Well, its official, the NHL will be playing outdoors again, this time in frosty Buffalo where the Sabres will play the Pittsburgh Penguins on New Years. Tickets go on sale tomorrow morning at 10am and I think I will buy a pair. I'm not so sure I want to freeze my ass off, but I think it will be worth it. It isn't every day that NHL teams play outside. For those who want to stay warm, NBC will be broadcasting it and it should get lousy ratings up against the college football bowl games that are traditionally held on New Years. Typical.
In the promotional materials released by the league, they listed the occasions that they have ... and while the Rangers playing the town's team in Mystery, Alaska wasn't included, their exhibition game against the L.A. Kings in Las Vegas of all places was. Now I had no idea thaty they did that, it happened back in 1991. The New York Times tried to charge money for the article so I only have the lead to share:
"Sure Wayne Gretzky scored a goal, and for that matter the Los Angeles Kings beat the Rangers, 5-2, before a sellout crowd of more than 13,000 spectators, but for all the hockey derring-do Friday night, the exhibition game seemed more an engineering feat than an athletic achievement."
Anyone have more info? Feel free to drop it in the comments.
And just for the curious, the other recent outdoor hockey games (not necessarily NHL) were:
Red Square
Moscow, Russia
December 9, 2006
Team World vs. Russia
Attendance: 2,000
NHL Heritage ClassicEdmonton, Alberta
November 22, 2003
Montreal Canadiens vs. Edmonton Oilers
Attendance: 57,167
Frozen Tundra ClassicGreen Bay, Wisconsin
February 11, 2006
Ohio State vs. Wisconsin
Attendance: 40,890
East Lansing, Michigan
October 6, 2001
Michigan vs. Michigan State
Attendance: 74,554
NHL Pre-Season Exhibition
Las Vegas, Nevada
September 28, 1991
New York Rangers vs. Los Angeles Kings
Attendance: 13,000
1 comment:
Apparently this thing in Buffalo is going to be a hit.
According to CanWest news service:
About 41,000 tickets were sold in less than 30 minutes today, the first day tickets were available for the outdoor National Hockey League game, scheduled for Jan. 1 at Buffalo’s Ralph Wilson Stadium.
The remaining seats - about 30,000 - for the game between the Buffalo Sabres and the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins, are being held for Sabres season-ticket holders, the NHL office, Buffalo and Pittsburgh players and club seat holders for the Buffalo Bills (National Football League).
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