NEW YORK — Come Jan. 2, when the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers play the Winter Classic at Citizens Bank Park, the Phillies’ ballpark will be an homage to outdoor hockey.
The NHL’s signature regular-season event will appear seamlessly integrated into a facility specifically erected to provide an optimal baseball-viewing experience.
The bulk of the preparation responsibilities falls on the shoulders of Don Renzulli, the NHL’s senior vice president of events. In April, he started overseeing biweekly logistical planning meetings with about 50 people in the largest conference room on the 14th floor in the NHL’s New York offices.
The preparations for the Winter Classic at CBP began Nov. 21 when armor decking protection was placed on the field. The installation of auxiliary seats in center field started Dec. 5. The rink will be installed this week, when the bulk of the in-stadium work commences. It is expected to take five to seven days to complete, depending on the weather.
By the end of the weeklong festivities, Renzulli estimates about 1,600 people will have worked to morph what has become a baseball oasis into a hockey wonderland.
“I think they’re going to look at it as an entirely different venue,” said Renzulli, who worked 12 years for the NFL, including 10 years handling the operational aspects of the Super Bowl. “We have not, and I don’t think we ever will, go in and totally change the ballpark from what it truly is.
“We’ve always tried to pay homage to whatever venue it is. What they’re going to see is a decor package in the bowl itself that is different than what you’ll see in a World Series or even a regular Phillies game.”
A Placido Polanco throw to Ryan Howard could stretch from one goal to the other. The rink will spread from first base to third, starting behind the pitcher’s mound and going to shallow center field. Although the field is protected from destruction, the mound will be displayed to maintain the aura of a ballpark.
This will be the fifth Winter Classic. Two have been played in football stadiums (the Buffalo Bills’ Ralph Wilson Stadium and the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Heinz Field) and two have been at ballparks (the Chicago Cubs’ Wrigley Field and the Boston Red Sox’s Fenway Park). Because this is the baseball offseason, ballparks provide more time for preparation and events. The added time even allows the NHL employees to return home to spend Christmas with their families. The boards will be the same as those used in the previous Winter Classics, decorated with WC logos.
Football stadiums provide more seats, but baseball stadiums bring fans closer to the action. Although Citizens Bank Park was built for baseball, it has elements of a football stadium that Renzulli believes will be favorable for the Winter Classic.
“It’s more of a football stadium in my view in that it’s very vertical,” he said. “It’s like the Linc. It goes straight up.”
For that reason, the best seats are actually higher in the ballpark. Fan preference is subjective, but Renzulli believes the best sightlines will be in the upper decks, specifically along the first- and third-base lines, where fans can see the entire ice sheet.
“One of the reasons we’re first-to-third is, if you took a ruler and went along the back of a rink on a piece of paper, the majority of the seats are from that line back to home plate,” Renzulli said. “We wanted to bring the rink as close as we could, making sure everyone could get a fair crack at it.”
