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Nine years after The Cold War, rivals
set to clash outdoors in The Big Chill
Continued from Page 5
what they're doing. They've broken
the ice, they've redone it ... this is good
ice. There might be some ice issues
depending on weather and usage and
everything, but you've got a lot of
people that know what they're doing
here."
Pat Seltsam is the brains behind the
"good ice" that will be on display when
the Wolverines take on their CCHA
rival Spartans on Saturday.
Part innovator, part engineer, Selt-
sam and his company are well known
when it comes to outdoor ice. With
Seltsam as the project manager, Ice
Rink Events creates about 40 rinks a
year.
"I feel like a little bit of an artist to
have to create something that fits into
the right place," Seltsam said. "Espe-
cially with (the Big Chill) rink, we
worked with them to create an Olym-
pic size rink instead of an NHL sized
rink, which when you look at how it fits
into that field, it works great."
Some of the best-known rinks on
Seltsam's resume include two World
Figure Skating Championship rinks,
two United States Figure Skating
Championship rinks, the first-ever
NHL Winter Classic in Buffalo, N.Y.,
Wisconsin's Camp Randall Classic
and Wisconsin's first outdoor game at
Lambeau Field.
Seltsam has been involved with
every step of the Big Chill construc-
tion since the University told him it
was interested in using the company
to put on its outdoor game at Michigan
Stadium.
The University got in touch with his
company last winter when Ice Rink
Events was in the middle of construct-
ing the Camp Randall Classic rink at
Wisconsin.
And while the Wolverines dropped
that outdoor game to the Badgers last
season, 3-2, there's no denying the
impact it had in propelling the higher-
ups at Michigan to push for a game at
the Big House.
"I was surprised at how early and
how proactive Michigan was about
reaching out to us," Seltsam said. "It
was last year when Michigan first
reached out to us and then we came
for a site visit again in the fall. ... (The
Big Chill construction) went really
smoothly, it was almost an identical to
what we did in Wisconsin, which went
extremely well."
Other than the unpredictable win-
ter weather in the Midwest - some-
thing the company tries to factor into
its construction schedule - everything
going into making the best ice possible
for the largest hockey game ever went
according to plan.
After using an outside company
to help level the football field, Selt-
sam's crew began setting up the cold
air chiller, located outside the tun-
nel, which connects to hoses down
at ice level. Coolant flows from the
chiller through the pipes, working like
"something that would propel the air
conditioning systems in a commercial
building in the summertime," Seltsam
said.
Once the cooling system was in
place, the boards and the glass were
cleared to go up. And after the frame
of the rink was set, the ice technicians
used good 'ol Ann Arbor city water to
make the actual ice.
"To actually make the ice, it's an old
fashioned man-with-a-hose," Seltsam
said. "Generally two days will get you
enough water on top of those refrig-
eration tubes to paint the ice. But after
that, you can add a little more water on
there to freeze it over the paint, so you
have enough ice you don't have any of
the vinyl logos stickingup."
So is that all that goes into making
Red Berenson-approved outdoor ice?,
Not quite.
One thing that both Seltsam and
Yost Ice Arena manager Craig Wotta
emphasized during the plans leading
up to the Big Chill ice construction was
the need to get players skating on the
ice early and often.
Once the ice is frozen, Wotta
emphasized the importance of build-
ing up multiple layers of ice through-
out the week to ensure that the ice is
rock-solid for Saturday. Wotta said
that early in the week the technicians
weren't using a blade on the zamboni
to scrape the ice and instead were just
filling in any cracks with water to cre-
ate a solid base.
"When we do shave (the ice), we can
form a new sheet of ice," Wotta said.
"Essentially, it makes the ice better.
But if we don't have the depth, if we
don't have it skated it up and if we don't
fill these cracks and crevices, it doesn't
help anything."
Games have been played on the ice
since Dec. 4 as all of the Ann Arbor
high schools, plus various prep pro-
grams, local colleges, and the Michi-
gan and Michigan State club teams
have had the chance to play, scrape
up and expose any glitches on the Big
Chill ice.
"Any time you skate on ice, it frac-
tures it a little bit more," Seltsam said.
"It compresses it a little bit more, so
when you rebuild it and resurface it
after a game, you end up with a more
solid piece of ice."
Seltsam added that while there
hadn't been any major glitches
exposed this time around, the pre-Big
Chill games did expose a small human
error in the construction.
"(Sunday), during the Adrian and
Concordia game, there (was) just
some little things that we didn't think
about," Wotta said." Normally, there's
a hole where the referees will talk to
the scorekeeper. We forgot to have that
cut, but now it's cut. But if that hap-
pens during the Big Chill, it's like 'Oh
my, what do we do?' From that stand-
point, having the games before has
been great."
