Peter Karmanos, the President of
Compuware and owner of the
Detroit Whalers, 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 and
The Palace of Auburn Hills. 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 in 1997–98. The complex features two arenas. The main arena, where the Whalers played their home games, has a standard NHL-size rink and has seating for roughly 4,000 people. The second features an Olympic-size ice surface, and 800 seats on only one side of the ice. 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. The arena was home to the now defunct
Detroit Ignition, a
Major Indoor Soccer League /
XSL team, as well as the Compuware Ambassadors minor hockey program. Previously, the arena hosted the now defunct
Detroit Rockers of the
National Professional Soccer League during its last season in 2000-2001. On March 17, 2006,
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling held its first Detroit-area house show at the arena which was promoted and booked by the Detroit-based
hip hop duo, the
Insane Clown Posse. On October 22, 2006, TNA would return to host its
Bound for Glory 2006 pay-per-view at the arena. The show was the first monthly pay-per-view event that TNA had held outside of
Universal Studios in
Orlando, Florida. The arena also hosts the annual
MHSAA high school state championships for boys ice hockey, and hosts the commencement ceremonies for
Adlai E. Stevenson High School,
Northville High School, as well as for other high schools. In November 2014, it was reported that
USA Hockey 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. In April 2017, USA Hockey Arena hosted the
2017 IIHF Women's World Championship. ==Notable music performances==