Hockey at Yankee Stadium

For a game that has fallen off of the American sports scene, the NHL has finally come up with an idea that works.  The first regular season outdoor NHL game in the U.S. on Jan. 1st against the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Buffalo Sabres was attended by 71,000 fans at Ralph Wilson Stadium, home of the Buffalo Bills. The game, shown on NBC, produced the highest TV ratings for the NHL in nearly 11 years.

Holding a game or two outdoors each season is a sure fire money making and headline getter for the NHL. During the crowded football schedule of Jan. 1st bowl games, I watched more of a hockey game then I have in years. The fact that it was snowing out made the spectacle even more appealing and the game more fun to watch. Given the time that the game aired, during 12 straight hours of college football, makes the ratings that it got even more impressive. A game in Yankee Stadium, possibly the last sporting event ever held there, with the New York Rangers and another original six team in prime time outdoor. I would tune in for that.

I just doesn't seem right that the last event held in YANKEE Stadium might not be a NEW YORK YANKEES baseball game.

College hockey teams have tried outdoor games in the past and they have been highly successful and profitable. 74,000 fans for a Michigan at Michigan State game in 2001 made this the highest attended hockey game in history. Ohio State vs. Wisconsin at Lambeau Field in 2006 was attended by 40,000.

The NBA is even getting in the mix as they are holding an outdoor preseason game between the Phoenix Suns and the Denver Nuggets Oct, 11th at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

For a sport that gets next to zero national coverage and airs some games on stations that nobody gets, Versus, the NHL needs to keep this outdoor games trend a yearly tradition.