Could the 2019 Winter Classic be the game where the 'bloom falls off the rose'?

Killion

Registered User
Feb 19, 2010
36,763
3,211
I'm not sure it really matters who plays. The bigger issue is these games are supposed to be a showcase for hockey and the level of hockey that is played is awful. The passing isn't as crisp. The speed isn't as fast as it is indoors. It's just not a true example of the game....

Not to be argumentative, just an observation, counter to that.... the game was played outdoors during its formative years, many of us began playing playing shinny outdoors & some of us older guys, league play outdoors.... so maybe the indoor games are not & never have been a "true example of the game" huh? That when it was moved indoors, became sterilized, homogenized..... just sayin. ;)
 
Feb 27, 2002
37,882
7,942
NYC
Not to be argumentative, just an observation, counter to that.... the game was played outdoors during its formative years, many of us began playing playing shinny outdoors & some of us older guys, league play outdoors.... so maybe the indoor games are not & never have been a "true example of the game" huh? That when it was moved indoors, became sterilized, homogenized..... just sayin. ;)
That’s fine. The indoor game is a better product.
 

adsfan

#164303
May 31, 2008
12,621
3,665
Milwaukee
The Winter Classic should be once a year, as a rematch of the previous season's SC final matchup.

Make it in the SC winner's hometown, or choice.

I like it, because I think Nashville would whip Pittsburgh's butt on nationwide TV! People need to see how good they are and it brings in a new team.
 

LeafsNation75

Registered User
Jan 15, 2010
37,975
12,506
Toronto, Ontario
They’ll be happy as long as they sell a heavy amount of the limited edition jerseys and other apperal. It feels the event is more about that now than the actual game.
How many more Blackhawks jerseys can they make with a different version of their logo? Not including their Stadium Series jerseys haven't they reached the limit when it comes to different sets of logos they previously used in the 2009, 2015 and 2017 Winter Classic's?
 

WingsMJN2965

Registered User
Oct 13, 2017
18,106
17,699
100K plus went to Ann Arbor. It'll sell.

There's plenty of rich idiots from Chicago and Boston who couldn't give two s***s about the sport and will go just as a status symbol.
 

SCBlueLiner

Registered User
Dec 27, 2013
327
100
I was in South Bend before Christmas as my kid was playing in a tournament at the Compton Rink on campus there. The rink is right across the parking lot from ND stadium. There was snow on the ground, a chill in the air, and there was a light snow falling. The image of that stadium sitting there in the lightly falling snow was incredible. Sends chills down your spine. I cannot imagine what it would be like with the parking lots being full of people tailgating and a full stadium full of cheering fans.

It doesn't matter the quality of the game, this is an event. It's about the experience. This game will sell and sell massively just based on where it is at.
 

WildGopher

Registered User
Jun 13, 2012
1,072
159
I'm not sure it really matters who plays. The bigger issue is these games are supposed to be a showcase for hockey and the level of hockey that is played is awful. The passing isn't as crisp. The speed isn't as fast as it is indoors. It's just not a true example of the game....

Not a true example of the game? Hockey started outdoors. Halifax, Montreal 1875. Kids, youth leagues, high schools, even some smaller colleges played most of their games outdoors well into the second half of the last century. The Olympics (check out the photos of 1960 in Squaw Valley, CA; Italy in 1956, etc.) and other international competitions played outdoors into the early '60s. It's an outdoor sport. I just returned from a weekend tournament where my nephews got to play an outdoor game on a rink along the Mississippi River - what a great experience for them that I'm glad they got to experience as a memory of how the game started and was played for a century - and still is played in a lot of places.

The NHL players love these games that take them back to their roots learning and playing hockey, and back to the roots of the game, even if the ice isn't perfect. Lets not forget where this game started - on local ponds and rinks, not in shiny, money-absorbing arenas. I took nephews to the outdoor North Stars-Blackhawks alumni game here a couple years ago, and one of them was just saying yesterday how as a cold-winter city, we should get another game, and I hope we do. Problem is, the NHL wants to put almost all of these games in the same half-dozen favored markets every year, and I think that's what people are really getting fed up with. At least with the Heritage Classic games in Canada, they distribute the games around the country pretty fairly. The haven't done that in the U.S.
 

wildthing202

Registered User
May 29, 2006
971
39
the same teams are in the Winter Classic over and over and over
Pittsburgh
Chicago
Washington
Rangers
Boston
rinse repeat rinse repeat rinse repeat

Weird how it's all the same teams plus Philly that are on NBC all the time.........
 
