Hockey has been played out on a frozen lake, a frozen pond or a frozen river for as long as we can remember. There have been a few huge outdoor games in the NHL and NCAA. The first ever outdoor game in the NHL was September 28th, 1991. The Los Angeles Kings and the New York Rangers played in one of the countries most popular tourist cities. Los Vegas, Nevada. They played right outside of the famous Caesars Palace on the strip. “You probably get asked this alot, but is this the original Caesars Palace?” Yeah guys, the real Caesars Palace. What a place for a hockey game. The Cold War October 6th 2001, a game that will inspire the first ever Heritage Classic took place in East Lansing, Michigan. The Michigan State Spartans took on the Michigan Wolverines. The game set the world record for the largest crowd at an ice hockey game with 74,544, which was recently broken by in the 2010 IIHF World Championship between the USA and Germany. This historic game was played at the Spartan Stadium, the home of MSU's Football team. Two, 300 peice marching bands representing both teams helped fill the stadium. The game was hosted by FSN Detroit, and was televised nationally. This game became to be known as The Cold War. The game ended in a 3-3 tie. [video=youtube;9qT3Aygpbgs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qT3Aygpbgs[/video] 2003 Heritage Classic The first big outdoor game in the NHL was the Heritage Classic. The Edmonton Oilers hosted the Montreal Canadians in 2003. Edmonton, Alberta, Canada was host to the first regular season game. Yes, I put regular in bold for a reason. Montreal won 4-3. Commonwealth Stadium packed in 57,167 eager fans to watch an outdoor hockey game, at night. [video=youtube;8PSgvJdzZw8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PSgvJdzZw8&feature=youtube_gdata[/video] The Ice Bowl The Ice Bowl was first ever Winter Classic, officially named the AMP Energy NHL Winter Classic. The game was held on January 1st. There were some rule changes to make weather conditions fair. Teams switched ends halfway through the 3rd period after a Zamboni resurfaced the ice. The overtime period was also split up. Two 2:30 second segments were played. Overtime didn't end the game either, a shootout was played, and goalies defended the net at the west side of the rink. The Penguins won a shootout scoring twice in the shootout compared to the Sabres one score. Who has the game winning shot? Sidney Crosby, obviously. Penguins wore their vintage blue sweaters from the 1970-1971 season, and the Sabres wore their white sweaters from the 1970-1971 season. The Penguins went on to lose the Stanley Cup. [video=youtube;7L1bE8y4no8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7L1bE8y4no8&feature=youtube_gdata[/video] 2009 NHL Winter Classic The first ever NHL Hockey game to be played in baseball stadium was in Chicago, Illinois at the Cub's Wrigley Field. The Bear's Soldier Field was the be the host stadium of the game, but the Bears organization said that they could not use it. Wrigley Field was chosen over Old Yankees stadium. The Blackhawks took on Hockey Towns Red Wings. The trend of the away team winning the game continued, the Red Wings won 6-4, still a day I will remember. The Blackhawks wore their current alternative jersey, while the Red Wings wore jersey's from 1926-1927. The Red Wings went on to lose the Stanley Cup. [video=youtube;5VydCkK5o3c]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VydCkK5o3c&feature=youtube_gdata[/video] 2010 NHL Winter Classic The 2010 NHL Winter Classic was played in Boston at Fenway Park between the Boston Bruins and the Philadelphia Flyers. Everyone knew there would be a fight in this game and it happened. Shawn Thornton and Daniel Carcillo went at it. The Flyers were winning the game untill the Bruins scored in the 3rd period and put the winning goal in during OT. Here is a full video of the game. Check it out, its a good watch. Previously, the winner of the Winter Classic went to the Stanley Cup Final to lose it all. Not this time, the Flyers went to the Stanley Cup Finals, who battled against the Blackhawks but came up short. [video=youtube;Hvlvp0z-gZc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hvlvp0z gZc&feature=youtube_gdata[/video] A year to remember 2011 will be host of two outdoor hockey games. The Washington Capitals lead by Alex the Great, will attempt to beat Sid the Kid in Heinz Field in Pittsburgh. This will be the Penguins second outdoor hockey game. New Years Day should be a great one! But thats not it, later on in the year February 20th 2011 the Calgary Flames will be host to the Montreal Canadiens in the 2011 Heritage Classic. The Canadiens hope to win the second Heritage Classic after they won the first. The game will be held at McMahon Stadium in Calgary, Alberta.
That is pretty awesome. I would imagine the atmosphere would be very different if the sport was played outside. Wouldn't the sound of the crowd be quieter though?
Not necessarily. What I heard from the Hawks/Wings game in Wrigley, that stadium was loud as hell. I would imagine the puck would be hard to see in certain parts of the stadiums though. But none the less, its pretty cool.
http://www.michigandaily.com/content/big-chill-big-house-outdoor-game-set-next-december Dec. 11th, Big Chill at the Big House.
What was that game in Mystery, Alaska? Or was it just a movie? :S If that was a real match, that's my favorite.
No I didn't. Im a Spartan fan myself... This feels weird, me and Big Frame have the same favorite team for college... o-o
