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MINNEAPOLIS- The University of Minnesota in conjunction with Chicago-based sports and entertainment marketing agency Intersport announced Tuesday (September 3, 2013) that the school will host the 2014 Hockey City Classic at TCF Bank Stadium on January 17, 2014.
It's the first large outdoor game in hockey-mad Minnesota and comes one year after Minnesota participated in the inaugural Hockey Classic in Chicago alongside Wisconsin, Notre Dame and Miami.
"We are thrilled to bring outdoor college hockey to the Twin Cities and the great state of Minnesota for the first time in the modern era," Drew Russell, Vice President of Owned Properties at Intersport said.
The college hockey doubleheader at TCF Bank Stadium, which seats 50,805 for football, kicks off with the two-time defending national champion Gopher women's hockey team taking on in-state rival Minnesota State at 4:30 p.m. CT. Afterwards, the Gopher men's hockey team hosts Ohio State under the lights at 8 p.m. in a Big Ten conference battle.
News of the event, which Minnesota officials jokingly called the "best-kept secret," began to emerge after the February event at Soldier Field. Despite losing to Wisconsin 3-2, the experience in the Windy City led university officials to bring the event to Minneapolis
"Last year we had a phenomenal experience in Chicago," University of Minnesota men's hockey coach Don Lucia said. "I know our guys were really looking forward to the game last year and just the way it was professionally done, we came away from that looking at TCF Bank Stadium and saying it's not a matter of 'if' we're going to have an outdoor game, it's a matter of 'when.'"
Plans to televise the games are still to be announced although a national broadcaster such as BTN would make sense given they broadcast last year's Minnesota-Wisconsin outdoor game. Regardless, they will be taking place one day before the 2014 Hockey Day Minnesota celebration.
Tickets go on sale to the general public October 22nd. You can get them starting at $15 by going online to www.mygophersports.com or by calling 612-624-8080. They are good for both games.
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Nathan Wells is a college hockey reporter for SB Nation and College Hockey News. You can also follow him on Twitter -- Follow @gopherstate