Winter Classic Autopsy
Friday, January 1st, 2010Mick Kern appears courtesy of Live From Wayne Gretzky’s
The Curse of the Locusts is over.
Way before any of these much-hyped Winter Classic outdoor NHL games, the New York Rangers and Los Angeles Kings faced off in the great outdoors for an exhibition match in September of 1991.
The game was held outside of Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, and at one point, they had to stop things to deal with an infestation of locusts, as if the Hockey Gods were signalling their displeasure with how Their Game had be reduced to a Vegas sideshow…and the coming expansion of the NHL into the Sun Belt.
With the Boston Bruins’ 2-1 overtime win over the Philadelphia Flyers at the snowy confines of Fenway Park, we finally have a notch under the win column for the home team.
The way things were going, the home town had to accept the inevitability of a defeat in exchange for the privilege of hosting the gala affair.
Maybe the Hockey Gods finally approve.
In November of 2003, in bitter cold weather, the Montreal Canadiens upended the hometown Edmonton Oilers 4-3 in the Heritage Classic.
Two years ago, during the first Winter Classic, held in the snow globe commonly known as Ralph Wilson Stadium, the Pittsburgh Penguins edged the hometown Buffalo Sabres 2-1 in a shootout.
Last year, the defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings defeated the hometown Chicago Blackhawks 6-4 at Wrigley Field.
Of course, back during the dawn of professional hockey, they played outdoors on a regular basis, though that feels like two centuries ago, so that doesn’t count.
As for Winter Classic Mark III, I think this proves that actual goals are important in hockey.
Yes, I can hear the old fogies now, and I was once in lockstep with them. A good game is not contingent on the number of goals, it’s the number of chances and the overall flow of the game.
To those points, I still agree, though I think both are trumped by the actual scoring of goals.
For it’s when they light the lamp that the crowd really gets into the game. Sure, a good body check, or a great save, or even a fight, will all elicit excited responses from the crowd, but the goal of the game is still, well, goals. Score more than the other guys.
The ice conditions at Fenway were as probably favourable as they’ll ever be for one of these outside dances, meaning both the Flyers and Bruins were able to play a game resembling an everyday NHL contest, albeit with the heating broken and some wind to contend with.
Though maybe that’s the problem, the fact they could play a reasonable facsimile of an indoor NHL game; maybe that speaks more of a continuing tightening of defensive systems and the resulting anti-surfeit of scoring in the league.
The Flyers held a 1-0 lead for a sizeable portion of the game, and though the quality of play was arguably superior to that in Edmonton and Buffalo, there was an underlying feeling the game hadn’t nearly reached its entertainment potential; well, that was the sentiment in my basement.
Early on, Shawn Thornton and Daniel Carcillo exchanged late Christmas cards to each other’s face, which instantly made them the answers to a trivia question. The bout in unto itself was not particularly noteworthy, so the game was still searching for its signature moment.
There were a couple of breakaway chances that Tim Thomas turned aside, and you could go a number of games during any given week in the NHL and not see a guy sprung free, so that was nice.
But the game needed a goal, if possible, a big goal.
The Flyers scored first, thanks mainly to Thomas deciding to go all Ron Hextall on Scott Hartnell just as a point shot was threading its way into the back of his net.
The reigning Vezina Trophy winner more than made up for that gaffe, providing visual evidence why U.S.A. Olympic Team general manager Brian Burke made him one of three goaltenders on the American hockey squad for Vancouver.
Still, this game came to life when old pro Mark Recchi scored to tie it with 2:18 left in the third period.
That’s when the game came to resemble an NBA game. You know, you only watch a basketball game for the last two minutes.
The offensive thrusts into the zones were numerous, and both teams created scoring chances, if only from the hurried nature of those last 120 seconds.
Naturally, the game went into extra innings, and the home team got the extra point, and as importantly, the extra style point, for winning it, sending the Bleacher Bums home happy.
If the game had ended 1-0 Flyers, much of the talk would have been about Tim Thomas, and how he let his mask slip, and a goal resulted as a result. If that score had stood, I would have nominated him First Star for creating the best offensive chance of the game.
Thankfully, this was not to be the case, and the 2010 edition of the Winter Classic will probably go down in most people’s books as indeed a classic.
It wasn’t.
It was a good game, not a great game. Like most good games, it had moments, though those moments only served to whet the appetite for more such moments.
The build-up to the game was nicely handled, as were those TV commercials with Alex Ovechkin and his Caps’ taking on the Flyers on the frozen tarmac of what appeared to be Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington. Now that would be a Winter Classic. Best goal of the day was Ovechkin’s shot into the bulldozer.
After a couple of hours of reflection, I still think the NHL should keep to one Outdoor Classic a year. Yes, the Canadian franchises want to share in the fun, and yes, NBC wants two American teams participating on TV. Which means as it stands now, the six Canadian teams won’t get invited to the party.
And that’s how it should be. Despite all the overwrought prose about kids playing hockey outdoors, this game is one big novelty. A little sugar with the medicine for all those non-hockey fans who are sitting on the couch on New Year’s Day. It’s tailor-made for the sports tourists, who can gasp at all the pretty pictures from the blimp.
This is one thing NHL that should remain south-of-the-border. It won’t. There will be two Winter Classics a season very soon. Which will take away somewhat from the feeling of being or watching a special event.
Be the first on your block to own the latest toy, before all the nerdy kids get one too!
The Hockey Gods may look down and yawn.
As long as they don’t send the damned locusts again.
- Mick Kern
Mick Kern appears courtesy of Live From Wayne Gretzky’s