Bitter rivals Michigan State and Michigan met for the first time outdoors on October 6, 2001. Spartan Stadium set a then-world record for the largest crowd at an ice hockey game with 74,544. The 3-3 tie saw the college football stadium filled to 103.4% capacity.
“That’s the one that started it all off,” said Drew Russell, Vice President of Properties for InterSport this week.
InterSport, a 29-year-old sports and entertainment marketing company based in Chicago, is holding the third iteration of the Cold War this weekend.
“Michigan St. Athletic Director Mark Hollis, a lot of people call him a mad scientist, I call him a visionary. He developed that concept and it’s obviously taken off since then,” Russell continued.
On December 11, 2010, we saw Cold War II, with Michigan hosting MSU at Michigan Stadium. UM billed the game as “The Big Chill at the Big House.” The attendance record from the first game was officially re-broken as 104,173 fans packed into Michigan’s football stadium, the third largest in the world and the biggest in the United States.
The Hockey City Classic is pretty much the college version of the NHL’s “Winter Classic” or “Stadium Series.” Or as they call it in Canada, the “Heritage Classic.”
The 2013 edition of the Hockey City Classic helped pave the way for the NHL to include Soldier Field and the Chicago Blackhawks in the Stadium Series.
“What we wanted to create in 2013 was a bowl game like atmosphere for college hockey,” said Russell.
“We achieved that and we look forward to replicating that again this year.”
The 2013 event drew about 50,000 fans and Russell hopes to duplicate that level of attendance again this time.
Alcohol will be sold and tail-gating will be in full effect for both games on Saturday.
Here’s the HCC schedule:
#9 Miami vs. Western Michigan at 3 p.m.
Michigan St. vs #13 Michigan at 7 p.m.
Michigan is leading the Big Ten with 21 points, and a 7-2 record in conference. On the season, the Wolverines are 15-8 with a 97-68 goal differential. Michigan St. is tied for second in the league with Penn State with a record of 4-3-2. On the season they are 10-11-2.
Tonight brings us “Unite on the Ice,” a fund-raiser centering around a celebrity game featuring numerous Blackhawks alumni, opens a 12-day winter festival built around the Hockey City Classic, a college hockey doubleheader on Saturday. Blackhawks icon Eric Daze is one of the many former Hawks partaking in the celebrity game.
It’s such a big event that Michigan St. will don specially made jerseys for the game. They’re pretty sweet and can be viewed at this link. Michigan will also sport special unis, a retro outfit evoking the team’s sweater from 1939-1945.
This weekend is yet another example of how Michigan St. does indeed have a truly visionary A.D. in Mark Hollis. Between Cold War I and the very first aircraft carrier college basketball game, Hollis has been ahead of the curve.
Both Michigan St. and Michigan players will practice tomorrow night on the newly installed Soldier Field rink. Players and coaches from both sides will meet the media afterward, so watch this space for our game preview.
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and writes The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with Fox Sports Digital, eBay, Google News and CBS Interactive Inc. You can read Banks’ feature stories in the Chicago Tribune RedEye newspaper and listen to him on KOZN 1620 The Zone. Follow him on Twitter (@paulmbanks)