NHL still hopes to host an outdoor game at AT&T Park eventually

The panoramic vista of San Francisco Bay, when viewed from the stands in San Francisco's AT&T Park, make the venue among the world's most unique and scenic. 

It's a tantalizing setting for professional baseball and eventually the NHL would like to host an outdoor hockey game there, even if the second outdoor game of 2015 will be played at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara Calif., between the San Jose Sharks and Los Angeles Kings.

"It was not an easy decision and we mulled it over for a long time," Don Renzulli, the NHL's senior vice president of special events, told David Pollak of the San Jose Mercury News on Wednesday. "We go into markets and there’s always options and the San Francisco-Santa Clara area gave us two great ones.

"When we went up, we toured both stadiums with the Sharks. AT&T is a great ball park, one of the nicest baseball stadiums I’ve been in. It’s picturesque, it’s got everything going for it."

Ultimately the league chose Levi's due to some of the relatively newer stadiums amenities, and in part because it's significantly closer to where the Sharks actually play their home games. 

"It’s in their market, which I think, initially, for the first time, it makes some sense," Renzulli admitted.

While the NHL will host a regular season game at Levi's Stadium in 2015, the league hasn't ruled out the possibility of returning to AT&T Park in the near future.

"My guess is that we will, in the next few years, be back and we’ll probably be up at AT&T. What we’re trying to do ultimately with this game is get more people into hockey and the more people that can see it, the better,” Renzulli said. 

"If we can show Santa Clara and that area what we have to offer outdoors and then bring it up to San Francisco in a few years, it’s a win-win for everybody."

[H/T Pro Hockey Talk]