While the rink itself may be a close
counterpart to the one on display at
Camp Randall Stadium last February,
there's no denying the spectacle that
the 113,000 in attendance will be a part
of at the Big House.
Members from Guinness World
Records will be present to document
the event as the largest hockey game
ever. And from a pre- and post-game
fireworks show to fireworks commem-
orating each Michigan goal scored,
Saturday will be as much a show as a
hockey game.
While Seltsam enjoys seeing the
blueprints manifestinto an actual rink,
the game will be Seltsam's favorite part
of the whole production.
"It's special when you can see a
skater's experience mesh with a fan's
experience," Seltsam said.
"The sense of creating something
for an event that people will enjoy is
one great thing. And when you see it
publicized like it is and when people
say great things about it...like when
Red Berenson goes out there and says
'Hey, this is great ice,' we love that."
By STEPHEN J. NESBITT
Daily Sports Writer
As a captain of the No. 12 Michi-
gan hockey team, senior forward Carl
Hagelin thinks his expertise playing
outdoors could prove valuable when
the Wolverines
play host to Michi-M
gan State in The Michigan St
Big Chill at the Big at Michigan
House on Saturday. Matchup:
Growing up with Michigan St.
the good fortune of 6-8-3; Michi-
having a lake locat- gan 8-3-1
ed behind his home When: Sat-
in Sodertalje, Swe- urday 3 p.m.
den, Hagelin may Where: Hichi-
have the most pond-Whnre:du
hockey experience g
on the roster. TV/Radio:
Hagelin esti- FS-Detrsit
mates that the larg-
est crowd he ever played before at an
outdoor game in Sweden was made up
of 55 people. But his pond obviously
didn't seat 109,901 like Michigan Sta-
dium does.
"You feel like a kid again," Hage-
lin said Monday of stepping onto the
Big House ice for the first time. "You
love the game so much, and when you
come out of the tunnel, you love it
even more. Everyone is taken back to
when they were a young kid, skating
on the pond."
Although much of the Michigan
team (8-3-1-0 CCHA, 9-5-4 overall)
participated in the Camp Randall
Classic showdown against Wiscon-
sin in February, the Big Chill will be
unlike anything the sport has ever
witnessed. With more than 110,000
tickets sold, the rivalry game is
expected to shatter every hockey
attendance record.
"We get a chance to play in what is
the biggest game for my recent ten-
ure, and once again, it's a game that's
going to be magical," Michigan coach
Red Berenson said.
But the Big Chill is merely a
sequel to another in-state titan clash
between the Spartans and Wolver-
ines, which happened on Oct. 6, 2001
at Spartan Stadium: the Cold War.
And without the Cold War matchup,
hockey may never have come to the
gridiron of Michigan Stadium.
The Cold War was the first outdoor
college hockey game in history, and it
served as the precursor that set the
stage for hockey's return to the out-
doors.
The pioneering project began with
several Michigan State officials and
the idea to pit two teams against each
other in the confines of the Spar-
tans' 74,000-seat football stadium.
Although the proposal was disre-
garded for years, it finally gained an
advocate in Michigan State Athletic
Director Mark Hollis.
"We did a lot of homework, did alot
of research and started the process,"
Hollis said in a press conference on
Monday. "We actually announced it
before we knew if we could indeed
pull it off.
"When we did it, I kind of equate it
to the Apollo versus the space shuttle
- it's a heck of a lot easier now with
the technology they have in place."
Compared to today's more sophis-
ticated method of creating an outdoor
rink, Hollis' approach was archaic.
"When we executed the plan, it was
basically a refrigeration system from
Hollywood that chills the movie stu-
dios," Hollis said. "We sort of (made
a) makeshift ice rink out of that kind
of system."
Hollis didn't need to look far to
find the perfect opponent for the top-
ranked Spartans. Just 65 miles away,
No. 4 Michigan was ready for a battle
on the pond.
When the week of the game
arrived, temperatures boosted into
high 70s, leaving the game in jeopar-
dy. Rain and winds on Friday deterred
the Wolverines from even getting a
chance to practice on the ice before
gameday. But on Saturday morning,
temperatures took a nosedive, leav-
ing the ice in perfect condition for
the evening game under the lights at
Spartan Stadium.
As the seats filled with a world-
record crowd of 74,544, the teams
emerged from the tunnel and took the
ice. Then-Michigan goalie and cur-
rent goaltender coach Josh Blackburn
described stepping onto the field as
"almost a religious experience."
Then-junior forward Michael
Cammalleri wrote in an e-mail inter-
view with the Daily earlier this week
that the Cold War was like playing "on
a pond in front of the whole world."
