Breaking the Ice on Something New

It looked like a typical football Saturday in East Lansing, Mich.

Tailgaters were out in full force--throwing footballs, eating hamburgers, drinking beer and singing fight songs.

Michigan and Michigan State were set to play at Spartan Stadium.

But instead of pigskins flying, it was pucks skipping across the ice.

Ice? Hockey in a football stadium?

What once was considered a joke became a record-breaking success Saturday night.

Michigan State tied Michigan, 3-3, in overtime before 74,554 fans, smashing a hockey attendance record that stood for 44 years.

“I thought I had see everything in hockey,” Michigan Coach Red Berenson said. “This couldn’t have turned out better.”

The record crowd braved chilly temperatures hovering just above freezing with wind gusts reaching nearly 30 mph.

Many snickered when Michigan State said it was exploring the idea last spring. Some thought the university would be lucky if 30,000 people showed up. Now the Detroit Red Wings are considering a similar endeavor.

Michigan State Coach Ron Mason even dismissed the idea when assistant coach David McAuliffe came up with it several years ago.

“Ron laughed,” McAuliffe said. “ ... And here we are.”

Hall of Famer Gordie Howe dropped the puck in a ceremonial faceoff. Moments later, hundreds of cameras flashed to capture the moment of the official faceoff as the sun dipped out of sight.

The world record that was broken was set on March 5, 1957, when 55,000 watched the Soviet Union play Sweden in the world championship gold medal game at Lenin Stadium in Moscow.

“It’s beautiful to be a part of this,” Howe said. “Somebody had a great deal of imagination to come up with this idea.”

Things return to normal next weekend when Iowa comes to play the Spartans--in football--but make sure to keep that ice frozen and available.