Premium ContentMouse over Home then click on Premium Content for information.It took time, but finally, outdoor hockey in Omaha has become a reality.
And the city will get a double dose.
The official announcement came Tuesday that a doubleheader, with the Omaha Lancers facing the Lincoln Stars in the opening game, and the University of Nebraska at Omaha playing North Dakota in the second matchup, is set for Saturday, Feb. 9, 2013, at TD Ameritrade Park, the 24,000-seat stadium that is home to baseball's College World Series.
"(Lancers President) Ben Robert came to my office about 2½ years ago and said, 'I want to do outdoor hockey in Omaha,'" UNO Athletic Director Trev Alberts said. "TD Ameritrade didn't even exist then. ... Ben kept going and talking about outdoor hockey, and we obviously had a few things we had to work through with the NCAA and others, so the fact we're here today is a testament to the hard work of an awful lot of people, and we're honored to be a part of it."
The Lancers-Stars game is set for 12:30 p.m., with the college game to follow 45 to 60 minutes after the conclusion of the juniors game.
Both contests will be league games, not exhibitions, so the stakes will be high. The Lancers and Stars are rivals in the United States Hockey League. UNO and North Dakota are competitors in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.
Tickets for the two-game event, starting at $30, will go on sale Oct. 1. There are no individual-game sales.
"It's going to be a very exciting day for the city of Omaha," Robert said. "We'll put ourselves on the map across the nation when it comes to this city being recognized as a hockey city."
Harold Cliff, president of the Omaha Sports Commission, said the rink will already be in town ahead of time — it will be used across the street at the CenturyLink Center as part of the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, set for Jan. 20 through 27.
"The economy of scale comes in that we don't have to transport it here twice," Cliff said. "They come in with everything — the ice plant, the boards. ... We'll move it over from the convention center, lay it out on the field ... make it level and put the ice on it.
"Ten days is reasonable to move it and set it up again. And we don't want to leave it down too long, because it has the potential of harming the turf."
Cliff said Ice Rental Events, which has provided the rinks for the NHL Winter Classic, will set up shop on the TD Ameritrade field.
"They know what they're doing, and they've done it for years," Cliff said.
Outdoor hockey games have by and large been a smashing success since Michigan and Michigan State played an outdoor game in 2001.
The NHL has had five Winter Classics and two other outdoor regular-season games, while colleges have picked up the pace in recent years. More than 100,000 turned out for Michigan State-Michigan at Michigan Stadium in 2006. Boston's Fenway Park and Cleveland's Progressive Field are among the baseball stadiums to have hosted games.
"It's fun for everyone involved," UNO coach Dean Blais said. "And it's fast action because the ice is fast — faster than anything we've skated on all year. There's no buildings as cold as it is (outside) right now. Players get less fatigued and they skate faster."
People like outdoor games for more than just the hockey, too.
"It's an event," Cliff said. "It is a little different, and that's one of the reasons that makes it so popular.
"It'd be kind of fun to be able to say, 'I was at a hockey game here this winter,' when you're sitting there enjoying something in the summertime."
The UNO-North Dakota game will be the second of the weekend between the two — they'll open a two-game series one night earlier at the CenturyLink Center.
A big crowd is expected outside, though Cliff said capacity at TD Ameritrade will be down slightly since the view from some seats in lower rows will be obscured by the rink's boards.
"I think this is indicative of what makes Omaha special," Alberts said. "Omaha is special because people come together and collaborate on great things, and so the citizens of Omaha have a great time."
Any ancillary events will be decided upon later.
"At this stage, our focus is getting those two games planned, seeing how long we'll have the ice and having an ideal playing surface for the two teams," Cliff said. "Because they are league games, and you don't want to mess that up."
Recent weather ideal for outdoor games
If the weather on Feb. 9, 2013, is anywhere close to what it was Tuesday, then organizers will be celebrating the success of the "Battles on Ice" outdoor hockey doubleheader.
"This would be (perfect)," said Cliff, in referring to ideal playing weather. "It's right around freezing. You certainly have the capability of going up and down (in temperature) from here, but a day like this, the fans are not going to be that uncomfortable."
How much is too much, like the recent unseasonably warm weather?
"It would have to be an extraordinary circumstance," Cliff said. "Fifty (degrees) would be fine. Seventy might be an issue."
And if the weather is extreme, one way or the other?
"Plan B, to be perfectly honest, hasn't been worked out yet," Cliff said. "We assume we'll be able to play, whether it's that day or the next day. ... We would know well in advance of that, because it wouldn't happen overnight."
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402-444-1027, rob.white@owh.com
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