Ovechkin, Capitals deserve next Classic spotlight

With another successful Winter Classic game in the books talk is turning toward the location of the 2011 game and which teams should participate.

This year’s Classic, a 2-1 overtime victory by the Bruins over the Philadelphia Flyers at Boston’s historic Fenway Park, was a success for the league in terms of marketing, attendance, media buzz and television ratings, although there is concern over the latter being down slightly from last season’s Classic.

Sports Business Daily reported the 2.6 overnight Nielsen share represented the second-best regular season rating for an NHL game since 1996 but the decline from the 2008 Winter Classic ratings could determine the participants and location for next year’s showcase.

The obvious choice of participants would be the 2009 Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins, led by team captain Sidney Crosby, and the Washington Capitals, led by newly minted captain Alexander Ovechkin.

Crosby and Ovechkin are the game’s current top stars and rivals. Their teams have a rivalry dating to the 1991 playoffs, which was rekindled in the 2009 Eastern Conference semifinals in which the Penguins narrowly eliminated the Capitals in a thrilling seven-game series many considered the best of the 2009 playoffs.

A Penguins-Capitals Winter Classic held in either city could be a huge ratings winner in the United States for the NHL, but the Penguins played in the inaugural Winter Classic in 2008, which could lead to worries of favoring too narrow a market.

Rest assured, at some point this decade the Penguins and Capitals will meet in an outdoor game. But given the potential emphasis on broadening the game’s appeal it might not happen in 2011.

Media consensus suggests getting Ovechkin and his Capitals into next year’s Classic is a foregone conclusion, so if the Penguins aren’t to be their opponents then who should be?

Staging the game in Washington would of course be a possibility but the league might prefer holding the game in a bigger market with perhaps more wintry weather.

Some in the Canadian media are calling for the next game to be played in Canada. The Winter Classic originated from the November 2003 Heritage Classic outdoor game between the Edmonton Oilers and Montreal Canadiens in front of over 70,000 fans at Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium, and an outdoor game played in any of the Canadian cities involving the Capitals would be an instant sellout.

A Canadian-based Winter Classic would be a huge ratings success in Canada but even with the Capitals involved it might not garner strong ratings in the United States.

While some hockey purists don’t wish to see the Winter Classic become an American-only feature, the bottom line is it generates more interest in the United States than even the Stanley Cup Final.

For a sports league rebuilding its visibility and popularity in the all-important American sports market since a season-killing lockout five years ago, the Winter Classic has turned into a gold mine of publicity for the NHL; the brain trust has little choice but to keep it American-based.

Besides, Canadian hockey fans would be placated by a separate outdoor game, either on New Year’s Day or soon thereafter involving Canadian-based teams.

A growing opinion suggests the New York Rangers should be the Capitals' opponent and the game held in Yankee Stadium, but that venue appears out of bounds until 2014 owing to the staging of an annual college football bowl game between Christmas and New Year’s, leaving no time to set up the necessary ice facilities.

Another viable New York-based facility could be the new Giants stadium opening this year, although that would likely conflict with the NFL’s schedule. That leaves the Mets’ Citi Field as a more logical choice if New York City is to host the game in 2011.

It’s been suggested Central Park could be a good alternative location but the logistics involved in setting up an NHL arena as well as seating capacity could rule that out.

A game in Minnesota with the Capitals playing the Wild could be a viable possibility, given hockey’s popularity in that state. Target Field -- the new home of the Minnesota Twins -- would make a good venue for staging the game.

Colorado would certainly do well as a cold weather site, with two venues – Mile High Stadium and Coors Field – to choose from. A matchup between the Capitals and the rebuilding young Avalanche might be a good draw.

Warmer weather venues like Los Angeles, San Jose, Dallas or a neutral site like Las Vegas have also been suggested but the selling point of the outdoor game is bringing it back to its snowy winter roots. While the technology is certainly available to construct a viable outdoor arena in Sun Belt venues the prospect of such a game played under summer weather conditions could rob the event of its key selling point.

That’s not to suggest teams like the Kings, Sharks, Stars or in other of the NHL’s southern U.S.-based teams shouldn’t be allowed to participate, but they’d have to play up North.