In 1994, Syracuse hockey fans hailed Howard Dolgan as a hero when the Hamilton Canucks relocated to the upstate New York city. Syracuse had been without a regular minor league team since the Blazers folded in the late 1970s. In 2010 it happened again as he brought the AHL's first outdoor game to Syracuse. In the vein of the recent NHL Winter Classics, the Mirabito Outdoor Classic was held at the New York State Fairgrounds on February 20 between the Crunch and the Binghamton Senators.

When we were still living in Syracuse, we attended several Crunch games, though we weren't season ticket holders. Our first game was a 9-3 pasting of the rival Binghamton Senators. Senators games are always fun as there is a large crew who make the 100 minute drive up and sit together. Not all of the games were so high scoring, but many were memorable, especially the last game we saw before we moved, a game 6 triple overtime loss to Manitoba in the 2006 Calder Cup playoffs. When I found out that the Crunch were hosting an outdoor game the weekend of my birthday, I knew I had to attend. It was a nice coincidence that we already had tickets to see two concerts in New York. I was happy to find that it would only be an extra $50 to add a side trip to Syracuse to our flight itinerary.

The only downside to the side trip was that we had to leave for JFK at 6:30 am after getting in around 2:00 am. We got out late and had to rush from the air train to the ticketing kiosks to get checked in. Luckily, we weren't planning on checking bags, so we were able to skate in fairly late. We were also lucky enough to get let ahead at security because we were 25 minutes from take-off. We made the flight, but didn't have time to get anything to eat before we left.

Our flight arrived a little early, almost three hours before game time. Since we didn't check any bags, we were able to make it to the car rental counter in only a couple of minutes. We picked up the car and were at the hotel within twenty minutes of landing. Luckily, we were able to check in early. There were quite a few cars with Ontario plates and it seemed like everyone we saw in and around the hotel was wearing some sort of hockey gear. We got checked in and dropped off our gear and headed off to one of our old standby eateries, Doc's Little Gem Diner. Besides being a nice cheap diner, it's also really close to the fairgrounds. We grabbed a table and ordered. As we ate our breakfast, I watched the traffic back up on the highway. When we left, it looked like it was moving, so I joined the traffic which almost immediately stopped. Guess I should have taken the streets instead.

Even though we were really close to the fairgrounds, we weren't moving, so I found the game on the radio so we could at least listen to the first period. I was happy to find out that the game was delayed because one of the panes of glass got broken during the warm-ups. We sat in traffic listening to the pre-game show, taking great delight in the enormous boos received by Governor David Patterson. He tried to play it off, but it was pretty obvious that he was pretty unpopular in that crowd. We missed the game puck being delivered by a skydiver, but we heard the flyover before the national anthem.

Finally, we arrived at the fairgrounds just as the first period was starting. We followed the traffic to the parking lot across the street to the grounds. We drove up to find that the right side of the parking lot was full and the left side unplowed. We followed everyone off into an unplowed lot and parked in a snowbank. I tried to get in straight and back a little out so we'd be in a good spot to get back out, but of course I got stuck. We abandoned the car and hoofed it over to the fairgrounds. I was a little annoyed to see that the police were now waving cars into the fairground inner lots, which were all plowed, though there weren't very many spaces left. We walked to the back of the grounds toward the grandstand area. I put some good speed on because I still had to pick up the tickets at will call. I turned the corner just in time to catch a Mike Blunden pass to Alex Picard on the far scoreboard. Picard buried the pass behind Binghamton goalie Mike Brodeur.

