Lefko on AHL: Statement in Steeltown

If you build it, the National Hockey League won’t necessarily come, but the American Hockey League will.

The building of an outdoor rink in Hamilton for the first-ever AHL outdoor game in Ontario takes place in a city that built an indoor rink in 1985 in hopes that it would one day house an NHL expansion team. It didn’t happen and may never happen, either because the people chasing the dream went about it the wrong way or the city was never really in the equation anyway, so Copps Coliseum has become the home for the AHL Hamilton Bulldogs.

Watch the 2012 AHL Outdoor Classic live on Sportsnet Ontario, East, West and Pacific on Jan. 21 at 12:30 p.m. ET

In many ways, the Steeltown Showdown, as Saturday’s game between the Bulldogs and rival Toronto Marlies has been billed, is more than just a hockey game between two teams. It’s a chance for the city to make a statement about itself and to be proud of what it has as opposed to what it hasn’t been able to get.

“It’s putting Hamilton back on the map,” Mayor Bob Bratina told Sportsnet.ca on Friday. “Sometimes people get an unfair perception of what the city is like, so this is a great event done in a first-class way. The more we can tell our story in a positive way the better it is for the city. I’m speaking really as the Mayor so we can attract more business, development, opportunities for people. Sports can play a huge role in that.”

Hamiltonians have a resolve, and it will surely be tested watching a game outdoors in winter in a soon-to-be-demolished stadium that has all the charm of a booze can. Ivor Wynne Stadium is far from pretty and fans who come to the park to watch the beloved Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League are known to be rowdy and, sometimes, rude, particularly when the opposition is the enemy Toronto Argonauts.

Because of the proximity of the stands to the field for football games, the fans are right on top of the action and it’s not uncommon for players to run into the retaining walls if they can’t bring themselves to a halt when moving or hit out of the field of play. It’s the reason padding is needed. But that is part of the uniqueness of Ivor Wynne, which will be demolished after this year and be replaced by a new stadium to be ready for the Ticats’ use in 2014 and the Pan Am Games in 2015.

So it will be interesting to see how the game plays out from a spectator point of view because this will be the antithesis of viewing a football game. The rink is built within the area of the football field, effectively far away from the fans, and yet there is something surreal about outdoor hockey games, a kind of throwback to youth hockey for professional players and coaches. And situated in an old place like Ivor Wynne Stadium, well, it adds to the event.

This is not the first time an outdoor professional hockey league game will be played at Ivor Wynne. In 2005, the stadium was the site for a charity All-Star Game during the NHL lockout. It featured some active and former NHL players at the time and it did not go over. It took place in April in the rain. Billed as Our Game To Give, it was a resounding flop.

This, however, has the prospect to be an artistic success because these outdoor hockey games, including previous ones in the AHL, have become trendy and for the most part have gone over well.

The Bulldogs are deserving of this moment. They were a franchise once on the verge of collapse in 2000, but have rebounded because of a bunch of businessmen, including current majority owner Michael Andlauer, who bought the team from the Edmonton Oilers in 2002. Since then the franchise has won four divisional championships, three conference championships and one league championship. They have produced players who have gone on to play for the parent Montreal Canadiens, including Carey Price, P.K. Subban and Jaroslav Halak, to name a few. Some of their recent coaches have included current NHL coaches Claude Julien, Guy Boucher and Randy Cunneyworth.

The success on the ice hasn’t often translated to financial success, and any number of reasons can be given as a possible explanation – be it the economy, a passing interest in the AHL product, or a desire for an NHL team that has been dangled too often.

“What we should be really concerned about civically is emphasizing the good product we have here and the great owner, Mr. Andlauer. I really like the guy,” Bratina said. “He’s taken a shine to Hamilton and has done things far beyond hockey here. We have to remember if something happens with regards to the NHL, it’s not going to happen in the front pages or at city council meetings. It’s going to happen behind closed doors and quietly and suddenly we may hear about that, but we can’t sit around and wait for that. We have to celebrate what we have. We have a great hockey team.”

For one day, the Bulldogs will be on display in a most unique way in a most unique environment.

Saturday will be Hamilton’s day.