1/1/2008 1:00:34 PM

yay for local NBC not fucking up HD

1/1/2008 1:04:28 PM

looks like sabres vs. tar heels, go sabres

1/1/2008 1:11:22 PM

why did they schedule this during 3 bowl games

1/1/2008 1:22:08 PM

i haven't figured that out yet

1/1/2008 1:25:04 PM

that was fast

1/1/2008 1:25:54 PM

If an NHL game was played on college football's biggest day, would anyone notice?

1/1/2008 1:54:58 PM

Only if all three games were on commercial simultaneously

1/1/2008 1:57:06 PM

i don't see why this would make hockey more relevant

1/1/2008 1:58:35 PM

If only they didn't have the offset start times, 5 college football fans might have flipped over at halftime.

1/1/2008 2:21:33 PM

if you got rid of the offside rule hockey would gain excitement and become a big time sport.

1/1/2008 2:34:37 PM

well, the 3 bowl games went to commercial simultaneously, but so did the hockey game

gg gary bettman

1/1/2008 3:01:09 PM

^^ No, it'd be a boring cherry-pick-fest.

1/1/2008 3:01:28 PM

overtime.

1/1/2008 4:15:48 PM

Quote :

"if you got rid of the offside rule hockey would gain excitement and become a big time sport."

At least they revised the offside rule. It works nicely how they have it set up now

1/1/2008 4:18:28 PM

that couldn't of gone any better for the NHL. Making a big deal of the outdoor game, having it going to a shootout, and then having their poster boy Crosby score the winning penalty shot goal.

1/1/2008 4:36:43 PM

^^^^would just lead to more breakaways? are breakaways boring to you? are shootouts boring to you?

could anyone have scripted this game any better?

i call bullshit

1/1/2008 4:38:03 PM

i'm sure the 6 americans who hate football and the 8 canadians with working electricity really enjoyed it

1/1/2008 4:39:08 PM

give me a break

everyone in canada probably watched that, and i don't hate football and watched the game.

[Edited on January 1, 2008 at 4:44 PM. Reason : pretty entertaining game]

1/1/2008 4:42:24 PM

anyone know why they did not sing the US national anthem before the game? They did the Canadian anthem and God Bless America, but not the national anthem. I have to say, that didn't sit well with me.

1/1/2008 5:22:48 PM

Buffalo is probably trying to get annexed into Canada.

1/1/2008 5:33:18 PM

good riddance

1/1/2008 5:35:15 PM

didnt see the beginning, but they had no reason to sing the canadian national anthem seeing as how no canadian teams played

the canadian national anthem is BY FAR my favorite anthem

1/1/2008 5:43:54 PM

I watched the first two periods, was driving back home for the third, overtime, and shootout.

-This would be a great thing to do once a year, it can become the NHL's version of NFL games on Thanksgiving or NBA's Christmas Day games.
-Seventy three thousand in a stadium to watch an ice hockey game is a good statement for the league.
-The snow made it better. It's true for football and I guess true for ice hockey, snow just makes sports better to watch for me.
-The stops in the middle of the periods were understandable. If they do this again though, I hope they've learned some lessons to setup a surface that can lessen the stops in the future.
-Once the players got used to the elements it was pretty good to watch. The fact that everything wasn't perfect conditions actually made it better in my opinion.
-Crosby bouncing the puck in the first period was awesome.
-Wouldn't it be cool to play an NBA game on an asphalt court outside with chain nets?
-Where else could you hold this in the USA? I think Detroit, Denver, Boston, Minneapolis, Chicago maybe, and the New York City area maybe and that might be it.

1/1/2008 5:48:27 PM

CARTER FINLEY STADIUM!

LET'S PLAY A HURRICANES GAME THERE!

1/1/2008 7:12:36 PM

^ maybe a water polo match lol

1/1/2008 7:24:08 PM

The Rangers and Kings played an exhibition game in 1991 in Las Vegas. It was 85 degrees outside.

Quote :

"could anyone have scripted this game any better? i call bullshit"

Haha yeah no shit. Bettman's wet dream; Crosby scores in the shootout to win the game with snow pouring down in front of 75,000 fans and on national TV. I was really impressed with the NBC coverage; the whole thing was quite a spectacle. Hope to see more of this.

1/1/2008 7:27:58 PM

and plz2bringinratings

1/1/2008 8:22:43 PM

pretty awesome game

the snow was badass

1/1/2008 11:40:11 PM

I was born in Buffalo and went to a lot of games when I was little

they ALWAYS sing the Canadian National Anthem before games

not sure if they usually do God Bless America though or if it's usually the National Anthem

1/1/2008 11:44:11 PM

the puck snowplowing during the shootout was awesome

conklin was pretty fucking awesome as well...his team's best penalty killer during the OT and then a nice effort to get his glove on that third shootout attempt

1/2/2008 1:10:21 AM

I thought the Canadian National Anthem being played before games was normal. I remember going to minor league games as a kid and hearing first the Canadian National Anthem, then the United States National Anthem. The reasons I thought they did this even in places like Knoxville and Charlotte were b/c a majority of the players playing were from Canada, and it kind of paid tribute to Canada for the creation of the game.

