Winter Classic At Beaver Stadium

by fugimaster24 on May 15, 2008 8:25 PM EDT

In some non-football news, apparantly the chances of Yankee Stadium hosting the Winter Classic this year are going down.

So, of intrest to us Penn State fans was this paragraph lower in the story. It has been rumored for a while, but apparantly the intrest in having it at Beaver Stadium has been confirmed.

"The New York Rangers and Boston Bruins were rumored to have been the choices for Winter Classic II, which would have offered all kinds of Yankees/Red Sox angsty goodness. The Chicago Blackhawks are on record as wanting a Classic at either Wrigley or Soldier Field. But Bettman said he recently received a letter from Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D-Clinton), who is lobbying for a Pittsburgh Penguins/Philadelphia Flyers game at Penn State's football stadium. "

As a Penguin fan, I would consider this the fusion of everything good in the world. Take my favorite hockey team, put it in Beaver Stadium against its bitter rivals, who just happen to be PSU fans as well, and I think this is as good as it gets.

Anyway, it seems to be down to State College and Chicago. Beaver Stadium is the biggest venue in the country. It highlights both teams equally, and comes on the heels of a war in the Eastern Conference Finals. There might be some complaining about the over-exposure of Crosby and Malkin, but frankly, it doesn't bother me. The league NEEDs to highlight its stars if it is going to get the exposure it needs to be relevent again. A New Year's Day game at Beaver Stadium, possibly following or preceeding a PSU Bowl game would be absolutely huge. Consider, the Lions play in one of the early New Year's Day bowls (Outback/Capital One). At 3:00, the Pens and Flyers take the ice in Beaver Stadium, and at 6:30, when the fans emerge, the Rose Bowl comes on. PSU being in the Rose Bowl would be even better. It would be a helluva day in State College if you ask me.

Keep your fingers crossed folks, and consider this little gem in the comments section of the article:

"Hockey in Beaver Stadium would be amazing. However, I can only imagine that State College would cease to exist after a cross-state war finally came to a head in this small town. Imagine 110K ticketed fans, hundreds of thousands of tailgaters in cold weather (drinking copious amounts of booze to keep warm), and a relatively equal split among the fans, creating a very "pleasant" atmosphere. Unfortunately, State College can only really handle a one-sided fan dispersement (all PSU football fans). The riots of the early part of this century would pale in comparison, and Happy Valley would be reduced to rubble amidst a stone-age, might is right environment. It would be classic hockey at its best."

0 recs | Comment 23 comments

Story-email Email | Print |

Comments

Did I Mention?

One of the two combatants might be the defending Stanley Cup Champions.

God Created the World Out Of Nothing, Paterno Built A National Superpower On Cow Fields...

by fugimaster24 on May 15, 2008 8:30 PM EDT 0 recs

Never happen

Penn State sinks too much money into that turf to bury it in ice. But I think it’s funny how Ed Rendell thinks he partially owns Penn State.

Mike
Black Shoe Diaries

by BSD on May 15, 2008 8:58 PM EDT 0 recs

yeah but...

although it, the gridiron bash, didnt happen, did any of us fathom anything other than a football game happening at beaver stadium. i know i didnt think anything like that would transpire. plus it kinda seems right up guido’s ally. you gotta figure they would have some sort of plan to ice the beav. i for one would be in favor of some sort of “season ticket holder” priority for purchasing tickets.

For the glory

by lionalum05 on May 15, 2008 10:00 PM EDT up 0 recs

Hockey

I think Hershey is a more realistic posibility.

Mike
Black Shoe Diaries

by BSD on May 15, 2008 10:12 PM EDT up 0 recs

i never thought about that...

but i bet rendell is looking for a cut in this whole deal and he thought hmmm. hershey (27000), or beaver stadium (108000) and his eyes got those dollar signs in them, like uncle scrooge.

For the glory

by lionalum05 on May 15, 2008 11:31 PM EDT up 0 recs

hersey is just too small

i seriously doubt that the nhl would go to a venue that would only seat 27,000. thats only about 7,000 more that most arenas. Buffalo was what? 77,000? My guess is that the capacity has to exceed 50,000

by rmcmillen50 on May 16, 2008 12:08 AM EDT up 0 recs

Well

I’m sure they’d be more than happy to pay for it if it meant 110,000 people in town spending lots and lots of money themselves. As for Rendell, I loved how he was listed as D-Clinton and not D-Pennsylvania in the article.

God Created the World Out Of Nothing, Paterno Built A National Superpower On Cow Fields...

by fugimaster24 on May 15, 2008 10:12 PM EDT up 0 recs

i agree

i think the benefit of hosting another sold out event would far exceed the cost of resoding (spelling?) the field. I’m sure the football staff would find a way to accomodate, just like they said they would if the superbowl ever came.

the only negative I can think of concerning a new years day game would be if the lions were in a new years day bowl. The fans (like myself) who would want to attend both games would be out of luck. But thats just being selfish. The idea is still sweet.

lets go pens

by rmcmillen50 on May 16, 2008 12:15 AM EDT up 0 recs

Turf

The school wasn’t keen on paying for resodding the field after the ‘05 OSU win, arguably the biggest win in the last decade for our team, so they instead decided to mace the student section to keep them off the field. I doubt they are going to be ok with demolishing the entire field for a hockey game that realistically won’t bring the school more money than a football weekend. In fact, it would probably bring in less for the school. But the town would love it.

And Rendell is a douchebag. This idea (and a Steelers/Eagles Superbowl) is simply him attempting to strengthen his voter base. I really wonder how much effort has been put forth on his end to coordinate something like this, other than making a phone call and holding an interview.

Luring recruits with my new "Posting HD" scheme since '08.

by 06Lion on May 16, 2008 7:01 AM EDT up 0 recs

Not so sure I agree with that....

The school wasn’t going to get any extra revenue for letting the students trample on the field so they didn’t want to resod for that reason. I can see them being ok with the resodding if they are going to get a piece of that giant money pie that comes along with 110,000 people coming to campus.

I agree with RMC about the only negative would be scheduling with a PSU new years bowl game. Luckily for myself, I’m not that into hockey so I wouldn’t be that conflicted.

by HookMania on May 16, 2008 10:15 AM EDT up 0 recs

Money

Don’t you think the NHL would want a large chunk of the ticket sales for holding the game in Beaver Stadium?

Mike
Black Shoe Diaries

by BSD on May 16, 2008 11:08 AM EDT up 0 recs

Oh absolutely.

The NHL should get most of the money considering its their event. However don’t you think that it would throw some cash to PSU for holding the event in Beaver Stadium, sort of like a rental fee? Another benefit I don’t think has been mentioned yet is the exposure for Penn State in general. That game will be on national television which means they’ll say something like, “Live from State College, PA”, blah blah blah. We and the PSU administration all know what exposure does to a school. After the ‘05 football season student applications increased by some rediculous amount which resulted in the largest incoming freshman class in Penn State history. That’s tons of money. Penn State would be completely stupid not to take advantage of a hockey game in beaver stadium.

by rmcmillen50 on May 16, 2008 12:24 PM EDT up 0 recs

Attention

I can’t see an NHL hockey game between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia getting a ton of “national attention” no matter where it’s played. Ok, maybe if they played it on the moon it would get a lot of attention.

Mike
Black Shoe Diaries

by BSD on May 16, 2008 1:51 PM EDT up 0 recs

I Disagree

The attention the Winter Classic got this year was substantial. Its a novelty that most sports fans would be all over. If you have a predetermined hate for hockey, then yea, you might not care, but I’d say the majority of casual fans would be just as intrested in this as they would be in anything else going on that day outside of the Rose Bowl.

