Winter Classic at Michigan Stadium Finalized

[Ram 240]

and the Leafs blue version

Those Blue Leafs jerseys and khaki pants would be awesome.

[Nightfall 871]

The only thing that concerns me is the CBA at this point. It looks like a done deal, and I am happy that UofM went the extra mile and got this passed through. I still am very worried about the CBA at the end of the season.

[Guest Save The Octopus]

No one is asking the important question, will there be beer?

[LeftWinger 4,953]

That's just spin. I'm not really focusing on the Wings, just the constant appearance of the same teams over the past few years.

In each game after the first two, there has been one new team and one team that has been recycled.

False....maybe do they research before you post something this dumb.

I am well aware of that. And it makes sense. I've made that comment before.

The Blues do have a decent following and traditionally get very good ratings when on national television.

The success part has alluded them in previous seasons, but it seems they have the ship righted...finally. This was supposed to happen last year, but better late than never.

Don't count your chickens buddy. Your team has been WAY better than this and didn't even get a sniff of the SCF, due mostly by the Detroit Red Wings, which explains your utter hatred for everything Red & White. Which is blatantly obvious by everything you post. And BTW, if the Blues had a decent enough following outside of St. Louis, there wouldn't be talks of Western Conference treason if the Wings headed East. They are the money maker in the West...that is why they are in the Classic...again. Odds are, they will be there a third time before St. Louis gets in once.

First, I do not have an inferiority complex towards the Wings. It's simply a sports rivalry-hatred kind of thing. Don't read too much into it. And that has nothing to do with my rant on the Winter Classic. It's all about recycling teams so quickly. Obviously Detroit deserves to be in it...I was surprised they didn't get in the first one, but whatever. But being in it twice in four years? Come on. It's annoying.

Second... I don't have a second.

Something tells me that if it were the Blues in it twice in four years, we wouldn't be reading your rants. Or if they have actually won anything....ever.

I wouldn't say that. I can easily see San Jose or LA getting in.

Ya, if they are playing in Detroit/Boston/New York/Chicago etc...

These blues fans make me laugh, they have so much jealousy and hatred for anything Detroit that everything they try to say objectively comes off smelling like rotten tomatoes or sour grapes. It's pretty nauseating.

[Esquire 324]

I could be wrong here, but for those that make the effort I doubt tickets will be hard to get...Expect 30,000 plus Maple Leaf fans; lots of blue will be at the Big House.

If these two articles are any indication, unless you are a season ticket holder, tickets are most certainly hard to get. AND expensive.

http://thehockeywriters.com/2012-winter-classic-ticket-prices-skyrocket/

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/how-flyers-fans-are-getting-screwed-for-winter-classic-tickets?urn=nhl,wp15624

So, unless the NHL changes how tickets are handled this year, it seems like it's going to be tricky to get a ticket at a decent rate.

I wonder if this will help us in signing free agents this summer?

I'm sure we could convince Conks with this info.

[8 Legged RedWing 367]

I like the Wings striped jersey with "Detroit" on the front but I just wish it was a bit more Red. For a home game I would like to see as much Red as possible. As for beer/alcohol. Just bring it in. They don't search 115,000 people. I have a flask that will be coming with me. I am 100% going no matter the cost or where it is. This is the greatest thing ever.

[SetecX 139]

I just get the feeling that it would be difficult if not impossible for non season ticket holder fans to get tickets. For an event that will likely have 115,000 at it, that is ridiculous.

[LeftWinger 4,953]

You would think that even if the season ticket holders get first crack, there will still be over 80,000 AT LEAST available to us...I sure would love to go, but will be living on the west side of Michigan by then and it will be even further to drive....but maybe!

I wonder if I could wear a Abdelkader MSU jersey there?

You would think that even if they do get to buy first, they could only buy the same amount of tickets that they buy now. So, how many tickets are season tickets at each game? 15, 16, 17,000? if even that? I have a feeling that there will be plenty of tickets to be bought, as long as the scalpers and agency's aren't allowed to get their hands on them first!

Edited January 18, 2012 by LeftWinger

[dropkickshanahans 463]

I must go at all costs.

[wings_fanatic 677]

Forgive me if this has not been mentioned, but I think a lot of people are forgetting the best news this could possibly give us. Yah it is great that the Wings are versing the Leafs in front of 115000ish people outdoors next year, but the announcement of this has me thinking that this could be huge motivation for Nick to come back 1 more season. I know he takes a lot into account in the offseason before coming to an ultimate decision, but I think that this game could very well help sway his decision to come back one more time

[Nightfall 871]

Me too...That jerk Fehr is gonna make negotiations tough.

Jerk isn't the term I would use....but I hear ya.

[Hockeytown0001 7,652]

I'll be there.

