Outdoor ECAC Hockey Game

Spartan Stadium at Michigan State

It was announced last week that Progressive Field in Cleveland, Ohio (home of the MLB's Cleveland Indians) will be hosting an outdoor hockey game between the Michigan Wolverines and the Ohio State Buckeyes. Also, on Friday at 2pm, Frozen Fenway 2012 will be announced where New Hampshire will play Maine, and UMass will play Vermont at Fenway Park on January 7, 2012.

This got me thinking about other outdoor college hockey games. I looked it up on Wikipedia and found that there have been seven outdoor men's college hockey games since the famous Cold War game at Spartan Stadium between Michigan State and Michigan in 2001. There have been outdoor games between CCHA teams (Cold War, Big Chill at the Big House), WCHA teams (Frozen Tundra Classic, Camp Randall Hockey Classic), Hockey East teams (Frozen Fenway), and even Atlantic Hockey teams (Whalers Hockey Fest in February 2011). This means that the only college hockey conference to never play in an outdoor game is the ECAC.

While the ECAC doesn't have huge schools with huge followings like Michigan, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Ohio State, Boston College, and Boston University, the conference does have schools with very good followings. If Atlantic Hockey can have an outdoor game, why can't we have one?

When you have an outdoor hockey game you need two things: the correct teams, and correct venue. So, if I were to schedule an outdoor ECAC hockey game this is what I'd do:

Teams
When picking the correct teams you need to find teams with a big school and a big following. That seems to be the problem with a lot of teams in the ECAC. There are only three schools in the conference with over 8,000 students, and a lot of the teams don't have huge followings. Only one team finished in the Top 15 of NCAA Hockey average attendance rankings last season. So, what school is the obvious choice in fitting this criteria? Definitely, Cornell. The university in Ithaca, New York has over 20,000 students and was #15 in the 2010-11 average attendance rankings. Most importantly, Cornell has the most rabid following in the league. Their fans travel all over to watch the Big Red. They also field a very competitive team every year.

Cornell fans in a packed Lynah Rink

So, Cornell is by far the top choice for an outdoor game. But, who is going to play them? When looking for an opponent you either have to find another team that fits the previous description (like Cornell) or a rival team (or both). One of the first teams that come to mind that fits this criteria well is Yale. The Bulldogs drew the second most fans in the league last season and sellout Ingalls Rink pretty much every night. Yale is a big school (combined over 11,000 undergraduate and graduate students), and has been on top of ECAC hockey for the past few years.

When finding a team that fits the "rival" category, you have to go with Harvard. The Crimson are Cornell's biggest hockey rival, and the rivalry has lasted for a long time. In 2006, College Hockey News ranked the Cornell-Harvard rivalry as the fifth biggest rivalry in college hockey, and the rivalry has been written about in the New York Times. The thing is that Harvard doesn't draw too well. They drew the sixth most fans on average last season among ECAC teams, which isn't awful but not great. But, Harvard, like Cornell, has over 20,000 combined students. So, you would hope that Harvard students and alumni would be drawn to the game.

Venue
Picking the correct venue can be very difficult. You need to have the right location and a facility with the correct size. The venue needs to be in either a central location where both teams can travel to, or the stadium of one of the universities. Picking the facility can be a little tricky in this situation. You want to pick a big place, but not a place that's too big. For example, the 2010 Frozen Four took place at Ford Field (home of the NFL's Detroit Lions). The stadium fits somewhere 65,000 to 80,000 fans, and the Frozen Four drew around 35,000 fans. The place looked absolutely ridiculous half full and I doubt the NCAA will be going that route again. So, this game should not be held in an NFL stadium or MLB stadium.

Since you really can't use a pro stadium, you have to look at the stadiums of the three teams previously mentioned. Cornell's Schoellkopf Field holds about 26,000 people, Yale's Yale Bowl holds around 60,000 spectators, and Harvard's Harvard Stadium holds about 30,000 fans. To me, the Yale Bowl is out of the question. I highly doubt you can pack 60,000 people into the Yale Bowl for a college hockey game. A Yale-Quinnipiac game wouldn't draw nearly enough since Quinnipiaic's following isn't too strong. But, one thing that could be an interesting thought and to get public opinion about would be a Yale-Harvard game at the Yale Bowl since the Yale-Harvard football rivalry is one of the biggest in college football. Every year a game is played between the two teams and is referred to as "The Game." Thousands of Bulldog and Crimson fans attend the game. If the football rivalry can reciprocate to hockey, then this game is a possibility. I would first try this idea at Harvard Stadium to see what type of response the Yale and Harvard fans have to it before even thinking about having a Yale-Harvard game at the Yale Bowl.

Harvard Stadium

Cornell and Harvard's stadiums have ideal capacities to hold a game like this.  You definitely can't expect to draw over 100,000 like the Big Chill did, and even the 38,000 at Frozen Fenway is reach. But, I have no doubt that an ECAC outdoor game will draw more people than the Atlantic Hockey games, which didn't even draw 2,000 spectators.

So, how many people do I think would attend an ECAC outdoor hockey game? I'm not really sure. I'm not sure what people think. I'd hope it would draw at somewhere around 20,000 fans, but that could just be wishful thinking.  So, another idea would be to hold the game in a small venue with rival teams that are close to each other. The best fit for this would definitely be a game between RPI and Union at RPI's new football stadium in their East Campus Athletic Village, which holds 5,200 people. The RPI-Union rivalry has been the fiercest in the ECAC over the past few years while both programs have risen in prominence. Last season, the teams played three very tight games with each team winning a game by one goal and another ending in a tie. All games were extremely dramatic and emotional. The trip from Schenectady to Troy is just a quick 30 minute drive down Route 7. Plus, it's definitely cold enough in the winter for an outdoor ice rink (trust me, I know from experience). Last year's game at the Houston Field House drew over 4,000 fans, so I can safely say that an outdoor game at the RPI football stadium would sell out. I really don't know the logistics of the stadium, but I bet they can add a few thousand more seats. This could be a really good first ECAC outdoor hockey game to test the interest.

Results
After all of analysis here are my Top 5 ideas (in no specific order) for an ECAC outdoor hockey game:

Cornell vs. Harvard at Schoellkopf Field
Cornell vs. Yale at Schoellkopf Field
Harvard vs. Yale at Harvard Stadium
Harvard vs. Cornell at Harvard Stadium
RPI vs. Union at RPI ECAV football stadium

I really hope the ECAC decides to have an outdoor hockey game. It would be such a great experience. Maybe if enough people agree with these ideas, ECAC Hockey might take notice. Who knows?

What do you think would be the best combination for an ECAC outdoor hockey game? Any other ideas?