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OHL: Not in our Big House, says Michigan; but league eyes outdoor doubleheader to tie in with Winter Classic

Neate Sager

When the National Hockey League decided to stage its next Winter Classic at famed Michigan Stadium, little did it know — or probably care — that it was dropping it right into the epicentre of the endless bun fight between the Canadian Hockey League and NCAA.

It's become part of outdoor hockey classics to stage some smaller events before the main one. For instance, last winter's Heritage Classic at Calgary's McMahon Stadium was complemented by a WHL game between the Calgary Hitmen and Regina Pats. The AHL Outdoor Classic last Saturday in Hamilton included two university games involving nearby Brock University. Collegiate teams have also played on outdoor rinks created for the Winter Classic.

Michigan, which pretty much invented the outdoor game concept when the Wolverines and Michigan State Spartans played at Spartan Stadium (thank you, commenters!) in 2001, is the foremost state for having a sizable major junior and NCAA Division 1 hockey presence. So, on Tuesday, when CTV London's Brent Lale tweeted the "NHL has approved the CHL request to play an outdoor DH [doubleheader] @ Big House Dec. 31st," the day before the Toronto Maple Leafs-Detroit Red Wings tilt, it set off a near-panic. (Lale added participants could include the London Knights, Plymouth Whalers, Saginaw Spirit and Windsor Spitfires.) Surely mighty Michigan, which has seen an endless number of recruits spurn it for major junior, would not countenance this? Bo Schembechler would be spinning in his grave.

(Update: Saginaw president Craig Goslin told Jim Parker "there is dialogue" about such an event, adding, "Hopefully, it gets done in the next couple of weeks."

Long story short, apparently the OHL is taking it outside, but it won't be in Ann Arbor. From Matt Slovin:

An OHL source with one of the teams involved informed the Daily that the league is, in fact, planning an outdoor doubleheader. The source went on to name Detroit's Comerica Park, home of baseball's Tigers, as the most likely venue.

While an official announcement hasn't been released by either the Athletic Department or the NHL regarding the Winter Classic, the Detroit Free Press confirmed earlier this month that the event would, indeed, be held at the Big House.

A major sticking point remains whether any smaller events will supplement the Winter Classic. It now seems likely that any other games to be played would take place at an auxiliary venue, like Comerica Park. (Michigan Daily)

No doubt the OHL loves having their big news get out via the associate athletic director of a NCAA school. Meanwhile, not that anyone's surprised to see hostility toward major junior, but it did inspire an awesome rant from The House That Yost Built:

The OHL is a competing product. They steal our recruits. They play dirty and continue to recruit players after they've signed with colleges. They steal players during the season when it's too late for the NCAA team to replace them. They do everything they can to convince prospects that the CHL is a superior path to the NHL. Michigan should not be allowing them to use our beautiful stadium to showcase their product.

Trevor Lewis. Jared Knight. AJ Jenks. Jack Campbell. John Gibson. Robbie Czarnik. Lucas Lessio. Tyler Swystun. Danny Richmond. Jason Bailey. All players that have committed to Michigan, signed with Michigan, or played for Michigan, before being poached by teams in the CHL in the not-so-distant past. If you want to go back further, do Mike Comrie and Mike Van Ryn ring a bell? I'm sure there are more.

Relax, it is apparently not going to happen, although there were similar denials from Michigan when the Leafs-Red Wings Winter Classic rumours first cropped up.

With regard to junior hockey, no doubt OHL commissioner David Branch has wanted to do this for a long time, under the right conditions. It is a chance to market the league at a time when college hockey's bigger schools are going to benefit from the new Big Ten Hockey Conference. The OHL would be biting off more than it could chew if it played at Michigan Stadium, which has a football capacity of 109,901. Comerica Park is about the only venue the OHL's area that would work for it. These events work better in a more intimate ballpark setting than a venue built for football. There isn't an actual ballpark in Ontario that holds more than 10,000 people — no one has ever called Rogers Centre a ballpark — so over the border it is.

Obviously, there are a lot of details yet to be finalized. The OHL going it alone was probably never going to happen because of the sheer expense involved. The Spokane Chiefs did that last year, but their owners basically did it a loss leader. Partnering with the NHL is safer. The timing is also good, since it could get the CHL more media play at a time when world junior championship will be in far-off Ufa, Russia, with a smaller North American media contingent than usual. And yes, it's a finger in the NCAA's eye.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Contact him at neatesager@yahoo.ca and follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet (photo: The Associated Press).