Cold War (ice hockey)

Cold War
"The Cold War" had the highest attendance of any hockey game in history
123 Total
Michigan 111 3
Michigan State 102 3
DateOctober 6, 2001
VenueSpartan Stadium
CityEast Lansing, Michigan
Attendance74,544

The Cold War was a college ice hockey game played between U.S. college rivals Michigan State University and the University of Michigan on Saturday, October 6, 2001. It set a then-world record for the largest crowd at an ice hockey game with 74,544.[1]

Longtime rivals with the University of Michigan in hockey (and other sports), MSU decided not to play this contest at East Lansing's Munn Ice Arena, but instead set up the ice rink in the middle of the much larger Spartan Stadium, which they filled to 103.4% capacity. This meant that 74,544[2] packed the Big Ten football stadium (the home of the MSU football team) to watch the MSU Spartans and the U-M Wolverines skate to a 3–3 tie.[3][4] Two 300-piece marching bands were present on field and the game was internationally televised. Country artist Shannon Brown sang during the second intermission.

  1. ^ Latham, Krista. "Game shatters records, players' expectations Archived November 11, 2006, at the Wayback Machine". The State News. October 8, 2001.
  2. ^ Gumbrecht, Jamie. Big game brings out fans, winter clothes Archived 2006-11-11 at the Wayback Machine". The State News. October 7, 2001.
  3. ^ Jahnke, James. "'The Cold War' ends in stalemate Archived 2006-11-28 at the Wayback Machine". The State News. October 7, 2001.
  4. ^ McCollough, J. Brady. No winners in record-breaking game[permanent dead link]". The Michigan Daily. October 8, 2001.