Does an Outdoor Game in Phoenix Make Sense?

Six months ago, the Phoenix Coyotes were on the verge of moving to another city, most likely in Canada. Now there are new rumors about the Coyotes becoming a possible team for NHL's most prestigious event as they have expressed interest in hosting a future outdoor game.

Chairman and governor of the Coyotes George Gosbee said of the future outdoor game, "We'd love to have an outdoor game. We'd love to have it at Chase (Field). But we also want to have a frozen four. We also want to have the world juniors."

This season, the NHL has six outdoor games and deputy commissioner Bill Daly told a radio station in Toronto that there's plans for more outdoor games next season.

The Ducks and Kings are set to play at Dodger Stadium on Jan. 25, which proves that the NHL considers warm climates a viable option for their business.

The Coyotes would like to have their outdoor game in February of 2015, around the time when the University of Phoenix Stadium hosts the Super Bowl. This is part of IceArizona's efforts to grow the sport in the Valley.

Phoenix is one of those cities where eyebrows are raised every single day, and this sort of news stuns me. I'm not entirely sure that Phoenix can support an event like this. I mean, there's plenty of people in Phoenix who are hockey fans, but they're fans for other teams, like the Canadiens, Blackhawks, or Ducks. And I'm sure the fandom for the Coyotes is growing, but I'm just not sure this is the ideal time for the Coyotes to have an outdoor game. Outdoor games are usually meant to be put in places where it will attract a large number of fans for the home team. Cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York City can support because there are plenty of people who are fans of the Ducks, Kings, Penguins, Blackhawks, Rangers, Islanders, and Devils. The Coyotes don't have a large fandom like they do and putting an outdoor game in Phoenix next year would probably not be the wisest idea. I understand that George Gosbee wants it, but in a place like that, where most of its citizens are not really fans of the Coyotes, I can't see why the NHL would probably want to put an outdoor game there. Maybe in a couple of years, but not right now. The other thing is, if they do want to schedule an outdoor game, it'd have to be at night during the winter, where the weather and the chilly conditions would be able to keep the ice from melting.