There wasn't much of a line at will call, so I was able to quickly pick up the tickets and we hurried inside. They were handing out reusable Dunkin' Donuts coffee cups on the way in, which I thought was particularly brilliant since so many people would want coffee. Although we were late, we headed straight for the restrooms, which were closed for the season. Damn. However, I quickly noticed the big queue for the portable units that had been brought in for the game. Against the odds, we managed to get to our seats in the grandstand with a few minutes left in the period. There had been a big deal made on the radio about the sightlines and how the seats were all close to the ice and the views were great. I think this had been before everyone stood up. We were at the close end of the last section of grandstand, just past the end of the rink, about 20 rows up. The view wasn't too bad as long as we were standing. It was about 38 degrees or so with a but of wind. Not warm, but not ridiculously cold. The rink was impressive. I couldn't believe we were watching an event like this in Syracuse, and I think much of the crowd felt the same way. The atmosphere at the War Memorial downtown was always good, but it was obvious that everyone was excited, in the crowd and on the ice.

At the end of the first, I went downstairs to look at the game merchandise. I looked and decided to buy the event jersey. The jersey had the Crunch colors and the event logo, a profile of New York State with the sponsor logo and "AHL Outdoor Classic" and the date. I put the jersey on under my coat and then kept my coat open as long as I could stand it.

The Crunch came out well to start the second, but gave up one shorthanded to the Senators about five minutes in. Josh Hennessy got a breakaway in the neutral zone and skated in on goalie Kevin Lalande, who made the initial save. But Mark St. Pierre came in to support, grabbed the rebound and fed it back to Hennessy, who popped it over Goehring's leg to score the goal. The game wore on and the Crunch blew a 5-on-3, taking a penalty to lose the two man advantage. Midway through the third, an announcement was made that the game had broken the AHL attendance record with a crowd of 21,502.

Just over two minutes before the end of a penalty-filled second period, David Liffiton took a penalty giving the Senators a power play. The Senators couldn't put anything together, so it looked like the game was going to go to the break tied. But the Crunch were headed back up the ice when Liffiton came out of the box. Dan Fristche settled the puck down and passed it to Liffiton, who put the puck over Brodeur to put the Crunch ahead 2-1 with 11 seconds to go.

The cold was starting to get to me as it cooled down and the wind picked back up. I headed for the coffee line which, it being Syracuse, was consistently shorter than the beer line. I have a feeling that had I still been living in Syracuse with my full winter wardrobe at hand, that I would have been with those two-fisting beers at the rink. However, I foolishly thought a sweater and coat would be enough. I added the jersey and was still starting to freeze. So, I hit the coffee line and was upset to find out that they were serving the coffee in styrofoam cups, which I had to pour into the reusable cup I received at the gate. A bit of a disconnect there. The coffee definitely helped, especially since our section started to empty out at the start of the third. I think some of the people who had been there before the game were tiring of the cold. Most of the families leaving had children, so perhaps the kids were too cold. That meant we were more open to the wind, so I was happy to have the coffee.

We moved down a little since the rows ahead had cleared out. Like the second, the third period was again filled with penalties, but though both had good scoring chances, neither team could convert, so the game was still 2-1 as the third wound down. There were some tense moments at the end as the Crunch took a penalty with 1:30 left. Dan Fritsche got a good shot off as Brodeur was headed to the bench, but he was able to make the save from center ice and make it to the bench. The Senators dominated play in the Crunch end, but Lalande kept the Crunch's lead and they won the game 2-1.

On the way out, we bought a couple of pins. The fairgrounds opened up a beer tent and food stand outside to capture the crowd on their way out. There were a number of people drinking more beers and ordering food. We trekked back to the parking lot and I attempted to dig the car out of the snow. I got most of the snow away from the tires, but couldn't get them to catch on my own. There was another group several feet away pushing a car out and as I was preparing to have Liz drive while I pushed the car out, one of that group came over and offered to push. We got the car out and I left with that guy to help someone else push their car out. She actually had AWD and didn't need much help. There was only one more stuck car and they got moving before I could get over, so we took off for the Dinosaur BBQ downtown.

The game was pretty much a complete success. I saw a few people complaining about it online, but it was pretty apparent that the vast majority of people had a great time. I would highly recommend that any hockey fan try attending one of these in the future if one is held. The NHL Winter Classic is of course held every year, but the non-NHL event tickets are a lot easier to get, a lot cheaper and I'm guessing just as much fun.

All photographs by Liz.