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

[skilles]

Same teams over and over is the problem IMO.

Nobody cares to see the Caps and Hawks play outside again besides Caps and Hawks fans.

 

[MrWilson*]

Um...hockey in a football stadium. DUMB. Just plain DUMB. Never liked it, never thought it was anything but DUMB.

 

[Warden of the North]

Um...hockey in a football stadium. DUMB. Just plain DUMB. Never liked it, never thought it was anything but DUMB.

Its a baseball stadium, isnt it?

Leafs and Red Wings at the Big House was spectacular last year.

 

[hockey4sale]

the NHL over milked this cow and it died, time to move on, this is the case when excessive greed kills the venue

 

[Dave is a killer]

Agree with the NHL jumping the shark (Fenway, Soldier Field, Wrigley, The Big House, Dodger stadium etc) every classic stadium has been used that's available, now the NHL apparently is going to Foxboro next NYD & Nationals Park tomorrow? Blech

 

[McGuires Corndog]

I didn't even know who was participating in the game until now.

Caps and Hawks? Really? That's ****ing atrocious.

Montreal-Boston would have been a perfect choice.

 

[Proust*]

I did not know there was a winter classic this year. Unfortunately no one, including Capitals fans, cares about the Capitals.

 

[anlongo13]

I think the low interest in this year's Winter Classic isn't so much over-saturation, but just a terrible match-up. I don't understand why the NHL would make their premiere game between two teams with little to no history.

As an executive, wouldn't you want the host to play a team within their division, or a long-time rival to increase as much interest as possible? Just a bizarre choice to me.

 

[Mike Martin]

There's nothing particularly classic about the Washington Capitals now that they're no longer a marquee team. The Winter Classic feels like an artificial creation to make hockey feel like an old timey college football game from some Norman Rockwell past that never was.

Finally someone has described how I've felt about the hype surrounding this gimmick from the beginning. The "Winter Classic" game counts the same in points as any other regular season game on the schedule and all of the players know that and yet it is marketed like an elite college football bowl game in which the stakes are so high.

 

[ArGarBarGar]

Terrible matchup, stadium series, having to follow up probably the best Winter Classic event they have ever had with more of the same "random game in baseball/football stadium" stuff.

They raised the bar incredibly high with the Wings/Leafs classic last year. They basically regressed in every single possible way with this game.

 

[Mike Martin]

They also didn't have a Road to the Winter Classic that year as it was still so new but as things have evolved the event had gotten bigger and IMO better. Yet the NHL has let it shrink back down again and to me that's unfortunate.

Why does there need to be a special media invented "Road" to a regular season game that counts the same in the standings as every other regular season game? The hype over this is laughable.

 

[syc]

Wait until you see how bad the ratings will be. I'm guessing this will be the one that puts an end to this cash grab for now.

 

[Voight]

People would care more if they didn't add 47 outdoor games last year. This is what Bettman and Daly get for being greedy and making it a cash grab.

Ive seen like 0 advertising for it and they chose a horrible matchup.

The Caps and Hawks aren't even close to rivals so its going to be a boring game. You can't go from having big rivalry games like Leafs/Wings, Hawks/Wings or Rangers/Flyers. I'm not really sure why they didn't choose Pittsburgh for this game, if anything people would much rather seem Caps v Pens than Caps v Blackhawks.

 

[seanlinden]

I have to wonder whether the stadium / location plays into this as well.

You look at the past Winter Classics, and most stadiums had some real appeal.

Buffalo -- First one.
Chicago -- Within the Ivy at Wrigley Field
Boston -- Under the Green Monster at Fenway Park
Pittsburgh -- IMO lacked the allure, while the NHL tried to make up for it by putting Crosby/Ovechkin.
Philly -- Again, a bit lacking, but had Flyers / Rangers.
Detroit -- The 90-year Old, 100k+ Big House

I'm not saying it's all driven by stadium, but playing in some of America's most historic ballparks, or cramming 100k+ people in certainly helps.

 

[Voight]

I didn't even know who was participating in the game until now.

Caps and Hawks? Really? That's ****ing atrocious.

Montreal-Boston would have been a perfect choice.

I'm sure it will be B's vs Habs next year in Boston, if the reports are correct.

Which is another annoying thing. Boston already had it, let another team like the Avs or Wild host one, the NHL needs to realize there are good teams that play in cold climates west of Chicago. (I know they had the Stadium Series but those games were just a cash grab and kinda ****)

 

[Snakepit]

Minnesota V Colorado would be a good one

 

[hototogisu]

I'm sure it will be B's vs Habs next year in Boston, if the reports are correct.

Which is another annoying thing. Boston already had it, let another team like the Avs or Wild host one, the NHL needs to realize there are good teams that play in cold climates west of Chicago. (I know they had the Stadium Series but those games were just a cash grab and kinda ****)

The Winter Classic is about money, not about charity. "Everyone gets a turn" takes a backseat to "who can bring in the most $$$" pretty quickly.

 

[CoachQ]

I wouldn't mind seeing LA/St. Louis at Busch Stadium.

Also agree that this matchup is forced. If there was bad weather scheduled it might be a better draw but sunny in the forties is not going to draw the casual fan.

 

[hisgirlfriday]

Wait until you see how bad the ratings will be. I'm guessing this will be the one that puts an end to this cash grab for now.

Well if you are hoping for that you may just be disappointed given the Chicago market's participation.

 

[Warden of the North]

Boston-Montreal and Minnesota-Winnipeg would be good games in Winter climates.

 

[Snakepit]

^oooh, Wild Jets would be fun too. Would it attract enough casual fans though

 

[Cursed Lemon]

Nobody has ever said that.

You're joking, right?

 

[foundhockey]

I did not know there was a winter classic this year. Unfortunately no one, including Capitals fans, cares about the Capitals.

Don't speak for Caps fans.

 

[LetsGoBLUES91]

NHL has ruined it themselves. Their own creation.

Put the same 4 teams in the game in a rotation, people outside of those 4 markets don't give a damn.

Take the integrity of the outdoor game away by making like 18 outdoor games a year for a quick profit, and the luster wears off.

They had a great thing going and have lost it.

 

[The Red Line]

In a few years there will be so many outdoor games that once a year they'll have a special Indoor Classic that will feel unique.