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For many of us who hail from areas where hockey is a part of a tradition a near universal memory is the first time we played the game. For those of us from Canada, New England, Michigan, and of course the State of Hockey our first game was likely played outside, on a pond or on a local frozen sheet of ice. You put your skates on rushed out onto the partially snow covered ice and played out all of your hockey dreams. For perhaps a moment you pretended to be the hockey heroes you admired so much. You realized this was a moment that linked you to the greats of the game, because at some point the stars you admired started their hockey the same way.
It is this image of connecting to hockey’s roots that makes the Winter Classic so nostalgic. For anyone that is unfamiliar with this outdoor culture that are the roots of hockey it is a terrific chance to witness it for themselves. While some can question the NHL’s timing to put the Winter Classic up against the BCS College Football games on New Year’s Day, it is still a must for any hockey fan to watch. With 30+ bowl games, perhaps since it is something different perhaps TV viewers will tune in more than sports pundits may think.
For a league that is fighting for more relevance amongst the average American sports fan, a showcase like this is something the NHL desperately needs. I was lucky enough to watch the last two major outdoor hockey showcases. The first, the Heritage Classic back in 2003 that pitted the Montreal Canadiens and the Edmonton Oilers up in Edmonton. CBC did a marvelous job of covering the game; and it featured another treat in the form of an alumni exhibition game between the two franchises. It was another chance to see greats like Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, as well as the Wild’s Director of Amateur Scouting Guy Lapointe, and former North Star Brian Bellows. The 2nd great recent outdoor hockey showcase was the Frozen Tundra Classic which featured the Men’s hockey programs of Wisconsin and Ohio State in front of the always crazy fans at Lambeau Field. It was a memorable victory for the Badgers, as they continued a season which culminated in a national championship.
While the rarity of such events makes them more special this is something the NHL should consider doing every few years. The league needs to find more ways to get positive headlines, let alone ways to get on the front of the sports page. There are lots of reason’s to be thinking not-so-positive things about the game, and this is a celebration all hockey fans (not just Sabres and Penguins fans) can embrace and just enjoy it for what it is.
I would also like to applaud NBC for it making some connections during the 1st intermission to the iconic hockey movie Slap Shot. It has been rather baffling the league has not made more attempts link itself to the movie which is easily the most referenced film amongst hockey fans / players ever demonstrating its importance as cultural icon to the sport. While the movie showcases some of the thuggery and violence which to some has marred the game, it also showcases a group of colorful characters as well as the passionate fans that follow their favorite teams. This is the essence of what the NHL wants; it wants to showcase the emotional side of the game that makes hockey rather unique from the other major sports. Bob Costas‘ anecdotes about being an announcer for the Syracuse Blazers were fantastic; especially the one he d about a former member of the St. Paul Fighting Saints, “Goldy” Goldthorpe the inspiration for Slap Shot super goon Ogie Oglethorpe. In some ways, the 70’s which was at the core of Slap Shot was hockey’s golden age with two professional sports leagues; the NHL and the World Hockey Association. This connection to hockey’s past was refreshing and ever eloquent Costas did a great job of relating it to hockey fans in his own self-depricating way.
Events like the Winter Classic, and the annual Hockey Day in Canada and the smaller Hockey Day in Minnesota (which always features an outdoor High School Hockey Game) are events the league needs to embrace. While turning outdoor games into annual events might dilute some of the uniqueness, these special events are crucial to creating more buzz about a sport which desperately needs it.
There is no doubt events like this create an indelible memory for those who are apart of them, for the 73,000+ fans that jammed into Buffalo’s Ralph Wilson Stadium to watch the Winter Classic or the members of the Lake of the Woods High School hockey team when they have their game on the U.S. / Canadian border as a part of Hockey Day in Minnesota these are moments they will carry with them for the rest of their lives. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman will no doubt be assessing the success of the Winter Classic to plan future events similar to this. As a fan of a team in the Western Conference it would be nice to see this event “Go West” perhaps to Minnesota (especially after the University of Minnesota football stadium is completed), Detroit, or Chicago which are all places which have the climate to pull off an event such as this. The NHL has largely ignored the Western Conference in its commercials and other promotions since it does not have the league’s two wunderkinds Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin.
While there might be criticism of the ice issues; of having to resurface the ice every 10 minutes due to the weather any hockey player who has played outdoors can tell you that is a part of the game. While very few of us can say two Zamboni’s did the resurfacing, as for virtually all of us it entailed one of us skating around with a shovel instead. Having a game like this outdoors brings all fans closer to the game. The ice isn’t perfect outdoors, but that is what makes it unique. Perhaps for those of us who have played the game, to see the world’s greatest hockey players have to battle those elements the way we did as kids makes these games so appealing to us all.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 1st, 2008 at 2:08 pm and is filed under NHL Editorial. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Source: Winter Classic, a great celebration of hockey, let alone the NHL