God Created the World Out Of Nothing, Paterno Built A National Superpower On Cow Fields...

by fugimaster24 on May 16, 2008 3:35 PM EDT up 0 recs

Maced

I can tell each everyone of you I was maced after that game.. but those ratbastards never got me.. I was a fifth year senior sitting in the sophomore section – blue painted face, blitzed out of my mind.. that game made all of the pain and suffering I had endured through my years there ok.. i pushed my way down to the front.. and when some girls made a run for it and were tackled i saw my opening and jumped.. i had to look over while one girl was being manhandled (Everyone loves Trainwrecks).. the Pig momentariliy quit beating and managed to spray me in the face from 10 feet away.. I fell over.. I immediately got up and ran in to the thick of the crowd.. AWESOME..

by smashmouthsteel on May 16, 2008 11:54 AM EDT up 0 recs

'05

Yeah I made it from the senior section. 30 seconds left, I beat the crowd and got to the railing first. Same situation, cop in front of me was distracted by another student. I saw the opening and bolted thru the line and didn’t stop until I was at the opposite corner of the field. I did get shoved by a state trooper for kissing the goalpost though, and got a good picture of a kid getting arrested for resisting.

Luring recruits with my new "Posting HD" scheme since '08.

by 06Lion on May 16, 2008 12:34 PM EDT up 0 recs

what a view...

good luck seeing the game on a 200’ X 85’ rink from section WB row 70.

by Stately NOVA Lion on May 16, 2008 11:16 AM EDT 0 recs

maybe...

they could use the money from this hockey game to get the Icers to Div 1. i could easily see tickets going anywhere from 65-150 (maybe more)....just being devils advocate

For the glory

by lionalum05 on May 16, 2008 12:32 PM EDT 0 recs

Drawbacks

Although some see PSU playing in a Bowl Game that day as a negative, I see it as a good thing. Lets face it. Most people aren’t going to go to the bowl game, simply because the bowl stadiums aren’t that big. If PSU were to play a bowl game right before or right after (I think thats how the schedule works out) I think it would be an action packed dream day for the average PSU fan.

-Wake up
-If PSU is in the Outback/Capital One Bowls, PSU pregame at 10:30
-PSU Bowl game at 11:30-Noon
-3:00 PSU game ends
-4:00 Winter Classic Begins
-7-7:30 Hockey game ends
-6:30-7 Rose Bowl pregame
-Somwhere in 7:00 hour (Remember, Rose Bowl pre-game is endless) Rose Bowl Begins

I don’t know, it just seems like a dream scenario for me.

As for money, I have a hard time thinking Rendell would submit a letter like that without administration’s approval. They’ve got the biggest stadium in America sitting on campus. I don’t think they’d have to see 100% of the revenue for an event like this to be attractive financially.

Perhaps, as Mike said, the game might not garner the attention nation wide as one might think, but in terms of Penn State, and Pennsylvania, this would be huge. The Penguin crowd is largely of the under 30 variety, with high school and college kids located in Pittsburgh as the largest group of the fan base. Send them to State College for an event like this, and instantly, you become more attractive as a school. I’m not sure what impact it would have in Philly though.

God Created the World Out Of Nothing, Paterno Built A National Superpower On Cow Fields...

by fugimaster24 on May 16, 2008 3:57 PM EDT 0 recs

Philly Fans

I can’t see them traveling to State College to see the Flyers. Hockey is like the fourth most popular sport in Philly.

Mike
Black Shoe Diaries

by BSD on May 16, 2008 4:01 PM EDT up 0 recs

I don't know

Students aren’t in class then and SC is pretty much dead. Maybe people will come from Philly and Pittsburgh, but who knows.

by speedomike on May 16, 2008 7:55 PM EDT up 0 recs

Rendall will raise

his commitment to PSU by $10 and Spanier will happily bend over and grab his ankles to get the money; selling out Beaver Stadium in the process.

JoePa in '09

by JGuiher on May 17, 2008 9:10 AM EDT 0 recs

Free Your Mind

Outdoor hockey is the future. Of hockey. The NHL may be able to creep back little by little with some minor gains that come from new young stars, and from when they finally get a new commissioner. But, being the 4th most popular doesn’t diminish the probability that Flyers fans will flock in droves to State College for an outdoor game. They storm DC for Caps games—in the regular season. They would go apeshit to be outside cheering their team. As would, I’ll take liberty to guess, anyone who considers his/herself a general fan of sports. Outdoor hockey in midwinter is just plain cool.

Convivite Nudem!

by jtothep on May 20, 2008 1:37 PM EDT 0 recs