Friday, August 12, 2011

Game On! The Frozen Diamond Faceoff is a Go

The rumored outdoor game between Michigan and Ohio State is a rumor no longer. Yesterday the Cleveland Indians officially announced the Frozen Diamond Faceoff. It will take place at Progressive Field in Cleveland on January 15th (which is a Sunday) at 5:05 pm. The teams will also meet in Columbus on the 13th of January.

The President of the Indians, Mark Shapiro, said that they think the game will be a sellout. The stadium holds 43,000 people for baseball. The rink will supposedly sit around home plate and stretch down the first base line.

Frozen Diamond Faceoff tickets will go on sale in November, but you can register here for a chance to win the right to purchase tickets via a pre-sale.

This will be the fourth outdoor game for Michigan, following the Cold War, Camp Randall Hockey Classic, and The Big Chill at The Big House. Michigan is 1-1-1 in the three games. Ohio State previously took on Wisconsin at Lambeau Field.

In other news, the USA Under 17s took the gold in the Five Nations Tournament at the Cube in Ann Arbor. They still have one game to play against Switzerland, but they've already locked up the top spot on the podium. Recruit Michael Downing had 1-1--2 in the opening win over the Czech Republic. He's also captaining the squad and has drawn rave reviews from the people in attendance. The M-word was even dropped.

The Under 18s didn't have nearly as much luck at the Ivan Hlinka Tournament in Bratislava, which is nowhere near Berlin. They finished in fifth place despite just one loss. Boo Nieves, however, scored a ridonkulous goal.


Nieves had 1-3--4 in the four games. Matt Herr was an assistant coach for Team USA.

The World Junior evaluation camp is also on-going. Jon Merrill made it through the first cut, which should surprise absolutely no one. The camp also features Jack Campbell, John Gibson, and Jared Knight. I will now stab myself in the eye.

On a happier note, Kukla's Korner had a nice profile of the goalie who didn't abandon us and will be back for a fifth year: Shawn Hunwick. Melissa from The Yost Post did a quick interview with JMFJ over Alumni Weekend. Michigan Hockey Net had a great interview with Michael Downing after he committed.

Lastly, after winning CJHL Player of the Year, Zach Hyman's jersey now hangs in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Zach's dad was kind enough to pass along some photos of the exhibit, as well as a shot of Zach accepting the BJ Monro Top Prospect Award:




If you're wondering about goalie recruiting and don't subscribe to The Wolverine, now might be a good time. Supposedly in the next Inside The Fort, we'll get names of some prospective candidates for 2012-13. In this week's edition, they had Shawn Hunwick's thoughts on John Gibson.

No comments: