NHL Winter Classic Considered A Success With Big Crowd, Exciting Finish

The Rangers defeated the Flyers 3-2 in the Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic at Citizens Bank Park yesterday, and the fifth annual outdoor game "was considered an astounding success," according to a front-page piece by Marc Narducci of the PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER. The game drew 46,967 fans, and 45,808 attended Saturday's Flyers-Rangers alumni game, making Philadelphia the "center of the hockey universe for one memorable weekend." NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman yesterday said, "It was spectacular. ... The buzz throughout the city and the crowd today was great" (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 1/3). The Flyers had a chance to send yesterday's game into overtime after being awarded a penalty shot with 19.6 seconds left in the game, and Rangers coach John Tortorella said, "I'm not sure if NBC got together with the refs." But Rangers G Henrick Lundqvist stopped the shot, and YAHOO SPORTS' Greg Wyshynski wrote it was a "fitting end to an unpredictable day/evening at Citizens Bank Park" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 1/2). SI.com's Brian Cazeneuve: "The ending was better than anyone could have expected" (SI.com, 1/2). The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Mike Sielski writes, "Had the NHL's power people attempted to script the conclusion" of the Winter Classic, they "could hardly have asked for something better than what the Rangers delivered in beating" the Flyers. The penalty shot helped to "transform what had been a sluggish edition of the NHL's annual outdoor game into a night heavy with drama." Sielski: "It was no wonder, then, that John Collins, the NHL's chief operating officer, stood outside the ballpark's interview room and hugged any colleague who approached him, or that the Rangers' postgame locker room had the feel of a playoff party." Tortorella said, "It's been really good for the league, and I think it's been really good for our organization" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 1/3). The NHL on Sunday pushed back the start of the game two hours to 3:00pm ET "because of sun." The rink was "bathed in sunlight Sunday at 1 p.m. -- the scheduled starting time for the game -- creating a strong glare off the ice, glass and boards" (QMI AGENCY, 1/1).

MORE THAN THE GAME: In N.Y., Larry Brooks writes, "The NHL pulls this one off, pulls off what essentially is a mid-season Game 7. It pulls it off and presents a spectacle that produces a cavalcade of memories for the players participating in it and the fans." The environment "was darn near perfect." Brooks: "The Winter Classic is the Greatest Spectacle on Ice. It can't get to New York soon enough" (N.Y. POST, 1/3). ESPN.com's Scott Burnside wrote, "It is perhaps a measure of the success of the NHL's Winter Classic that the game itself ... no longer defines the event." The "hotly contested NHL game has become part of the fabric of a larger hockey quilt." But there "was no need to have had to move the start time" from 1:00 to 3:00. The "issue of the sun should have been anticipated." Sources said that it was an "issue that had been raised, but for broadcast reasons, the 1 p.m. start time was favored" (ESPN.com, 1/2). YAHOO SPORTS' Nicholas Cotsonika wrote, "The success of the Winter Classic isn't judged on just the game. It is judged on the spectacle and the storylines. And this one was a winner." The conditions "were good," and the ice was "good enough." The league has gone "5-for-5" in Winter Classics or "4-for-5, at worst" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 1/2). Rangers D Ryan McDonagh said of the ice, which "constantly was being doctored" during the game, "The puck gets weird bounces. But all and all, the ice was above average" (NEWSDAY, 1/3).

MARQUEE EVENT? ESPN.com's Kristi Dosh wrote, "The NHL’s Winter Classic is solidifying itself as the league’s signature event, eclipsing the NHL All-Star Game and even some playoff matchups." Ticket sales and ratings "have soared in the five years the Classic has been played," and StubHub has seen ticket sales for the game "trump not only the all-star game but also quite a few Stanley Cup games." StubHub PR Manager Joellen Ferrer said that "several hundred tickets have been purchased on StubHub for the upcoming All-Star Game in Ottawa, but prices are about 50 percent lower than they were for Monday’s 2012 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic" (ESPN.com, 1/2). SI.com's Michael Farber wrote the Winter Classic is a "technological and logistical marvel, a triumph of ingenuity and engineering." It is a "marketing machine for a league that, post-lockout, seems driven by events." And it is the "most powerful an attention-grabber that hockey has to offer outside of the Olympics." But the event is the NHL's "little white lie." The league "simply can't replicate the conditions in its arenas, even the laggards that don't have terrific ice." The game is "not about 'reality.'" It is "about ratings and merchandising and selling tens of thousands of tickets" (SI.com, 1/1).

HOSTING DUTIES: In New Jersey, Andrew Gross writes under the header, "Winter Classic [Needs] New York, Other Sites And Fresh Teams." It is "widely assumed" the Red Wings will host the next outdoor game at Michigan Stadium. The Capitals also "seem to be in line for a game at Nationals Park." A game hosted by the Wild at Target Field "seems like a natural." Yankee Stadium "would be a perfect location for the game, though there's the current problem of college football taking up the time slot with the Pinstripe Bowl" (Bergen RECORD, 1/3). In L.A., Helene Elliott writes, "It might grow faster if it were more inclusive. Play it in Minnesota, Detroit or Denver. Invite a West Coast team to be the visitor, if not the host. Until then it will be just a curiosity, not the central event of the season" (L.A. TIMES, 1/3). Bettman has said that it is the NHL's "preference to play in football stadiums, because they can sell more seats and line up the rink in a more fan-friendly way." But in Philadelphia, Sam Donnellon wrote, "A baseball park somehow brings more of the feel they were looking for when this event was conjured up" (PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS, 1/2).

(l to r) MSG's Scott O'Neil, Luukko, Collins and Global Spectrum's John Page at Classic

POWER PLAYER: In N.Y., Jeff Klein wrote if not for Comcast-Spectacor Chair Ed Snider, who founded the Flyers in '67, it is possible that the passion for hockey in Philadelphia "would not exist." Flyers President & COO Peter Luukko said, "Ed basically created hockey in Philadelphia." Many believe that Snider, who is being honored as one of the SBJ/SBD '12 Champions, is the "most powerful figure in hockey." Bettman said, "There is probably nobody more knowledgeable in the game and in the business of the game on the ownership level. Whatever the issues are, his opinion commands respect." Snider said, "I'm very proud of the Flyers and what we've accomplished. They call Detroit Hockeytown USA, and I don't want to take anything away from it, but I think Philadelphia is Hockeytown USA" (N.Y. TIMES, 12/31).