St.Joseph Boys Hockey To Face Amity In Outdoor Game

The and Amity boys hockey teams will stage their version of the NHL's Winter Classic on Monday afternoon when  they meet in an outdoor game at the University of Connecticut's Rentschler Field in East Hartford.

The game is part of "Whalers Hockey Fest 2011," a two-week celebration of hockey that was put together by former Hartford Whalers owner Howard Baldwin in an effort to promote the sport in the state.

The Whalers, of course, moved to North Carolina in 1997 and became known as the Carolina Hurricanes.

During "Hockey Fest 2011," which runs Feb. 9-23, Rentschler Field will host 30 hockey games featuring NHL alumni, celebrities, college and youth hockey players.

Baldwin's company spent about $300,000 building a rink at Rentschler and hopes to make back the money through ticket sales, concessions and renting the ice time.

The marquee matchup during the two-week event will be "The Whale Bowl," an American Hockey League game on Feb. 19 featuring the Providence Bruins and Connecticut Whale, the Rangers' AHL affiliate.

The league is hoping to surpass its attendance record of 21,500, established last season at the AHL's first outdoor game in Syracuse, N.Y.

One of the contests during "Hockey Fest" will feature a college clash between UConn and Sacred Heart on Feb. 13. 

While the high school games certainly will be played on a smaller scale, it's also an opportunity for those players to enjoy the thrill of playing outside.

"This is probably the biggest outdoor game that they'll ever play - two high school rivals, both teams were in the Division II championship last year - so there'a little pride on the line," Cadets coach Marty Crouse said.  "There's something on the line for the game and a little bragging rights. Maybe a once-in-a-lifetime deal to say that we won that event."

St. Joseph beat Amity 5-0 in the earlier meeting this season, avenging a 6-5 loss to the Spartans in last year's state title game.

"I think it's a great thing for hockey, maybe a once-in-a-lifetime chance for some of these high school teams to play in that atmosphere," Crouse added. "I think it's a super idea, I just don't know if it will be financially successful. I would hope the interest is there to support it. I don't know if it's there yet."

It certainly won't be cheap for the high school teams participating.

According to Crouse, the entrance fee is $7,500 per team. To help defray that cost Crouse has asked each of his players to sell seven tickets at $30 a pop.

"It's easy to be the Monday Morning Quarterback," he said. "We just got our tickets a couple weeks ago. I think if this was done sooner - before Christmas - we might have had a chance to really do a number on ticket sales, but this might be the only time we get to do something like this."

Crouse would love to see a crowd of 5,000 for Monday's game. He remembers the huge crowds at the New Haven Coliseum for the West Haven-Hamden games in the 1970s.

"We had to move our games to the Coliseum and we sold out the Coliseum, 7,000 people, so it's not unrealistic to get 5,000 people there," he said. "But again, 4 o'clock on a Monday afternoon, that might be an issue and then having the fact that we just got our tickets. But we'll do our best."