Watch Winter Classic Press Conference

[JayUp88 1]

Watch the formal announcement of the 2009 NHL Winter Classic between the Red Wings and Blackhawks live from Wrigley Field starting at 12:00 p.m. EDT.

http://redwings.nhl.com/index.html

[Yemack 1]

I would like to.. but I'm gonna go watch Dark Knight. Studied till 4 am last night for it.

[JayUp88 1]

Not sure if anyone watched it but i am really pumped for this

[sjradio 0]

After watching the press conference and the NHL Network's "post-game"

It's quickly becoming evident that there is a pro-Blackhawks spin to all of this..... It's all about the "New Young Blackhawks" and the "Revitalized Hawks" "Showcasing Chicago" "Patrick Kane and Johnathan Toews" "Brian Campbell"

and we're the sidenote..... "and oh yeah, the Defending Stanley Cup Champions Detroit Red Wings"

The press conference itself was a Blackhawks love fest there were 20 current and past Chicago players. The owner of the hawks, the MC was Ed Olczyk.

We had one representative... Jimmy D.

I know they're hosting the game, but last year the focus was "Crosby this and Malkin that" who were the visiting team. It wasn't focused on Buffalo much. The NHL is finding another way of giving the Wings a kick in the behind.

[akustyk 84]

After watching the press conference and the NHL Network's "post-game"

I only skipped through the video on TSN website. if you listened to this

crap live and withstood so much utter blah-blah and didn't fell asleep

I'm full of praise for your resilliance(sp). I had enough of this BS after

first minute and only skipped quickly through the rest to see if maybe

there's some boobies or whatever that justify such 12 minute "short"

but yeah - sure it's big deal for Hawks. and sure NHL will be doing all

it can to pretend they are real deal. they're are American team with

good brand recognition and plenty of young talent to showcase.

I'm pretty sure they'll manage to screw this potential up just as they

used to for almost 20 years now. but Betman & Co. are desperately

pretending it is not so and sell them to national audience. is that bad?

I'm OK with this as long as it sells hockey and helps the league. \

that the Wings are portrayed as old and evil...

guess if I care...

Edited July 22, 2008 by akustyk

[C-TownWing 0]

but yeah - sure it's big deal for Hawks. and sure NHL will be doing all

it can to pretend they are real deal. they're are American team with

good brand recognition and plenty of young talent to showcase.

I'm pretty sure they'll manage to screw this potential up just as they

used to for almost 20 years now. but Betman & Co. are desperately

pretending it is not so and sell them to national audience. is that bad?

I'm OK with this as long as it sells hockey and helps the league. \

that the Wings are portrayed as old and evil...

guess if I care...

I'm not one to be bothered by this stuff, whether it's this, the Crosby/Pens lovefest during the finals, or people perpetuating the myth of the "old, soft Wings." If it's good for the NHL and sport of hockey (and a strong franchise in Chicago is), then it's fine with me.

In case anyone hadn't noticed, we're winning the Stanley Cup one of every three years lately. I could give a crap what the media says.

1/1/09, I'm just going to enjoy the fact that we're in the game...and hopefully we win and I drop a ton of $$$ on WCII gear. Years from now, we'll remember the sweet outdoor game at maybe the most historic stadium in the US, we'll remember enjoying that we won (if we do), we won't remember every time Edzo pumped up Toews/Kane (which by definition MUST be a rip on Dats/Z)...

Edited July 23, 2008 by C-TownWing

[Echolalia 2,961]

After watching the press conference and the NHL Network's "post-game"

It's quickly becoming evident that there is a pro-Blackhawks spin to all of this..... It's all about the "New Young Blackhawks" and the "Revitalized Hawks" "Showcasing Chicago" "Patrick Kane and Johnathan Toews" "Brian Campbell"

and we're the sidenote..... "and oh yeah, the Defending Stanley Cup Champions Detroit Red Wings"

The press conference itself was a Blackhawks love fest there were 20 current and past Chicago players. The owner of the hawks, the MC was Ed Olczyk.

