Downtown Muskegon Blog

Behind the Scenes – Hockey Urban Experiment hits Muskegon

Grand Rapids has gained some notoriety the last number of year with a fellow named Rob Bliss coining, and pulling off, some interesting urban experiments. They've had the Zombie Walk, the Pillow Fight, the Tomato Fight, and of course the Airplane Drop at ArtPrize. Along that vein, some folks got thinking about something similar that could be pulled off downtown Muskegon, and voila, the Main Street Hockey Experiment. The Experiment will take place in conjunction with the upcoming Muskegon Snowfest and a Muskegon Lumberjacks game taking place that night. We caught up with Dan Rinsema-Sybenga of Muskegon Main Street to fill us in on the details.

MS: What's the idea with the Main Street Hockey Experiment?

DRS: The idea is to create a memorable, participatory, crowd experience that people with have fun with. The idea is simple, but remember its an experiment. On Saturday, Feb 6, Western Ave between 4th and 5th will be closed to traffic. It will be set up as a block long hockey area. At two o'clock we'll start registration with the help of the Muskegon Skirtz, and folks will be able to enter the playing area, and will be assigned to one of two teams. By three we hope a mass of hockey players will have registered, and we'll drop up to 50 balls on the street for the players to use to score goals on their "opponents" net. The game will go for 60 minutes and we expect a fun, memorable game, to take place.

MS: Is this an ice hockey game?

DRS: Let me be clear. This is NOT an ice hockey game. It will be played, whatever the weather conditions, on the street, with participants wearing shoes or boots, as street hockey is played everywhere. The only thing a player needs to bring is a hockey stick to use during the game.

MS: What feedback have you gotten so far?

DRS: People who have heard are excited. We are spreading the word through social media like Facebook and Twitter, and we are expecting a lot of buzz as the event comes closer. We are thinking it is going to create quite a scene and social media buzz the day of.

MS: What's the reason for trying an event like this?

DRS: We want to be cool too! No, seriously when we have seen these type of events promoted other places they have given folks the ability come and do something fun and completely out of the ordinary in their own community. Also, this event fits Muskegon to a T with our proud hockey heritage, and it is also going to be part of a completely great day downtown Muskegon with Snowfest and the Lumberjacks hockey game going on. You can come down for the Chili Cook-off, play the hockey game, enjoy a beverage at the Snowfest tent, and top it off with a Lumberjacks game all with one trip!

MS: Sounds like fun. Thanks for organizing and we hope this experiment goes well and we see more experiments soon.

DRS: We're hoping so as well. Be sure to sign up to plan on Facebook!.

Check it out on the web

Main Street Hockey Experiment website
Main Street Hockey Experiment YouTube promo
Main Street Hockey Experiment on Facebook

Labels: Downtown Muskegon E-News

posted by Dan & Sarah @ 12:37 PM