Roger Arrieta
Don’t get me wrong—Dodger Stadium has always been the crown jewel of professional sports in the United States—at least, in my humble opinion as a Los Angeles native and Dodgers fan. But until the Dodgers were sold in 2012, and substantially renovated in 2013 with, among other things, two large high-definition video boards, Dodger Stadium had definitely lost some of its considerable luster. With the massive financial commitments made by the Dodgers’ new ownership group since 2012 and the NHL deciding to kick-off its first annual Stadium Series at Dodger Stadium with the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks today, however, Dodger Stadium has been put back in the national spotlight where it belongs.
Dodger Stadium opened back in April, 1962 shortly after the Dodgers franchise moved from Brooklyn. In addition to 51 years of Dodgers baseball, Dodger Stadium has hosted legendary rock bands and artists such as Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, U2, and KISS, and been featured in a number of major motion pictures. In 1984, Dodgers Stadium hosted baseball for the Summer Olympic Games. Last year, Dodger Stadium was transformed into a soccer stadium of sorts so that the 2013 International Champions Cup could be played with Real Madrid, Everton, Juventus, and the Los Angeles Galaxy. But never before has Dodger Stadium hosted a major professional U.S. sport, other than MLB.
While constructing, then maintaining, an outdoor ice rink—of NHL quality—is no easy task, Dan Craig, NHL Senior Director of Facilities Operations, is a wizard and the foremost expert in the field. When the NHL hosted its first outdoor game in Edmonton in 2003, Craig was in charge of constructing the rink, and although it took the NHL five years to host its second outdoor game, it has since become an annual tradition—and Craig has been in charge of constructing every rink. When Kings’ President of Business Operations and NHL Hall-of-Famer, Luc Robitaille, tested the ice on Wednesday, he was surprised by just how good the ice surface felt so many days in advance of the game. With Kings and Ducks players both sharing similarly positive reviews after testing the ice on Friday despite the fact that daily temperatures in LA this past week have been comfortably in the 70s, it’s a good sign that an outdoor ice rink of NHL quality can be maintained in Dodger Stadium in the future as well.
With Southern California’s interest in ice hockey having skyrocketed the past few years, starting with the Ducks winning the Stanley Cup in 2007, then the Kings winning the Cup in 2011, the Stadium Series game is of course sold out and Dodger Stadium is expected to be buzzing. The NHL wisely took advantage of the fan interest by also organizing a hockey and entertainment festival outside of Dodger Stadium leading up to the game this evening. Of course, while both teams are currently expected to make the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Ducks have been on an historic roll of late, having won 20 of their last 23 games, and are comfortably perched atop the Western Conference heading toward the 3-week Olympic hiatus. The Kings, on the other hand, have been struggling, and desperately need to win this evening’s game.
No matter which team wins, one thing is for sure—Dodger Stadium is winning, and so are hockey fans across Southern California! Here’s to hoping that the Stadium Series is here to stay!
