Syracuse Crunch Outdoor Game in Planning Stages

It's starting to look as though this may actually happen.

Senator Charles Schumer spoke with Lindsay Kramer of The Post-Standard on Thursday about the logistics of an outdoor hockey game in Syracuse between the Crunch and Binghamton planned for Feb. 20 at the New York State Fairgrounds. 

In his latest blog post , Kramer breaks down the behind-the-scenes efforts of Crunch owner Howard Dolgon:

—Dolgon suggested maybe waiting until 2010-11 to try the game, but Schumer said all the pieces are in place to make it happen now, so let's go for it.

—The initial date of the game was Dec. 5. But the Crunch wanted more time to sell and market the game, so February was the target date. Although Syracuse winter weather is always dicey, the parties agreed that playing outside in January or early February was particularly icy.

—The total cost of the event isn't clear yet, but it's usually been viewed in that $800,000-$900,000 range. The Crunch will pay up to $550,000 for the game, maybe much less depending upon the marketing costs. Three to six major sponsors will bring in about $350,000 total. Paterson got $75,000 from the Empire State Development Corp.

—The rink will start going up a week to 10 days before the event, and might be available for use by local youth teams.

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