I'd love to see the Canes become popular enough that they could hold a game in Carter-Finley on one January or February night. It'd seem pretty awesome. I kind of wish the Panthers had built a domed stadium (not b/c I think football should be played in a dome), but b/c Charlotte could then have a legitimate chance at hosting the Superbowl, host the Final Four again, host the ACC Tournament often, and maybe have a State vs. Carolina basketball game held there in front of 40,000 people (maybe even 70 some odd thousand with the new layout the Final Four will use in the future). Although I doubt UNC and State would agree to it, b/c both teams play each other twice in the regular season and one would have to give up a home game, but I guess they could meet in the ACC Tournament. Perhaps State vs. Duke could happen during times when the schedule only makes them play each other once during the regular season.

mmm...hockey the way it was originally played, in the cold of winter in the outdoors.



Michigan vs. Michigan State in Spartan Stadium on Oct. 6, 2001 in a game nicknamed the "Cold War". Attendance - 74,554

[Edited on January 2, 2008 at 1:17 AM. Reason : ]

1/2/2008 1:12:23 AM

i hate when they play the final four in football stadiums

1/2/2008 1:15:04 AM

^ i do too, but it's a reality that we have to face. it will be like that from here on out, unless college basketball becomes suddenly unpopular. then they'll go back to the normal basketball arenas. next year the NCAA is having the seating design for the Final Four changed. they will place the court in the middle of the dome and have students sitting on riser seats courtside. attendance will be in the 70k range.

1/2/2008 1:20:11 AM

i always felt that those who dislike hockey do so because they are jealous they can not skate.

1/2/2008 3:54:50 AM

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080102.wsptnbcwclass2/BNStory/Sports/columnists

Quote :

"NBC exceeded audience expectations for its coverage of the Buffalo outdoor game on New Year's Day by earning a 2.6 overnight rating (percentage of the potential U.S. audience tuned in). Sources said an American network has not produced an audience of that size for an NHL regular season game since the Fox Sports telecasts in the 1990s. Last season, NBC's regular season NHL telecasts earned an average rating of 1.0."

That should be around 3 or 4 million viewers. Big success for the NHL.

http://nbcumv.com/sports/release_detail.nbc/sports-20080102000000-nhlwinterclassico.html

Quote :

"NEW YORK – January 2, 2008 – The NHL Winter Classic, broadcast New Year's Day on NBC, earned a 2.6 overnight rating and a 5 share (1-4:45 p.m. ET), the best overnight NHL regular season rating in more than a decade (Feb. 3, 1996 on Fox, six-game regional, 3.0/7). The Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Buffalo Sabres 2-1 in the first U.S. outdoor game in NHL history. Twenty-year-old Sidney Crosby, the NHL's reigning MVP, scored the game-winning goal in a shootout. The overnight rating also surpasses Wayne Gretzky's last game, which was broadcast on Fox (April 18, 1999, 2.5/6). Top Ten Metered Markets: 1. Buffalo 38.2/58 2. Pittsburgh 17.7/30 3. Minneapolis 5.1/11 4. Denver 3.7/7 T5. Providence 3.5/7 T5. Las Vegas 3.5/6 7. St. Louis 3.3/5 8. Boston 3.2/6 9. Sacramento 2.9/6 T10. Richmond 2.8/5 T10. Hartford 2.8/5 "

Some markets bolded for wtf?-ness. And nicely done St. Louis going up against the Mizzou game at the exact same time. Maybe the NHL is on to something about putting a franchise in Vegas.

1/2/2008 4:49:17 PM

Which Richmond is that? If its VA remember that state doesn't have a pro team and and nhl would work.

1/2/2008 4:52:17 PM

I actually remember reading a report not too long ago that had the market feasibility for a pro team in each major sport in all major US cities. According to it Richmond had like a 100%. Not gonna happen, though; there's been zero talk of it and there are too many other cities fighting hard for teams.

1/2/2008 4:55:23 PM

Richmond's too close to D.C.

1/2/2008 6:34:10 PM

lol at this game getting higher TV ratings than the Gator Bowl

1/3/2008 2:29:39 PM

must be awesome paying for front row seats and realizing youre 35 yards from the game

[Edited on January 3, 2008 at 2:40 PM. Reason : e]

1/3/2008 2:40:02 PM

wish i wood have watched this game but didnt hear ab it til i saw it on sportscenter

1/3/2008 5:50:57 PM

Quote :

"lol at this game getting higher TV ratings than the Gator Bowl"

They said on the radio coming home that ratings were down for most bowl games.

1/3/2008 6:50:57 PM