First of all I want to say I love the Winter Classic. I watched both the Montreal-Edmonton and last year's Pittsburgh-Buffalo as well as the "Cold War" between Michigan and Michigan State.
The Buffalo-Pittsburgh had the exact storybook ending the league wanted-the whether you like it or not the face of the NHL, Sidney Crosby, scoring the goal in a shootout. Both games were great for the game and the league and even better for the fans.
However the NHL needs to learn how to not overdo a good thing. The Winter Classic is like chocolate its great once in awhile but if you continue it on a consistent basis you will grow sick of it.
There was a four-year gap in between the "Heritage Classic" and the "AMP Energy NHL Winter Classic" which was huge for the NHL. That game was also a huge success and paved the way for the Buffalo-Pittsburgh game.
But also while fans remembered the game they missed it. Most fans also loved the whole concept of playing outside and on basically a "pond" which many players and fans played on when they were kids.
Despite the minus 22 temperature over 50,000 turned out in Edmonton. For last year it was over 70,000 and 41,000 tickets sold out in 30 minutes. Soon all the teams wanted their own outdoor games.
But the key is although the stadiums will sell out the TV ratings will only contain hockey fans. Non-hockey fans were drawn to watch the game by the mystique of actual NHL teams playing outside and/or the rarity of it. But if it's on every year the casual hockey fan and non-hockey fans will not want to watch it.
Then eventually even hockey fans will grow tired of the same thing every year. The NHL should take a page from the Olympics, people love to see the teams and athletes but only every four years for each season.
If the Olympics were held every year or two then the Olympics would lose their meaning and speciality which the Winter Classic needs to hold onto. Otherwise it would just become a game that's played outdoors every year.
However as long as the NHL does what I am suggesting and chill with the Winter Classic they will have great success every time they play it.
8 comments Last one added 11 months ago — Leave a Comment
Alan Bass 11 months ago
i think the nhl is right to do it annually, as long as they only do it once a year. it's like the all-star game. it is every year, and still gets good ratings. nbc got amazing ratings last year, so if it ain't broke, why fix it?
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Andrew Mason 11 months ago
Thanks for reading and you make a good point with the all-star game but that only got .7 while the winter classic got 2.6 I think people will just get tired of the same thing basically but with just new teams.
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Geoff Townsend 11 months ago
Andrew, the best part about sports is that Nielson ratings don't even come close to defining the event. 70,000 at a hockey game says enough. And even a 1.6 is desirable to any bigwig at NBC
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Daniel Bigras 11 months ago
You are entitled to your opinion, but personally, I completely disagree with you.
If we follow your analysis, we should get rid of the All-star game too.
The NHL can be stupid in many aspects, but this is a good thing. There's nothing negative about this initiative, other than that many teams would like to have their own outdoor game but cannot.
Oh, I'm wrong, there's something negative: the choice of the teams can lead disappointment amongst some fans. But unlike the All-star game, the outdoor game itself, the event, is all positive.
To avoid that it would be very simple: a specific rule that avoids subjective decisions.
For example: the previous year two conference champions, or the previous year two playoff finalists.
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Andrew Mason 11 months ago
Thanks for reading and I respect your opinon but I feel that the NHL only does because they need the ratings and the money since they lost a fans through the lockout.
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Todd Morse 11 months ago
Its a business Andrew, everything they do is for profit
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Daniel Bigras 11 months ago
Agreed, it's to increase the popularity, but there's nothing wrong with that. The format is great, it can be improved, but it's much better than the stupid and worthless All-star game. At least, this game counts.
But your article just gave me an idea to write about. Stay tuned!
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Rant Man 11 months ago
I wrote a similar article to this extent when talking about the Chicago/Detroit game coming up. I agree. I think if it becomes an annual event, it'll cheapen the experience and originality. It'll become like the All Star game where nobody watches if it becomes something you expect, but the only difference is that points toward the regular season are on the line.
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