Gophers’ athletic director Joel Maturi told Sports Headliners that he spoke last weekend to WCHA commissioner Bruce McLeod about playing outdoor hockey at the new TCF Bank Stadium. The essence of the conversation was that “eventually” the Gophers will host a hockey event, perhaps in January of 2011, Maturi said.
The stadium opens for football next September and Maturi said in the “state of hockey” it’s appropriate to plan for a multiple game hockey event. The concept could involve a few days of outdoor hockey in the 50,000 seat stadium. It’s a given that the Gopher men will have a game but participation could include the Gopher women, prep teams and the Minnesota Wild.
“We definitely want to do a game (event),” Maturi said. “We want to make it a big deal.”
Converting the football stadium into an outdoor hockey arena could cost about $500,000. “It makes no sense to do (just) one game,” Maturi said.
Maturi and McLeod have talked about whether coach Don Lucia’s team will play a WCHA or nonconference opponent. Nothing has been decided, although considering the outdoor elements it may well be a nonconference team. A WCHA game means playing hockey in an environment unlike any of the other league games and that raises a fairness issue in determining the final standings.
College hockey games have been played at Lambeau Field in Green Bay and Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Michigan. Those games attracted crowds of over 40,000.
Maturi said that once a hockey extravaganza is staged at TCF the results can be studied and thought given to future outdoor hockey events.