Notes: Anaheim Ducks say goodbye to Joe Louis Arena

DETROIT - For several of the Anaheim Ducks, tonight will be a special game as it's their last one at Joe Louis Arena.
Ryan Kesler was born in Livonia, Mich. and Cam Fowler was born in Windsor, Ontario, but grew up in Farmington Hills, Mich.

"It's special," Fowler said after the Ducks' morning skate Saturday. "I always enjoy coming here and playing. I have lots of friends and family that will be there tonight. This is where I played my first NHL game, too, so I have a lot of fond memories here. Obviously watching the Wings growing up as a kid and now getting to play on this ice, it is always special to me. It's kind of sad that it's coming to an end but try and cherish it one last time and enjoy it while I can."
This will be Fowler's sixth NHL game at Joe Louis Arena, not nearly as many as the 17 that Kesler has played here with the Ducks and Vancouver Canucks.
"Spent a lot of time playing there," Kesler told the Orange County Register's Eric Stephens. "It's going to be special. Obviously just to have a chance to play there in my career and play in it a lot, it's going to be extra special to play there for a final time."
In those 17 games, Kesler has six goals, seven assists and is plus-5.
Other Ducks with long memories of Joe Louis Arena are Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf, who have each played in 18 career games here.
"The history is the biggest thing," Getzlaf said. "You talk about a building that's been around as long as it has, been through a lot of championships, those kind of things. For us personally, we've been through these guys in the playoffs a few times so that's a big thing for our organization."
Perry has five goals, four assists and is plus-4 at the Joe, while Getzlaf has seven goals, eight assists and is minus-2.
Ducks coach Randy Carlyle remembers not only Joe Louis Arena, but also Olympia Stadium.
"I'm going to show my age because I can remember starting way back early in my career playing in the old building that was quite, I guess, an archaic building, the old Olympia, then coming to this brand new building and it was state-of-the-art at that time," Carlyle said. "It was quite a change. This was kind of the building that started the construction of new buildings and new places for hockey clubs to play. This is a building that has had a lot of success, there's been a lot of good hockey players and great hockey games that have been played in here.
"We played in a couple memorable series in '07 and '08 against the Wings. We won one series and we lost one. We lost a Game 7 in here. So those are the ones that are most vivid. It's a special place. It's tough to see these buildings go by the wayside but that's progression in sports. It's great to see that downtown Detroit has been revitalized by a bunch of new buildings, Ford Field, the football stadium for the Lions, you see Comerica Park for the Tigers. Now there's a new building for the Red Wings. A storied franchise and a storied building, it's always sad to see those things go by the wayside but you're always moving forward."
VANEK GOOD TO GO: Thomas Vanek was one of only 10 players, including goaltenders Petr Mrazek and Jimmy Howard, to take the ice for the optional skate Saturday morning.
Vanek did not practice Friday.
"I wanted to skate yesterday, they recommended to stay off," Vanek said. "No big issue at all."
LAST GAME ON HOME STAND: The Wings' game against the Ducks is their last one on the home stand.
So far they are 0-3-1 and have scored just three goals in that span.
"I think at times when you get frustrated 'cause you're not scoring, all of a sudden maybe you start to open it up a little more, then you give up more chances," Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. "That's not a formula for success. If you look around the league, the teams that give up less chances are generally the ones that have success. So we got to make sure that we're playing from the correct side of the puck, which means the defensive side of the puck. I think that's where your offense comes from is creating turnovers in transition. Other than that, we just got to dig deep and find a way to get two points against a real good team."
Vanek said the Wings have to get back to what they were doing in the wins at the New York Islanders and at the Winnipeg Jets.
"Before we came home I thought we played good hockey and then a couple tough losses," Vanek said. "I thought after that as a group - it's not that we don't want to play harder, I think we just kind of sat back and wanted it too much. When you want it too much you forget to do the little things like forecheck and get pucks back. You kind of wait and hope for a turnover and get two-on-ones. My message and coaches and everyone's message is just to stick with the game plan, play simple. We're a fast team. We can forecheck and create those turnovers and get our chances like we have been, but the last two obviously wasn't good enough."
Danny DeKeyser said it's more of a mindset than anything.
"Just mentality, when we walk into the rink just knowing that you're going to get a win," DeKeyser said. "That's the biggest thing. If everyone comes in here and says, 'We're going to come out here and play hard and get this thing done and just have a mentality that you're not going to let anybody stop that, that's the biggest thing."
BERTUZZI UPDATE: Tyler Bertuzzi, who has missed the last nine games with a sprained ankle, is steadily improving.
Bertuzzi was injured when he was hit by Montreal's Alexei Emelin in the second period of the Nov. 26 game. "I feel good," Bertuzzi said. "Done a couple skates and just easing back into it."
Now that he is skating with strength and conditioning coach Mike Kadar, Bertuzzi will join the team on the road to continue that and his treatment.
Bertuzzi also has to contend with the challenge of maintaining his conditioning.
"Obviously that's a big part of coming back after missing a month," Bertuzzi said. "I just got to work hard every day in the gym and it's going to slowly come back. You just got to keep working at it every day."
Bertuzzi hopes to skate with the team soon, at the latest after the Christmas break.