NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman participated in a Q&A with the CALGARY HERALD's George Johnson, discussing this Sunday's Canadiens-Flames NHL Heritage Classic and outdoor games in general. The following are excerpts from the Q&A.
Q: In some quarters, the Heritage Classic is being portrayed as nothing more or less than an appeasement to cranky Canadians -- as the underprivileged child hidden underneath the stairs in comparison to the New Year's Day Winter Classic.
Bettman: That's absurd. It’s baseless. It’s someone looking for something on a slow news day, looking for something to write or say, to be critical for no reason. The first outdoor game was the Heritage Classic in Edmonton, and the fact that we managed to pull off a very clever promotional idea and move it into the United States in an available time slot on New Year’s Day has nothing to do with the importance of playing an outdoor game in Canada.
Q: But you do hear the complaint, "Well, it's not the Winter Classic ..."
Bettman: It's not supposed to be the Winter Classic. It's supposed to be something else. The Winter Classic was principally driven by U.S. television, and so the purpose, the focus, the intent is different. The Winter Classic was something that was done to move the needle in the United States.
Q: Do these games actually make money or are they primarily ... to showcase the product, used as "prestige" vehicles?
Bettman: They make some money, depending on how big the stadium is you’re playing in. Your ability to make money is obviously enhanced by playing in, say, a stadium with 70,000 seats. What people tend to forget is that these are very expensive events to put on, very complicated to put on.
Q: Is there a move afoot to stage two outdoor games per year, and is there any concern if that’s true that you may be edging toward overkill?
Bettman: A fair question. But it’s one we haven’t yet evaluated. We haven’t de-briefed from the Winter Classic or the all-star game yet. After the Heritage Classic, we’ll take a deep breath, study what we did this year and what makes sense going forward (CALGARY HERALD, 2/13).
GAME PREPARATIONS: In Calgary, Sean Myers notes in order to accommodate fans for Sunday's game "beyond the 35,650 capacity" at McMahon Stadium, 5,400 temporary seats "have been added to the north end and extra concessions and bathroom facilities are being built to serve the higher volume of people." Much of the parking lot "surrounding McMahon has been subsumed by event preparations," and "at the south end by the administration building and Calgary Stampeders' locker-room, trailers and a generator have been set up for operations including a production crew of 15." Myers notes the parking area on the east side "will contain an 88,000 square foot spectator plaza that will be open to everyone, with or without game tickets, on Saturday and Sunday." NHL Senior VP/Events & Entertainment Don Renzulli: "We'll have bands out there, we'll have a big video board out there, food and beverage, novelties, roving entertainment, our sponsors will all be there and they'll have hockey interactive-type games" (CALGARY HERALD, 2/14).
