Crapitals to host 2015 Winter Classic

[DetDannyWilliams]

Washington Capitals (http://capitals.nhl.com/) owner Ted Leonsis announced Saturday his team will serve as the host for the 2015 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic on Jan. 1, 2015.
"The excitement of the Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic continues to grow, and bringing the 2015 event to the D.C. area will write another chapter in the game's great history of entertainment," NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said. "We are looking forward to being in Washington with the Capitals' great fans."
Attending the team's Capitals Convention, Leonsis admitted that he had been lobbying the NHL to host a Winter Classic since 2008, when he saw the Buffalo Sabres (http://sabres.nhl.com/) host the Pittsburgh Penguins (http://penguins.nhl.com/) at Ralph Wilson Stadium in the first iteration of the annual spectacle. It took some time, but he finally got the big game in the nation's capital.
"The very first time I saw the Winter Classic was in Buffalo. I started emailing [NHL Chief Operating Officer] John [Collins] and our commissioner and said 'I want one of those.' It looked so spectacular," Leonsis told the convention crowd. "The whole hockey world watches. It's an event that really signifies that we've come a long way as a hockey community. The League believes we can support it. That our city is ready to be the host city for an event of that magnitude."
The site for the game as well as the opponent will be announced at a future date. http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=683348&navid=nhl:topheads

[IlluminatusUIUC]

The site has to be FedEx field, doesn't it? Where else is big enough in the DC area? Baltimore seems a little far.

[Generalissimus Gibby]

The site has to be FedEx field, doesn't it? Where else is big enough in the DC area? Baltimore seems a little far.

Although it would be kick ass if it could be on the Mall. Damn that would be great. True, people would have to stand, there'd be no luxury boxes, but hell it would be awesome nonetheless.

[IlluminatusUIUC]

Although it would be kick ass if it could be on the Mall. Damn that would be great. True, people would have to stand, there'd be no luxury boxes, but hell it would be awesome nonetheless.

That is a cool idea

[DetDannyWilliams]

here...16637they don't even have to make the ice they can just wait until the water freezes, paint the ice white and put some red circles for the faceoff and blue lines then put up the boards and put a goal at both ends and wolla you have an ice rink.

[DetDannyWilliams]

for people that say it won't work 16638 this is from Forest Gump. Just imagine the NHL ice rink in the middle of the pool and people sitting on bleachers around the pool.

[OpIv37]

here...16637they don't even have to make the ice they can just wait until the water freezes, paint the ice white and put some red circles for the faceoff and blue lines then put up the boards and put a goal at both ends and wolla you have an ice rink.

The reflecting pool doesn't freeze. It may get a thin layer of ice for a day or two, but it really doesn't get cold enough in DC for it to freeze solid enough for hockey. I lived in DC (actually northern VA) for 10 years and have been in Baltimore for the last 2, and in that time span, it's never gone more than maybe 5 days without getting above freezing, and that only happened once or twice.

[OpIv37]

The site has to be FedEx field, doesn't it? Where else is big enough in the DC area? Baltimore seems a little far.
RFK is still used for soccer and some other random events but it's a hole.

FedEx is the only real option.

[Dude]

Nationals' ballpark?

[IlluminatusUIUC]

Nationals' ballpark?

I always thought the hockey games in the baseball stadium had poor sightlines. While it makes sense to put it in some of the historic ball parks like Wrigley and Fenway, putting it in modern ball parks like the Phillies' and Nationals just loses the charm IMO.

[OpIv37]

Nationals' ballpark?

I didn't think of that because I was thinking of football stadiums. Nats Park is a great facility- I go to several games a year there. But I wasn't thinking of it because I agree with Illuminatus- bad sightlines at baseball parks for these events. The football stadiums are bad enough because of the size, but at least they have a similar overall shape to hockey arenas. The way baseball fields spread out makes it even harder to see.

But, Nats park might be the answer for one reason and one reason only: a sellout. Nats Park seats 41k for baseball. FedEx seats 96k. You know Leonsis doesn't want 40k unsold tickets. And if the Caps start poorly, there will be 40k unsold tickets. They have a very fairweather fan base.

[ICRockets]

If we're eliminating places because of bad sightlines, then FedEx Field doesn't stand a chance.

[OpIv37]

If we're eliminating places because of bad sightlines, then FedEx Field doesn't stand a chance.

Snyder already wants to scrap it and build a new stadium where RFK is now. He doesn't really have any traction behind the idea yet though.

[JATMtheJATM]

Snyder already wants to scrap it and build a new stadium where RFK is now. He doesn't really have any traction behind the idea yet though.

amazing that fedex field is less then 20 years old and its already obsolete.

[OpIv37]

amazing that fedex field is less then 20 years old and its already obsolete.

It's a dinosaur already. Although it's a football-only stadium, it still has the feel and appearance of the 70's era multi- purpose stadiums. Every stadium that's been built since is either that open- air Seattle/Foxboro/Philly style or a retractable dome like Arizona/Dallas/Indy. There was literally no innovation put into FedEx- it was built on old ideas that quickly became dated.

And don't even get me started on how hard it is to get in and out of there.... At least RFK is walking distance from the Metro.

[ckg927]

Not to mention trying to cram so much seating into a stadium doesn't really work for the NFL. They've' gotten rid of nearly 15,000 seats since it opened, and it STILL feels like a sardine can. Plus, even if you take public transportation to get to that place, you get a parking fee tacked on to your ticket.

HOPEFULLY, if Snyder tries to get a new stadium built in the District, the city council and the citizens will tell him "You want it? Pay for it your own damned self." They SHOULD have said this in Detroit...and virtually every city that's built stadia and arenas on the public's dime over the past few decades.