Is the NHL killing the novelty of the Winter Classic?

http://www.stateofhockeynews.com/2010-articles/may/is-the-nhl-killing-the-novelty-of-the-winter-classic.html

Is the NHL killing the novelty of the Winter Classic?

Written by Derek Felska
Monday, 31 May 2010 20:25

Last year, a former writer at Bloguin, Cole Jones proposed a possible future Winter Classic between the Minnesota Wild and Dallas Stars. One of the more intriguing yet controversial ideas as part of this proposal was to have the Dallas Stars sport Minnesota North Stars sweaters while the game would be played at either of the state's two newest outdoor sports facilities Target Field home of the Minnesota Twins or TCF Bank Stadium home of the Golden Gophers football team. The idea was circulated to wild.com message boards where for the most part it was dismissed with many fans noting their discomfort with the idea of Dallas wearing the beloved North Stars logo. As a fan who grew up rooting for the North Stars as a kid it would be painful to see the team that broke our hearts in the State of Hockey flaunting colors we still feel our 'own'. It is almost impossible to explain, but it would be like seeing your former best friend on a date with your girlfriend. It is just wrong on so many levels. I applaud the creativity and time Cole Jones placed into that article, even going so far as to produce an attractive Winter Classic logo for the event as well as an arena plan showing how the sheet of ice would fit onto both Target Field and TCF Bank Stadium. He obviously put a lot of thought into it and I think it was nice to see him consider the rich hockey heritage of Minnesota, but he simply miscalculated just how deep the wound still is over the North Stars' departure. For some Wild fans, they can barely remember the North Stars or they have buried the hatchet but for fans like myself my hatred for that organization as well as former team owner Norm Green (who still resides in Dallas) still burns bright.

http://theother6seconds.com/2009-articles/december/winter-class-proposal.html

Here is the article if you wish to peruse it for yourself. But perhaps this is a segue for the real crux of this article as the NHL chose Stanley Cup Finals week to announce where the next Winter Classic was going to be. Curious timing of such an announcement as you are about to have your most exciting playoff series about to start by not waiting until a champion has been named to try to kill some of their buzz by announcing the league's two darlings the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals faceoff against one another at Heinz Field. Did Chicago and the Flyers not generate enough interest by themselves that you had to again trot out the names of Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin? It is highly disrespectful to the teams in the Stanley Cup Finals to try to side track those events for something that will have plenty of time to be built up by a rabid media campaign in the 6 months between now and the next Winter Classic. (click on the link for the rest of the article)

What do you think?

Yeah, I could really do without seeing Pittsburgh again so soon. Washington is lame too.

I think the event has enough buzz on it's own that it DOESN'T have to include major markets every time. Or the darlings of the league. You wanna do ovechkin? Fine, but we don't need Crosby in there too. We just saw him a couple years ago. There's other teams who deserve a shot at this spectacle.

I really get that the NHL is trying to get more people in general interested in the game. Which is great as it is always fun to welcome in new fans to the sport. However, after giving that concept some thought, this is how I see it.

I view hockey in general much like soccer. It is something that is loved Internationally and really is only followed by those that have a strong interest in it. So Genius Gary tries sunbelt teams, which.......eh......some have held their own, and others, ouch.

Then Winter Classic, hey a novel idea, nationally showcase two teams outside. That's finally a good idea Gary. You get kill off the role of the traditional enforcer in hockey to make it more family friendly, to this outdoor game is actually a good idea. Not like it hasn't been done though.

So you take your favorite talent and make his team the first to play, and it works. then you take a team that is like the Yankees of hockey and stick them on what some consider the MECCA of baseball, and that did well too. This year we were treated to an East Coast rivalry and the announcing of our Olympic national team, good call.

Now, you want to plug your favorite guy again alongside another name that most of the population knows in hockey. I am sure the ratings will do well, but Gary what you fail to take into consideration is "what about the fans that have been here for a while?"

I am biased in wanting a MN Winter Classic because I would show up for that in a hearbeat. But there are some other teams and rivalries that would be awesome to show outdoors. Toronto and Montreal have the oldest NHL Rivalry. Wouldn't it be fun to see those two teams go head to head? I know I would enjoy it.

Or if we are so hell bent on US East, why not The Rangers and Islanders. There's two teams that hate each other. You could do a NJ and NY game and market the hell out of Marty B.

What about the Battle of Alberta? or the Battle of Ontario? Or how about two teams that despise eachother in Colorado and Detroit? Maybe the Blues and Blackhawks, those two teams have a history of hating eachother.

long and short of it is there are so many more options to choose from that involve the rich history of the game to choose from, not a rivalry that developed because of trying to get high tv ratings.

I predict ol' Crazy Gary will get a Winter Classic in LA somehow before a more deserving northern team (St. Louis bias here) gets one.

Let's not act like he wouldn't try and come up with some wacky/magical system to keep the ice frozen in a California winter if he thinks it would boost ratings and interest.

iirc from watching this years classic in boston with the rain and such, they said their trucks are all specially rigged to keep the ice perfect no matter the weather. i know it doesn't sound scientific, but that was the gist of it.

Crosby being in another classic is a fricking joke.

They want to bring in new fans and get the best ratings by playing certain teams. But did it ever occur to them that they're losing fans due to the same shit. I liked seeing different players, teams, and fans involved in the event each year. That was part of the fun. Seeing the same clubs ruins the novelty of it......it'll just be another game to me.....a game that I wouldn't care to watch.

To fans that don't know the game... Crosby isn't a novelty even, he's just the only name they know because that's all sportscenter will show.

You expand a game by getting more than 1 name out there. An event like the winter classic can be such a vehicle... but now they are completely ignoring that, and falling into the same old trap.

TaLoN wrote:

To fans that don't know the game... Crosby isn't a novelty even, he's just the only name they know because that's all sportscenter will show.

You expand a game by getting more than 1 name out there. An event like the winter classic can be such a vehicle... but now they are completely ignoring that, and falling into the same old trap.

You said the "T" word!!!

I said the T word in a completely different context.

its all about money, and lets face the last what 4 Ovie vs Duche games were great to watch, this will get money and ratings.

what i want is a Pond Classic Lake Calhoun baby

You could still have Ovechkin as the "star" and then bring in New Jersey.

I'm a simple man. I watch for the retro jerseys.