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Planning Future Winter Classics
by Mike Chen on 01/02/09 at 01:59 PM ET
Comments (8)
I should start off with a disclaimer that I don’t think this idea will necessarily please everyone, nor will it necessarily bring the biggest ratings and/or revenue to the NHL. Heck, I’m not even sure I’d vote for it if I was on the Board of Governors but it’s an idea that got me thinking after it popped in my head, so it couldn’t have been the worst idea in the world. At the very least, it’s an interesting idea that tries to fulfill a few different things.
That being said, here’s a proposed way to spread the Winter Classic love around the league without getting into arguments about what’s a hockey market and what’s not (re: who “deserves” it and who doesn’t). It’s also a way to not kill the Golden Goose of the WC through overexposure.
What if the Winter Classic becomes an every-other-season regular season contest between the last two winners of the Stanley Cup? The team with the better the overall head-to-head record over the past two seasons has the option to host (and considering the revenue/publicity, who would turn it down?).
In theory then, next year’s 2010 Winter Classic would be between the Red Wings and whoever wins this year’s Stanley Cup (there’s obviously have to be some sort of runner-up rule should the Cup be won back to back). If the Wings had won the majority of head-to-head contests between the teams during the 2007-08 season and the 2008-09 season, they would have the option to host.
Then we’d wait a year—no 2011 Winter Classic. The 2012 Winter Classic would be between the 2011 Cup champs and the 2010 Cup champs.
Ok, so what does this do? Let’s review:
1) It provides some regularity to a Winter Classic schedule without overkilling it every season. While this year’s was apparently a massive media success, people can tire of it really fast. The four-year rotation of the Olympics is probably too long, so an every-other-year schedule would keep it fresh in people’s minds without dulling the novelty of it.
2) It allows the Winter Classic to theoretically be held anywhere in the league—but it’s based on success, so teams have to earn it. This will irritate some and satisfy others, but ultimately you’ll never make everyone happy.
3) For so-called non-traditional markets, it cashes in on Stanley Cup success and maintains a team’s high profile in the market. The buzz created by winning a Stanley Cup pushes a team to a new level and maxes out a generation of casual fans. Just look at the Lightning—considering how bad the team was this year and how much of an absolute circus the team is this year, their average attendance of 16,720 isn’t that bad. Vincent Lecavalier was recently voted the area’s favorite athlete and I bet if the Lightning somehow push into the playoffs through a miracle run, the buzz would be easily recreated. It’s kind of like when you work out every day for two years, then you let yourself go—it’s easier to get back into shape than it is to get there the first time. And of course, here’s hoping that no team goes through a post-Cup crash quite like the Bolts did.
4) It takes control of the venue out of the hands of the league and makes the Classic a bit of a reward for winning the Cup. Cause you know that eventually the league would come up with some idea to really mess things up (though I’m sure some could argue that this idea is just that).
In any case, this could just be the insane musings of someone who hasn’t fully decompressed from the nuttiness of the holidays. I have to think about it for a little bit before deciding if it’s a good idea or not. In the meantime, nitpick away.
Filed in: NHL | Mike Chen's Hockey Blog | Permalink
Tags: Winter+Classic,
Comments
aren’t you kind of overlooking the fact that an outdoor game has to occur in a cold enough climate to support outdoor ice? which kind of limits you to northern U.S and 4 of the Canadian cities. you couldn’t have the classic in vancouver (doesn’t freeze) or in calgary (chinooks are too big of a variable. the temp could be anywhere from -30 to +20).
I think its a special game that has to be nurtured—so much could go wrong that could make it a catastrophe. by making it a sort of application process we can ensure that the city that gets it will commit to it, and that the game will be awarded to a city where we can be pretty confident of cold enough weather to allow it.
Posted by philb on 01/02/09 at 02:30 PM ET
Do it in a neutral site if neither one can support outdoor ice. That would be a great time to use one of the cities that want an NHL team such as Kansas City, Winnipeg, or Hartford. Believe me, the people who can afford WC tickets can afford a plane ticket.
Posted by Kevin from Pittsburgh on 01/02/09 at 02:57 PM ET
The whole point of this is to generate interest in hockey, partifularily in the two teams cities. Having two random teams playing in Hartford would be terrible and generate nothing.
It has to be in cities like Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Denver, Pittsburgh, Toronto, Montreal or Detroit. Any other city would not work or draw enough interest.
Posted by Colton on 01/02/09 at 03:06 PM ET
You forgot Buffalo (duh) and Minnesota. As for a neutral site..I really don’t see anybody going out of their way to travel to a snowbound northern city on Jan 1st. If I’m traveling I better see some sun and 70 degree temps as far as I’m concerned.
Posted by kevin from boston on 01/02/09 at 03:13 PM ET
Except its not two random cities, its the two cites who won the Stanley cup, and if their fans can’t fill a stadium/park/whatever than they don’t deserve to have a team.
Not to mention I know people who hate the Wings and the Hawks and still went to the game, all the way from pittsburgh, just because its a cool thing to see, and anyone who can afford it should definitely go. Not to mention you don’t generate interest by filling the stadium, you do that by having people watch on TV, and an outdoor game of two teams who had recently won the Stanley Cup is going to draw ratings, even if its Tampa and Carolina playing in a neutral site as it could have been a couple years ago.
Posted by Kevin from Pittsburgh on 01/02/09 at 03:13 PM ET
PhilB, if you missed one of my last posts, we established that you *can* have an outdoor rink in West Coast winter weather. The Sharks have an outdoor rink they put up in downtown San Jose every holiday season and there’s an outdoor figure/public skating rink about a mile from my house over by Stanford. An Anaheim fan commented that there’s something similar.
Greg Jamison (Sharks Pres) stated that he’d talked the ice conditions issue over with the league and they came up with a temperature that had to be met. At least in the Bay Area, the average was below that, so it was feasible with today’s technology.
Posted by Mike Chen on 01/02/09 at 03:30 PM ET
Well, I’m sure an ice surface can be created, but I seriously doubt whether a reasonable game of hockey could be played on it. I can’t believe an NHL caliber ice surface could be built…just look at the ridiculously bad ice surface in Buffalo. In fact, most NHL rinks have a hard time keeping a decent ice surface.
Your proposal, otherwise, is great, especially the every other year frequency. The Winter Classic should be a special occurrence.
Posted by catz27 on 01/02/09 at 07:12 PM ET
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Sounds good to me. Since the WC is something fun that the players really seem to enjoy, its like another reward for winning the SC. Also, every year seems like way to much, so every other as you suggest sounds pretty good.
But I’m sure there are plenty of Atlanta, Toronto, and Blues fans that will have a fit over this idea.
Posted by Kevin from Pittsburgh on 01/02/09 at 02:11 PM ET