Well, the second NHL game to be played outdoors will soon start. Who else is watching? The slate of college football games this year outside of the Rose Bowl is absolutely lousy so I’m going to watch the Blackhawks/Red Wings.
I’ll be watching.
I believe it is the 3rd outdoor game. Edmonton, Buffalo and now Chicago.
I’ll be watching. I was at last year’s game, I’m looking forward to seeing how this year’s compares. Well, not so much the game, but the weather, ice conditions, etc.
Crap. I forgot all about this!
Wish they’d get the game going already.
Love the outdoor hockey!
A cool nugget for those of you who don’t know… Pittsburgh plays their games in the Mellon Arena. The roof of the arena is a retractable dome and is designed to open with the vast majority of the sky visible (I’m pretty sure it was the first retractable dome built in North America (1967)). Anyway, I’ve always wondered why they never opened the roof and played an NHL game “outdoors”. It would be an awesome venue, since the fans would be sitting on top of the ice like a normal arena, not like the games played in retrofitted baseball or football stadiums.
I don’t even know if the roof works anymore, and there is so much crap plastered on the ceiling it would probably take months to take it all off, but I wish they would do it before the Pens move to their new arena. I’ve been to three events at the Arena over the years that played out with the roof open, and each one was amazing.
For those of you curious as to what it looks like with the dome opened, rent the movie Sudden Death, with Jean-Claude Van Damme. The movie absolutely sucks, but it was filmed in the Arena and the big scene at the end has a helocopter crashing into the ice through the open roof. You may be able to find a clip on You Tube, but I haven’t looked.