{"id":5885,"date":"2015-02-10T16:00:48","date_gmt":"2015-02-10T22:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/justus\/?p=853"},"modified":"2015-02-10T16:15:39","modified_gmt":"2015-02-10T22:15:39","slug":"hockey-city-classic-makes-lukewarm-return-to-chicago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/hockey-city-classic-makes-lukewarm-return-to-chicago\/","title":{"rendered":"Hockey City Classic makes lukewarm return to Chicago"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Ryan Lund<\/p>\n

It started hours before the games began, with a souvenir hockey puck that mistakenly pitted Michigan State against \u201cMichigan University,\u201d and continued into Saturday afternoon, as mild temperatures delayed puck drop for nearly two hours.<\/p>\n

But while this year\u2019s Hockey City Classic<\/a> pitted Miami-Ohio, Western Michigan, Michigan and Michigan State against poor ice conditions and an announced attendance of just 22,751 at 61,500-seat Soldier Field, Miami coach Enrico Blasi says that his team would do it all again.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A mislabeled souvenir hockey puck was just one of the issues facing the Hockey City Classic on Saturday, including mild temperatures and poor turnout. (Ryan Lund\/Medill)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIf they invite us to come back again, we\u2019re here,\u201d Blasi said. \u201cThis is a great thing for our game, for college hockey.<\/p>\n

The RedHawks knocked off National Collegiate Hockey Conference<\/a> rival Western Michigan 4-3 to kick off the event, before Michigan blasted Michigan State 4-1 in the night game.<\/p>\n

Originally slated for a 3 p.m. start time, Miami and Western Michigan spent over an hour in the locker room before the game finally got underway at 4:40 p.m.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Michigan and Michigan State were pushed back to 8:40 p.m.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter last night, I didn\u2019t think that there was much hope that we\u2019d have this today,\u201d Michigan State coach Tom Anastos said.<\/p>\n

Temperatures hovered in the low 40s throughout the afternoon, as crews worked to make the surface playable while game one was continually pushed back.<\/p>\n

According to Western Michigan freshman Aidan Muir, the delays began to wear on the players.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re told to wait half an hour, you adjust to that, and then you need to wait another half-hour, then another half-hour, it gets rough,\u201d Muir said. \u201cBut you\u2019ve got to find a way around it. You need to eat while you\u2019re waiting, you need to stretch and stay mentally prepared.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Blasi and the RedHawk\u2019s coaching staff did their best to keep the team on its toes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe tried to get them going again and into their routine every time we got a half hour we were going to be delayed,\u201d Blasi said. \u201c\u2026 But after the third one they were calling my bluff, so I\u2019m glad that we got the game in.”<\/p>\n

Western Michigan spotted the RedHawks a 4-0 lead through the first two periods but the Broncos stormed back in the third, scoring three times in the final period.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no moral victories in sport,\u201d Broncos coach Andy Murray said. \u201cI did like the battle of our team in the third period, to come back under tough circumstances, a scenario where I believe that a lot of teams would have just walked away from this rink.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miami and WMU struggled to generate chances throughout the game, as the puck seemingly refused to lay flat on the ice.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t try and make the fancy play,\u201d Miami freshman Louie Belpedio said. \u201cAll the goals were ugly, that\u2019s what it takes sometimes, and I think we were able to do that a little better than they were, and that\u2019s why we won tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
Michigan senior Zach Hyman and the Wolverines exploded for 37 shots on goal in a 4-1 win over Michigan State. (PHOTO: Ronald Wray)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

However, by the time Big 10<\/a> rivals Michigan and Michigan State made their way down the tunnel, the ice appeared to have improved, as Wolverines sophomore Michael Downing ripped home a rare chance from the blue line, the first long-range goal on the day.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast night there was little chips and kind of holes, tonight it was just a little soft,\u201d Michigan State junior Michael Ferrantino said. \u201cThe ice was actually better than we thought it was going to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

At this point, both teams should be accustomed to outdoor ice after setting a college hockey attendance record back in 2010, drawing more than 113,000 fans to Michigan Stadium for the Big Chill at the Big House.<\/p>\n

Michigan has now played in seven outdoor games \u2013 more than any other team in college hockey \u2013 but despite the conditions and a smaller crowd, Wolverines coach Red Berenson is still a believer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI played most of my hockey as a kid outdoors, and then it was a treat to play indoors, and now, for these kids, they play all their hockey indoors and it\u2019s a treat to play outdoors., Berenson said following practice Friday.<\/p>\n

But while the players and coaches appear to have an appetite for outdoor hockey, attendance at the event was sparse, with entire sections of the nearly 62,000-seat stadium\u2019s lower bowl left virtually empty.<\/p>\n

Still, with pep bands stationed behind each goaltender, and healthy contingents from WMU and Miami tagging out for fans from Michigan and MSU, Blasi was quick to dismiss the relatively poor turnaround as a non-factor.<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t tell. From the bench we could feel the energy behind us,\u201d Blasi said.<\/p>\n

Photo at top: Saturday’s outdoor match-up between Miami-Ohio and Western Michigan was delayed for nearly two hours due to mild temperatures, before the two teams finally squared off in the Hockey City Classic’s return to Chicago. (PHOTO: Ronald Wray)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Ryan Lund It started hours before the games began, with a souvenir hockey puck that mistakenly pitted Michigan State against \u201cMichigan University,\u201d and continued into Saturday afternoon, as mild temperatures delayed puck drop for nearly two hours. But while this year\u2019s Hockey City Classic pitted Miami-Ohio, Western Michigan, Michigan and Michigan State against poor […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":86,"featured_media":5888,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nHockey City Classic makes lukewarm return to Chicago - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/hockey-city-classic-makes-lukewarm-return-to-chicago\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hockey City Classic makes lukewarm return to Chicago - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Ryan Lund It started hours before the games began, with a souvenir hockey puck that mistakenly pitted Michigan State against \u201cMichigan University,\u201d and continued into Saturday afternoon, as mild temperatures delayed puck drop for nearly two hours. 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