2010 Frozen Four to be played outside at Ford Field Det

[MACMAN]

This is cool.
"As a quick refresher, the next four Frozen Four cities and sites are as follows: 2009 – Washington, D.C. – Verizon Center; 2010 – Detroit – Ford Field; 2011 – St. Paul, Minn. – Xcel Energy Center; 2012 – Tampa, Fla. – St. Pete Times Forum.

With the exception of the 2010 event held in Detroit's football stadium, the arenas and markets share the common trait that they are NHL arenas in significantly sized markets. The NCAA has shown that it's not afraid to award its signature event to cities (St. Louis, Washington, D.C., and Tampa) and venues that aren't in traditionally strong college hockey markets, and yet, the loyal college hockey fans have traveled in strong numbers and sold out every session of the event for the last nine years.

The game's popularity remains at a high level as die-hard fans continue to show their loyalty. The sell-out streak will likely continue in the nation's capital, but will come to an end in the massive football stadium. The trend is that big cities with professional arenas will continue to land the bids, which will likely be an unfortunate result for past Frozen Four regular stops like Providence, Albany, and Milwaukee."

that would be great place for us to win a Nat Championship. the timing is about right.

[SaxyIrishTenor]

Wha...? The Frozen Four is in D.C. next year? Fabulous...

[tiznow]

I am surprised by Washington DC. The Caps are consistenly in the bottom of attendance year after year. The have one of the best young players in Ovechkin but can't draw except when the Flyers, Pens or the Rangers come to town.

[Redwingtom]

Uhhmmmmm, Ford Field is an indoor facility.

[It's the Journey...]

Uhhmmmmm, Ford Field is an indoor facility.

UUhhmmmm, the roof is supposed to be retractable, making it an outdoor facility.

[rood]

Since the Frozen Four is in April I really don't think they could manage to maintain the ice if they open the roof in Detroit in spring time. Maybe if it were in Winnipeg...

Besides which, open air hockey games are a gimmick. Not what you would want for a national championship.

[BGDrew]

Uhhmmmmm, Ford Field is an indoor facility.

UUhhmmmm, the roof is supposed to be retractable, making it an outdoor facility.

No, Ford Field has a fixed roof. Barring a meteor striking, it's a dome.

[It's the Journey...]

Really??? I would have put money on it that the roof was supposed to retract at one time. Maybe it was a lost design element due to money?? Either way, thanks for the correction.

[BGDrew]

I seem to remember the idea being thrown around, but considering that football is played mostly in the late fall and winter in the NFL, a retractable roof didn't make a whole hell of a lot of sense.

Then again, this is the Ford family we're talking about here.

[bgbill]

Playing hockey on a football field or arena is just a stupid idea, and the fact that they're going to do the national championship that way just shows how crass nc$$ has become. They have no respect for the game.

[Redwingtom]

Playing hockey on a football field or arena is just a stupid idea, and the fact that they're going to do the national championship that way just shows how crass nc$$ has become. They have no respect for the game.

Let's at least hold judgment until the games are played. Although if they don't improve over the NCAA basketball setup they had last year I will agree. I heard from several attendees that the sight-lines were just horrible due to an elevated playing surface. A lot of people in the high-dollar seats were blocked out by cheerleaders for the whole game.

[DWhite21]

It's funny to see that they're having the 2012 Frozen Four in the college hockey hotbed of Tampa Bay. I don't know how many seats they have at Ford Field but I really wouldn't be surprised if they have a close to capacity or capacity crowd. Since we were sort of on the topic of outdoor hockey games, if the NHL hasn't already announced it yet, the Chicago Blackhawks are supposed to be playing the Red Wings at Wrigley Field on New Year's Day this coming year.

[cw08]

If they can rip people off in basketball, they should do it in hockey.

[MACMAN]

Sorry about the outside coment folks, it was a total screw up on my part.

here is a copy of that section of the article

"As a quick refresher, the next four Frozen Four cities and sites are as follows: 2009 – Washington, D.C. – Verizon Center; 2010 – Detroit – Ford Field; 2011 – St. Paul, Minn. – Xcel Energy Center; 2012 – Tampa, Fla. – St. Pete Times Forum.

With the exception of the 2010 event held in Detroit's football stadium, the arenas and markets share the common trait that they are NHL arenas in significantly sized markets. The NCAA has shown that it's not afraid to award its signature event to cities (St. Louis, Washington, D.C., and Tampa) and venues that aren't in traditionally strong college hockey markets, and yet, the loyal college hockey fans have traveled in strong numbers and sold out every session of the event for the last nine years.

The game's popularity remains at a high level as die-hard fans continue to show their loyalty. The sell-out streak will likely continue in the nation's capital, but will come to an end in the massive football stadium. The trend is that big cities with professional arenas will continue to land the bids, which will likely be an unfortunate result for past Frozen Four regular stops like Providence, Albany, and Milwaukee.

Which coaches need to see their programs get positive results in the very near future in order to keep their jobs?

Assuming no head coaches get turfed between now and the start of the 2008-09 season, there will have been a total of three vacancies in the last two off-seasons – two of them at Alaska. So that means one of two things: either schools are happy with their current coaching situations, or we're on the verge of spate of changes. Three high-profile possibilities:

Tim Whitehead, Maine: It's hard to argue with Whitehead's success – six trips to the NCAA tournament and four Frozen Four appearances in his seven seasons behind the Black Bears' bench. And even though one would think Whitehead would be safe in spite of last season's 13-18-3 overall record and ninth-place finish in Hockey East play, which marked just the second time Maine failed to qualify for the league postseason tournament, scuttlebutt out of Orono is that the natives are restless. Another subpar showing could heighten the clamor.

Scott Sandelin, Minnesota Duluth: Since guiding the Bulldogs to 28 wins and a berth in the 2004 Frozen Four, Sandelin's teams have won 15, 11, 13, and 13 games, respectively, and in his eight seasons at UMD, the Bulldogs have finished in the top half of the WCHA standings twice. Unless something changes soon, UMD risks becoming a perennial also-ran in the conference behind Colorado College, Denver, Minnesota, North Dakota, St. Cloud State, and Wisconsin, and one could argue that the Michigan Tech and Minnesota State programs currently have more forward momentum."


You know what...if football has a bowl game in Canada why not hold the games in Canada at some point, as long as the facility can hold good ice. Also the ford field deal could be a deal where hopefulls are looking for some record attendence for Hockey Town...a MI- MSU or such final could fill the place folks, stranger things have happend.

[CiContention]

It's funny to see that they're having the 2012 Frozen Four in the college hockey hotbed of Tampa Bay. I don't know how many seats they have at Ford Field but I really wouldn't be surprised if they have a close to capacity or capacity crowd. Since we were sort of on the topic of outdoor hockey games, if the NHL hasn't already announced it yet, the Chicago Blackhawks are supposed to be playing the Red Wings at Wrigley Field on New Year's Day this coming year.

I don't mean to disparage Red Wings fans or the Detroit hockey scene, but didn't the Red Wings have trouble within the past few seasons selling out playoff games at Joe Louis Arena? Detroit certainly is still a vital hockey region, but the big regions in the country are Minnesota, Buffalo, Boston.....

Ford Field with hockey seating can probably hold, what, 70-75,000 people? With the local economy the way it is, I think they could have a heck of a time filling that for a college hockey final.