The NHL Winter Classic has been a main stay on January 1st on the NHL’s schedule every year since its inception in 2008. The only exceptions were on 2012, when the game was played on January 2nd, to avoid TV scheduling conflicts with the NFL and in 2013, when the league was locked out.
This year, the NHL Winter Classic was a game for the ages, with possibly the greatest rivalry in all of sports facing off, between the Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins. The 106-year-old Canadiens beat the 91-year-old Bruins by a score of 5-1 in front of 67,246 fans at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
The game has received mixed reviews over the years, with some great games and others being anything but a classic. The 2014 NHL Winter Classic featured the first game between Original Six teams, with the Toronto Maple Leafs travelling to Ann Arbor, Michigan to play the Detroit Red Wings in front of a record 105,951 fans huddled up in the middle of a snowy, winter, Michigan afternoon.
The following year, the Washington Capitals played the Chicago Blackhawks, both playing in their second NHL Winter Classic at Nationals Park. The two teams have no rivalry whatsoever, playing in opposite conferences and having never met in the Stanley Cup Final but featured some of the league’s top stars in Alex Ovechkin, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane.
Here is a list of the eight NHL Winter Classic games to date
2008– Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Buffalo Sabres, Ralph Wilson Stadium
2009– Chicago Blackhawks vs. Detroit Red Wings, Wrigley Field
2010– Boston Bruins vs. Philadelphia Flyers, Fenway Park
2011– Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Washington Capitals, Heinz Field
2012– Philadelphia Flyers vs. New York Rangers, Citizens Bank Park
2014– Detroit Red Wings vs. Toronto Maple Leafs, Michigan Stadium
2015– Washington Capitals vs. Chicago Blackhawks, Nationals Park
2016– Boston Bruins vs. Montreal Canadiens, Gillette Stadium
The NHL Winter Classic is not the only outdoor game series featured by the league. The Heritage Classic was the first outdoor regular season in 2003 with the Edmonton Oilers hosting the Montreal Canadiens in a chilly Commonwealth Stadium. The series was played again in 2011 with the Canadiens at the Calgary Flames at McMahon Stadium and in 2014 with the Ottawa Senators at the Vancouver Canucks in the grandiose B.C. Place Stadium.
The NHL Stadium Series has been diluting the Winter Classic’s popularity since its inception in 2014 and has produced some questionable match-ups and locations. The following is a list of the past and future games for the Stadium Series.
2014
Los Angeles Kings vs. Anaheim Ducks, Dodgers Stadium on January 25
New Jersey Devils vs. New York Rangers, Yankee Stadium on January 26
New York Islanders vs. New York Rangers, Yankee Stadium on January 29
Chicago Blackhawks vs. Pittsburgh Penguins, Soldier Field on March 1
2015
San Jose Sharks vs. Los Angeles Kings, Levi’s Stadium on February 21
2016
Minnesota Wild vs. Chicago Blackhawks, TCF Bank Stadium on February 21
Colorado Avalanche vs. Detroit Red Wings, Coors Field on February 27
The NHL loves to go back to its favourite teams, such as the Blackhawks, who will play in their fourth outdoor game, and third in three seasons. Four teams have played in three outdoor games; the Canadiens, Red Wings, Penguins and Rangers.
With 18 outdoor games to have been played by the end of the season, including two in California, the NHL Winter Classic is the only mainstay and the one game that fans around the league get the most excited for.
Is the NHL Winter Classic Hockey’s Super Bowl?
Stu Cowan, sports editor for the Montreal Gazette, claimed that the NHL Winter is hockey’s Super Bowl. Although the Super Bowl is NFL’s championship game, it is unlike the Stanley Cup Finals, which is a seven-game series and does not draw as many fans in front of the TV from around the league and the continent in a single night as the Super Bowl does.
The Winter Classic, however, has a set date every year; a date that a vast majority of people around the world are taking a day off to celebrate the New Year. As people recover from a long night of partying or enjoy a meal with family, they can catch glimpses of the game and appreciate hockey’s origins in the meantime.
Most hockey fans would watch two teams that might not necessarily be their favourite in an outdoor regular season game. Compared to the Stanley Cup Final, fans are bitter that their team is not there or they are completely out of tune with the sport by the time the summer begins to creep around. The Winter Classic is the time for all hockey fans to appreciate the game that is being held, with little to no stress, anxiety or anger.
NBC has averaged four million viewers in the U.S. for the NHL Winter Classic, a minuscule amount to the Super Bowl ratings, but is one of the most watched regular season games annually. Although all the ratings for every single game have not been released in Canada from CBC and Rogersnet in English and RDS and TVA Sports in French, approximately four million viewers watched the 2014 game, with only a million the next year.
Although the NHL Winter Classic will never have the hype of the Super Bowl and will never rival its TV ratings, nor its or the Stanley Cup Final’s importance to the record books, the league needs to cherish the event for as long as it can. Casual and passionate fans alike anticipate this New Year’s Day event and glue themselves to the television for parts or its entirety.
The NHL Winter Classic has drawn fans to the game and money into their pockets. It truly is hockey’s Super Bowl.
Main Photo.
