Good Old Hockey Game

Being that I watched the original Heritage Classic outdoor game, it was only fitting that I spent my afternoon in front of the television watching the 2008 NHL Winter Classic. The Pittsburgh Penguins battled the Buffalo Sabres in front of over 71,000 fans, and both teams also battled Mother Nature in a snowy day in Orchard Park, New York. I can honestly say that this game is everything that the NHL could have ever dreamed of, and it had all the elements that make hockey so great. If I'm Gary Bettman, I'm an extremely happy man today, and I believe 71,217 fans would have to agree that the game was a success.

There were goals - Colby Armstrong and Brian Campbell were the scorers. There were hits - Paul Gaustad provided a large number of them. There were saves - Pittsburgh's Ty Conklin made several huge saves. Overtime and a shootout were both needed as the Penguins won the game on a Sidney Crosby shootout goal to give the Penguins a 2-1 victory over Buffalo.

It was apparent that the snow played a large part in the game. The puck was difficult to move, visors and stick blades were coated in snow, and everything was wet. However, all the players kept the smiles beaming on the ice, and their attitudes towards the snow was cheerful. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, and there wasn't one complaint from the players.

This is honestly one of the best ideas that the NHL has, and I think it should be incorporated into the season every year. Everyone has enjoyed the two NHL games that took place outdoors, and everyone involved in the game has said nothing but good things about playing outdoors. Personally, this was better than any of the recent NHL All-Star Games, and I'd prefer to see it once a year more than seeing the All-Star Game. But that's just me. Having the players harken back to their earliest hockey-playing days at the grassroots level is something special to them as well.

In watching the game on CBC, they ran an advertisement for a new feature found on their website. It's called the Hockey Night Mashup presented by Rogers. They allow you to create your own 60-second clip of highlights that they've posted on their website, and I've been playing with this new feature for part of the afternoon so far. Honestly, it's pretty cool.

The best part of the Hockey Night Mashup is that if you create one, they may feature it on Hockey Night In Canada. As the website says, "CBC Sports will be choosing a 'MashUp of the Week' and featuring it during Saturday's Hockey Night in Canada broadcast. If you've ever dreamed of being a star on Hockey Night, now's your chance!" If you want to try your hand at video highlight editting, please click here to be taken directly to the Mashup page. This could seriously eat up hours of my day.

In terms of television viewership, the game proved to be huge the first time when Edmonton and Montreal squared off in Edmonton. The Heritage Classic game "drew a Canadian television audience of 2.747 million, which ranks as the second-highest average audience for a regular-season game on Hockey Night in Canada", according to CBC. This game, being covered by CBC, NBC, and RDS (French television), promises to rival that number, and most likely to surpass it. With the way the game was played - up-tempo, lots of scoring chances, few penalties - it had to appeal to the American viewership. If it didn't, there really is nothing that the NHL can do to increase TV revenue in the US.

Overall, I believe that any one of Toronto, Detroit, Montreal, New York City, Minneapolis, Denver, or Chicago would be an excellent place to host the next outdoor game. Personally, my choice would be a Toronto-Montreal game in Montreal to coincide with the 100-year anniversary of the Montreal Canadiens in 2009. The number of fans that would flock to Montreal's Molson Stadium, an outdoor football venue, would be enormous. The only problem is that Molson Stadium only holds 20,202 fans, meaning that the NHL would probably look elsewhere. Of course, the record for biggest crowd for a hockey game remains 74,544 for the "Cold War" U.S. college game between the University of Michigan and Michigan State University at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Michigan on Oct. 6, 2001, so a larger stadium would definitely be something the NHL would want.

I'm looking forward to another game like this, and cannot wait for it to happen. Congratulations to the people of western New York, the Pittsburgh Penguins, and the Buffalo Sabres. You did a fantastic job in showcasing the NHL.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!