There are some things many 30-somethings hold onto dear from their childhood. Perhaps it’s animated Disney movies and classics, such as The Lion King and watching Ariel in The Little Mermaid find her legs. Maybe it’s the Nintendo 64, where young elementary school children play hours of Pokemon Stadium and Super Smash Bros. But for me, it was mainly dominated by the Detroit Red Wings (with a mixture of Disney and Nintendo.)

Back during the 1990s and 2000s, Detroit was the ruling class of the NHL. They won four Stanley Cups during both decades and made six Stanley Cup Final appearances. Granted, the NHL was a vastly different league, where untethered spending and grabbing big names by the dozen was the norm. However, nobody did this better than Mike Ilitch.

Ilitch wasn’t afraid to sign the big names, including Dominik Hasek, Brett Hull, and Luc Robitaille. Combined with homegrown talents such as Steve Yzerman, Nicklas Lidstrom, and Sergei Federov, Hockeytown was a house of horrors for any incoming team. In turn, it made Detroit an unstoppable force in hockey. That’s something that Kelly McCrimmon and the Vegas Golden Knights are hoping to achieve with their current regime.

So what makes the March 16 matchup between these two teams at Little Caesar’s Arena personally special? It’s more than a simple trip down nostalgia lane. It’s about getting started as a hockey fan, where you learn the game from one of the more cultured NHL fanbases. It means more than hockey. It also means memories with family and friends, looking at the past and present with fondness.

What the March 16 matchup between the Vegas Golden Knights and Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesar’s Arena means personally

Growing up, my family and friends would walk to Joe Louis Arena to watch the Detroit Red Wings play. We would walk through a gigantic tunnel after parking towards the Joe. Sometimes, it would be up the stairs and through the arena doors as Red Wings hockey awaited us. It was a great time for bonding and creating countless memories, whether it was against the Philadelphia Flyers or the St. Louis Blues. The fans might’ve been drunk and rowdy. But they were entertaining and rooting for the same team. Therefore, they were the good guys.

Granted, the Joe Louis Arena aged as well as Nick Wright and his hot takes, looking like a concrete jungle in the later years. However, it was our concrete jungle. It carried a blue-collar charm that matched Detroit’s grit and hardworking mentality. In essence, T-Mobile Arena and the Vegas Golden Knights do the same thing for Las Vegas, showcasing why it’s the entertainment capital of the world. The pregame shows and spectacle define Golden Knights hockey, bringing pizzazz and immaculate presentation to hockey.

On March 16 at Little Caesar’s Arena, it’ll be a personal episode of the past meeting the present. It’ll be the team I love and adore now facing off against a team I’ve rooted for since my childhood. Many Golden Knights fans were interested in the NHL long before the team even came to Las Vegas, myself included.