Robbie Thomas
Seeing the Michigan Shadow for the First Time
One thing I never addressed was the end of the Motor City Rockers, or perhaps their going dormant for now. I did attend quite a few Rockers games in the 2024-25 season, including their last home game for the season. Another team that went down was the Dashers Hockey, an incarnation of the Danville Dashers that played previously in the FPHL. According to Wikipedia, the Dashers played in the CHL back in the 80s. The Rockers didn’t reach 10 wins in the 2024-25 season and some of the best players took off, such as star player Scott Coash. Coach Gordie Brown took off too.
I’m not so interested in explaining more of the Rockers issues this year (2025), you can find many places that’ll explain that. Here is their statement for leaving Big Boy Arena.
The Rockers’ replacement is now the Michigan Shadow in the MIHL (Michigan Independence Hockey League). The team had former Rockers Jamie Milam, Adam Kuhn, Cody Oakes, Ryan Rotondi, Bryn Sommerfelt, and Zack Zulkanycz. I was somewhat disappointed that my personal favorite Rocker, John Juliano, wasn’t present in this game. I guess he had something to do. Also included was former Port Huron Prowler Gino Mini, who had fought Rockers players during games against the Prowlers. I have been looking at previous box scores, and it seems the Shadow are dominating the MIHL. And I saw that against the Alpena 45ers.
The final score was 17-1. I had a feeling that the 45ers would score a goal or two. Even when the game was 6-0 by the first period, I had an eerie feeling that the Shadow wouldn’t escape with a shutout.
The attendance was quite poor there; I would guess only 200 people attended. The bar didn’t offer the Rockers shots, bummer. I tried Maker’s Mark 45, that shot cost $10, God Damn!! My ADHD cheapass doen fucked up there! #56 Jack Vautour of the Alpena 45ers was smiling and having a good time, even though the opposing team was dominating. He scored the loan goal for the 45ers.
Also, the shop mainly had jerseys. I’ll probably get one of those the next time I go to a Shadow game, provided that things don’t go awry. There have been quite a few times when Big Boy Arena, and the previous names for this barn here, had teams go down mid-season. The AAHL’s Detroit Dragons is a good example. At work, they told me we’ll be busy come January. And I might have to catch a Sunday game to see the Shadow. Also, I would like to try to see the Shadow play an away game against the Waterford Sharks. Waterford isn’t so far from me, nice small road trip!
More photos!