We had one representative... Jimmy D.

I know they're hosting the game, but last year the focus was "Crosby this and Malkin that" who were the visiting team. It wasn't focused on Buffalo much. The NHL is finding another way of giving the Wings a kick in the behind.

Did you really expect anything else, though? I mean, the nhl is hurting right now, and the Wings already have a massive fan base that brings in good income to the organization. No bandaids needed there. Chicago on the other hand is a youthful team with a bright future, and the nhl needs a Western Conference posterboy and Conference-favorite team. All the publicity and growth has been focused in the Eastern Conference (Crosby, Malkin, Ovechkin, Stamkos already), so it only makes sense to balance out the equation. Hopefully Chicago goes from a good team on paper to a great team on the ice, because the opportunities for the nhl to sell out a Chicago of the West vs Pittsburgh of the East would be monumental, and amazing for the league.

Besides, the Wings are amazing at polarizing the fanbase. You either absolutely love the Wings, or absolutely hate them. Chicago is a blank palate right now.

[Yzerfan1999 81]

I know they're hosting the game, but last year the focus was "Crosby this and Malkin that" who were the visiting team. It wasn't focused on Buffalo much. The NHL is finding another way of giving the Wings a kick in the behind.

Bah, cry me a river. The NHL is not giving the Wings a kick int he behind, they are trying to help market a team that has sucked for a decade and lost a s*** load of their fan base.

I am sick of all this talk about how the Wings get no respect. Get over it, they get respect were it matters - on the ice from other teams and players. I don't think we need the media trying to convince us that the Wings are a big deal for us to know that the Detroit is the best team in the NHL.

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

I'm not one to be bothered by this stuff, whether it's this, the Crosby/Pens lovefest during the finals, or people perpetuating the myth of the "old, soft Wings." If it's good for the NHL and sport of hockey (and a strong franchise in Chicago is), then it's fine with me.

In case anyone hadn't noticed, we're winning the Stanley Cup one of every three years lately. I could give a crap what the media says.

1/1/09, I'm just going to enjoy the fact that we're in the game...and hopefully we win and I drop a ton of $$$ on WCII gear. Years from now, we'll remember the sweet outdoor game at maybe the most historic stadium in the US, we'll remember enjoying that we won (if we do), we won't remember every time Edzo pumped up Toews/Kane (which by definition MUST be a rip on Dats/Z)...

Wonderfully stated, especially that last sentence in your first blurb being good for the NHL and hockey. Kudos also to what Yzer1999 said.

Of course, plenty of people would be drooling all over the media if they gave the same amount of attention to guys like Datsyuk or Zetterberg as much as they do to Crosby, Malkin, or Ovechkin. Heaven forbid they hype young stars right now that'll probably have long careers in the NHL and it's oh so terrible, but it's convenient when the media is "good" or "credible" all of a sudden when they hype or overhype your favorite team or players, eh?

[RedWingedKitten 9]

People have been haten us since we went back to back. And it all comes from jealousy. Which, by the way, is justified.

-We just won the Stanley Cup

-We just had 3 strait 50 win seasons

-We just made the playoffs 17 years strait

-How many times have we won the Prez trophy in the last decade?

In the eyes of everyone else we are the evil superpower. The empire from starwars if you will. Think about, we have a bunch of old guys, and other teams have a bunch of young guys. (Chelios can be Darth Vader and Toews can be Luke Skywalker)(Chewbacka can be Franzen ... err, other way around)

So, what's wrong with the NHL marketing that? The NHL needs more fans, and I hate to say it but, the majority of the fans it's marketing to are not Red Wing fans.

P.S. Our future will be a bit more brighter than the Evil Empire.

[auxlepli 17]

Well this Winter Classic thing and the prese conference were also in Chicago. So naturally I'd think there would be more a Windy City slant.

[lfd250 1]

Didn't like the look of the rink either. Thought I read they weren't going to put seats on the infield. That's a lot of money to sit far away IN THE COLD.