2009-10 Winter Classic

[Fittisize]

The upcoming season's edition of the Winter Classic will be held at Fenway Park (the Winter Classic is a new NHL tradition started in 2007-08, based off the success of the Heritage Classic in 2003, which was in turn inspired by the Cold War between Michigan and Michigan State in 2001. It's a regular-season game played outdoors). Awesome! It's not quite Yankee Stadium, which will happen in the future most definitely, but it's still going to be a pretty awesome event. The game at Wrigley Field last year was really cool and they incorporated some elements of the stadium (i.e. painting ivy on the boards) in pretty neat ways. I'm sure there will more of the same this year for Fenway.

I love the Winter Classic and it's great for the league. It's an awesome way to reach out to new fans and is a great service to old-time sports fans, even if they aren't hockey fans. I'm sure some long-time Cubs fans who never really cared about the Blackhawks were interested in the game at Wrigley last year. As great as they all have been so far though, none of them have really matched the success and magic of the 2003 Heritage Classic in Edmonton, which I was fortunate enough to attend. I got to see Gretzky and Messier and Kurri and Anderson and Fuhr and Lafleur play for the first time ever.

Apparently it was between Philly and Boston this year for the rights to hold the outdoor game, so maybe that means it will be in Philly for the 2010-11 season. New York will definitely hold one; they could pop the dome at Roger's Centre and the Leafs could have one; Calgary, Vancouver, Montreal, and Ottawa don't really have the proper facilities; Detroit would definitely be very popular. And with the surging interest of hockey in Ohio, why can't Columbus host the Winter Classic? Could you imagine filling up Ohio Stadium for a hockey game? There have also been talks of hosting the game in a warmer climate, and the Rose Bowl has sometimes been included in these discussions as a potential location. Holy shit, the fucking Rose Bowl.


Heritage Classic in Edmonton, 2003


Winter Classic in Buffalo, 2008


Wrigley, 2009

[etoven]

Heritage Classic in Edmonton, 2003

What the hell is this shit? Is this some Canadian thing? Let me just give this an itemized what the fuck...

1. They filled a football stadium with snow....
   
2. They filled a football stadium with snow....
   
3. 20 Bazillion people turned out to watch workers fill the football stadium with snow...
   
4. Who the hell are they cheering for?
   
5. Is this some Canadian game where if I throw a fish and it lands on third base, its a Wednesday, a lady in the forth row is naked, and the umpire calls 2 blurns and a blup, then its a super blurn!!! Then all the fans celibate by smacking their left butt cheek with a half eaten blurn fry and throwing their beer at their closest neighbor..
   
6. Does Michal more have a .32 Shiznat Average, with a blurn and blip rate of 1.23?...
   
7. Does the winner get the size of his poo measured???
   
8. What happens to the winners poo?
   
9. Does it get silver plated?
   
10. Where do they display the poo trophies?
    
11. Is Canada's national anthem a fart sound...
    
12. Do they play the fart sound before each game?
    
13. If I where to shove a microphone up my ass and blow chunks into it, would people stand at attention with their right hand over their hart.
    
14. Would they play ball afterwords...
    
15. Do you use fish for money?
    
16. How many big mouth bass will it take to buy a hot dog at this game?
    
17. Do you all eat hot dogs in Canada?
    
18. Do they serve hot dogs at your so called snowy football games?
    

Tell me now...

[Fittisize]

Not a Canadian thing. In fact, the tradition was started in Michigan in 2001, at the Cold War game between Michigan and Michigan State (NCAA) where 75,000 fans filled Spartan Stadium in East Lansing. And, as you can see the picture in the first post, another 72,000 filled up Ralph Wilson Stadium in Buffalo. So playing a hockey game in a snow-filled football stadium isn't just limited to Canadians and was in fact created by Americans, and is a tradition carried on at primarly American venues. The game in Edmonton was attended by 57,000, still a capacity crowd, but significantly smaller than the Cold War and 2008 Winter Classic (although the temperature for the Edmonton game was -22F, which does indeed prove the insanity of hockey fans). The stadium was full of snow beforehand thanks to Mother Nature, to address points 1-3.