[wingsgirl001 983]

This is great!

The Big House will be PACKED, and I expect to see lots of Leafs fans there too which will make it even more awesome.

Now I just gotta get HBO so I can see the Wings on 24/7

[Travis 576]

You would think that even if the season ticket holders get first crack, there will still be over 80,000 AT LEAST available to us...I sure would love to go, but will be living on the west side of Michigan by then and it will be even further to drive....but maybe!

I was going to say this.

The drive across isn't bad really, just over 2 hours from Grand Rapids if the weather co-operates.

[Hockeytown0001 7,652]

Can't wait to watch the Red Wings edition of 24/7.

[8 Legged RedWing 367]

Can't wait to watch the Red Wings edition of 24/7.

Yea that will be great. I sure hope Homer and Lids are on the team next year for mainly this reason. Datsyuk would be pure gold as well as he always is around a camera. I don't know anything about HBO. Is it only an American station? I could see why Burke wouldn't want his team to participate if that was true but I still think he's a ******.

[Nev 1,085]

You know why Burke won't allow 24/7 into the locker room? He's scared the rest of the league might discover Ron Wilson's secret motivational techniques....

[cusimano_brothers 1,655]

Something people don't even stop and consider: Toronto Star.

[Esquire 324]

Something people don't even stop and consider: Toronto Star.

+1 for this. Very valid points made here as well as adding to my already existing concern. This part was particularly funny:

“The game in Philadelphia was the first time we had sold out a stadium (for an alumni game),” said Collins, who added that the league planned to make some sort of charitable donation related to the Winter Classic event. “This is still new for us.”

then they go on to point out this:

...Flyers season ticket holders who wished to attend the Winter Classic were also required to purchase tickets to the alumni game and an AHL outdoor game

So the NHL forced the purchase of alumni game tickets on to fans that were already paying for Winter Classic tickets, and the reason given for not handling alumni revenue cuts is that this was "new to them"???

Correct me if I am wrong, but they would have known exactly how much money they were going to be making if the WC and alumni tickets were a 1:1 ratio.

[VM1138 1,921]

So on a topic unrelated to the business-side, who do we think will appear in the Alumni Game?

Probably not Yzerman, since he's got new duties for another team. Shanahan, being a league official probably wouldn't, either.

Fedorov would be fun to see in a Wings jersey again, Osgood of course. Mickey Redmond would be great to see. I'm assuming Ted Lindsay and Gordie Howe are probably a bit too old to play, haha. Alex Delvecchio is pretty old, too. Who is the oldest person to play in an alumni game? Parent was 66 this year according to that article from the Star. Paul Woods would probably play. McCarty, of course...

I can't think of any sure-to-play players other than the more recent ones.

[Dimaline312000 51]

While I'm thrilled to have Michigan Host a Winter Classic and see the Wings in it again that's just it. I know the league's options are limited to where they can have these outdoor games with so many teams in the south not having the weather to be able to host a Winter Classic I'd still like to see other teams in the WC even if a team like Tampa Bay can't host it it would be nice to see them or some other team maybe even Phoenix even if it means a Northern Based Team hosting it. However I'm excited that we get one and I will definetly enjoy it. Go Wings!!

[rrasco 1,312]

I'm not so sure why people think it will be so hard to get tickets. There will be 100,000+ tickets. If 'outsiders' can get tickets to the SCF, then this won't be a problem...you just have to pay attention and buy them. There were WC tickets on stubhub a week before the game this year in a much smaller venue. Granted, it's not the Wings/Leafs, it also wasn't in a 100,000+ stadium either. LOL @ the whoever said $50 face value was a lot. If that's 'expensive' to you...you might want to give up on going right now.

[ogreslayer 1,069]

I really didn't have much of a problem getting good seats at face value for the WC at Wrigley Field which holds ~42k. I doubt it will be very difficult when you bump that capacity to 110k for the Big House.

[dat's sick 1,002]

I want to see Salming and Sundin for the Leafs, and Larionov and Fedorov and Fetisov and Kozlov for the Wings.

[Ram 240]

So on a topic unrelated to the business-side, who do we think will appear in the Alumni Game?

Probably not Yzerman, since he's got new duties for another team. Shanahan, being a league official probably wouldn't, either.

Fedorov would be fun to see in a Wings jersey again, Osgood of course. Mickey Redmond would be great to see. I'm assuming Ted Lindsay and Gordie Howe are probably a bit too old to play, haha. Alex Delvecchio is pretty old, too. Who is the oldest person to play in an alumni game? Parent was 66 this year according to that article from the Star. Paul Woods would probably play. McCarty, of course...

I can't think of any sure-to-play players other than the more recent ones.

Sergei would be great. And something tells me Gordie just won't allow himself to not suit up.