AHL Outdoor Games
While a tradition of outdoor games in the AHL began in 2010, contrary to the NHL's Winter Classic none of these games have technically been league events. The Syracuse Crunch was the first organization to put on an outdoor game in the AHL on Feb. 20, 2010, building a rink at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse, New York, and packing a record 21,508 fans in for the Mirabito Outdoor Classic against the Binghamton Senators. The contest, which was also televised to an international audience on NHL Network, was won by the Crunch, 2-1.
The Connecticut Whale hosted the Whale Bowl -- the AHL's second outdoor game -- on Feb. 19, 2011, as part of a 10-day Whalers Hockey Fest at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Conn. Attendance for Connecticut's game against the Providence Bruins was announced at 21,673, the largest in AHL history to that point. Providence won, 5-4, in a shootout.
On Jan. 6, 2012, the largest crowd in AHL history saw the Adirondack Phantoms defeat the Hershey Bears, 4-3, in overtime before 45,653 fans at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as the final event of the week-long activities associated with the 2012 NHL Winter Classic, which also included a game between the Philadelphia Flyers and the New York Rangers on Jan. 2 and an alumni game between retired players (including eight honored members of the Hockey Hall of Fame) of those two clubs on Dec. 31, 2011. The contest was the third outdoor game in AHL history and it more than doubled the league's previous single-game attendance mark.
On Jan. 21, 2012, the Steeltown Showdown between Ontario rivals the Toronto Marlies and Hamilton Bulldogs was held at Ivor Wynne Stadium in Hamilton, Ont., with the Marlies winning 7-2 in front of 20,565 fans, the largest crowd ever for an AHL game in Canada. The AHL game was preceded the previous night by a game between Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens alumni.
Two outdoor games have been announced for the 2012-13 AHL season. The Grand Rapids Griffins and Toronto Marlies will meet at Comerica Park in Detroit on Dec. 30, 2012, as part of the festivities surrounding the contingent NHL Winter Classic between Detroit and Toronto. Then on Jan. 20, 2013, the Hershey Bears and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins will meet outdoors at Hersheypark Stadium in Hershey, Pa.
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Famous quotes containing the words outdoor and/or games:
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
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—Gustave Flaubert (1821–1880)