The State of Hockey Finally Gets An NHL Outdoor Game

It’s been a long time coming, and in many of my recent articles discussing both the frequency of NHL outdoor games – potentially diluting an A-grade product, though not in local markets – and the lack of different teams being given a chance to play in one of these special occasion games – the Chicago Blackhawks, Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals have all had multiple bites at the cherry – I’ve campaigned for a Winter Classic or Stadium Series game to be played in Minnesota, featuring the hometown Wild.

In that, I am not alone. By not sending an outdoor game to The State of Hockey – either Target Field, where the Minnesota Twins play baseball, or TCF Bank Stadium, home of the University of Minnesota Gophers football team, and the site of a college hockey outdoor game about a year ago – the National Hockey League has, to this point, been short-sighted in terms of honouring both the traditions of hockey and a laundry list of famous players, coaches and administrators who have come from the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

Minnesota is the only place in America – and I’ve seen plenty – where hockey is supported with such wide-ranging fanaticism, Canadian-style. Sure, the Blackhawks, Penguins, Bruins and even the Los Angeles Kings have a passionate following in their home markets, but, for the most part that support is limited to the sold-out crowd inside the arena, and perhaps a few others, because hockey just isn’t the main game in those cities and states.

That’s where things are different in Minnesota, where hockey is passionately and strongly supported at all levels, from high school, through college ranks where the University of Minnesota has a winning tradition (and the University of Minnesota-Duluth has won a National Championship in recent years) and on up to the Wild, who play their games in front of an always-sold-out Xcel Energy Centre, which, in terms of game-day atmosphere, is probably one of the NHL’s best kept secrets.

Finally, the League has seen sense. In the midst of this weekend’s All Star Game activities in Columbus, Ohio, Commissioner Gary Bettman delivered the news that many hockey fans have been waiting for: the Wild will host an outdoor game in 2016. It won’t be the New Year’s Day Winter Classic – that honour will go to the Boston Bruins, at the home of the New England Patriots, against their arch rivals, the Montreal Canadiens – but later in the North American winter, the Chicago Blackhawks will come into town, and into TCF Bank Stadium on the University of Minnesota campus, to play the Wild.

It’s been a long time coming, and it is richly deserved. In the annals of United States hockey history, a lot of the biggest moments and achievements can be traced back to Minnesota. If you’re any sort of hockey historian, I don’t need to tell you about the Miracle on Ice in 1980, nor that the core of that team were Minnesota natives. As was its legendarily irascible head coach, the late, great Herb Brooks. The story of what that team did will forever live in both hockey and Olympic history.

More recently, you might remember the epic gold medal game at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics between Canada and America? Remember the USA were down 2-0 and came back to tie the game with mere seconds left in regulation? It was an extraordinary offensive flurry from the Americans, and that final goal was scooped in behind Robert Luongo’s pads by St Paul, Minnesota native Zach Parise. Five years ago, he was a New Jersey Devil. Now, he is a captain of the Wild, returning to Minnesota in a blockbuster deal a few years back that included defenseman Ryan Suter – whose father, Bob, was a part of the 1980 Miracle On Ice, too – and the two superstars have brought playoff hockey back to Minnesota.

The Wild are one of the rising franchises in the NHL. This national exposure is well-deserved, and it should provide a further lift. It’s fair to say that the Wild and other teams in the Central Division get a little overshadowed by the Chicago Blackhawks, who, thanks to Patrick Kane and Johnathan Toews, are, deservedly, getting the lion’s share of national television time.

It isn’t exactly breaking news for me to tell you that the ‘Hawks are a good team, but they are, and they’re good enough that they might win another Stanley Cup this year. The fact that they’ve been chosen by the NHL to be the Wild’s opponent is a good thing, even if they’ve also had the lions’ share of outdoor game appearances. The Blackhawks presence at TCF Bank Stadium will draw more eyeballs to the contest that might otherwise have not tuned in for a Wild game.

Where the Winter Classic and the Stadium Series has excelled, other than bringing a certain old-school hockey quality back to professional hockey, is with the way they have paid tribute to the history of hockey. Has there been a more meaningful state as far as producing American hockey legends is concerned?

You think of the great players – Mike Ramsey, the three Broten brothers, Rob McClanahan, Pat Micheletti, John Mariucci (for whom the Gophers home arena is named), John Mayasich (whose number is the only one ever retired by the Gophers) and Timmy Harrer – who have elevated from the competitive world of Minnesota hockey at all levels to be named in the Hall of Fame, either US or international, and occupy pages in the great, ever-updating book of hockey history.

Imagine the parade of names whom the NHL might be able to make a part of the pre-game celebrations? There are others, aside from players, who have carved out remarkable careers in the game: General Manager extraordinaire Lou Nanne is a recent Hall of Fame inductee, and one hopes that someone from Herb Brooks’ family will have a part to play on the day.

After waiting so long to send a game to the State of Hockey, surely the League will make this one to remember, a day for honouring so many who have done so much to build hockey in America.

I can’t wait!