Dodger Stadium outdoor NHL game now official: LA Kings vs. Anaheim Ducks in Jan. 2014
“How will they keep the ice from melting?”
Prepare yourselves for that question to be asked, oh, roughly a quintillion times before the Los Angeles Kings host the Anaheim Ducks at Dodger Stadium on Jan. 25, 2014, in a game the National Hockey League announced on Monday as part of its outdoor cash grab Stadium Series next season.
Here’s how they’ll do it: With a multi-million dollar ice making system that includes a 300-panel floor that is kept frozen by a truck, with 1500 gallons of water pushed through it per minute to create ice.
The system also has state-of-the-art tracking technology so it can react to temperature changes. As NHL ice guru Craig said in 2010, before the Winter Classic in Pittsburgh:
"We have instrumentation that we put into the system called Eye on the Ice that we monitor; (it) sends us signals all the time," Craig said. "Every 15 minutes we'll log and trend it so we can graph what's happening on any given day. And every city we go to, we have a complete weather breakdown of our area so we know what (weather) systems are coming through."
According to Los Angeles Almanac, the average high for Jan. 25 is 68 degrees and the average low is 49 degrees.
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But forget about that high temperature: Another reason California can handle an outdoor hockey game is the 7 p.m. start time locally (10 p.m. on the East Coast), which will allow for cooler temperatures and take the sun out of the equation.
As Craig said in the past, they’d have to put a canopy over the ice in order to play during the daylight hours in California.
So calm your fears ... this won't have to be roller hockey.
From the NHL, the details on the game:
The 2012 Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings will play host to the Anaheim Ducks in a regular-season NHL game outdoors at Dodger Stadium on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2014, at 7 p.m. PT/10 p.m. ET, the National Hockey League announced today.
Part of the previously-announced 2014 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series, a group of games planned for outdoor locations next season, the event will be the first outdoor regular-season NHL game played in the U.S. west of the Mississippi River, the southern-most outdoor NHL game ever and the first-ever in California.
“With their meeting in the 2014 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series, the Ducks and the Kings will write the next chapter in the exciting story of NHL hockey in Southern California,” Commissioner Gary Bettman said.
“At a venue that represents so much glorious sports history, this match-up of Stanley Cup champions will raise our outdoor initiatives to bold new heights. We know the game will be a treat for our fans, and we thank the Ducks, the Kings, Coors Light, Dodger Stadium and the Los Angeles Dodgers for bringing it to life.”
Yes, thank you Coors. Here’s what Anaheim GM Bob Murray said about the game:
“We are honored to be selected to participate in the NHL's Stadium Series,” said Ducks Executive Vice President/General Manager Bob Murray. “Playing our rival Kings at historic Dodger Stadium will be a terrific showcase event for our sport. A Southern California outdoor hockey game in a picturesque setting will be an exciting, unique experience, and we look forward to being a part of it.”
“As do we,” said 90 percent of the hockey media, who now have a reason to travel to California in January.
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