For one, this is a game that simply makes a TON of money for the host team, the NHL and the television networks. League commissioner Gary Bettman had talked during the week about the number of sponsorships that came in specifically for this game in Chicago, and we've heard a ton about the buzz in a city dominated by other sports the past few months.
Tickets at Wrigley Field were both more plentiful and more expensive than a regular game at the United Center, and it's safe to assume the Blackhawks will see their revenues bumped up a few million dollars as a result of the one game.
This will easily be Chicago's best year, revenue wise, in ages. Maybe, Perhaps, EVER!
The Oilers, for example, turned a profit on their season back in 2003-04 simply because they hosted the Heritage Classic, and every cold weather team is going to want on the bandwagon. The Maple Leafs are already making noise about getting the game in the future — although I think it's highly unlikely they NHL doesn't go into American markets for the next three or four years.
I fully expect the TV ratings on NBC to better the solid numbers they posted for last year's game.
Chicago and Detroit are both bigger national television markets than Buffalo and Pittsburgh, and it's likely the buzz factor from the fact that this was the second annual outdoor game helps boost those totals as well. For that reason alone we're likely to see NBC push for games in places like New York, Boston and Philadelphia — the largest "cold weather" markets in the U.S. — in the near future (and they can't forget Toronto and Montreal on this side of the border, both HUGE).
As for the game itself, it wasn't bad, maybe not great, but not a bad game either.
This gives you an idea of what it was like at Wrigley:
The game itself was a bit surprising, if only because scoring wasn't inhibited by the conditions. In previous outdoor NHL games, either the cold or the ice kept the goals for and against down, but it seemed the 'Hawks and Wings were flying almost as if in a playoff game from the start.
The weather — overcast and just below freezing — was pretty much perfect, and it's hard to complain about the Windy City producing a few gusts during the game.
Besides, if wind results in plays like this, count me in for more of the same.
The best part of this year's game being at Wrigley was something that Tom Benjamin alluded to after the game: Hockey has definitively "recaptured the heart of the Chicago sports fan." It has been ages since there was as passionate an NHL fan base in the city as there has been to this point this season, and people like Al Yellon, who runs Bleed Cubbie Blue, are back on the Blackhawks' bandwagon after years and years away."
Al's one of the legion of former hockey fans who swore off the 'Hawks in the early '70s (and later on) — which was before I was born by the way — and they've managed to coax him and others back into the fold without winning a championship or even making the playoffs. That's really saying something.
The best part if you're a new Blackhawks fan? While the team was outplayed in this one, mostly in goal, this is the tip of the iceberg for this group, and there's a very real possibility they'll be a contender over the next few years.
Patrick Kane is 20 years old and 11th in NHL scoring. Duncan Keith is 25 and a future Norris trophy winner in waiting. Captain Jonathan Toews, only 20, is the third member of the trio that is all locked up through next season for a cap hit of $1.475-million or less (before bonuses) What a bargain!.
When your three best players are also three of the lowest paid, that gives you options. They can afford to bring in some heavy hitters next season.
Some are still wondering if Chicago's quick rise up the Western Conference standings is a mirage, but this team is honestly better than advertised to this point. Sure there's going to be some growing pains, but there's real depth amongst their youngsters, with players like Dave Bolland, Andrew Ladd and Cam Barker just now getting their feet wet in the NHL — and excelling. Some of the bit players like Troy Brouwer, Ben Eager, Aaron Johnson and James Wisniewski have also really impressed in their roles, and — can you believe it — Marty Havlat has stayed healthy!!.
With the way they've played with Nikolai Khabibulin in goal this season, the 'Hawks have been one of the top handful of teams in the NHL. They're the real deal and could make some noise in the postseason.
Once they figure out how to beat Detroit, that is.
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