The West Coast of the U.S. and Canada acquired hit with sub-zero temperatures over the weekend as a chilly entrance swept via the Midwest. Northern California and Southern Oregon reported uncommon seasonal lows round -5 and -10 C, leading to excessive chilly that even froze over Hayward Area on the College of Oregon, reworking some of the well-known tracks on the earth right into a skating rink.
As a substitute of sporting spikes for his or her Monday morning exercise, the Oregon Geese observe and area workforce was seen skating on the observe, turning their common observe into extra of a speed-skating session.
You don’t see ice skating at Hayward Area day-after-day.
🎥 Simeon Birnbaum’s IG pic.twitter.com/Wif8SlWi0J
— chris nickinson (@chrisnickinson) January 16, 2024
The video was posted to Oregon freshman Simeon Birnbaum’s Instagram story on Monday, the place he was additionally seen sporting a Crew Canada equipment T-shirt. Though Birnbaum is from South Dakota, he has Canadian roots, having spent his early years in Alberta, the place he realized to skate, based on Runnerspace. He transitioned from hockey to trace in his early teenage years and is now a sub-four-minute miler with the College of Oregon observe and area workforce beneath coach Jerry Schumacher.
The sight of individuals skating on Hayward Area has sparked just a few concepts. First, envision an epic NHL Winter Traditional recreation in that stadium. With a capability of as much as 25,000 followers and oval-shaped grandstands paying homage to an NHL area, the venue might present a perfect setting and environment for a recreation.
I do know the current Winter Traditional between the Seattle Kraken and Las Vegas Golden Knights at MLB stadium T-Cellular Park in Seattle on Jan. 1 accommodated far more followers than Hayward, however let’s get NHL commissioner Gary Bettman on the cellphone to rearrange a future Winter Traditional matchup between the Seattle Kraken and L.A. Kings at Hayward.
The second thought entails Hayward Area internet hosting a long-track pace skating World Cup occasion in January or February. This cross-up between two of the preferred summer season and winter Olympic occasions can be unreal. Whereas I’m no knowledgeable on pace skating, I might solely assume that having track-meet-style races might be extremely entertaining, particularly if wind or snow turns into an element. Although the College of Oregon won’t allow both occasion, it doesn’t damage to start out the excitement.
