Michigan-Ohio State official for outdoors

Michigan Press Release

The University of Michigan will play Ohio State University in an outdoor game entitled "The Frozen Diamond Faceoff" on Jan. 15, 2012, at Progressive Field, home to the Cleveland Indians.

Game time will be 5:05 p.m.

"We're looking forward to it," said Michigan head coach Red Berenson. "It will be the first time I've ever been involved or a Michigan hockey team will be involved in an outdoor game in a baseball stadium. We've played in football stadiums before and every one of these games takes on kind of a life of its own. It will be interesting to experience the uniqueness of this event. Nearly half our team has never played in an outdoor game. So even though Michigan has played in three in a row, a lot of our players haven't had that experience. We have a big freshman class and we've got some players on our team that didn't get to dress last year. This will be right in the middle of the hockey season and something that may not get a lot of attention early in the year, but as it gets closer, this will be a big deal."

The Frozen Diamond Faceoff is the grand finale of the Cleveland Indians Snow Days festival that runs from Nov. 25 through Jan. 16. The 200' x 85' ice sheet will be situated on the infield covering home plate and stretching down the first base line.

The Frozen Diamond faceoff will be the first hockey game in Progressive Field history and the first outdoor college hockey game in the state of Ohio. It will be the last of four CCHA regular-season meetings between the Wolverines and Buckeyes. U-M will host OSU for a two-game set in Ann Arbor on Nov. 18-19. Ohio State will welcome Michigan to Value City Arena in Columbus on Jan. 13, two days prior the outdoor game.

This will mark the third straight season in which the Maize and Blue will participate in an outdoor game, and the fourth in program history. Most recently, U-M hosted "The Big Chill at the Big House" on Dec. 11, 2010, beating Michigan State 5-0 at Michigan Stadium before a Guinness Book of World Records crowd of 104,173. U-M lost 3-2 to Wisconsin in front of 55,031 in the "Camp Randall Hockey Classic" on Feb. 6, 2010, in Madison, Wis. U-M tied Michigan State, 3-3, with 74,544 Spartan Stadium attendees on hand for "The Cold War" on Oct. 6, 2001, in East Lansing.

Ohio State has played one other outdoor hockey game, falling to Wisconsin, 4-2, on Feb. 11, 2006, at the Frozen Tundra Hockey Classic at Lambeau Field, home to the Green Bay Packers. That event attracted 40,890 fans.

The Cleveland Indians will put tickets on sale for The Frozen Diamond Faceoff on Nov. 14. An allotment of tickets will be available through the University of Michigan Athletics Ticket Office. Ordering instructions will be provided at a later date.