Truth & Rumors > NHL

NHL nixing Calgary outdoor game?

Views
3734
Comments
21

08:44 AM ET 06.26 | It looks as if the NHL is going to rain on Calgary's plans for a Winter Classic game at McMahon Stadium on New Year's Day. The popular outdoor games were raised yesterday in a competition committee meeting, but the belief is only one will be played, expected to be at Boston's Fenway Park between the Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers. The Maple Leafs were mentioned as possible opponents of the Flames if Calgary went ahead.

Toronto Sun

Brent Sutter, Darryl Sutter, AP Brent Sutter, Darryl Sutter, AP
June 26, 2009  09:29 AM ET

Bruins and Philly are a good combination if you can't get two original six teams.

June 26, 2009  09:33 AM ET

good choice here. they need to rotate the game between the US and Canada. remember that EDmonton was the first to do this and Canada should get it's props.

June 26, 2009  09:47 AM ET

I think they want a competitive game. Maybe Toronto down the line would be a better team, but Bettman still is set on marketing his sport in the states, and no one outside of Toronto is chomping at the bit to watch them New Year's Day.

June 26, 2009  10:04 AM ET

Exactly, SantaPig - the NHL may never put the Leafs in one of these games for that very reason, and the fact that the Leafs certainly don't need help on the exposure front.

Does anyone else think Daryl looks like a deer in the headlights in that pic?

June 26, 2009  10:28 AM ET

Bettman makes me sick. Screw him and what he wants. If Phoenix or Tampa Bay want to host an outdoor game, let them. Like his ideas have really propelled the game of hockey in popularity. Will he ever go away.

June 26, 2009  10:31 AM ET

Having Philly play Boston for the next Winter Classic totally ruins the plans of a HUGE INTERSTATE WINTER CLASSIC RIVALRY - Pittsburgh vs Philadelphia @ Beaver Stadium (Penn State for all you non-Big Ten fans) which holds 110,000+ fans.

That match-up + location = AWESOMENESS for the NHL. For whatever reason, Bettman decides to have Philly play Boston because NBC will have higher ratings - complete BS. I wonder how Pierre will s*ck Richards **** when it is 10 degrees outside in Fenway? We shall see...

"Pens vs Flyers @ Beaver Stadium 2010 Campaign" lets get it started!!!!!!!

June 26, 2009  11:21 AM ET
QUOTE(#6):

Having Philly play Boston for the next Winter Classic totally ruins the plans of a HUGE INTERSTATE WINTER CLASSIC RIVALRY - Pittsburgh vs Philadelphia @ Beaver Stadium (Penn State for all you non-Big Ten fans) which holds 110,000+ fans.That match-up + location = AWESOMENESS for the NHL. For whatever reason, Bettman decides to have Philly play Boston because NBC will have higher ratings - complete BS. I wonder how Pierre will s*ck Richards **** when it is 10 degrees outside in Fenway? We shall see..."Pens vs Flyers @ Beaver Stadium 2010 Campaign" lets get it started!!!!!!!

That would be great, but the Penguins were just in the classic a season ago, so it would be too soon. This is actually playing out nicely. Maybe by 2012 or 2013 the Pens and Flyers will play at Beaver Stadium.

June 26, 2009  12:42 PM ET

This is horseSh*t. You don't bloody schedule the game, and confirm it, for it to only be cancelled. What they don't publish is that Calgary will have the Grey Cup this year, and will have extra seating to sit 54,000. Fenway seats 34,700. The NHL needs to stop begging the American audience to love. Why not bring it to a city that will sell out in SECONDS. Calgary is in the top 7 in hockey hot beds in North America. With a team like Toronto coming also, that provides the number one fan base in all of hockey. Bettman is just a complete idiot, and needs to step down so somebody else can take his place.

June 26, 2009  01:45 PM ET

I think Wrigley did pretty well with selling tickets. And scalped tickets were outrageous. The NHL is using the gimmick of holding the game in a classic stadium to draw extra interest. I don't have any idea of what outdoor stadiums of note there are in Canada.

I think the idea of the Big House or Beaver Stadium is intriguing; however, the Pens and Wings have been involved in the last two Winter Classics, so you won't see that for quite some time. I thought for sure they would make it Boston-Montreal at Fenway.

June 26, 2009  02:00 PM ET

The NHL took a wonderful idea, born in Edmonton it bears repeating, and decided to take it out for a spin with the Pens-Sabres game a couple of years and they struck gold. Then they kept the win streak going with the Detroit-Chicago matchup at Wrigley, another winner.

However, you just know that any outfit led by the poison dwarf will find a way to mess up a good idea. Everyone wanted Montreal to play at Fenway (although Flyers-Bruins still represents a good matchup) and the league seems perfectly ok with alienating the Canadian fans by refusing to schedule a second game in Calgary.

BeamTeam, I like the Pens vs Flyers @ Beaver Stadium idea a lot. Before we get there though, we should start a get-rid-of-the-poison-dwarf campaign. I even think we'd get the players on our side in this one.

June 26, 2009  02:30 PM ET

Its all about the demographics. They want to maximize the US audience, and games involving Canadian teams doesn't do that. Having said that, I fail to see how adding a second game in Canada between two Canadian teams annually waters down the WInter Classic. Do one game at 1:30 on NBC and then have, say Calgary v. Edmonton at 4 Eastern on Versus and CBC or TSN.

June 26, 2009  02:40 PM ET

This is their punishment for tampering.

