The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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2010, attracting a Guinness World- Record-setting 104,173 fans, athlet- ics director David Brandon intimated The Big House's outdoor hosting du- ties were far from over, creating talk that U-M would play a college hockey game there once every four years, as an enticement in each recruiting cycle. However, the next outdoor game W Inside Michigan ATHLETICS hen Michigan successfully staged The Big Chill Dec. 11, NHL To Stage Winter Classic At The Big House to be played at Michigan Stadium will not include the Wolverines, but Original Six franchises the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs after the NHL, in conjunction with Michigan, announced that The Big House will host the 2013 NHL Winter Classic Jan. 1. "This will be a way for hockey fans around the globe to experience Michi- gan Stadium and the University of Michigan," Brandon said. "This event will have a significant positive eco- nomic impact on the Ann Arbor com- munity and the state of Michigan." "The Red Wings' tradition of excel- lence, Detroit's passion for hockey and the glorious history of the Maple Leafs create a Winter Classic scenario for the ages," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman added. "The meeting of these two Original Six rivals, at this iconic venue, will lift this Winter Classic to incomparable heights. "The demand to be there will be so great that this event could only be held at The Big House." The NHL expects to break The Big Chill's outdoor attendance record, shooting for 115,000. Michigan will rent its stadium for The Big Chill event drew 104,173 fans to Michigan Stadium, but the NHL hopes to top that number on Jan. 1, 2013, for its outdoor Winter Classic event. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN a month, beginning in December, at a cost of $3 million, while the NHL also presented Brandon with a check in the amount of $250,000 for the gen- eral scholarship fund at U-M. The NHL will be responsible for obtain- ing a liquor license and will handle game-day operations, with Michi- gan's assistance. 12 THE WOLVERINE MARCH 2012 the NHL's biggest regular-season event is now moving to North America's biggest venue," said Jon Miller, president of programming for NBC Sports & NBC Sports Network, which will carry the live broadcast. "If any venue can grow the spectacle of the NHL Winter Classic, it's The Big House." This will be the sixth Winter Clas- "It's more than appropriate that sic and the third staged at a football field, joining the 2008 game between the Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins played at Ralph Wilson Sta- dium (home of the Buffalo Bills), and the 2011 game between the Penguins and Washington Capitols played at Heinz Field (home of the Pittsburgh Steelers). in the outdoor game in its home sta- dium, the Wolverines will participate in a pair of outdoor contests — semi- finals and finals/consolation — as part of the Great Lakes Invitational at Comerica Park (home of the De- troit Tigers) in late December. U-M, Michigan State, Western Michigan and Michigan Tech are set to do bat- tle at the 48th annual GLI. The Maize and Blue are the two-time defending champions of the event. Comerica Park will also host an While Michigan will not be playing alumni game between the Red Wings and Maple Leafs, a meeting of the franchises' minor league teams, the Grand Rapids Griffins (Detroit) and Toronto Marlies, youth hockey games, high school games and more.