MINNEAPOLIS, MN – Game Day arrived for the 2016 Stadium Series battle between the Minnesota Wild and the Chicago Blackhawks at TCF Bank Stadium. The NHL delivered on their special event with all of the little touches that make these types of fan engagements special. 50,426 enjoyed the regular season tilt between the Wild and the Blackhawks. Once again, it proved that despite the less-than-competitive game and lopsided outcome, the event remains so special to the sports calendar. People just want to be a part of it.
The city was transformed, much like when the Super Bowl comes to a city. Everyone gets into the act. On the iconic I-35 bridge, Iron Range Red and Forest Green, the official colors of the Minnesota Wild, as declared by Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton, paid special tribute to NHL Stadium Series Weekend as these colored lights shined on the bridge at night.
Despite being the 17th outdoor game the NHL has showcased since 2008, the entertainment and athletic value remained fresh. The NHL understands how to put on a good show, perhaps better than any other sport in North America.
It’s quite a task to convert a venue focused exclusively on hosting one sport to be transformed into a highly suitable environment for a completely different sport. But the NHL does it well. It even gently blends the elements of hockey entertainment with tailgating, interactive fun with an NHL-driven theme park and live entertainment outside the venue, free of charge to everyone, whether they hold a ticket to the game or not.
The mere size of the venue will always be a challenge, to make it intimate enough for hockey fans to want to be there and enjoy it. Nearly every front-facing wall, railing apron and perimeter is touched by the event brand in marks and colors. It begins with tying the elements of the market, indigenous qualities and a dynamic color palette. Blue and green tied with evergreen trees to make the event mark is just the beginning of the branding effort.
Event perimeter fencing skins, signage within the venue and related merchandising opportunities all combine to make it a hockey epicenter on event weekend. And you can tell that great care has been given to making sure these branding skins fit the pre-existing structures and boundaries. It all ties together and quite well.
A gaze of the enormous football field and the viewer finds a variety of working elements which make the otherwise enormous playing field seem like a multi-activity stage production. In the east end of the stadium, a large scale stage for performing artists awaits performers, ready to satisfy the enormous crowd during the few slow times which exist. On this day, Minneapolis’ Soul Asylum and Rockford, Illinois-based Cheap Trick performed.
Along the long edges of the rink, the NHL crest is positioning on the south side looking as though it were carved from stone and positioned at an angle as if to establish symbolism of the bedrock role it has in this wonderful event. On the north side, a branding bank of team logos and the event crest all to itself serve as another reminder of the special nature of this event and the combatants.
In the west end, a small auxiliary rink for young skaters to play pick-up on the short rink with small goals. The State of Hockey logo emblazoned into the ice honors the state with the most registered USA hockey players in the country, a proud distinction built through the people of Minnesota .
There is activity throughout the field and where there is space between field elements, there is faux snow and more than several hundred evergreen trees to create the Minnesota feel. These things play well off one another.
Among the two combatants, special uniforms were designed for the one game, each likely to be integrated into the team’s uniform schedule in the future. For Chicago, four six-pointed red stars are featured on the white collar of the Blackhawks special-edition jerseys, which are derived from the city of Chicago’s flag and were incorporated as a symbol of regional fan pride. The Wild special-edition jersey pays homage to the loyal fan base of Minnesota with a State of Hockey logo on the shoulder.
As the game’s start drew closer, concern over the weather became more prominent. Bright sun would threaten the carefully applied logos on the ice. With 45 minutes before puck drop, the clouds rolled in and there seemed to be a little comfort, at least for awhile.
A raucous rendition of the national anthem, performed by 13-time Grammy-nominated artist, Jasmine Sullivan and a flyover by the a pair of F15 fighter jets transitioned to the start of the event everyone anticipated. It was time to get down to business.
Within minutes of the opening draw, the weather changed in ways that caused some to wonder if the league had a special button it pressed when it wanted to add something special. Five minutes into the game, the sight of flurries blowing in from the west covered the venue and lasted for most of the opening frame. It brought back memories of the first event of this kind in Buffalo on New Year’s Day in 2008. It was magical.
As the game progressed, it was clear loyalties to both clubs were expressed. Alternating chants of “Let’s Go Wild” and “Let’s Go Hawks” were heard. That it had a college feel to it only served to further the atmosphere on campus at a college football stadium. At one point late in the contest, a massive coordination of the popular “wave” whipped around the stadium, this after the game was somewhat out of hand. Fans from both teams were getting along just fine and it served as solidarity for being at such a special event, together, as one big group of hockey fans.
At one of the intermissions, local players were honored for their roles in the game. Apple Valley High School goalie Taylor DeForrest was honored for turning aside 111 shots in a recent game her team eventually lost in overtime. In a salute to hockey in the state, Minnesota hockey legends Aaron Broten, Neal Broten, Dave Christian, Phil Housley, Jamie Langenbrunner and Reed Larsen, the University of Minnesota’s women’s hockey team and Wright Homes/FHIT, winners of the 2016 National Pond Hockey Championships open division were prominently recognized.
When the flurries eventually stopped at the end of the first period, the scoring by the home team didn’t. After taking a 2-0 lead, the home team extended their lead to 4-0 after two periods and eventually won 6-1. While it wasn’t the competitive affair most expected, it remained a special event for all the other reasons which have nothing to do with the game’s outcome. And that is why the NHL Outdoor Games are so special.
One more outdoor game is slated for the season, next Saturday, when the Colorado Avalanche host the Detroit Red Wings. Next season, it is rumored three games will be held; in Winnipeg, St. Louis and Toronto.
Follow me on Twitter at DMMORRELL and you can contact me at dennis.morrell@prohockeynews.com
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