could Sabres throw a monkeywrench into Penguins and Flyers plans for a Winter Classic

[DetDannyWilliams]

The Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers are still on track to play an outdoor game at Penn State's football stadium, according to a PSU administrator. At some point. Possibly. Unless the Buffalo Sabres take one of their spots. Another mitigating factor that could squeeze one of the two Pennsylvania teams out of Beaver Stadium: Sabres owner Terry Pegula, who donated more than $100 million of his own money to build Penn State's new Division I hockey arena. So, as Battista said, there are "102 million reasons" the Sabres could wind up at State College. Battista, naturally, was speaking on a tour of the Pegula Ice Arena, which opens soon. http://www.sportingnews.com/nhl/story/2013-09-25/penguins-flyers-beaver-stadium-winter-classic-penn-state-pegula-ice-arena-sabres $ talks

[OpIv37]

Enough with the Winter Classic. Every year, it has to involve Washington, Philly, Detroit, Pittsburgh, NYR or Boston. Pittsburgh's been twice, Detroit's been twice (well, will have after this year), Philly's been twice and this will be Washington's 2nd time, and meanwhile this will only be the 7th game. They've only used 9 teams out of a potential 14- which means 21 teams have never participated.

[chernobylwraiths]

any Canadian teams? I really don't know.

[OpIv37]

any Canadian teams? I really don't know.

Leafs this year. The Caps opponent next year is TBD. To date, no Canadian teams have participated.

[OpIv37]

I can almost guarantee the Caps won't get a Canadian opponent though. I'd bet money on NYR or Philly.

[IlluminatusUIUC]

Leafs this year. The Caps opponent next year is TBD. To date, no Canadian teams have participated.

The Canadian teams have played a few of their own outdoor games called the Heritage Classic. Doesn't get nearly the press south of the border.

Now IMO the problem is twofold: The league wants to use existing rivalries to promote the game (Detroit-Chicago/Pitt-Philly/etc) but those teams are also all in the Northeast where the best venues for outdoor hockey are. That's why you wind up with repeated teams - Pitts visits Buffalo for one, then they host their own later, etc. Detroit visits Chicago, then they host their own. They need to be deliberate about bringing warm-weather teams up to the cold-weather host cities.

[OpIv37]

The Canadian teams have played a few of their own outdoor games called the Heritage Classic. Doesn't get nearly the press south of the border.

Now IMO the problem is twofold: The league wants to use existing rivalries to promote the game (Detroit-Chicago/Pitt-Philly/etc) but those teams are also all in the Northeast where the best venues for outdoor hockey are. That's why you wind up with repeated teams - Pitts visits Buffalo for one, then they host their own later, etc. Detroit visits Chicago, then they host their own. They need to be deliberate about bringing warm-weather teams up to the cold-weather host cities.

Good point but I would think places like Minnesota and Colorado are even more reliably cold that time of year than the northeast. Hell, I've played golf on short sleeves on New Years Day in northern VA a a course that's maybe 15 or 20 miles from FedEx

[IlluminatusUIUC]

Good point but I would think places like Minnesota and Colorado are even more reliably cold that time of year than the northeast. Hell, I've played golf on short sleeves on New Years Day in northern VA a a course that's maybe 15 or 20 miles from FedEx

I can verify that Colorado is NEVER reliably cold. On New Year's Day it could be 10 below or 60 degrees. If they played it later in the evening it might work because the temp drops fast at night, but an afternoon game would be a big gamble. OTOH they played an outdoor hockey game in Las Vegas and were reportedly planning one for Dodger Stadium so maybe ice-making technology is more advanced then I give it credit for.

Minnesota would be great though, for many reasons. Great weather and fans.