Listen, I'll come right out and say it. I'm not crazy about hockey. I'm not. I've always been wrapped up in college and professional basketball in the winter. But in my years of maturing hockey has grown on me. Similar to how the taste of that sweet nectar we call beer didn't always quench my thirst. Friends and ESPN have gotten me to watch the playoffs, which I love. Playoff hockey is one of the most exciting spectacles in sports.
But for me, the NHL has never done a good job of marketing their young stars. Even with the likes of Crosby, Ovechikin, and Patrick Kane, the anonymity of the league is too large. In basketball and football, the college ranks help fans familiarize themselves with the players--and in the process create relationships with these players. So that when they get to the NBA or NFL, the fans not only know who the player is, but what his skills are and what he will bring to a team. The NHL doesn't have that, or is not on that grandiose scale that the NBA and NFL are on. Even Major League Baseball has gotten the message, heighten the coverage of CWS and the entry draft. College hockey, while exhilarating to watch in person, is not quite the same televised--maybe with the exception being last year's Nat'l Championship game with BU and Miami (OH).
The inability to draw an emotional connection to the players also has to do with so many players in the NHL coming from overseas. These players come to the league and, aside from the diehards, fans don't know much about their skill set. Also these players hide behind helmets and facemasks, further distancing themselves from fans. Now I know football players wear helmets and can create the same problem, but the NFL devotes so much money into television time and marketing strategies that if someone follows football week in and week out they'll know who the players are. I just can't relate myself to the rest of the NHL.
However, the NHL has one-upped the NFL with the introduction of the Winter Classic game, played on New Year's Day. Hockey was meant to be played outdoors and the NHL has brought that sentiment to light by taking some of the league's most historic teams to play outdoors in a historic stadium. The first year featured the Penguins playing the Sabres in Buffalo's Ralph Wilson Stadium. It couldn't have gone better; it was below freezing, it snowed, the game went to a shootout, and the NHL's messiah Sidney Crosby won the game. The next year featured two Original Six teams--the Red Wings playing the Blackhawks at the infamous Wrigley Field. The game was every bit of exhilarating with the upstart 'Hawks going up 3-1 only to see the Red Wings come back to win 6-4.
Now the NHL has called upon Boston's Fenway Park to play host for the Bruins-Flyers game on 1/1/10. Two great sport cities sending their gritty hockey teams to America's oldest and most beloved ballpark. America is synonymous with baseball. It always has been. Now what better way to garner baseball's national attention to hockey? Well borrow the nickname "Fall Classic", add Winter to it, and use a world renowned baseball field to make that easy bridge for baseball fans to cross over. It's a genius idea, really. Hell, it has gotten my attention.
I tip my cap to the NHL for creating such a resounding buzz to what is really just another game. But this game will receive more attention than the NFL Pro Bowl, NBA All-Star game, NHL All-Star, and in some cases Finals games too. In just its first two years, the NHL's Winter Classic has won over the league and fans alike. It has made New Years Day--historically a day dominated by college football--about hockey. The Winter Classic is the only thing people want to talk about on New Years. And, to my surprise, I cannot wait until the Bruins take the ice at Fenway and we hear "Sweet Caroline" after the end of the second period.
For the first time in a long time, NHL fans can finally utter the words, "Hey, I think Gary Bettman did a good job."
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