Michigan. I ...

at the arena. During the summer months, the arena's parking lot is home to a drive-in movie theater that features double feature first run movies on three giant screens. It also hosts the commencement ceremonies for Adlai E. Stevenson High School,

Northville High School Northville High School is the public high school of Northville Public Schools located in Northville Charter Township, Michigan, with a Northville postal address. Within Wayne County the school serves most of Northville Township and the county's ...

, as well as for other high schools. In November 2014, it was reported that

USA Hockey USA Hockey is the national ice hockey organization in the United States. It is recognized by the International Olympic Committee and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee as the Sport governing body, governing body for organized ice ...

had reached an agreement to eventually take over Compuware Arena by mid-2015, with an intent to relocate the National Team Development Program from Ann Arbor to Plymouth, and use the facility to "host and showcase other USA Hockey programs and international events". The Plymouth Whalers were to remain a tenant, but were ultimately sold in January 2015 and re-located to

Flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and start fir ...

. In April 2017, USA Hockey Arena hosted the

2017 IIHF Women's World Championship The 2017 IIHF Women's World Championship was an international Ice hockey tournament run by the International Ice Hockey Federation. It was held in Plymouth Township, Michigan, United States from 31 March to 7 April 2017. The USA Hockey Arena serv ...

Notable music performances

Gucci Mane Radric Delantic Davis (born February 12, 1980), known professionally as Gucci Mane, is an American rapper and record executive. He helped pioneer the hip hop subgenre of trap music alongside fellow Atlanta-based rappers T.I. and Young Jeezy, ...

, October 26, 2007 *

Journey Journey or journeying may refer to: * Travel, the movement of people between distant geographical locations ** Day's journey, a measurement of distance ** Road trip, a long-distance journey on the road Animals * Journey (horse), a thoroughbred ra ...

, November 2, 2008 *

The Crofoot The Crofoot is a mixed-use independent entertainment complex made up of 3 venues in one building (The Crofoot Ballroom, The Pike Room, The Vernors Room) in Pontiac, Michigan. The Crofoot is a busy concert venue for popular music acts, and ot ...

and

AEG Live Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft AG (AEG; ) was a German producer of electrical equipment founded in Berlin as the ''Deutsche Edison-Gesellschaft für angewandte Elektricität'' in 1883 by Emil Rathenau. During the Second World War, AEG ...

present: Girl Talk, March 3, 2011 (Sold Out) *

Five Finger Death Punch Five Finger Death Punch, also abbreviated as 5FDP or FFDP, is an American heavy metal band from Las Vegas, Nevada, formed in 2005. The band originally consisted of vocalist and keyboardist Ivan Moody, rhythm guitarist Zoltan Bathory, lead gui ...

, December 16, 2011 *

and

present:

Hollywood Undead Hollywood Undead is an American rap rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 2005. All of the band members use pseudonyms and previously wore their own unique mask, most of which were based on the common hockey goaltender design. The ...

Asking Alexandria Asking Alexandria are a British rock band from York, North Yorkshire, consisting of guitarists Ben Bruce and Cameron Liddell, drummer James Cassells, lead vocalist Danny Worsnop, and bassist Sam Bettley. Initially formed in 2006 by Ben Bruce ...

Borgore Yosef Asaf Borger ( he, יוסף אסף בורגר; born 20 October 1987), known professionally as Borgore, is an Israeli EDM producer, DJ, singer-songwriter and rapper. He is the founder of the label Buygore Records. Biography Yosef Asaf Bo ...

Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows (abbreviated as D.R.U.G.S.) formed in 2010, is an American post-hardcore band from Pontiac, Michigan, United States. They released their debut self-titled album on February 22, 2011. The band were stylized as a ...

We Came as Romans We Came as Romans (sometimes abbreviated as WCAR) is an American metalcore band from Troy, Michigan. Formed in 2005, the band has gone through one name change and multiple line-up changes, and signed to SharpTone Records in 2016 after having b ...

, November 9, 2011 *

and

present:

Pretty Lights Derek Vincent Smith (born November 25, 1981), known by his stage name Pretty Lights, is an American electronic music producer. Pretty Lights was originally a music project consisting of Smith and Michal Menert, who left after the release of their ...

TOKiMONSTA Jennifer Lee, known professionally as Tokimonsta (stylized as TOKiMONSTA), is an American record producer and DJ based in Los Angeles. She has collaborated with artists such as Anderson .Paak, Earthgang, Isaiah Rashad, Selah Sue, and ZHU. Additio ...

, Paul Basic (Sold Out) *

and

present: Passion Pit,

Matt & Kim Matt and Kim (sometimes stylized MATT and KIM) are an American indie electronic duo from Brooklyn, New York City. The group formed in 2004 and consist of Matt Johnson (vocals/keyboards) and Kim Schifino (drums). The duo is known for its upbeat d ...

Icona Pop Icona Pop ( ) is a Swedish electropop duo which formed in 2009, with electro house and indie pop music influences. Its two members, Caroline Hjelt (born 8 November 1987) and Aino Jawo (born 7 July 1986), grew up in Stockholm and create what the ...

, February 21, 2013 (Sold Out) *

and

present: High Velocity Super Action Fun Time Festival featuring:

Bring Me the Horizon Bring Me the Horizon (often abbreviated as BMTH) are a British rock band formed in Sheffield in 2004. The group consists of lead vocalist Oliver Sykes, guitarist Lee Malia, bassist Matt Kean, drummer Matt Nicholls and keyboardist Jordan Fis ...

, Of Mice & Men,

Attila Attila (, ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European traditio ...

, Issues,

Northlane Northlane are an Australian Heavy metal music, heavy metal band from Sydney, formed in 2009. The band comprises guitarists Jon Deiley and Josh Smith, drummer Nic Pettersen and vocalist Marcus Bridge. Northlane have released six studio albums: ...

, Wilson, February 21, 2014 (Sold Out)

References

External links

Official Website of USA Hockey Arena

Official Website of USA Hockey's National Team Development Program

Official Website of USA Hockey Arena Summer Drive-In

Official Website of CJ's Brewing Company- Plymouth

Official Website of Compuware Youth Hockey {{USHL Arenas Sports venues completed in 1996 College ice hockey venues in the United States Indoor ice hockey venues in Michigan Indoor soccer venues in Michigan Ontario Hockey League arenas Wayne State Warriors men's ice hockey Sports venues in Wayne County, Michigan Sports in Plymouth Township, Michigan 1996 establishments in Michigan