Rumblings out of Phoenix today are that the Coyotes will release their pre-season schedule sometime this afternoon and that on it, on Friday, September 23rd will be a game against the Dallas Stars in Houston, at Reliant Stadium.

That would be a hockey game, in a football stadium, in September...in Texas. Let the Winter Classic talk reignite.

Reliant Stadium has a roof, of course. It was the first NFL facility to boast such an innovation and it will undoubtedly be closed for this particular event from today forward because if they crank up the AC real high this afternoon and leave it on this might just work. This is two weeks after the NFL traditionally begins their schedule but that's still up in the air, of course. If they do play a season the Texans are scheduled to be on the road the Sundays preceding and following this event, allowing for the creation of an ice surface for this exhibition fun.

This will spark all manner of conversation including the Winter Classic talk, and what kind of response the city itself will give to an NHL hockey game, as well as the risks of hurting your players on a sub-par ice surface for a meaningless exhibition game in September, but we'll get to all of that later.

Also up for consideration is how many of you will make the trip from DFW (or wherever) to Houston and where shall we meet up for drinks after the game?

The Stars pre-season schedule will not be released until sometime next week but is also expected to contain an away game in Montreal as the team travels back from camp in PEI.