Minnesota government officials along with the NHL's Minnesota Wild are proposing a plan to host the 2010 Winter Classic. The Classic is an annual outdoor game between two NHL clubs held on January 1st. This year's game (only the 2nd Classic) features the Chicago Blackhawks versus the Detroit Red Wings at historic Wrigley Field (pictured below).
Last year's game was held in Buffalo's Ralph Wilson Stadium between the Sabres and the Pittsburgh Penguins during a heavy snowstorm that drew a record television audience.
Though Minnesota has no outdoor facility with the required seating capacity, the Wild, state and the city of Minneapolis are entering a bid for the game.
"We are proposing to hold the game inside the Metrodome but we would turn the heat off so that it would feel like we were outside," said Wild public relations director, Frank Morze.
Morze would not recognize the fact that the main purpose and the uniqueness of the game is that it is held outside, where most of the players learned the sport.
"Trust me," said Morze, in a stern voice,"the Metrodome gets pretty cold when the heat is turned off ... from what I've heard."
The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome is the home to both the Minnesota Vikings (NFL) and the Minnesota Twins (MLB) in Minneapolis, MN. The indoor stadium seats 64,111 spectators for football and is kept at a comfortable 72F degrees during games.
Minnesota, a U.S. hockey hotbed, produces a large contingency of players that feed the college, junior and NHL ranks annually.
Wayne Gretzky, arguably the greatest hockey player ever, was born in Canada but played many games against the Minnesota North Stars—now the Dallas Stars—during his career.
"It gets cold in Minnesota," said Gretzky,"So I bet that if the heat was turned off it would get pretty cold inside the Metrodome. An unheated dome could make for a classic Classic."
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