Through the first 59 minutes of
the game, the Wolverines were pro-
pelled by Cammalleri, who convinced
Berenson to play him despite sustain-
ing a hip injury earlier. Cammalleri
was unstoppable in the Cold War,
racking up two goals and an assist to
put Michigan ahead, 3-2, late in the
third period.
But three periods weren't enough
to satisfy the record-setting crowd.
With less than half a minute
remaining and Spartan goaltender
Ryan Miller pulled for the extra
attacker, Cammalleri had the puck
stripped from him in the defensive
FIL
Former Michigan alternate captain Mike Cammaleri shakes hands with former Spartan Tim Hearon at The Cold War in 2001.
CLOCKWISE FRUM LEE I: The
Michigan hockey team fights
for the puck at the "Cold War" in
2001. The outdoor game in Spar-
tan Stadium was the first of its
kind. The game ended in a 3-3 tie.
(FILE PHOTO/Daily). Michigan
coach Red Berenson skated on the
Big Chill ice on Dec. 2. (MAX COL-
LINS/DAILY). The Big Chill at the
Big House logo adorns everything
from pucks to sweatshirts. (MAX
COLLINS/DAILY)
zone, and Spartan freshman Jim Slat-
er beat Blackburn glove-side to knot
the game.
In college hockey's introduction to
the limelight, it seemed appropriate
that the teams skated to a 3-3 draw,
leaving the conclusion of the Cold
War in limbo.
"It's only going to add to the rival-
ry," Miller said in a postgame inter-
view. "We're only going to want to get
at (Michigan) even more."
But it took nine years before the
Spartans and the Wolverines would
reunite outdoors.
According to Michigan associate
coach Mel Pearson, talks of bring-
ing the rivalry to Michigan Stadium
began immediately following the
Cold War game.
"I think that was one of the first
things we talked about in the week
after the game," Pearson said. "We
can't have Michigan State have that
(attendance) record."
Added Berenson: "We talked
whether that could happen here. ... It
wasn't for me to say we should have a
game here. It was for me to say that
I definitely would support it if it ever
comes to that, where the field condi-
tions or scheduling and everything
falls into place, then I would support
it 100 percent."
But due to the natural grass surface
at the Big House, a meeting in Ann
Arbor seemed unlikely. And when
Spartan Stadium's turf was replaced
with natural grass in 2002, hope of a
rematch severely dwindled.
Meanwhile, the impact of the Cold
War elsewhere was clearly visible.
Other hockey leagues, including the
NHL, began to host outdoor games on
a regular basis.
In November of 2003, the Edmon-
ton Oilers hosted the Montreal Cana-
dians in the Heritage Classic, which
stood as the league's first-ever regula-
tion outdoor game.
Over the next few years, outdoor
games ceased to be a rarity in the
United States. Ohio State and Wis-
consin battled in the Frozen Tundra
Holiday Classic at Lambeau Field in
2006, and the NHL began a tradition
of hosting a Winter Classic matchup
every New Year's Day in 2008.
In January, the Michigan Athletic
Department announced its finalized
plans to host the Big Chill at the Big
House - the long-awaited rematch
between the Wolverines and the
Spartans. Not surprisingly, the Big
House - the largest football stadium
in the nation - sold out quickly.
Berenson believes that "90 to 95
percent" of the packed house will be
Michigan supporters, suggesting that
Michigan State had to send back some
of its allotted tickets because of the
high demand in Ann Arbor. And this
time, the clash isn't between two of
the nation's top-ranked teams.
Regardless, the Wolverines will
certainly have their hands full on Sat-
urday.
"It's going to be a great game,"
Michigan State coach Rick Comley
said on Monday. "You always throw
the records out when you play Michi-
gan in any sport."
Comley added that he isn't try-
ing to block out the immensity of the
game, but rather "let (his players)
enjoy it.... It's going to dominate their
thoughts."
He joked about busing the Spartans
(3-7-1, 6-8-3) to apublic skate session at
the Big House just to ensure that the
only cold feet they get is because of the
bitter cold forecasted on Saturday.
"It would be nice to get (the play-
ers) into the building and let them
look around and stargaze for awhile,"
Comley said.
Ultimately, the game does factor
into the CCHA standings as a regu-
lar-season, three-point matchup, but
everyone involved knows it's much
more than that - it's putting college
hockey on center stage.
"This game is with our arch-rival
Michigan State," senior goaltender
Shawn Hunwick said on Monday.
"We're going to break records. I don't
think anyone has ever played a game
of this magnitude, inside or outside."
Saturday, December 11, 2010 3
6 1 The Big Chill Commemorative Edition, The Michigan Daily