#1

Posted by Shmee, January 2, 2008 8:10 PM

Lets hope this encourages NBC to not cutoff OT games anymore.

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#2

Posted by Capsaholic, January 2, 2008 8:40 PM

That game was SOOOOOOOOOOO fake.
Miller could have stopped Cindy's weak SO attempt with his eyes closed.
WWF type staging.

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#3

Posted by SpartyCuse, January 2, 2008 8:57 PM

Is that a rating for the WHOLE game, or is it just when it starts? Id bet a lot of people watched the first few minutes out of curiousity, but then turned it off.

Since the play was so bad, and there were so many stoppages, I turned it off pretty quickly. There was no flow, and while the spectacle was cool, the game was bad.

Plus, the Caps game came on!

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#4

Posted by pucksandbooks, January 2, 2008 9:20 PM

If even the hockey-hating MSM is singing high praises for Bettman's Winter Classic, one wonders why Capsaholic feels so much invective for it.

Truthfully, would he have rathered NBC doubled its allotment of Saturday afternoon figure skating instead?

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#5

Posted by SovSport, January 2, 2008 9:33 PM

Is there anyone else who did NOT watch that game but me?

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#6

Posted by Blackaces, January 3, 2008 12:21 AM

The NHL must do this at more locations in the future, especially at 'non-traditional' markets.

A game in Phoenix at night at the new Cardinals stadium would be pretty neat.

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#7

Posted by dmg, January 3, 2008 2:50 AM

The average Dec and Jan high for Phoenix is 65; average low 43/44, so I don't think that's in the cards.

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#8

Posted by Blackaces, January 3, 2008 4:12 AM

One of the biggest misconceptions about this is that it needs to be cold outside to stage the game. Not true.

With modern technology, you can install and maintain a rink in warm weather. (Of course, it's the desert, so you'd want to do it at night, when it's cooler.) But the new stadium is built into the earth.

Plus, back in 1991, the Rangers and Kings staged an outdoor game at night in Las Vegas. So it's a realistic proposition.

Question is, would any teams in warmer climates go for it? I, for one, think they should.

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#9

Posted by MulletMan, January 3, 2008 5:16 AM

SovSport wrote:
Is there anyone else who did NOT watch that game but me?

I didn't watch. I decided to spend my time installing a new wardrobe closet for my collection of hockey jerseys...then head off to the Caps game :)

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#10

Posted by Webby, January 3, 2008 3:31 PM

Wow we seem to either have loved it or hated it. I for one thought they needed to keep the flow going a lot better then they did but overall it was an entertaining watch, especially for being a 1 to 1 tie.

Would it be cool to do it again? For sure. Just be a little more prepaired for certain conditions.

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#11

Posted by b.orr4, January 3, 2008 3:59 PM

Two things about those TV ratings.
One, of that top ten listing, only one market, Boston, is a legitimate top ten market in terms of TV households. The rest are middle to small markets and, frankly, not that important to the network suits. Secondly, it appears that the only way the NHL will get passable ratings is if they stage a "gimmick" game. Honestly, if that game were played indoors would those ratings haver been anywhere near what they were? So unless the NHL plans on playing the Stanley Cup playoffs outdoors, I'm not quite sure what the overall impact of the Winter Classic will be on the national sports landscape. Actually, I do. There won't be any impact.

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#12

Posted by Thunderweenie, January 3, 2008 6:11 PM

Good thing they weren't planning to do the "Winter Classic" week--the forecast for Buffalo next week calls for showers and temps in the mid-50s (around 12-13 C, for my fellow Canooks). Skating in quicksand, anyone?

So never mind Phoenix--an outdoor game is a risky venture anywhere, even in upstate New York!!!

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#13

Posted by Thunderweenie, January 3, 2008 6:26 PM

But hey, if all else fails, there's always Mexico.

Think I'm kidding?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/02/AR2008010202849.html?wpisrc=newsletter

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#14

Posted by PenaltyBox, January 3, 2008 6:36 PM

I was shocked -- and thrilled -- to see such a high Nielsen rating for the Winter Classic, second only to a Fox broadcast some 12 years ago !

Strikes me that this could make for yet another wakeup call for the NHL. People watched -- and kept watching -- because of the return to roots (read: the romance and simplicity of pond hockey)

If only the NHL could REALLY clamp down on clutching and grabbing, the Devils-style neutral zone trap, and deliver the kind of romance and simplicity of bigger-ice hockey that we get at the Olympics and the World Championships -- instead of the bandbox game in which six-foot-six defenders with sticks just about as long keep their smoother skating colleagues on the sidelines.

