Hurricanes proprietor Tom Dundon has pushed hard to arrive a NHL outdoor amusement at Carter-Finley Stadium.
What’s more, soon after lunch on Tuesday, Dundon escorted NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman into the home of NC State football to envision what an outdoor diversion would look like in Raleigh. Orange cones were set out at midfield as a 200 by 85 foot NHL arena. “I’m not here to make an announcement today,” Bettman said. “But yes, we are taking it very seriously.”
With respect to climate conditions being an issue, Bettman said they have played in all sort of conditions, including an outdoor night amusement in Los Angeles where the afternoon temperature was 80 degrees. The key is the state of the ice. “Can we create conditions that are fair and safe for the players?” Bettman asked.
The Commissioner went through around 10 minutes ignoring the field and the stadium. Likewise in the group with Bettman and Dundon were NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly, Hurricanes GM Don Waddell, Dave Olsen who oversees operations and functions at PNC field and Scott Dupree, Executive Director of the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance.
“We have some more work to do,” Bettman added. “We have a variety of arrangements to make and again, as important as anything else, if we decide we want to do it, I have to make sure it’s OK with NC State.”
Since moving from Hartford to Raleigh, the territory has facilitated a diversion 7 Stanley Cup clinching win and the NHL All-Star amusement.
