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Detroith99

2017 Winter Classic Red wings vs. Blue Jackets?

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The problem is for these to do well you need people from other parts of the country to want to watch. Of course fans of Columbus are going to watch, and yes the Wings have a huge following, but fans in NY, LA, Chi etc. are not going to care. People want to see teams face off with history. If you are going to put the Wings in again, have them go against a Pittsburgh or Montreal or Chicago etc.

Nothing against Columbus, but nobody wants to see them that is not a Columbus fan.

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The problem is for these to do well you need people from other parts of the country to want to watch. Of course fans of Columbus are going to watch, and yes the Wings have a huge following, but fans in NY, LA, Chi etc. are not going to care. People want to see teams face off with history. If you are going to put the Wings in again, have them go against a Pittsburgh or Montreal or Chicago etc.

Nothing against Columbus, but nobody wants to see them that is not a Columbus fan.

Yeah these things are becoming a dime a dozen. They need to make some changes to give the WC some gravity. Like the winner gets to main event Wrestlemania or something.

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Question because I'm too lazy to go look but has there been a Pens/Flyers winter classic? Of not, there should be because that's a rivalry.

Surprisingly enough, there has not. I'd like to see that.. I don't like either team at all but I love watching them face each other. I want Philly/Pitt to be a playoff matchup every year.

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No one really thinks Detroit-Columbus would be a good Winter Classic, right? I don't think in the entire existence of the Columbus franchise I've ever been excited about a game against them. Putting them outside won't change that.

If you're doing a throwback/heritage style event you need heritage/throwback style teams. It's got to be Detroit versus an original six team. Or at least one of the teams from the '67 expansion.

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I would like to see a Philly v Pittsburgh WC. Islanders v Pens or Rangers might also be fun. Or a WC involving two of the Ducks, Sharks, or Kings. If Colorado and Minnesota were playing good hockey, that could be a good WC to watch, but unfortunately both teams are really struggling. A potentialy cool idea to involve some warmer climate teams in the WC is to have it take place in the northern US/Canada. Say Tampa Bay v Anaheim, two markets where having an outdoor game may be difficult, but have it played in Detroit, or LA vs Nashville could take place in Philly. I'm not sure what the demand would be to watch two teams that you don't necessarily cheer for, but if there was some connection ie Yzerman and Filpulla with Tampa Bay, how much Detroit fans have hated the Ducks from recent years, Shea Weber and the Flyers scenario, or some underlying storyline to help market it, people might be willing to buy tickets to watch some team they hate lose, or some team they feel connected to win. The WC location might also be a way to gauge potential markets, if we're talking about expanding to Seattle or something.

Anyway, overall it doesn't really have the pizazz that it used to. I didn't watch the WC this year. And I didn't feel like I missed out on anything.

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The NHL is in a tough position. They should spread out the WC, but who's going to watch Columbus v Phoenix? They're guaranteed a decent audience putting the Wings in with Columbus - it's close enough for Michiganders to make the trek and Jackets fans will come in droves, but the national appeal is still lower than women's basketball probably. How are they going to be inclusive and not lose money on the deal?

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It might be cool if they made it a small tournament the way GLI is...

Ditch the stadium series games and pick four teams to play two games and have the winners vs each other.

Or maybe have the first winter classic tournament somehow be between the original six teams.

It might be difficult to have that many outdoor games but hell, they already have 5+ per year.. why not make it one big event?

original 6 split into 2 three team divisions, they play 2 games each, then the best records (also have tie breaker rules of course) face each other in the finals.

I think that might spice it up a little.. or it might be too long/difficult of an event to actually happen, i don't know.

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Its a regular season game that's outside. That's it. There's nothing special about it anymore, not that there really was in the first place. But any allure that it had is gone. The marketing department needs to go back to square 1 and find something different.

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It might be cool if they made it a small tournament the way GLI is...

Ditch the stadium series games and pick four teams to play two games and have the winners vs each other.

Or maybe have the first winter classic tournament somehow be between the original six teams.

It might be difficult to have that many outdoor games but hell, they already have 5+ per year.. why not make it one big event?

original 6 split into 2 three team divisions, they play 2 games each, then the best records (also have tie breaker rules of course) face each other in the finals.

I think that might spice it up a little.. or it might be too long/difficult of an event to actually happen, i don't know.

