Winter Classic

[dananderson32]

alright guys ill give you the insight since i was there.......first of all section 114 i was on TV WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO right before they sang god bless america......sister got it on tape too (ok ill stop the chest pounding) minus the snow flakes and the weird of a hockey game outside.......i walked away disapointed beyond belief the game sucked, no hitting, offense was at a premium the puck was hopping all over the place they could not get any kind of offense going on either end.......and it was played mostly in the middle of the rink or dumping it down attempting to get somthing started..........and damn were their a ton of PENS fans there

[homedawg]

alright guys ill give you the insight since i was there.......first of all section 114 i was on TV WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO right before they sang god bless america......sister got it on tape too (ok ill stop the chest pounding) minus the snow flakes and the weird of a hockey game outside.......i walked away disapointed beyond belief the game sucked, no hitting, offense was at a premium the puck was hopping all over the place they could not get any kind of offense going on either end.......and it was played mostly in the middle of the rink or dumping it down attempting to get somthing started..........and damn were their a ton of PENS fans there

I saw you, but you weren't clearing my driveway...:bang: I was rootin' for buf, but g'dam a whole lotta shots on goal and only 1.... :drunk:

[NittanyLions94]

A few things:

-The game in itself was exciting, 2-1 game that was won in a shootout. It was exciting to watch I thought, considering the conditions. Sure the game went slower, but there was still some skills shown off. Ty Conklin, the #3 goalie going in to the season had an insane game and Sid showed off some of his moves.

-And the idea of NBC "sucking off Crosby" well what do you want them to do, not talk about the best talent in a struggling league? Oh, you wanted them to talk about Scuderi or one of the most over-paid defensemen ever(Gonchar, and I call him a defenseman loosely)? I'm lost here. And saying the US media over hypes anything to do with hockey is laughable.

-If hockey is boring to watch, you people must hate baseball, NBA basketball, and NASCAR. Now those are some boring sports to watch, Hockey is constant action. Baseball moves so damn slow, and it is made worse when it's put on TV, and that's coming from someone that played baseball from the time I was 5 years old all the way through college. NASCAR is a bunch of cars going in a circle......Seriously. Cars+circle = awesome? I can look out my freaking window and see more action and just as many wrecks.

-Dan, the Pens are HUGE in Pittsburgh, barely behind the Steelers in terms of popularity if you can believe that, and I know quite a few people that made the trek up there. The idea of losing the Pens over the new arena had people extremely pissed around the area.

[Ray Finkel]

That's how little I pay attention to that sport!!!!! :boog: All I hear about the NHL, is how this team or that team is in bancruptcy!!!!!!!!

Gary bettman has ruined this sport by putting to many teams in
Non-Hockey Cities.
Get ride of 6-7 US teams and put them where they belong, and take
the Raptors too. Basketball is BORING AS FUK.

[JohnnyMapleLeaf]

An article for all the haters when this game was announced...all-in-all a great success, IMO, NHL-wise anyway. It got the league some exposure, simple as that. I remember people predicting (because of this magical January 1st date) a half or quarter full stadium, sub 1.0 ratings, nobody caring because even a "Baylor/Wyoming" game would outdraw hockey, etc, etc. Well, 73,000 tailgating fans....the game matching a same starting time CBS bowl-game rating (Virginia/TT), and getting a 2.6 US rating has to be considered a success on January 1st.....no? Best NHL rating in 11 years, and doubling last years average. Front page of the USA Today with all the other sports going on? Success in my books. And like them or not....expect many more of these games, every couple of years.


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`Ice Bowl' proves to be hot ticket for league, NBC

Toronto Star
Jan 03, 2008 04:30 AM

The NHL's outdoor game in Buffalo was called a publicity stunt in some quarters, but it paid dividends for the league and NBC.

The New Year's Day game between Pittsburgh and Buffalo attracted the highest American audience for a regular-season NHL game in more than a decade.

According to Nielsen overnight ratings, the game scored a 2.6 rating, meaning it was viewed in almost 3 million households.

That's the highest rating in the U.S. since Fox scored a 3.0 rating in 1996. It's also more than double the average regular-season rating on NBC last season.

The game held its own against some of the U.S. college competition. CBS scored a 2.7 rating for the Gator Bowl, which shared a 1 p.m. start with the outdoor game.

Most of the U.S. sports audience was watching the Capital One Bowl on ABC, which also started at 1 p.m. It registered a 9.9 overnight rating. Canadian ratings were unavailable.

Given the success of the "Ice Bowl," more may be on the way.

Sidney Crosby said he'd love to do it again. The NHL, NBC and the Winter Classic's main sponsor, Pepsi, all sound like they want to do it again.

And more than 70,000 fans never got tired despite the early-morning tailgating and constant stoppages for floods and ice repairs.

So, all that's left is to set a date.

"If the opportunity presents itself, for sure I'd do it again," Crosby told the Star's Kevin McGran yesterday in Pittsburgh, where the Leafs face the Penguins tonight. "It was a pretty cool experience for all the players and all the fans. We'll see what happens."

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said after the game that another outdoor event was something the league "certainly will be looking at doing in the future."

"We're delighted by the success of this historic event," Ken Schanzer, president of NBC Sports said in a statement.

And for the title sponsor, AMP Energy drink, the game "exceeded our expectations," John Stamatis, sports group manager for Pepsi-Cola North America, said in an email to the Star.

With 240 accredited media there – on par with that of a Stanley Cup final – the league got mid-season exposure like it never had before.

The game played to favourable reviews in the American media, with most agreeing that as gimmicky as the event might have been, it was still better to have been seen than not. USA Today had it on the front of its sports section. The New York Times sent a reporter.

As much as the game was about eyes on a TV screen, it was also about dollars. The Buffalo convention and visitors' bureau estimated $5 million in direct revenue from the event.

[dananderson32]

JML the experience was great not knocking that at all.........the snow/outdoors and everything else was great even though i froze my balls off but the game itself was a disapointment to watch and the stops every 5mins which led to 10 min ice cleaning really killed the flow of the game too......

[JohnnyMapleLeaf]

JML the experience was great not knocking that at all.........the snow/outdoors and everything else was great even though i froze my balls off but the game itself was a disapointment to watch and the stops every 5mins which led to 10 min ice cleaning really killed the flow of the game too......

I hear ya Dan.....but not much they could do about that.....gotta clear the snow, or it would have been an even slower pace! I've played many games on snow covered outdoor rinks, and the puck stops instantly sometimes when it hits a deep patch. And hey...It wasn't every 5 minutes! lol

Just got unlucky that it happened to snow hard that day. :dunno: