Despite weathering some criticism in recent years, staging ice hockey games outdoors continues to hold solid interest among college programs and NHL teams. Michigan Stadium, which in 2010 saw the outdoor hockey attendance world record set when the University of Michigan hosted Michigan State, will welcome the NHL's annual Winter Classic this New Year's Day, and earlier this month, promoters announced the inaugural Hockey City Classic featuring a collegiate double-header will take place early next year at Chicago's Soldier Field.
This week comes word that one professional hockey club intends to turn back the clock more than a half-century by playing its entire home schedule on outdoor ice. The Williamsport (Pa.) Outlaws of the Federal Hockey League will skate on a rink built within historic Bowman Field, the second oldest minor league baseball park in the nation and home to the Williamsport Crosscutters.
The Outlaws will rent the city-owned Bowman Field from late October through January, with the rink open to the public between home games. The temporary rink will cover roughly one-third of the field, and the Outlaws will be responsible for repairing any damaged turf following their 30-game schedule. The hope is to draw 2,000 fans per game as the Outlaws wait out the long-term plan for a civic center with an ice rink to be built in Williamsport. (The closest suitable arena is located near Wilkes-Barre some 70-plus miles away.)
You can already count Ryan Smith among those fans. "Oh, it's going to be awesome," Smith, a junior hockey player, told television station WNEP. "We're going to get season tickets."
