Nationals Park shines in 2015 NHL Winter Classic
By Pablo Roa
Dec 31, 2014; Washington, DC, USA; A general view during Washington Capitals practice the day before the 2015 Winter Classic hockey game against the Chicago Blackhawks at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: H.Darr Beiser-USA TODAY Sports
Just a few months ago, thousands of fans dressed in a sea of red flooded the streets around Nationals Park as they waited for the gates to open for Game 1 of the NLDS between the Washington Nationals and the San Francisco Giants.
The Nationals had just one their second division title in the last three years and fans were excited to see their team play deep into October for the first time in its history. Unfortunately, things didn’t go quite as expected and the Nationals went on to lose the series to the eventual World Series Champions – sending Nationals park into the eerie quietness of the offseason that few expected to come so early in October.
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On Thursday, however, the winter silence was temporarily lifted from Nationals Park, and the familiar sight of thousands of fans crowding the streets around the ballpark to root for their home-town team returned. But this time, fans weren’t there to cheer on the Nationals, or any other baseball team for that matter. They were there to cheer on the Washington Capitals.
While some of us were still trying to recover from the absurd amount of food we ate on New Year’s Eve, the Capitals hosted the Chicago Blackhawks in the NHL’s annual Winter Classic – an outdoor hockey game held in a different city each year on New Year’s Day.
This year’s Classic was played on a beautiful rink constructed right in the middle of the field at Nationals Park. While the end result was incredible, building a hockey rink on a baseball field is understandably complicated. The rink itself took weeks to set up. It took 20,000 gallons of water to make the ice and another 3,000 gallons of coolant to keep it frozen.
But in the end, it was all worth it. Nationals Park was transformed from a beautiful baseball stadium to a beautiful, Washington D.C.-themed hockey stadium.
“I absolutely loved the Classic at Nationals Park,” said Zach Silver, a staff writer at FanSided’s Capitals affiliate, Stars and Sticks. “…Besides the amazing game that game down to the final 12 seconds, the atmosphere and the hype leading up to it was pretty surreal.”
At the start of the game, players from both teams skated in from center field, gliding around a scaled down replica of the Capitol Building, continuing over a span of ice that represented the Reflecting Pool, and finally making it to the rink. The design also featured a big, red star that covered almost the entire length of the field.
While the game was held in a stadium that is accustomed to summer weather, they call it the Winter Classic for a reason – it’s cold. Artificial snow was placed all over the field, and while the temperature wasn’t as brutally cold as it’s been in previous Winter Classics, there’s usually no such thing as warm weather in January.
But for the crowd of 42, 832 that braved the weather to watch the game in person, it was worth it. Not only did they experience the incredible design and atmosphere of the rink, but they also got to watch the Capitals win in one of the most exciting games of the season on a last-minute goal by Troy Bower that sealed a 3-2 victory for Washington.
“I absolutely loved the Classic at Nationals Park,” said Zach Silver, a staff writer at FanSided’s Capitals affiliate, Stars and Sticks. “I’ve been a hockey fan since I was about 5 years old, and seeing the sport played outdoors is amazing. Besides the amazing game that game down to the final 12 seconds, the atmosphere and the hype leading up to it was pretty surreal.”
Several Nationals players also headed to Nationals Park for the Classic, including the always entertaining pair of Tyler Clippard and Drew Storen:
While baseball fans may not be as excited about a hockey game at Nationals Park as they would be about a Nationals game, seeing a sold-out Nationals Park succeed at hosting a major sporting event is not only a testament to the stadium itself, but also to D.C.’s growth into a sports town that cares about more than just its football team.
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The atmosphere at the ballpark on Thursday is something the city hopes to see a lot of at Nationals Park in the near future, whether it’s October baseball in 2015 or a potential All-Star Game in 2017. The Classic was a resounding success for Nationals Park and was undoubtedly one of the most memorable moments in the stadium’s 7-year history.
“I think it says that Nats Park and other stadiums have been built for so much more than baseball or football games,” Silver said. “It’s not a cheap task, but when it works, it’s unreal. Hockey is usually regarded as the smallest of the big four sports in America, but selling out ballparks and setting records show how much attention the sport is getting and how much fans love it. Basketball has Christmas, football has Thanksgiving, baseball has the summers. New Year’s Day now belongs to hockey.”
We’d like to thank Zach Silver for his help with this article. Check out his work at Stars and Sticks and give him a follow on Twitter.