The experience stands to be cool, especially for the "Pure Michigan" contingent of the Detroit Red Wings.

Crammed into their nine-game exhibition slate is Thursday’s visit to Calumet, a village in the Upper Peninsula that’s home to one of the oldest continuous-use indoor ice rinks in the world. Built in 1913, the barrel-roofed Calumet Colosseum seats 700, making for an intimate setting that’ll take players back to their younger days.

“It’ll take you back to your minor days and it’ll be fun,” Detroit native Danny DeKeyser said. “I’m looking forward to it. It’s going to be neat.”

The Wings are expected to bring a lineup fairly heavy with NHL regulars to the game (7 p.m., NBCSN) against the defending Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues. The game was awarded in April when Calumet was designated the most spirited hockey community in the U.S. for 2019 after amassing the most votes in the online Kraft Hockeyville contest. The contest prize includes $150,000 in rink upgrades and $10,000 in equipment from the NHLPA Goals & Dreams program.

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Dylan Larkin, of Waterford, is slated to make his northernmost appearance in the U.P., though it's not his first. As a member of the Michigan Wolverines, he travelled to Houghton to face Michigan Tech while playing for the Wolverines in 2014.

“It’s going to be a cool experience,” Larkin said. “I know the people up there are fired up. They’re big hockey fans in the Upper Peninsula and it’s cool that the Red Wings are part of it and the state of Michigan. I’m proud to be from Michigan and there’s a lot of people that are proud to be from Michigan, so I’m excited to go up and share NHL hockey with them.”

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Fellow Michiganders Luke Glendening (Grand Rapids) and Justin Abdelkader (Muskegon) were part of the group slated to play Wednesday at Pittsburgh, but coach Jeff Blashill hinted one player or more could play in both games.

The event is a sort-of homecoming for Blashill, who was born in Detroit but grew up in Sault Ste. Marie.

“I grew up in the U.P., albeit five hours away on the better side of the U.P., but nonetheless I played youth hockey in this arena a long time ago,” Blashill said. “I think it’s awesome. It’s a great, great opportunity. I have some friends that I grew up playing with that live in the Calumet area, or Marquette, and they are going to come up with their kids. It’ll be a fun thing. It’s great for the U.P., it’s great for Calumet. It will be a super amount of fun.”

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Thursday’s game group is scheduled to depart Detroit around 8:15 a.m., a departure from other exhibition games that involve travel — though, naturally, the Wings are considered the “home” team in Calumet. Usually, the game group skates in the morning at Little Caesars Arena and travels to its destination in the afternoon, going straight from the airport to the arena. Thursday, the Wings will have a morning skate at the Calumet Colosseum and spend time in the community.

“You want to enjoy the experience,” Larkin said. “They don’t see much NHL hockey live so it’s going to be cool for them, a lot of people are excited. And we have a game to play against a great team so we’re going to have to be ready to play.”

Goaltender Calvin Pickard, signed in July to mentor Filip Larsson in Grand Rapids and to serve in Detroit if needed, isn't from Michigan but he has reason to be excited, too: He's earmarked to play his first full game. Larsson is expected to back him up.

“To get into a full game before the season starts and to go to a small town that lives for hockey and to play in a small building is going to be pretty neat,” Pickard said. “It’ll be like the minor hockey days, playing in a small rink with a fully packed little barn.”

The Wings host their last exhibition game Friday against the Toronto Maple Leafs and finish on the road Saturday at Toronto. The Wings open the 2019-20 season Oct. 5 in Nashville and host the Dallas Stars on Oct. 6.

Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter.