Is the NHL's heart not in the Winter Classic this year?

[Machinehead]

I think it's the matchup; it''s a dreadful matchup. I mean it's two quality sides as far as hockey goes, but the Winter Classic is an event. There has to be a little WWE element to it to suck people in. We have two teams here with no history and no storyline with one another.

 

[Ugene Magic]

You know what would catch my interest nomatter what the team is? Is having it out in the middle of a snowy tundra outside some small town where they can set up for the fans to be closer to the action rather than set back due to stadium seating configurations.

Kind of like Woodstock.

Damn that would be so cool.

 

[johan f]

Or Mystery Alaska kind of thing

 

[kingsfan28]

Not a rivalry at all. I'm guessing they picked the Hawks just for the large fan base and household names.

It's all about ratings, nothing more and the WC has turned into a money grab for the NHL. Right now it's becoming stale because NBC keeps running the same 5-6 teams in it over and over. This will be the Hawks 2nd WC, next year will probably be Boston and Pitt/Philly which will be their 3rd. New teams need to be injected like it was originally designed or it will just be considered another game [ you might say it already has].

No team west of Chicago has played in it yet.

 

[GKJ]

No novelty because there became too many outdoor games, and there is no semblance of a rivalry. A Caps Winter Classic should have been played against the Penguins, Flyers, or Rangers. It's basically just become a nice event for the team hosting it. Perhaps even less buzz because it's the third time the Blackhawks have been involved outdoors, they were in a game less than a year ago. It's likely not even that big of a deal to the Blackhawks players at this point.

NBC is also going to start running into trouble. Before, the 1pm slot was a weak spot in the sports schedule, with only some decent bowl games to go up against. This year, it's a better bowl game, and the college football playoff has everyone talking about that.

 

[Minnewildsota]

too many outdoor games recently ruined it

This is it gets boring when the same teams or in it over and over and over.

 

[Ugene Magic]

Or Mystery Alaska kind of thing

Yes.

It shouldn't matter where other than it has to be a consistent winter set up with snow pretty much that time of year. That's upper states and Canada.

Like the post above said, all teams should be represented, and as long as that happens, you can have two happening for both the US and Canada and should never lose its appeal.

 

[cutchemist42]

I think the NHL always knew it was going to be beat on NYE/NYD but now the CFB became even bigger than it was before with ratings up this year because of the playoff. I think we should e ready for a dud of a rating this year....

I said it last year, and I hate to use this term but it explains it, the NHL blew its load on the Michigan Stadium, it felt like the last grasp. What is even compelling about it now? In the end it was always a dressed up regular season game out of 81 other games. Nothing has changed that fact this year.

It's either you do something unique or else this turns into a dud event which dies (which I hope it does). Game in Banff/Vail/Whistler/etc. or some other idea.

 

[Minnewildsota]

I would say part of the problem that the NHL is having is that it really only advertises, or markets, a very select few players. By that, I mean most persons that aren't into hockey even know Crosby or Ovechkin by name. Unfortunately, both of these players are on the down swing of their careers. I'm not sure the NHL has really put much effort into branding the next set of superstars that are coming into the league. I personally would suggest that they start branding the starts more and brand a few more of them.

Don't get me wrong, the superstars on these 2 teams are fun to watch but when they've been in the league as long as they have and have been shoved down our throats as much as they have; people will start to lose interest in watching said games.

My $.02 anyway.

 

[cutchemist42]

If anything, its embarrassing for the NHL when you had your commissioner claiming you now owned New Year's Day with this event....

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...tle-for-new-years-day-is-one-worth-rethinking

To imagine that we would own New Year’s Day, which used to be for college football; nobody could have imagined it. It was a great concept.

 

[kingsfan28]

I think the NHL always knew it was going to be beat on NYE/NYD but now the CFB became even bigger than it was before with ratings up this year because of the playoff. I think we should e ready for a dud of a rating this year....

I said it last year, and I hate to use this term but it explains it, the NHL blew its load on the Michigan Stadium, it felt like the last grasp. What is even compelling about it now? In the end it was always a dressed up regular season game out of 81 other games. Nothing has changed that fact this year.

It's either you do something unique or else this turns into a dud event which dies (which I hope it does). Game in Banff/Vail/Whistler/etc. or some other idea.

The tv landscape has changed now that college football is going to a playoff system. I think the idea originally was to have the game on before any of the bowl games started, thus getting a large share of the tv audience. It's no longer the case, so yeah the rating will probably take a hit.

 

[JustGivingEr]

Don Cherry Parody @DonCherryParody · 2h 2 hours ago
YKNOW HOW COME THE NHL ISNT DOIN AN OUTDOORS GAME ON NEW YEARS THIS YEAR?

 

[hisgirlfriday]

The tv landscape has changed now that college football is going to a playoff system. I think the idea originally was to have the game on before any of the bowl games started, thus getting a large share of the tv audience. It's no longer the case, so yeah the rating will probably take a hit.

There were always bowl games happening at the same time as the winter classic.

 

[kingsfan28]

There were always bowl games happening at the same time as the winter classic.

I know, I was talking more about the big games like the Rose Bowl or Sugar Bowl.

 

[Oberyn]

Doesn't mean anything anymore, I forgot there was even a Winter Classic.

 

[frankthefrowner]

I thought the stadium series was really good.. but the reason it was good was because it was rivals..

There is 0 heat between these two teams...

Pens Buffalo was decent because it was the first
Wings Hawks was a decent rivalry but again sill relatively new
Bruins and Flyers both teams have dicks.
Pens and Caps... Ovi vs sid and malkin..story lines wrote itself
Rangers flyers... games are always good they hate each other.
Leafs wings...first Canadian team involved in the classic and an old rivalry being reignited.

Now..
Hawks and the caps....I got nothing? its outside.

 

[magic school bus]

The million outdoor games last year killed the allure of any future games.

too many outdoor games recently ruined it

There is no novelty in it anymore because there has been so many in recent years. 1 per year was enough.

There have been so many of these things - other than those who are actually going to attend the game - does anyone really give a **** anymore? Same old, same old.

Yup, I don't really care anymore either. Thanks, NHL.

 

[Tekneek]

They should only do it every few years. It doesn't need to be an annual thing. It just becomes another game and gets less special.

 

[didimentionlarseller]

They got Billy ****ing Idol as the headlining act so I doubt it.

You make that sound like it's a bad thing

 

[GKJ]

You make that sound like it's a bad thing

It wasn't for the 1987 Winter Classic.

 

[kingsfan28]

Looks like the NHL's heart is still in it's wallet. 500 per ticket...yikes!

 

[SimplySensational]

Or are the Capitals just not putting much effort in hosting it?

I will say I have no complaints as far as the Epix show in the run-up to the game even if it is a little different than the HBO version.

And I understand DC cannot control the fact we will not get an awesome snowglobe effect this year or that their venue lacks the history of other past choices. And I give credit that the ice mall to skate out on the rink looks neat.

But why is there no alumni game this year? The Leafs/Wings alumni contest last year was awesome even as a person whose team wasn't in it.

Then I saw on twitter there's apparently some vip/media game today but can't tell it was streamed and no one was in the stands for it as far as I can tell. Also can't find a list of who was even in it. Just passing twitter mentions from a us congressman, an actor, and a guitarist.

If this the NHL dropping the ball or the Caps?

And as someone whose a huge fan of the outdoor games it bums me out that the effort doesn't seem to be there to try to make this one special. Maybe it all comes down to the weird team selection?

They didn't have an alumni game in 2009, when the Blackhawks hosted it. So stop blaming the Capitals.

 

[Pyrophorus]

Theres absolutely no history to the teams involved. Its not snowy.

Detroit set the bar high last year with the whole "Winter Classic" village type thing going on with all the various games and activities involved. It snowed gently throughout the whole game. Two classic O6 rivals.

This is what I say.

You had the best...this is the rest.

 

[DMR]

too many outdoor games recently ruined it

I agree. They killed the golden goose. It's no longer an event. Just another outdoor game.

 

[Tekneek]

This is what I say.

You had the best...this is the rest.

It seems so... arbitrary. It isn't "fair", but these games should be hosted in the right geographic locations and have some meaning.