Cold War 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 the world record for the largest crowd at an ice hockey game with 74 , 544 , a record that was broken on May 7 , 2010 when the opening game of the IIHF World Championship between Germany and the USA drew 77 , 803 to Veltins - Arena in Gelsenkirchen , Germany . Longtime rivals with the U of M in hockey ( and other sports ) , MSU decided not to play this contest at East Lansing ' s Munn Ice Arena , but instead set up an ice rink in the middle of the much larger Spartan Stadium , which they filled to 103 . 4 % of capacity . This meant that 74 , 544 packed the Big Ten Conference American football stadium ( the home of the Michigan State Spartans football team ) to watch the MSU Spartans and the U - M Wolverines skate to a 3 - 3 tie . Two 300 - piece marching bands were present on field and the game was internationally televised . Country artist Shannon Brown sang during the second intermission . Other outdoor hockey games . The Cold War set off a wave of outdoor ice hockey games in large stadiums . In November 2003 , the Edmonton Oilers and Montreal Canadiens dropped the puck on the Heritage Classic – the NHL ' s first regulation outdoor game . An NHL record crowd of 57 , 000 that braved - 18 °C temperatures was also treated to Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier returning as Oiler alumni in the preceding Alumni Game . On February 11 , 2006 , Ohio State and Wisconsin attracted 40 , 890 fans to the Frozen Tundra Hockey Classic at Lambeau Field , home of the Green Bay Packers . This was the second outdoor game involving US college teams , with more planned in the future . Since 2008 , the NHL has staged the Winter Classic annually on New Year ' s Day . As of 2010 , none of these games have passed the Cold War in attendance . The effects of this event were felt in Europe as well , where local Swiss rivals SC Bern and SC Langnau held their 100th meeting at Bern ' s Stade de Suisse , Wankdorf in front of 30 , 076 spectators on January 14 , 2007 . The game was sold out within 53 hours of tickets going on sale . These two teams regularly fill one of Europe ' s largest ice hockey arenas , the Bern Arena , with 16 , 000 + fans . The attendance was the largest in European club ice hockey history at the time , and broke a 40 - year old mark set in Sweden . That country would reclaim the European cllub record on December 28 , 2009 , when Frölunda defeated Färjestads 4 – 1 in an Elitserien match held at the Ullevi in Gothenburg in front of 31 , 144 . Another European game to surpass the former record attendance in Bern was an Austrian League game between Klagenfurt rivals KAC and VSV on January 9 , 2010 , which drew 30 , 500 to Hypo - Arena for a 3 – 1 VSV win . Record surpassed . The opening game of the 2010 IIHF World Championship took place on May 7 at the retractable - roof Veltins - Arena , normally used by the soccer club FC Schalke 04 . On this occasion , the stadium ' s configuration allowed for a capacity of 75 , 976 , which would ultimately be exceeded by almost 2 , 000 , breaking the all - time attendance record . This new record is not expected to last for the remainder of 2010 . On December 11 , the two teams involved in the Cold War will meet again , this time with Michigan hosting the game at its football venue , Michigan Stadium . UM is billing the game as " The Big Chill at the Big House " . When UM halted ticket sales to the general public on May 6 , 2010 , over 100 , 000 tickets had been sold ; remaining seats are being set aside for students . As of the 2010 football season , Michigan Stadium has an official capacity of 109 , 901 . Television . The game broadcast by FSN Detroit , which made it available nationally . The announcers were Matt Shepard , Billy Jaffe and Shireen Saski . John Keating hosted a pregame show .