June 26, 2009  03:15 PM ET

BeamTeam.....the idea of the Pens vs Flyers was all over T&R last year (you're kinda new so you didn't know) but, alas, no one listened. I think it is probably the reason others here have mentioned: the Pens already played one.

As for the Myopic Dwarf & Co. nixing the other Winter Classic game....I can't figure him out. Maybe I should be glad that my mind can't sink that low but one would wonder if The Dwarf was wanting to improve the number of people watching hockey then why nix it? The more the merrier.

June 26, 2009  04:32 PM ET

It should be at Yankee Stadium.

June 26, 2009  05:19 PM ET
QUOTE(#11):

Its all about the demographics. They want to maximize the US audience, and games involving Canadian teams doesn't do that. Having said that, I fail to see how adding a second game in Canada between two Canadian teams annually waters down the WInter Classic. Do one game at 1:30 on NBC and then have, say Calgary v. Edmonton at 4 Eastern on Versus and CBC or TSN.

Yes, this is a great idea.

June 26, 2009  07:23 PM ET
QUOTE(#9):

I think Wrigley did pretty well with selling tickets. And scalped tickets were outrageous. The NHL is using the gimmick of holding the game in a classic stadium to draw extra interest. I don't have any idea of what outdoor stadiums of note there are in Canada.I think the idea of the Big House or Beaver Stadium is intriguing; however, the Pens and Wings have been involved in the last two Winter Classics, so you won't see that for quite some time. I thought for sure they would make it Boston-Montreal at Fenway.

The thing is, Canadians don't NEED the big draw of a big name stadium to attend and sell the game out. Yes, the gimmick is sweet down here in the US, because it does draw borderline fans, but do they pay more than hard core fans? No, a ticket costs what a ticket costs, regardless of who is buying it.

I'm American, but like most people I DO think of this as a Canadian game...so it seems ludicrous to me to try to force feed the game to Americans when Canadians have money, too (especially with the dollar blowing so hard right now). There's nothing wrong with Boston and Philly at Fenway, nor with Pitt and Philly at Beaver Stadium (I didn't know Penn State was an all-girls school? Wow, learn something new every day...just kidding!) But there's also nothing wrong with having an outdoor game between, oh, say Washington and Ottawa, or Calgary and Anaheim, or even Montreal and Vancouver...if you play it in Canada, it doesn't really matter who's on the ice...and if you REALLY want to sell one out, have thePens play the Caps pretty much anywhere on the planet....like maybe in the Mall, in the shadow of the National Monument...screw a stadium, THAT could be cool as well!

June 26, 2009  09:27 PM ET

as a flyers fan I'm happy my team gets to play this year - as a hockey fan I know it should have been montreal v. boston and that there should be a second game in calgary - flames v. sharks would have been my choice as a matchup - college football can earn itself tons of money by having the multiple bowl games on new years day - how's it possible the dwarf doesn't see this - i guess he's too busy mediating owner fights in phoenix and tampa bay

June 27, 2009  07:57 PM ET

Global warming? It don't work so well, in fins. Ma brudder Phillipe eese habout t' deesprove da teary, you kin poot a grat who-wite shawk to sliip ba stee-row-keeng eets bell-Y. Wot eese eet laike in-saaieed dere Phillipe?

June 27, 2009  07:58 PM ET
QUOTE(#8):

This is horseSh*t. You don't bloody schedule the game, and confirm it, for it to only be cancelled. What they don't publish is that Calgary will have the Grey Cup this year, and will have extra seating to sit 54,000. Fenway seats 34,700. The NHL needs to stop begging the American audience to love. Why not bring it to a city that will sell out in SECONDS. Calgary is in the top 7 in hockey hot beds in North America. With a team like Toronto coming also, that provides the number one fan base in all of hockey. Bettman is just a complete idiot, and needs to step down so somebody else can take his place.

Hard to fathom.

 
September 7, 2009  03:05 PM ET

I was at the Edmonton outdoor game.damn cold that day. beer was froz befor ya could drink it. haha. i would love to see a outdoor game in Calgary... GO FLAMES GO...

Comment

Remember to keep your posts clean. Profanity will get filtered, and offensive comments will be removed.


The Si.com Cover Hub Go to the Cover Hub

Truth & Rumors

MOST POPULAR

  1. 1
    Inside Manning's walk off
    Views
    127690
    Comments
    3037
  2. 2
    Teams eyeing Eagles QBs?
    Views
    7392
    Comments
    1841
  3. 3
    Yankees GM: No new deals for Big Three
    Views
    13463
    Comments
    482
  4. 4
    Rays still have shot at Damon
    Views
    18846
    Comments
    470
  5. 5
    Kobe may miss All-Star Game
    Views
    6628
    Comments
    394

Most Active Users

Comments + Blog Posts + Throwdowns

  1. 1
    Chico 2.0
  2. 2
    BBK - Whitey
  3. 3
    rstowe
  4. 4
    gigi_iv
  5. 5
    Never NDing Struggle

Message Boards

  1. NCAAF > General NCAAF

    FSU vacates 12 football wins…
    Views
    304
    Replies
    30
  2. NFL > General NFL

    All Hail Joe Montana - The…
    Views
    221
    Replies
    34
  3. NCAAB > General NCAAB

    Duke vs North Carolina -- Do…
    Views
    192
    Replies
    2

Blogs

SI.com

Swimsuit

SI Photos