Cold War II: Michigan to Play MSU at Big House

By Sean · Thursday, March 5, 2009 · 1:00 AM |  Share | 2 Comments 

It’s official: Michigan is going to play a hockey game at Michigan Stadium against Michigan State. We learned on Tuesday that the University of Michigan was looking into the possibility of playing a game at the Big House, and just a day later it was confirmed that the game will happen on December 11, 2010. The CCHA still has to approve it, but as of right now the game will be played as part of Michigan’s home series against the Spartans. That means that on Friday, December 10, Michigan will play MSU at Yost Arena, and the next day the Wolverines and Spartans will meet at Michigan Stadium. (If weather is bad, the game will be played on Sunday, December 12.)

Now that this game is going to be a reality, there are some things I would like to see as the plans are put together for it. For starters, the ticket office has to attempt to keep Michigan State fans from showing up in the tens of thousands like at the football game last year. Obviously MSU fans are going to be at the game and they will help shatter the hockey attendance record, but I don’t want to be able to hear their fight song because so many people are singing it. I would expect the demand for a ticket to this game to be pretty high, so I just hope there are only a few thousand Sparties at the game rather than a number closer to the football game from last year.

Also related to attendance, I’m not sure how tickets will work for students, but I would definitely like to see a student section with over 20,000 people in it like at a football game. I imagine that many students wouldn’t be all that interested in a hockey game considering many that go to football games aren’t even interested in football, but I’m hoping there will be a fairly large student section. One idea would be to give students the option of purchasing a ticket to this game when they buy football tickets, or even including a ticket to this game with football season tickets. Also, if the tickets are sold separately, I think hockey season ticket holders should get better seats or something like that, which leads me to my next point.

It is going to be impossible to replicate the atmosphere at Yost for a game at Michigan Stadium just because Yost holds in noise so much better, but the thought of hearing a C-YA chant or a goal chant in the Big House is pretty cool. Unless students are season ticket holders they probably won’t know all the chants, which is why a mass e-mail or something like a guide to the chants seems like a good idea. That way if there are 20,000 students at the game, the opposing goalie will get to hear that he is a sieve loud and clear.

Related to that, I imagine the full marching band would play at a game like this. Obviously the hockey pep band is much smaller, but I would hope that the band plays like they are at Yost. I’m not sure how much extra time it would take to learn all of the songs played at hockey games, but it would be more than worth it. The band plays a big part in making the atmosphere at Yost as amazing as it is, so they would be just as important for a game at the Big House.

Finally, I imagine that FSN Detroit will probably broadcast this game, but how awesome would it be if a deal could be done with ESPN to get it on national TV? I realize that outdoor hockey games are becoming very common and the novelty is starting to wear off a bit, but the game at Michigan Stadium is likely going to destroy previous hockey attendance records. What’s more, that record likely isn’t going to be broken unless Michigan hosts a game again after 2010. ESPN would usually broadcast college basketball games on a Saturday in mid-December, but if there are no timeslots available, ESPN2 would work as well.

In general, I hope Michigan markets the hell out of this game and makes it a spectacle. Having over 100,000 people watch a hockey game is a spectacle by itself, but Michigan really has a unique opportunity on its hands. For example, some have suggested that the Red Wings should play a game at Michigan Stadium as well to up the ante even more. It doesn’t appear that the Wings will be part of the festivities in 2010, but maybe down the road they could play on one day and Michigan could play on another. In that sense it’s too bad the Wings played in the Winter Classic this year. I imagine the NHL will want to give other teams an opportunity to play in it, so the Wings probably won’t get a chance to be part of it for some time. Even so, I wouldn’t mind seeing them play at the Big House someday as well.

In the meantime, though, I can’t even describe how pumped I am for the Cold War II. The fact that Michigan State is the opponent takes it to another level. And this time there will be a winner. When Michigan and Michigan State played at Spartan Stadium in 2001, the game ended in a 3-3 tie. Since the 2010 game is set to be part of the CCHA schedule, ties aren’t possible. If the game was still tied after overtime, it would be decided by a shootout. Then again, Michigan didn’t even go to overtime once this season, so based on that maybe a shootout is unlikely. Besides, if in two years Michigan State is anything like they are right now, overtime won’t be necessary to beat them. You would think it’s unlikely that MSU will be this bad in the future, but that may not even matter in a game of such magnitude. From the coaches to the players to the fans, everyone is going to be on another level excitement-wise for this game.

UPDATE: If the NHL approves, it sounds like the Red Wings would play a game at Michigan Stadium the day after Michigan and Michigan State meet.

Stevenson said he plans to talk to NHL officials about the possibility of having the Red Wings play at Michigan Stadium one day after the Wolverines-Spartans game.

“It could be a huge deal,” Stevenson said. “You already have it set up. We’ve talked about the idea, but we haven’t talked to anybody (NHL officials) about that. We could have the Michigan-Michigan State game at 1 p.m. Saturday and the NHL game Sunday at 1.

“We’ll at least have a conversation about it to see what interest they could have in it.”

My guess is that the NHL will shoot down the idea since the Red Wings just played in an outdoor game. Like I already said, they probably want to allow other teams to play in outdoor games before letting the Red Wings participate in another one. I hope I’m wrong, but that’s my feeling on the situation.