Outdoor Overkill: Why The NHL Should Stay Out of Yankee Stadium

The temperature had dipped to -18°C.  If you factored in the wind, it felt more like -30°C, the kind of cold that digs in to exposed skin in moments, the kind of biting wind that stings the lungs and freezes the nose hairs with every breath inhaled.  

It mattered little to the crowd of 57,000 strong who clutched their coffee cups a little closer or ordered an extra beer or three to warm both the body and the soul. 

This was Canada, this was (almost) winter, this was hockey, and the cold be damned!

It was November 22, 2003.  The Heritage Classic was about to begin in Edmonton, Alberta and it was unlike anything any hockey fan had ever seen before.  

Convened as a way to honour the Oilers 25 years in the NHL, the outdoor game held at Commonwealth Stadium was such a unique venture, a throwback to hockey of yesteryear, that it lured almost three million fans nationwide to television screens. 

The Montreal Canadiens and the Oilers did not disappoint and Jose Theodore—the goalie for the Canadiens at the time—even started a mini fashion-trend by securely fastening his Habs toque to his goalie mask.  

That the first of the outdoor hockey games took place in Alberta—Canada's oil playground—is ironic; the NHL had indeed struck oil. 

Still, the league took the time to assess what it really had here.  Was it a one-time, glorified game of shinny, or had they really hit upon a million-dollar idea?

Four years and one hockey strike later, lightning struck again but had nothing to do with Tampa Bay. 

In the Winter Classic of January 1st, 2008, the Pittsburgh Penguins battled it out with the Buffalo Sabres at Buffalo's Ralph Wilson Stadium. 

This time, more than 71,000 fans braved both the cold and the city of Buffalo to take in the festivities and, once again, the two teams did not disappoint, the Classic ending in an exciting shootout.  Hockey's savior, Sidney Crosby, even netted the game winner. 

With two successes under its belt, it's not surprising the NHL is going for a third—it indicated as much already—but there are reports suggesting the next outdoor classic could be taking place at Yankee Stadium in winter 2009. 

Yes, THAT Yankee Stadium, the "House That Ruth Built", "The Big Ballpark in the Bronx" or, for fans of the Boston Red Sox, the heart of the "Evil Empire". 

After the Yankees wrap up the 2008 season, Yankee Stadium has a date with a wrecking ball. 

Prior to that, however, the NHL is looking at hosting a Rangers game at the facility, making the event, should it happen, the final sporting event ever to be held at old Yankee Stadium.  

Whether you're a Yanks fan or not, it's upsetting to the think the final sporting event in that revered stadium will be a hockey game. 

Yankee Stadium has been home to the Yankees since 1923.  It has seen the likes of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Joltin' Joe DiMaggio round its bases, bore witness to Mickey Mantle's towering home-runs that clanked off its third-deck and countless other historical baseball moments, too many to list here.

Only two teams in all of sports properly honour their history: the New York Yankees and the Montreal Canadiens. 

There is no doubt, in the coming months, the Yankees have some wonderful events planned to honour their home of the last 85 years before it's torn down.  It's only fitting that, once all is said and done in October, Yankee Stadium be remembered as the home to the only sport that ever really mattered to New York, that the final sporting event at Yankee Stadium IS a game of baseball—America's national pastime, not Canada's. 

As for the NHL outdoor classic series, there's no need to rush in to another one.  There was a four year span in between the first two, meaning overkill was kept to a minimum. 

To even be discussing another—at Yankee Stadium no less—smacks of excess.  As they say, too much of a good thing....

Let the last 57,000 fans that will pack in to Yankee Stadium in the fall be fans of baseball, not fans of hockey.  Let the final cool breeze they feel on their cheeks be that of Yankee ghosts haunting the stadium one last time, instead of the chill air of winter.