Ohio State will take on Michigan in Cleveland on Saturday. Courtesy of Ohio State Athletics
During an early morning workout in August 2022, head coach Steve Rohlik called the team together for a surprise meeting. What the players thought was a typical pep talk was instead met with a surprise announcement.
Rohlik broke the news to the team that they were going to play outdoors against rival Michigan.
“We all just started going crazy,” freshman defenseman Tyler Duke said. “It was a super exciting time. And, obviously, our family group chat was blowing up right after that got announced. So, that has definitely been marked on our calendar for a long time now.”
The Faceoff on the Lake game between Ohio State and Michigan is set to be played on Saturday at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland. What is a high-stakes matchup between top-10 teams fighting for Big Ten and NCAA Tournament positions will also be a unique environment for many on the team.
“To go up there to play in front of 50,000 people in an outdoor stadium like that against the team up north, it’s going to be memories and experience these guys will have forever,” Rohlik said.
The Cleveland Browns and Haslam Sports Group initially discussed holding the game as early as the 2022 offseason. When the game was confirmed, work on setting up the event commenced soon after, starting with researching potential contractors for the rink construction, Browns Director of Stadium Operations Brad Mohr said in an email.
“Working through a few NHL connections, we found Ice Ops in Maine was a great fit for what we needed,” Mohr said. “Load-in began in late January when Independence built and laser-leveled the sandbox that the rinks sit on top of. Since then, we have had teams working essentially non-stop to put up the dasher boards and to layer ice with the Ohio CAT chiller and piping system onsite.”
For the equipment staff at Ohio State, planning was led by equipment manager Tim Adams. Adams said it’s the fourth outdoor he’s coordinated equipment with the Buckeyes, previously doing games at Lambeau Field, Progressive Field and Huntington Bank Stadium.
Adams and his team’s weekly job responsibilities include tending to team laundry, equipment repairs, getting equipment ready for game day, packing equipment on away games and anything else the players need to help succeed.
“We have some guys that have some different needs, and [we’ll] take care of all that stuff to make sure that players just have to come in and do whatever they need to do that day, whether it be a game, workout or practice,” Adams said.
From the moment the game was announced, Adams said equipment discussions between him and Rohlik began about plans for jerseys.
“[Rohlik] said if we do this game, we want to have a special jersey for it, so we started talking with Nike,” Adams said. “So, we just worked through the design of the jersey and everything, and it turned out we received [the design] a couple of weeks ago. They’re going to be pretty special.”
For the technical equipment, the outdoors presents new challenges from typical away games. With the uncertainty of mother nature, Adams said the team has a wide range of gear ready from eye black for the sun to shields, facemasks and parkas for cold weather.
“We’re dealing with six sets of skate steel ready to go for our guys,” Adams said. “Always, the ice conditions are a question. We kind of just want to prepare our athletes for everything.”
Duke is among the few with outdoor playing experience on the Buckeyes. In 2012, when Ohio State and Michigan faced off at Progressive Field, he played a game on the field with his then-club hockey team in Strongsville, Ohio, at 7 years old.
“It was pretty special,” Duke said. “Being there and watching Ohio State and Michigan play. And now we’re playing in a game like this. We dreamed of this, and now it’s coming to reality.”
As far as what he learned about indoor and outdoor hockey differences, Duke believes the team needs to be prepared and ready to adapt.
“I think it just depends,” Duke said. “You never know what the weather is going to be like or anything like that. But I think you’ve just got to make the best of it and whatever you get. We’ll be ready for it.”