Let's Go Outdoors

In just the past two weeks, three very successful outdoor hockey events have taken place - two in Boston and one in Sweden.  Check it out.

On December 28th, a European-record 31,144 fans packed the Ullevi Stadium in Sweden to watch the Frolunda Indians play Farjestads BK.

Just a few days later, on January 1st, Fenway Park was sold out to capacity (roughly 40,000) for a regular season matchup between the hometown Bruins and the Philadelphia Flyers.

Then, a week later in the same venue, rivals Boston College and Boston University, NCAA champions the past two years, respectively, staged their own outdoor game (another 40,000 fans) and added an incredible new chapter to what is one of the best sports rivalry in America.

The BC-BU tilt (which BU won 3-2) will not be the only outdoor college hockey game this year, however, as the University of Wisconsin and the University of Michigan will square off at Camp Randall Stadium next month.  Then, later this year, Michigan will host Michigan State at The Big House, in a repeat of of 2001's "Cold War," played at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.  Dubbed "Cold War II," the game should once again be a tremendous success (74,000 fans).  Returning to the pro game,  rumors recently surfaced about the NHL allowing two Canadian teams to play outdoors next year in addition to the now-annual Winter Classic on New Years' Day 2011 (which will likely feature two States-based teams).

BU fans went home happy

That's a lot of outdoor hockey.  But why?  While I've done some extensive research on the subject - notably targeting the nostalgia of these events as well as the savvy marketing schemes that promote these commodified events as "returning to hockey's roots" - a recent documentary entitled "Pond Hockey" does a fine job extolling the magnanimous virtues of playing outdoors.  The documentary has now been released on Hulu, which means if you have a 120 minutes to spend, you can watch it for free.  I highly recommend this star-studded film (Gretzky!), which has received quite a good deal of critical acclaim.