NHL

The NHL takes over Yankee Stadium

Could it actually be that hockey fans are made of sturdier stuff than football fans?

Only a few weeks ago, when some weather forecasts predicted freezing cold and snow for upcoming Super Bowl XLVIII across the Hudson, pro football started freaking out. Over the past years, their fans have become accustomed to Super Bowls in nice warm cities like Miami.

Since then, we’ve gone through two Polar Vortexes, with the latest responsible for the bone-chilling temperatures we’re now enduring in and around the city. The question is, what kind of people would sit through an outdoor game in this kind of weather?

The answer: hockey fans. Come Sunday, the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils will be playing at an outdoor rink at Yankee Stadium. And the game is sold out.

Moreover, this is only one of six outdoor contests the NHL scheduled for this year. They include the winter classic held at Ann Arbor, where the Detroit Red Wings faced off against the Toronto Maple Leafs before as many as 100,000 fans on a snowy afternoon in 13-degree cold.

As for football, this week NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell did his bit to uphold the honor of the game. Come what may, he says, he won’t be hiding in comfy warm suites when the Broncos and the Seahawks go at it at MetLife Stadium on Feb. 1.

“I’m sitting in the stands,” he says. “We’re playing in New York, New Jersey, yes, I am going to be in the stands. I’m sitting outside. This is part of the experience. I will be sitting outside.”

So give Goodell props. But when it comes to commitment and endurance, it’s clear which fans are the true power players.