Winterfest

[Brodie]

I think they wrongly assumed that people would want to be a part of the WC experience even if they weren't able to land WC tickets. The issue is, most people only want to be part of the WC. Michigan and Michigan State have both played in multiple outdoor games already (I believe this was the fifth and sixth times for UM), so the appeal for their fans was effectively nill. Western and Tech, god love them, don't really have particularly engaged fan/alumni bases. The Whalers and Spirit barely have fans at all, and I wonder if most casual Wings fans are even properly aware of what the Griffins are. It's not the same thing and people weren't going to waste time and money in the cold for it.

 

[Ozz]

I was down there today. Not a capacity crowd but the place felt like it may as well have been. The Fan Zone was a nuthouse.

 

[GoAwayDanCleary]

35k+ were in attendance according to them. I was really surprised at how many Wings fans were there. I think some of you are overreacting to the "lack" of people at the events. For a place where hockey is #3 in the sports market, it's done fine.

 

[benusmc]

downtown Ann Arbor looks like NYC tonight

 

[JPE123]

I was worried that the game was going to be all TO fans but it seemed the Wings fans turned out. At least on TV it sounded like there were a lot more wings fans

 

[MissNHL]

I worked inside the fan zone and attended 1 day of the GLI, OHL and Alumni games. Friday was the slowest day. It got busier as the events went on. Alumni games was by far the busiest at the park and inside the fan zone. The heated tents were always full and certain outdoor games were popular. Also, the Tigers Club was open to the public except on the day of the Alumni games.

 

[Squirrel in the Hole]

It seemed as if there were 70% Leafs fans at the AHL game today. I'm guessing there's gonna be way more Leafs fans than Wings fans at the WC, which is sad.

Looked about even at the WC game, actually

 

[GoAwayDanCleary]

Looked about even at the WC game, actually

Yeah it was pretty much split down the middle, though I was surrounded by Leafs fans

 

[LeighDx59]

Yeah it was pretty much split down the middle, though I was surrounded by Leafs fans

Same here I figured they were trying to split the fans like in the commercial... didn't really work out.

 

[needzmoarcleary]

Everyone I talked to that went to the WC game said it was almost evenly split and had a blast. I watched all the games from home and wish I would've went. The Alumni games looked like a ton of fun, overall the whole thing looked like a blast regardless.

 

[ArGarBarGar]

Same here I figured they were trying to split the fans like in the commercial... didn't really work out.

It worked out as well as it could have. Pretty much had blue on one side and red on the other. Was a great sight.

 

[Fugu]

It worked out as well as it could have. Pretty much had blue on one side and red on the other. Was a great sight.

The funnier sight was how many fans were there together, but with blue and red split allegiances. The Great Family Divide.

And they all seemed to like each other, unlike say a Philly vs NYR game, or B's against anyone else.

 

[GoAwayDanCleary]

The Toronto fans, around me at least, were very tolerable. It was probably the most surprising part of the day.

 

[LeighDx59]

The Toronto fans, around me at least, were very tolerable. It was probably the most surprising part of the day.

From what I saw they were fantastic. The worst thing they did was chant "Go Leafs Go" even on the shuttle a Leafs fan brushed the snow off of my jacket and we all had a laugh about it. They were great, much different than dealing with most Hawks fans

It worked out as well as it could have. Pretty much had blue on one side and red on the other. Was a great sight.

I was shocked when I saw that walking out of the concourse. I thought it was just the commercial set like that. The fact that they got the fans like that for the game is fantastic... apparently I was on the wrong side