St. Louis Blues forward Robert Thomas was happy to see the excitement build, even from the moment the team’s plane landed.

“It’s good,” Thomas said. “From the moment we landed, you saw people waiting on the side of the streets honking their horns and on the red carpet everyone’s there and just seemed like there’s a buzz around the city you know all day. (It) is exciting that we can bring that to a city like this and that was really fun for all of us.”

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman was making his first trip to the U.P. as part of the festivities, and he was as impressed as the players.

“It’s beautiful,” he said. “When I got off the plane, the air smelled fresh and clear. You just see the amazing landscape. This is a place I want to come back to.”

For other players, seeing the town come together to participate made all the difference.

“It’s a really neat experience,” said Blues winger Robbie Fabbri. “Growing up, you always watching the different cities and how excited the community gets. This is a big hockey town, so it’s really cool experience and you just see the whole town come together around this event, and it went really well. It was a lot of fun to play in.”

His coach, Craig Berube agreed, even though the Blues ultimately lost the game.

“It’s a good thing,” Berube said. “It’s a great little town and a great old rink. (We are) happy to be part of something like this. Our players are excited. They didn’t get the win, but there’s a lot of good stuff.”

For Blues forward Oscar Sundqvist, it was a chance to see a town similar to some from his country of origin, Sweden.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman poses for a photo before a Kraft Hockeyville preseason NHL game on Thursday, Sept. 26, 2019, at the Calumet Colosseum, in Calumet, Mich. (Adam Niemi/The Daily Mining Gazette)

“It is kind of similar, especially from somewhere in the north,” Sundqvist said. “It’s cool to be able to come out here and do something like this. It is an awesome experience.”

Bettman commented on just how rare an event like this can be.

“When we can take our players and our game to a community like this, it generates an incredible level of excitement,” he said. “It creates a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. What we leave behind is a renovated rink. So we’re thrilled to be working with Kraft to do this. And we love the reception that gets when we go to a community like this.”

Detroit Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill, who is from Sault Ste. Marie originally, loved getting back to the Colosseum, a rink he played in as a youth. He was also just happy to get back to the Upper Peninsula, something that is not easy to do during the grind of the NHL season.

“I love the U.P.,” Blashill said. “It was an unbelievable place to grow up.”

He joked before the game that he has fond memories of winning at the Colosseum before admitting his memory might not be as good as he thought it was. Despite that, he discussed what makes the U.P. special to him after talking about the rivalry between the eastern and western sides of the peninsula.

“It was great to be back,” he said. “These are the type of people I like to be around, salt of the earth, great people.”

For Red Wings winger Anthony Mantha, despite how long the day got, he felt it was important to be a part of the festivities.

“It was fun,” Mantha said. “Obviously it’s a long day, but it was lots of fun. The kids probably enjoyed it, so that’s that’s the main thing. Like I said, we had a blast coming here. (It’s a) nice rink actually, for 106 years old, so I can’t complain about that one.”

Mantha and the rest of the Red Wings loved having a packed house for the morning skate.

“It feels good to have you know they were cheering for us, so we wanted to give them a good show, and I think that’s exactly what we did,” he said.

Twenty-year-old Red Wings center Michael Rasmussen agreed.

“Yeah, it was cool,” Rasmussen said. “Even in practice this morning was an awesome crowd and just really cool atmosphere and awesome. It was a really cool venue and we all enjoyed it.”