Then, and only then -- when the NHL introduces international size ice sheets -- will be see these kinds of ratings for Stanley Cup playoff games.

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#15

Posted by pepper, January 3, 2008 7:28 PM

For those of you utterly smitten with the game, what would you say to making it an annual event, with a rotating matchup of teams, as a single outdoor game played on Christmas Day? Better to keep Christmas as an off day? Would the novelty of the game wear off if played every year?

One of the more spectacular (and spectacularly challenging) sites I've heard mentioned for a future outdoor game: on the frozen Rideau Canal in Ottawa.

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#16

Posted by Thunderweenie, January 3, 2008 8:49 PM

Speaking as a former Ottawa resident, I can tell you that there is nothing quite like skating on the Rideau Canal in winter. As skeptical as I am about this whole business of outdoor NHL games, that would be a neat place to do it.

You're right, though, Pepper, you'd have a tough time doing it there, not least because you need several days of temperatures consistently below -10 C (about 10 F) to make the ice even suitable for leisure skaing purposes. Making (and keeping!) it suitable for professional-level hockey would be a nightmare, I'd imagine, especially if the weather doesn't co-operate.

On top of that, I don't think the NHL would like it for business reasons. The Canal is very long and very skinny. There's just nowhere on that canal where you could fit more than a few hundred spectators around an NHL-sized playing area. Maybe you could squeeze some more folks in at Dow's Lake up by Carleton University, or maybe at the bend by Landsdowne Park where the canal widens a bit, but even there it would be tight. You can forget about this business of 70,000-plus people watching. My guess is that, if the NHL does keep doing these games, they'll stick to NFL-sized football stadiums.

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#17

Posted by OrderedChaos, January 3, 2008 9:08 PM

Fantastic input everyone. Pepper, I can't decide whether annually or alternate years would be better... skipping a year would make the game more of an "event" (like the Olympics' four-year gap) but I think the NHL will be too excited about the ratings to wait two years.

As for location, having it outside in Phoenix, for example, would be ideal in some respects because a rain-out would be very unlikely. Then again, snow is even less likely, and the snow was a big part of the game's appealing look.

Playing in Detroit, or Toronto, or another cold-weather city is a greater risk-reward... cold & snow would be great, but the chance of 50 degrees and rain (as Thunderweenie points out is in Buffalo's near forecast) could create a big letdown, as rescheduling or canceling the game would be a disaster from a marketing perspective.

PenaltyBox, regarding bigger ice surfaces for the NHL, I couldn't agree more. And while I doubt it will ever happen due to the remodeling expenses and the loss of premium (read: expensive) seats, I have little doubt that the larger sheet to match the larger players would improve the game.

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#18

Posted by Chris Green, January 4, 2008 2:54 AM

How many people turned off the game and went to something else when the tynan the liberal dissed the troops in Iraq, and then 'God Bless America'? At least Canada got in their national anthem...

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#19

Posted by dmg, January 4, 2008 6:50 AM

I don't recall that, what I recalled was more like:

"i just re-watched the nat. anthems again, and the Irish Ronyn guy makes a whole tribute before he even starts singing about how he just visited the troops in Afghanistan and how "we have the most amazing troops in the world. they give unconditionally to us." whoever is complaining about his tribute to America is just cracked to the core.

he actually dedicates the song to our soldiers, and asks everyone to sing along as a tribute "to our troops"."

http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?t=460398&page=5

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#20

Posted by Jim, July 17, 2008 8:43 PM

"There’s just nowhere on that canal where you could fit more than a few hundred spectators... or maybe at the bend by Landsdowne Park"

Why not IN Landsdowne Park during Winterlude? While the venue is in Canada, it would go over well in the US. Landsdowne is visible from the canal, NBC would like the shots of people skating on the canal (and the canal could have big-screens set up and you could hear the stadium roar from the canal), and lastly February is an "easy" ratings time for American sports tv--football is over, college basketball is not yet to March Madness, there tends to be a dearth of programming to compete with.

The logical opponent of the Senators would be the Capitols.

For Jan 1 2009, Wrigley and an original six game is pretty cool. Its a great celebration of the sport. But why not a game in Feb 2009 or 2010?

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