Avs, Dogs to play on outdoor ice

WASILLA — Jamie Smith is no stranger to lacing up the skates and hitting the outdoor ice during the coldest months of winter.

Now Smith, who has participated in outdoor hockey games as both a high school player and coach, will have to share his experience with others in the Alaska Avalanche junior hockey organization, because in February, the Avs will compete in the North American Hockey League’s first official game to be hosted outdoors.

The Fairbanks Ice Dogs will host the Avalanche in an official outdoor game on Feb. 13, at an outdoor rink that lies adjacent to the Dogs’ home facility, the Big Dipper Ice Arena.

“It’s history in the making,” Smith, Alaska’s president and general manager, said last week. “And where else better than the frigid cold of Fairbanks, Alaska?”

Smith said the Mat-Su Valley would be an ideal place to host an outdoor game, mainly due to temperatures that are usually a bit more moderate than those of Fairbanks, but Smith said the Valley doesn’t currently have an outdoor facility to fit the neds of such an event.

A handful of high school teams in Alaska — programs such as Kenny Lake, Glennallen and Susitna Valley — play their home games on the outdoor ice. As the longtime head coach of the Houston High School program, Smith would routinely lead the Hawks onto the outdoor ice during the depths of winter. Smith said his teams played in below-zero temperatures numerous times, and as a player at Wasilla High School, he once played in a outdoor game when temperatures hovered around -30.

The Avs could be in for similar temperatures during a game in February. According to data provided by the University of Alaska Fairbanks geophysical institute, the average temperature in Fairbanks was about -10 last February.

Despite the cold, Smith said it’s an excellent chance for the Alaska and Fairbanks players to experience something truly unique.

“When you can get back to the roots of the game, it’s pretty neat,” Smith said.

The NAHL is following in a path paved by the National Hockey League and the NCAA. In recent years, teams on both levels have taken the outdoor ice.

On Jan. 1, the Buffalo Sabers hosted the Pittsburgh Penguins in the AMP NHL Winter Classic at Ralph Wilson Stadium, the home of the NFL’s Buffalo Bills.

Tentative talks are placing the next Winter Classic at Chicago’s Wrigley Field, where the Blackhawks will host the Detroit Red Wings.

In February of 2006, Ohio State met Wisconsin at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisc., the home of the Green Bay Packers.

In 2001, a game that was dubbed “The Cold War” featured the Michigan Wolverines and Michigan State Spartans in front of more than 100,000 fans at Michigan State’s Spartan Stadium.

Smith said the idea of the NAHL featuring an outdoor game has been tossed around for quite some time. All details have not been finalized, according to a press release issued by the league. The game will feature four 15-minute periods, with a warm-up between the first and second periods and a halftime between the second and third periods, the release stated.

The outdoor game is not just a first for the league, but it’s the first-ever USA Hockey-sanctioned outdoor junior hockey game.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.