Feb 27, 2002
37,882
7,942
NYC
Not a true example of the game? Hockey started outdoors. Halifax, Montreal 1875. Kids, youth leagues, high schools, even some smaller colleges played most of their games outdoors well into the second half of the last century. The Olympics (check out the photos of 1960 in Squaw Valley, CA; Italy in 1956, etc.) and other international competitions played outdoors into the early '60s. It's an outdoor sport. I just returned from a weekend tournament where my nephews got to play an outdoor game on a rink along the Mississippi River - what a great experience for them that I'm glad they got to experience as a memory of how the game started and was played for a century - and still is played in a lot of places.

The NHL players love these games that take them back to their roots learning and playing hockey, and back to the roots of the game, even if the ice isn't perfect. Lets not forget where this game started - on local ponds and rinks, not in shiny, money-absorbing arenas. I took nephews to the outdoor North Stars-Blackhawks alumni game here a couple years ago, and one of them was just saying yesterday how as a cold-winter city, we should get another game, and I hope we do. Problem is, the NHL wants to put almost all of these games in the same half-dozen favored markets every year, and I think that's what people are really getting fed up with. At least with the Heritage Classic games in Canada, they distribute the games around the country pretty fairly. The haven't done that in the U.S.

Games/Sports evolve. Baseball used to pretty much devoid of HRs. The idea of hitting ball 300 yards with a drive was once considered to be fantasy. There was a time when there was no 3-point line.

Hockey has evolved. The game moved indoors. So yes, an outdoor game is NOT a true example of the game how it is now. And, since the game is now played indoors, the outdoor game is no longer a true example of the game.
 

MaximusT

Registered User
Dec 5, 2008
1,091
37
Well given the fact that no one from the Chicago area will want to drive so far on the morning of New Years day is a good point - I agree that they didn't really account for the whole logistical aspect here..
 

SCBlueLiner

Registered User
Dec 27, 2013
327
100
That's like saying Notre Dame football doesn't consider the logistical aspects of having home games Saturday afternoons in the fall. Somehow they still manage to fill the stadium. Not all of the fans at Notre Dame games are South Bend residents, in fact, I would say a majority are not. Somehow they are all able to make accommodations and be at the stadium at kickoff. I am sure the same principal will apply for this game. People will find a way to attend.

I guarantee those stands will be full. Even if it is the Blackhawks outdoors again. Even if it is getting "old" for Chicago fans. This will be the one, and probably only, time they will get the opportunity to witness an NHL hockey game in Notre Dame stadium.
 

Fenway

HF Bookie and Bruins Historian
Sponsor
Sep 26, 2007
68,589
98,268
Cambridge, MA
That's like saying Notre Dame football doesn't consider the logistical aspects of having home games Saturday afternoons in the fall. Somehow they still manage to fill the stadium. Not all of the fans at Notre Dame games are South Bend residents, in fact, I would say a majority are not. Somehow they are all able to make accommodations and be at the stadium at kickoff. I am sure the same principal will apply for this game. People will find a way to attend.

I guarantee those stands will be full. Even if it is the Blackhawks outdoors again. Even if it is getting "old" for Chicago fans. This will be the one, and probably only, time they will get the opportunity to witness an NHL hockey game in Notre Dame stadium.

Notre Dame games are also played later in the afternoon. Fans electing to stay in Chicago also have to deal with the time zone change.
 

WildGopher

Registered User
Jun 13, 2012
1,072
159
Hockey has evolved. The game moved indoors. So yes, an outdoor game is NOT a true example of the game how it is now. And, since the game is now played indoors, the outdoor game is no longer a true example of the game.

Respectfully disagree. Sure, the NHL game, juniors, and college are virtually always indoor games now. But to say hockey is not an outdoor game, that outdoor hockey isn't a true example of the game? It's just as real as any other hockey. Maybe it depends on where you are, but within walking distance of me are multiple rinks in parks, in backyards, and on ponds, and they're played on all the time, and I mentioned that my nephews just had a tournament game outdoors. How are those not "true examples" of hockey?
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Killion

Killion

Registered User
Feb 19, 2010
36,763
3,211
Respectfully disagree. Sure, the NHL game, juniors, and college are virtually always indoor games now. But to say hockey is not an outdoor game, that outdoor hockey isn't a true example of the game? It's just as real as any other hockey. Maybe it depends on where you are, but within walking distance of me are multiple rinks in parks, in backyards, and on ponds, and they're played on all the time, and I mentioned that my nephews just had a tournament game outdoors. How are those not "true examples" of hockey?

Dozens of indoor ski areas around the world as well, the largest opening in China just last year.... I guess that would now make skiing & boarding outdoors an inconvenient anachronism huh?.... Actually a book about hockey & its growth, development, not all that flattering, positive actually... called Putting a Roof on Winter.
 