How would that work with standings, wouldn't be able to have to exhibition games right in the middle of the season. Only way a tournament would work is if it's done in the preseason.

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Let me ask you guys this...

Over at my forum we've talked for a few years now about how we'd really like to see the Blues get into an outdoor game.

In our biased view, it seems the Blues are a no-brainer to be in one of these things (especially since Detroit, Chicago, Pittsburgh, etc. have all been in multiple games already), but it just hasn't happened yet.

Our reasoning...

  • We have the household name in Oshie because of the shootout in the Olympics vs. Russia...so there is a storyline there.
  • We have the budding superstar in Tarasenko...another storyline, and a player that would certainly draw international viewers.
  • We are a high scoring team, so that would be a plus for viewers.
  • St. Louis is one of the best teams in the NHL and has been for a few years now.
  • We have the stanley cup winning coach (not that that means anything for the outdoor game...but it's something).
  • We have some heated rivalries with Chicago, Detroit (much lesser now that you guys are in the East) LA ...and now Nashville. Our rivalry with Chicago is brutal...which you guys are familiar with as they are/were (still are?) your biggest rival as well.
  • The Blues have traditionally faired very well in the ratings in games that are televised nationally.

I think a Blues - Hawks outdoor game would be killer...and that probably should have happened this year instead of Washington being in it. That makes no sense.

I get that Washington was promised an outdoor game that they could host, (for some reason), and they got one...but against Chicago? I think that was a waste of the Hawks...and now they won't be in it for at least a few years. They should have saved the Hawks for a Blues - Hawks matchup next year, or had the Blues in it this year and let Washington host a stadium series game this year or next.

What do you guys think about the Blues being in an outdoor game? Is that something that you would like to see? And if so, who would you like to see them play?

I'm curious to what other fans think about that.

They say that Colorado and Minnesota are going to host next year's stadium series games, with their opponents yet to be announced. The Blues could be announced as the opponent in either of those games...and a Blues - Wild outdoor game has been talked about before, which I'd be happy about, but I would question why the Wild and not a real rival.

I still like the outdoor games and I'm really looking forward to Montreal @ Boston next year. That one is a great matchup that was long overdue to happen. It really should have been one of the first ones.

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Let me ask you guys this...

Over at my forum we've talked for a few years now about how we'd really like to see the Blues get into an outdoor game.

In our biased view, it seems the Blues are a no-brainer to be in one of these things (especially since Detroit, Chicago, Pittsburgh, etc. have all been in multiple games already), but it just hasn't happened yet.

Our reasoning...

  • We have the household name in Oshie because of the shootout in the Olympics vs. Russia...so there is a storyline there.
  • We have the budding superstar in Tarasenko...another storyline, and a player that would certainly draw international viewers.
  • We are a high scoring team, so that would be a plus for viewers.
  • St. Louis is one of the best teams in the NHL and has been for a few years now.
  • We have the stanley cup winning coach (not that that means anything for the outdoor game...but it's something).
  • We have some heated rivalries with Chicago, Detroit (much lesser now that you guys are in the East) LA ...and now Nashville. Our rivalry with Chicago is brutal...which you guys are familiar with as they are/were (still are?) your biggest rival as well.
  • The Blues have traditionally faired very well in the ratings in games that are televised nationally.

I think a Blues - Hawks outdoor game would be killer...and that probably should have happened this year instead of Washington being in it. That makes no sense.

I get that Washington was promised an outdoor game that they could host, (for some reason), and they got one...but against Chicago? I think that was a waste of the Hawks...and now they won't be in it for at least a few years. They should have saved the Hawks for a Blues - Hawks matchup next year, or had the Blues in it this year and let Washington host a stadium series game this year or next.

What do you guys think about the Blues being in an outdoor game? Is that something that you would like to see? And if so, who would you like to see them play?

I'm curious to what other fans think about that.

They say that Colorado and Minnesota are going to host next year's stadium series games, with their opponents yet to be announced. The Blues could be announced as the opponent in either of those games...and a Blues - Wild outdoor game has been talked about before, which I'd be happy about, but I would question why the Wild and not a real rival.

I still like the outdoor games and I'm really looking forward to Montreal @ Boston next year. That one is a great matchup that was long overdue to happen. It really should have been one of the first ones.

You were losing me when you said Oshie was a household name. I was lost when you said it was because of a shootout.

Hopefully the rest made more sense.

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