5 - No naked ladies, but one fellow at the Edmonton game did brave the cold in the nude:


This gentlemen was sitting only a few rows ahead of me and I watched the whole act unfold, including watching him strip nude. Note the heavy wool sock to avoid frostbite.

Don't quite understand number 6 or all the fart and poo references.

15 - The Canadian Dollar is our currency. Currently 1 CAD = 0.905 USD.

16-18 - We pay $10 for hot dogs at sporting events just like everybody else.

14 - No.

[A Black Falcon]

What the hell is this shit? Is this some Canadian thing? Let me just give this an itemized what the fuck...

1. They filled a football stadium with snow....
   
2. They filled a football stadium with snow....
   
3. 20 Bazillion people turned out to watch workers fill the football stadium with snow...
   
4. Who the hell are they cheering for?
   
5. Is this some Canadian game where if I throw a fish and it lands on third base, its a Wednesday, a lady in the forth row is naked, and the umpire calls 2 blurns and a blup, then its a super blurn!!! Then all the fans celibate by smacking their left butt cheek with a half eaten blurn fry and throwing their beer at their closest neighbor..
   
6. Does Michal more have a .32 Shiznat Average, with a blurn and blip rate of 1.23?...
   
7. Does the winner get the size of his poo measured???
   
8. What happens to the winners poo?
   
9. Does it get silver plated?
   
10. Where do they display the poo trophies?
    
11. Is Canada's national anthem a fart sound...
    
12. Do they play the fart sound before each game?
    
13. If I where to shove a microphone up my ass and blow chunks into it, would people stand at attention with their right hand over their hart.
    
14. Would they play ball afterwords...
    
15. Do you use fish for money?
    
16. How many big mouth bass will it take to buy a hot dog at this game?
    
17. Do you all eat hot dogs in Canada?
    
18. Do they serve hot dogs at your so called snowy football games?
    

Tell me now...

1. No, it was winter. The snow was already there.
2. No, it was winter. The snow was already there.
3. They like hockey. This is a unique and interesting way to see a hockey game, so of course people wanted to go.
4. They like hockey. This is a unique and interesting way to see a hockey game, so of course people wanted to go.

... Beyond that, why do you hate hockey that much? Is it REALLY that weird? I guess because I'm from New England I'm used to hockey. Even though I've never seen it played live, it's plenty popular around here, and the most popular team at my college by FAR was the men's hockey team. The northern parts of the US like hockey too, as Fittisize just said.


Now, I do find this "hockey in football arenas" thing a little strange, mostly because of how far away they are from the game... I mean, in hockey you need to be able to see the details, right? And the rink is this tiny little thing in the middle of the huge field... do the fans all get complimentary binoculars or something? :) But for the spectacle of the thing, sure I can see people going.

[Fittisize]

Great game, the best Winter Classic yet. Fenway was absolutely perfect and they did a great job of pulling it all together. Some of the images from that game were just stunning. Also interesting was the announcement of the US Olympic Team after the game (an announcement that was a tad bit more exciting then when the Canadian team announced their roster in Saskatoon, SK a few days ago). Only one Bruin made it, the goalie, Tim Thomas, who'll get no icetime, but the ovation from the crowd was nice enough. No Mike Modano! He was on the cusp but I still felt he had enough left to captain the team. Also, Scott Gomez was left off the team. That's a huge omission - he's a solid veteran who's been one of the best American players since he joined the league. Aside from that, there's lots of good players: Kane, Parise, Brown, Langenbrunner, Kessler, Kessel, Miller and others could do some damage. Then again, Backes and Callahan and bunch of other low-calibre players don't exactly make this a team to be feared. O'Sullivan from the Oilers wasn't going to make it but I was still disappointed to see him left off because he has a pretty decent career with the US National team. All in all, it ain't the 2002 team that won silver, a team that had scores of talent and Hall-of-Famers. I just don't see the 2010 team matching up to what Canada, Russia, and Sweden has to offer. Even the Czechs are looking stronger than USA. Hell, Germany could even take them.