So, a New Year has come and passed, and with it, the third installment of the NHL’s Winter Classic. This time around, the Bruins hosted the Flyers, at historic Fenway Park. It was a great event, and an OK game.
The Game
Daniel Carcillo rocked Shawn Thornton in a nice first period fight. Danny Syvret scored his first career goal in the second period to give the Flyers a 1-0 lead. That lasted until late in the third until Mark Recchi tied the game. In overtime, Marco Sturm scored the game winner for the home crowd.
The Event
This game was a match-up that featured an intense rivalry from the 70’s, in addition to a pair of teams with lofty preseason expectations. Instead, the Flyers are drifting in and out of playoff contention, while the Bruins are not exactly lighting up the league as they did most of last season. I think in the end, this game was lacking the hyped match-up that the NHL was hoping to get.
Like past Winter Classics, I was amazed by the shots of a rink in an outdoor facility. I love watching how everything was set up, and the sight of snowflakes falling. Shots of the blimp showing the rink in the middle of a football or baseball stadium are incredible. However, the thing that bothers me the most is that it seems that the sightlines for the fans actually attending the game suck. People sitting at ice level are far, far away from the boards. They cannot see anything. People sitting in the outfield are a few hundred feet away. I can imagine this being a typical conversation:
“I went to the Winter Classic, it was awesome!”
“Oh yeah, how’d the game look?”
“No clue, couldn’t see a damn thing.”
“So what was so awesome?”
“I got to sit outside!”
I’m sorry, but this just does not appeal to me. Boston is a 5-hour drive for me, and it wouldn’t have been impossible to get some scalped tickets to this game. The only thing preventing me from going, was knowing that I wouldn’t be able to get a normal view of the game. I’m one of those people that doesn’t mind the show business aspect of sports, but actually wants to see the game. This was not an exhibition game, this counted in the standings. I am not freezing my butt off on New Year’s Day, spending a few hundred dollars on tickets, and then watching a monitor to follow the action.
The game itself was not very exciting either. The teams didn’t put on much of a show for a vast national audience. I’m not just looking at the score, but the flow of the game. Prior to the start of the game, Mike Milbury kept blabbering that the temperature was prefect, and there was little wind, and no precipitation. He said this game had the best conditions of all the Classics. It sure as hell didn’t seem like it. The ice looked soft, and seemed a lot more carved up compared to a regular indoor game. Passing was sloppy, plays developed slowly, and neither team seemed to really fly. Every odd-man rush seemed really slow to develop. After the game, I read a recap, which said game time temperature was 40 degrees. I’m sorry, but that’s 8 degree above freezing, and that is not ideal for ice hockey. Milbury is an idiot for saying this game would be perfect. It’s not that hard to ask some assistant to check a thermometer. I realize weather is not something any of us can control, so I think the NHL is taking a huge risk with these games. I don’t think casual fans will become hooked on hockey if they have to watch a product as sloppy as this game was.
All in all, if the Winter Classic draws new hockey fans, I’m all for continuing the tradition. The players say that they like it, and there seems to be decent hype every year. However, as a sporting event itself, I’m not sure I really like it. The weather is too much of a wildcard, and I feel bad for the fans in attendance that pay a lot of money, and for the most part don’t get a decent view of the action.
Thanks for reading!
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