Lesson: West > East.

Posted by Osrt on 01/04/10 at 01:56 PM ET

West is best.  Chi-towns the best.

Posted by Ripper on 01/04/10 at 01:58 PM ET

That 10.3 % edge last years game had just may be due to an original six matchup.
Or
Possibly the W/conf will always outdraw little gary’s conference.

Posted by HockeyTownTodd on 01/04/10 at 02:00 PM ET

I don’t follow College football at all, but were there better or worse bowl match ups this time which may have pulled viewers?  I can’t imagine the respective market sizes were a problem. Although the struggles of both teams this season may have been.

Posted by Nate A from Detroit-ish on 01/04/10 at 02:19 PM ET

Nate A, Penn State was playing at the same time, so maybe some fans were more interested in that game than the WC.

Posted by Paul from Motown Area on 01/04/10 at 02:25 PM ET

Rosby is the reason the West will always be better. GO WINGS!

Posted by BigBertuzzi13 on 01/04/10 at 02:30 PM ET

Posted by Paul

Good call. I was flipping between the two as well.

Posted by Osrt on 01/04/10 at 02:31 PM ET

And, I think the ending to the N’western v. Auburn probably stopped a few Chicago-land and/or UAB Hockey fans from tuning in to the earlier portions of the WC.

Posted by VandyBuck on 01/04/10 at 02:42 PM ET

And the field for the Penn State game was pretty similar to the ice at Fenway, too.

Posted by HockeyinHD on 01/04/10 at 02:44 PM ET

West is best.  Chi-towns the best.

Damn right!

Nice avatar, BTW.  I wonder how they fit all of Chicago’s Stanley Cup winning years on one banner!!!

Posted by Garth on 01/04/10 at 02:46 PM ET

Or it could be that Flyers-Bruins was of very little interest outside of Philly and Boston, whereas the other two were much more-compelling matchups to the hockey fanbase in general.

I had no intention of watching at all to be honest, but my wife wanted to watch the outdoor game…. and at that point it was difficult to convince myself to talk my wife out of watching hockey.

Posted by Primis on 01/04/10 at 02:54 PM ET

Or it could be that Flyers-Bruins was of very little interest outside of Philly and Boston, whereas the other two were much more-compelling matchups to the hockey fanbase in general.

Absolutely.  The Buffalo game may have had Buffalo in it, but it also had Sid and Malkin in it while last year’s game had the defending champs (I’d love to think that Datyuk and Z are big draws the way Sid is, but I’m not completely retarded), as well as a couple of the newer big names AND something of a rivalry.

How many casual fans recognized any names of Philly or Boston players after Bobby Orr (and sure, I’ll throw Bobby Clarke in there too) left the ice?  And I’ll admit to some ignorance because I don’t avidly follow either Philly or Boston, but is there even any kind of hint at a rivaly there?

Seems to me that the WC needs to be built around names or a rivalry and not simply “We’re playing the first HOCKEY game EVER at a BASEBALL STADIUM!!!!Isn’t that Cuh-ray-zeeeeeee????

Posted by Garth on 01/04/10 at 03:10 PM ET

Given that the event was a “grand slam”, “set a higher bar”, and was “the best Classic ever” by media reports, the stagnant ratings make me worry for the future of this event. I believe that the first one (snow globe in BUF) got enough post-game buzz to make casual fans interested in the next one. Now we’ve had two more, and we’re back where we started.

Posted by FrogC4 from USA on 01/04/10 at 03:17 PM ET

The game in Wrigley also had more scoring, so if someone flipped over quickly and watched for a while, they might have been more likely to see a goal.  Maybe then they would have kept watching for a little longer.

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 01/04/10 at 03:40 PM ET

And I’ll admit to some ignorance because I don’t avidly follow either Philly or Boston, but is there even any kind of hint at a rivaly there?

Posted by Garth

Yea for sure dude. The Flyers are the reason Orr’s career was so short; or so goes the prevailing narrative.

Posted by Osrt on 01/04/10 at 04:18 PM ET

All true, but I would have been more interested in Boston - Montreal, Philly - Pit, or Caps - Anyone

Posted by MarkK from Maryland on 01/04/10 at 05:06 PM ET