Hockeytown vs the Centre of the Hockey Universe in 2013. God help us all.

[JR]

Winter Classic will be at The Big House in Michigan between the Wings and the Leafs on New Year's Day 2013

US and Canadian customs may want to put on a few more officers on New Year's Eve/Day.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/brian-burke-believes-maple-leaf-nation-conquer-big-190439817.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

I hate it already.

The hype coming out of Toronto will be godawful.

Four dailies, three all sports TV stations, two all sports radio stations and CBC will make it freakin' unbearable

I'm with Damien Cox on this one

http://thestar.blogs.com/thespin/2012/02/if-ya-gotta-ya-gotta-i-guess.html

The league wants you to believe in this thing like the Easter Bunny. It wants you to believe this is an homage to a purer, simpler time when the game was played outdoors on rivers and lakes with cow patties and frostbitten fingers. It wants you believe in the mythology, and there are lots and lots of people in my business more than willing to spread the myth, to get the public to ingest this along with motherhood, apple pie and hockey in June.

 

[bigpern23]

I'll be watching.

 

[Starman]

Supposedly ticket prices will START at $100 and ramp up rapidly for anything within 60 yards of the ice.

Hopefully they have some creative ways figured out to camouflage the 60,000 empty seats.

 

[JC]

Supposedly ticket prices will START at $100 and ramp up rapidly for anything within 60 yards of the ice.

Hopefully they have some creative ways figured out to camouflage the 60,000 empty seats.

You're kidding, right? Leaf fans alone will sell this out.

 

[Gehrig]

I'm going to try and get tickets.

It's definitely going to be packed house.

 

[Starman]

Supposedly ticket prices will START at $100 and ramp up rapidly for anything within 60 yards of the ice.

Hopefully they have some creative ways figured out to camouflage the 60,000 empty seats.

You're kidding, right? Leaf fans alone will sell this out.

Wait until the actual ticket prices come out.

 

[Gehrig]

I don't believe ticket prices will be a problem for "Leafs Nation"

 

[JC]

Supposedly ticket prices will START at $100 and ramp up rapidly for anything within 60 yards of the ice.

Hopefully they have some creative ways figured out to camouflage the 60,000 empty seats.

You're kidding, right? Leaf fans alone will sell this out.

Wait until the actual ticket prices come out.

You really are out of touch with these things. Check out what fans pay to go watch the Leafs play. This will be cheaper than that.

 

[BitterYoungMatador2]

The two times they've played this thing in a football stadium (Heinz Field and Rich Stadium in Buffalo) I don't recall there being a problem with finding people to attend.

 

[Huggy]

Supposedly ticket prices will START at $100 and ramp up rapidly for anything within 60 yards of the ice.

Hopefully they have some creative ways figured out to camouflage the 60,000 empty seats.

You're kidding, right? Leaf fans alone will sell this out.

Wait until the actual ticket prices come out.

You really are out of touch with these things. Check out what fans pay to go watch the Leafs play. This will be cheaper than that.

No doubt. A meaningless late-season game last year between the Leafs and Habs saw top tickets being scalped for $1,000 each.

Leaf fans - who can't always get tickets at the ACC, no matter how much they are prepared to pay - will flock to this, as well those loads of Wings fans in southwestern Ontario.

Wouldn't want to be anywhere near the Windsor or Sarnia borders that day.

 

[Sam Mills 51]

This could rake in near-Super Bowl-level ticket revenue. The league KNOWS it will be able to set its prices sky-high because at least 100,000 fans in Michigan and the southern part of Ontario will be interested.

And bet on the ticket counterfeiters having a field day ...

 

[NickMordo]

I loved Dave Brandon's (Michigan AD) statement on the game, saying the NHL is "hell-bent" on breaking the record set by the "Big Chill" between U-M and MSU. Yeah, I'm sure that's it pizza boy...

 

[JR]

This thing will be sold out within a week of tickets going on sale. It's a no ****ing brainer. And up here, especially in SW Ontario, there are as many Wings fans as Leafs fans.

 

[The Big Ragu]

I don't believe it is any kind of homage to a simpler time.

I just think it is a cool, fun game to watch.

The only disservice I think they do themselves is putting themselves on against a bunch of good bowl games, and that makes it hard for me to watch it live each year.

Other than that, I think it's been a fun game each year. They did something interesting, and it works.

Why can't we just leave it at that?

 

[derwood]

A week?

 

[mb]

Went to a Carolina-Toronto playoff game 10 years or so ago. Want to say it was on a weekend before a Canadian holiday or something. Remember thinking that there couldn't possibly be anybody left in Toronto. It was an absolute invasion.

 

[Captain_Kirk]

Anyone have the 1/1 hockey ratings vs bowls on at the same time the last 5 or so years. I have to think the ice is making significant inroads.

 

[The Big Ragu]

Anyone have the 1/1 hockey ratings vs bowls on at the same time the last 5 or so years. I have to think the ice is making significant inroads.

This year -- but it was more because of the quality of the bowl games -- I found myself flipping over to watch a minute or two of hockey every once in a while. If it got ME to do that, it must have something.

 

[HC]

I enjoy the Winter Classic as an event but it should be just that. A regular season game that is played in often less than stellar conditions ... not so much.

 

[Sam Mills 51]

Went to a Carolina-Toronto playoff game 10 years or so ago. Want to say it was on a weekend before a Canadian holiday or something. Remember thinking that there couldn't possibly be anybody left in Toronto. It was an absolute invasion.

True, but what a fun invasion.

The 2002 Eastern Conference final. The Whalercanes' bandwagon was gathering serious steam. Toronto fans - thousands of them - came south, enjoyed tailgating and (probably, by what they were used to) dirt-cheap tickets and hotel rooms.

A fun time had by ball, particularly the home team after clinching the series in six games.

Sabres fans did the same thing for the 2006 Eastern Conference final.