Last edited:

WildGopher

Registered User
Jun 13, 2012
1,072
159
Dozens of indoor ski areas around the world as well, the largest opening in China just last year.... I guess that would now make skiing & boarding outdoors an inconvenient anachronism huh?.... Actually a book about hockey & its growth, development, not all that flattering, positive actually... called Putting a Roof on Winter.

It's great we have more opportunities - you can have more reliable ice indoors, year-round skating, etc. But I hope we don't throw away our roots and stop playing these sports where they originated. I think I heard slalom in skiing started with skiers darting downhill between trees in the Italian Alps. That takes some real nerve! Nothing against indoor facilities if they give more people a chance to enjoy any sport, but there's still a joy in playing some hockey outdoors, skiing down a real hill or mountain in the cold winter air, etc. (I do draw the line at these outdoor Polar ice plunges, though. Give me a warm indoor pool any time!).
 
  • Like
Reactions: Killion
Feb 27, 2002
37,882
7,942
NYC
Respectfully disagree. Sure, the NHL game, juniors, and college are virtually always indoor games now. But to say hockey is not an outdoor game, that outdoor hockey isn't a true example of the game? It's just as real as any other hockey. Maybe it depends on where you are, but within walking distance of me are multiple rinks in parks, in backyards, and on ponds, and they're played on all the time, and I mentioned that my nephews just had a tournament game outdoors. How are those not "true examples" of hockey?

Indoor hockey is the better product. Indoor hockey is a better representation of the game as it's currently played these days.

When NHL players play outside the game is different from when they play inside. The speed isn't the same. The passing isn't as crisp. The physical play isn't there.

And no, I don't think these outdoor NHL games has been a true example of the NHL game.

Now if you just want to flaunt nostalgia or harp on one one phrase I used, feel free. I won't be responding to that anymore.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Thrive

Killion

Registered User
Feb 19, 2010
36,763
3,211
I think I heard slalom in skiing started with skiers darting downhill between trees in the Italian Alps. That takes some real nerve!

Could be... though its commonly referred to as Glade Skiing and if proficient, makes for great terrain, a lot of fun however... outlawed generally at most resorts who insist that people ski designated (groomed & monitored) runs. There are obviously inherent, natural dangers one must be aware of, respectful, cautious.... same thing if playing hockey outdoors & particularly so if on a frozen lake, pond or river... you adapt & learn much in either skiing on different types & depths of snow, avoiding & or dealing with obstacles just as you do on skates either free-skating or playing hockey on natural ice. For kids, this is obviously fantastic as it teaches them "awareness" in terms of their skate-falls, telegraphing moves, dealing with bumps or ruts, Bullrushes sticking up out of the ice, soft spots & sweet spots, whatever.. so skating, puckhandling & passing, heads up awareness, respect etc etc etc all coming in to play absent the dictates & rigid oversite of sterilized, organized indoor hockey. Its the creative side of the game, the studio if you will. Indoors, organized, sciences taking over. Almost 2 different games really.
 
  • Like
Reactions: WildGopher

Lieutenant Bookman

Registered User
Aug 5, 2015
108
6
The only part I personally really enjoy about the winter classic at this point are seeing the new jerseys that come out for them. They took a good idea and have made it stale.

For one thing the Blackhawks seem to be in it every other year, with the other years being rotated among another small handful of teams. They’re also trying to hard to make it an event. It isn’t the super bowl, we don’t need a concert at every intermission, and we don’t need Jeremy Roenick riding around in a taxi on the field. Also the addition of other outdoor games has taken away the novelty of it.

So in short, the bloom has already fallen off for me
 
  • Like
Reactions: Thrive and Killion

Killion

Registered User
Feb 19, 2010
36,763
3,211
The only part I personally really enjoy about the winter classic at this point are seeing the new jerseys that come out for them. They took a good idea and have made it stale.

.... :laugh: ya, your absolutely correct... about the only thing that does anything for me with those events as well. The retro jerseys, goalies sometimes with retro looking gear, toques etc.... watch it for like 5 minutes & thats that.
 

SoCalFan

Registered User
Jun 21, 2014
416
240
McKinney, TX
Well given the fact that no one from the Chicago area will want to drive so far on the morning of New Years day is a good point - I agree that they didn't really account for the whole logistical aspect here..

you can catch the Metra in downtown Chicago and go all the way through to South Bend for $27 round trip. I think kids are free on weekends and holidays as well. I'll bet those trains will be packed with people not making it a weekend stay. a lot of Chicagoans are commuters anyways. 2 hours is easy to kill on a train.
 

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Ad

-->