Hockey Poll: New Year's Day Winter Classic at Fenway: the Flyers vs the Bruins

Fantastic finish to the game.

 

There's no way NBC would want a Canadian team screwing up their numbers.

Just as an afterthought but except for the last three minutes & OT, it was a pretty dull game.

 

I'm sure it was extremely frustrating for the players, but for me the unpredictability of the ice was awesome. How many times did you see the puck jump over a stick? Especially a stick belonging to a defenceman standing at the blue line who thought he was gonna keep that puck in the offensive zone? NOT!!

 

it was a pretty dull game, it started off alright but slowed down quickly. I don't understand why they don't set the rink up to run from home plate to first base at a slight angle. So many more people would have a great view of the game,..and set the cameras up in the outfield so the tv audience sees the people in the stands.

 

I wondered about that too. When we first put the game on, my dad thought there was no one watching because you could only see the area just beyond the boards. It wasn't until they went to an overhead shot (and the overhead shots were magnificent, by the way) that you could get a good sense of things.

Geez, Fenway looked awesome, didn't it?

 

From the configuration of the rink, it looked like every seat was pretty much a bad one.

 

Well, it's not about the fans as much as it's about the sponsors.

As much as I enjoy this game every year, I find it a little bit troublesome that it's become more of a marquee event than the Stanley Cup itself.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/winter-classic-larger-than-stanleys-mug/article1415501/

The most astonishing statistic about the game turned up in the SportsBusiness Daily this week. A Turnkey sports poll taken in December showed the Winter Classic is in the top five of the events more than 1,100 senior executives in the sports industry are looking forward to seeing. The game placed fifth behind the Super Bowl, the Winter Olympics, soccer’s World Cup and the U.S. NCAA men’s basketball Final Four.

The game, which was the most-anticipated event by 7 per cent of those surveyed, finished ahead of the World Series, the Masters and the NBA finals, which finished seventh through ninth, respectively.

The Stanley Cup final was a distant 12th, with only 1.56 per cent of the executives saying it was their most-anticipated event.

Don't get me wrong. More visibility and a higher profile for hockey is a good thing. I would feel better, though, if there was some assurance that at least some of that visibility was being successfully directed toward the bigger and more prestigious event.

 

It evens out. Bruins got hosed in regulation by not getting a goaltender interference on the Philly goal.

It was too many men on the B's in OT, though.

 

Part of the reason the Winter Classic is a bigger draw than the Stanley Cup is timing.

The Classic is on New Year's Day, which is a traditional sports-watching day (albeit football), so a "big event" during the afternoon when all of the major bowls are on later can centerpiece the day. The Stanley Cup Finals take place during rerun season when not as many eyeballs are on TVs to begin with, much less watching sports.

The novelty factor has a lot to do with it, too. That they've used a couple of iconic venues (Wrigley & Fenway) have elevated the stature of the game to the point where it is a "big event" in and of itself.

 

I know, but still.......

By the way, it's the Stanley Cup Final. Singular.

 

Philly goal doesn't happen if Tim Thomas is focused on the task in front of him instead of getting cheap "payback" on Hartnell, though.

 

Hartnell (centre) has the wildest hair in hockey today.



Here he is during warmups on Scott Hartnell Wig Night last season.