Winter Classic Tracker: 2009
Mike Wilson | National Hockey League
Jul 11, 10:08 PM | Hype this story!
Rumors circulating around the National Hockey League blogs are that the 2009 AMP Energy NHL Winter Classic will be held at Wrigley Field on New Year’s Day.
In most credible rumors (strike that up on the oxymoron board) like the ones mentioned on ESPN Thursday afternoon, the talks don’t go much further than that, not even to say the game will involve the Blackhawks. Maybe they aren’t invited…that would be awkward.
On July 6, the Minneapolis/St. Paul Star Tribune reported the game would be played at Wrigley Field, which is what started the hype. As for Minnesotans, they can probably forget about an outdoor game because their only other sporting venue is a dome…which would pretty much be pointless to play in.
…but back to the topic…
Lesser known sources seem to think the game will involve the Blackhawks and the Detroit Red Wings.
Many reigning champions have played in Wrigley Field, but, since 1908, none of those teams were the home-town Chicago Cubs.
Now the NHL wants to pour salt in the wounds of Cubs’ fans by bringing in another out-of-town champion, this time from another league, to play at Wrigley (sorry Cub faithful).
The Winter Classic could be the event to bring the NHL into the spotlight (finally) among major American sports. To ensure this, the NHL usually tries to anticipate who will be among the two hottest teams the upcoming season and have them play each other.
After the 2006-07 season, there was good reason to believe the Buffalo Sabres and the Pittsburgh Penguins would be two for the 2007-08 season, which they did play up to the hype for a great game.
I was fortunate enough to be one of 74,000 fans in attendance at Ralph Wilson Stadium that day, but I was probably one of the few who were observing what kind of labor and man power was required for it. Let’s take some things into consideration…
The security, ushers, concession workers, garbage collectors, maintenance workers, ticket takers…I think you get the idea…were all on the payroll of the NHL (not to mention most likely on overtime or holiday pay).
Other NHL expenses would possibly have included venue rental and bringing in their own ice technicians and construction crews for the rink. As for income through concessions, merchandise, and admissions, I’m sure the Bills got a portion (whatever it may have been) and media coverage raked in a lot for both NBC and CBC.
Is it worth the risk to increase the fan base?
There have been other talks of outdoor NHL games, however.
Shortly after the 2008 Winter Classic, rumors were flying that the Penguins and Flyers would play at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania (that’s in the middle of the state for you non-Pennsylvanians). Beaver Stadium is the home of the Pennsylvania State University Nittany Lions and, with a 107,282 seating capacity, is the largest sporting venue in the United States.
There were also reports of the New York Rangers playing in Yankee Stadium, which holds 57,000 people. But those talks died down quickly as many people said the last game played in Yankee Stadium, which is to be torn down shortly, should be played by the Yankees, not the Rangers.
Finally, rumor has it that, with all their new acquisitions, Barry Melrose’s Tampa Bay All Sta…whoops…Lightning were recently trying get a pick-up game with the Roman gods on Mount Olympus…more word on that to follow.
Since we’re on the topic, the idea has crossed into my conversations that the Penguins play their final game in Mellon Arena under open igloo. What a great idea…we can invite Jean-Claude Van Damme back along with the rest of the “Sudden Death” cast. To celebrate, we’ll have a helicopter explode on the benches and get Paul Steigerwald to swear on camera again…oh what a joyous time it could be!
But let’s stick with the game at question, which is presumed to be played at Wrigley Field. The big question I have is would there be enough seating? Wrigley can hold a little over 41,000 people. Included in those would be season ticket holders to both the Cubs and the Blackhawks.
Now I’m sure they could fill the rest of the seats, but it won’t be as large of a crowd previously held at a Winter Classic. And I’m not sure that’s what the NHL wants if they’re going to make an impression on non-NHL fans.
Another risk would be ensuring a good-quality game. I think we Pens fans know the Red Wings will keep up their end of the game, but will the Blackhawks offseason acquisitions be enough to entertain the crowd?
The problem being faced there is the home crowd (dominant in the stands) being disappointed, just as the 70,000 Sabres’ fans were on January 1, 2008. However, the two cities are very close to each other and might draw a more even fan base
The Winter Classic concept could be a great thing for the NHL. If they succeed at it, they can come out smelling like roses but if they fail, they might come out smelling like…well, something bad.
I guess it will take a few more Winter Classics to determine if this was one of Commissioner Bettman’s good ideas (another oxymoron?).
In regards to the game itself, the NHL hasn’t officially released anything. But, it has been added on Wikipedia…so what other proof do you need?
Regardless of whether the event even happens or not, I’ll sleep well knowing that, for at least another year, I was still a part of the largest live crowd in NHL history.
Comments
Pens1967
Jul 12, 07:05 AM
Once this becomes an annual “event”, it will lose its appeal as something unique. The NHL should keep these outdoor games few and far between.
Plus, it will hard to top the Pens-Sabers game with the snow, the O/T and the game winning shoot out goal by Crosby.
Mike Wilson
Jul 12, 07:30 AM
Pens, I’m with you 100%.
This should be kept as something to look forward to every once in a while. I don’t believe it’s worth the risk to widen the league’s fan base while letting your regular fans lose interest.
That is, of course, if they can’t top the performance from the year before, which, as you said, would be very hard to do.
Pens1967
Jul 12, 10:02 AM
I think the Olympics are instructive as to what can happen when TV/broadcast media want an “event”. It used to be that people looked forward to every 4 years for the summer and winter games. Since the summer and winter games went to split schedules, it’s only 2 years between “Olympic years”. Even though the last summer games were in 2004, I find myself thinking, “didn’t we just have an Olympics?”.
The same with football. Monday Night Football used to be something special. Now it’s not even on free network TV anymore.
Sorry for the rant…
Chris
Jul 12, 10:59 AM
Don’t know about you guys, but don’t you think it should be played at Soldier Field? More seats, better seating. I don’t know, I just think it makes more sense. I wrote something along the same lines.
http://christophergates.wordpress.com/2008/07/07/winter-classic-moves-to-wrigley/
Ben Schmidt
Jul 12, 01:03 PM
A few thoughs:
1) Apparently the NHL has bought a portable rink to make hosting these sorts of events a little easier (so they don’t need to go through quite as much effort as they did with Ralph Wilson Stadium):
http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Want-a-Winter-Classic-NHL-will-let-you-borrow-i?urn=nhl,92335
2) One of the intriguing ideas mentioned there was the idea of making the All-Star game an outdoor game. Why not try to spice up that event a little? It would also have the added benefit of not making an outdoor game impact the standings. (This probably wouldn’t be something for this season, but maybe in the not-too-distant future).
3) Still, I actually don’t have a problem with the idea of an annual Winter Classic held on New Year’s Day. It’s good for marketing, and the last one proved that they can get people to tune in opposite College Bowls. Spreading it around the league will help with the novelty as well, as different regions could get to experience it, and draw attention to the League.
Just don’t let there be more than one per season. I wouldn’t object to it being less frequent than every year, but I don’t think it will really be as bad as people predict as an annual event.
Unlike the Olympics, it isn’t a multi-week event that happens during a time when people are working or going to school, after all. It’s something that happens on a Holiday when people are already home and might enjoy watching something a little different.
4) One of the things I think the NHL needs to do a better job of is to highlight the Stars around the League, instead of focusing first on Crosby, then on Ovechkin, and then making everyone else an afterthought. The Winter Classic is a great time to highlight various stars around the League. With the proposal being Blackhawks vs Red Wings, they could turn the spotlight on Kane and Toews from Chicago, and Lidstrom and Datsyuk from the Red Wings, for example.
spiker97
Jul 12, 09:39 PM
The problem with Soldier Field {and any football venue that has a NFL team} is if the home team makes the playoffs and has home games, that would wreak havoc with schedules, television, etc. For that reason, Soldier Field would probably be a logistical nightmare as a choice. A vacant baseball park like Wrigley Field or Fenway Park would make more sense.
A College venue would work, but you would ideally want to play the game in a NHL city, so that would leave places like Beaver Stadium, Bloomington IL, etc. out of the picture. Ohio State would probably be an logical idea, but the NHL would most likely want to have the more established teams and cities have a fling at this first.
I do believe the Winter Classic would be a good annual event for the league, as it would be a way to get the league on national TV in the US on New Years. Especially if you vary the teams every year.
As to making the All Star Game an outdoor event, that would be more difficult, especially with the logistics of weather, etc.
Just think – Ty Conklin could play in a third outdoor game if Detroit is involved. That’s amazing on itself.
Pens1967
Jul 13, 09:35 AM
That’s hilarious about Conklin. I wonder if the Wings will start him goal just to keep his “streak” intact?
I do think this match has the making of a real good game, though, given the rivalry between this old midwest cities. I just don’t want to NHL to ruin a good thing like all of the other major sports have done with their big events.
Pens1967
Jul 13, 12:54 PM
One further point about the ratings the game got for NBC. IMHO, a lot of that resulted from the explosion of college football bowl games. When New Year’s Day was the Sugar Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Orange Bowl and Rose Bowl, it was a special day. You usually saw 4 pretty good games and then could argue the rest of the year which team was best. Now people are bored watching second tier teams and meaningless games on New Year’s Day so they tuned to the Winter Classic.
BTW, I like it that the game is a regular season game where both teams have an incentive to play hard. An exhibition game wouldn’t have that.
Mike Wilson
Jul 13, 04:31 PM
Keep in mind, too, guys that the NCAA bowl games were very dull this year too. I heard many people (non-hockey fans) say that there was nothing exciting on so they turned on the Winter Classic.
I’m not saying that alone boosted the ratings, but I’m sure it helped.
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