Is the Winter Classic Becoming Irrelevant?
One unimportant writer thinks so. It's me...I'm that guy.
As I write this (Sunday night), I’m slightly distracted by the Montreal v. NY Rangers game. It’s been a lot of fun watching Montreal hit this new gear they’ve recently found (last night’s bloodbath against Toronto notwithstanding). I hope this is Montreal turning a corner on their season. I still don’t expect them to make the playoffs, but seeing them play well has been fun. They eventually went on to win in OT.
Speaking of teams playing well, Ottawa looks like they’re also hitting their stride, as they were able to grind out a gritty 2-1 win against the Devils today. Coming off a comeback 6-5 shootout win against Boston last night, they have been playing well lately. I think the Sens make it into the wildcard spot this season, and I believe that team deserves some success.
Speaking of Montreal and Ottawa, the Victoire took on the Charge in a PWHL Takeover Tour match in Quebec City, with Montreal emerging victorious by a 2-1 score. That was truly a fun game to watch, as there were plenty of exciting moments throughout. As mentioned in my last post, if you’re missing the PWHL, you’re only doing yourself a disservice.
The NHL Winter Classic used to be appointment television for me. No matter who played or where I would make a point to try to catch at least some of the game, and if I’m off work, I usually enjoy the entire game.
However, the Winter Classic fell off my radar sometime in the last few years. I’m not entirely sure when, but it’s slowly become something I don’t have much interest in. This year’s Winter Classic between Chicago and St. Louis was the first that I not only didn’t watch any of, but the first I truly forgot even was happening.
I also can’t really point to why I, a hockey die-hard, stopped truly caring about the Winter Classic. After all, there is something truly spectacular about outdoor hockey. Taking to the ice on a cold winter day on a frozen pond or lake is absolutely cathartic. If you’re a hockey fan and haven’t had the pleasure of doing this, I implore you to find a way. It’s chicken soup for the hockey soul.
After the success of the 2003 NHL Heritage Classic in Edmonton, the NHL seized on this and held the first Winter Classic…in 2008. Despite the idea of a regular outdoor game being proposed as early as 2005, the NHL has always seemingly enjoyed ignoring good ideas. Eventually, the NHL went forward with it, and the first classic was held- that iconic game between the Sabres and Penguins, which ended in a snowy shootout win for Pittsburgh.
Looking at that image above evokes so much about the pure, primal feeling you get from skating outside in the snow. The calm and quiet of nature. The only sounds being the metal of your skate cutting through the ice, and the snap of your stick on the puck. It’s the hockey version of freshly cut grass on a baseball field in the summer. For many of the participating players and coaches, it brings back memories of playing the game on frozen Canadian waters as kids.
It’s this feeling the NHL captured in their inaugural game, and the reason why this was a major hit for the league.
The Winter Classic continued to be a hit for the NHL and was a ratings success for NBC as well. Even today, the game continues to be well attended and is still rated fairly well on TV, even with the decline in viewers over the years.
It has also generated some truly incredible jerseys. Some of my favorites are the Detroit v. Toronto jerseys in 2014:
Or the Philadelphia v. NY Rangers in 2012:
And Minnesota’s 2022 jersey is also pretty solid:
I’m sure there are more good ones I’m missing, and there are certainly some pretty…meh jerseys too. But the jersey reveals were always something to look forward to, as they were a special sweater created just for this game.
Sometime along the way though, the Winter Classic began to lose its luster. Perhaps it was because of the same teams being repeated seemingly ad nauseam (Chicago or Boston, I’m looking at you), or the numerous other outdoor games held over the years- Stadium Series (sometimes multiple per season), Centennial Classic, Heritage Classics, not to mention other random outdoor games that were held. Or maybe it’s just not as cool now since they’ve had a Winter Classic every year since 2008 (with 2013 and 2021 being canceled due to the lockout and Covid, respectively).
This year’s classic at Wrigley Field (the second one to be held there) was the lowest-viewed Winter Classic ever, averaging a little over 900k viewers. In fact, viewership for the yearly outdoor game has dropped every year since 2022, and has been seeing a decline in viewers nearly every year since 2014 (aside from a spike in 2019).1
For many hockey fans, these are still major events worth celebrating and attending. And I completely understand why. As a (lapsed) Flyers fan, I was excited to attend the 2012 game vs. the Rangers, only to be unable to attend due to a conflict. One of my best friends is a Penguins fan, and he and I used to swear that we’d attend a classic between the two teams. While the classic never happened, the Flyers and Penguins met in two separate Stadium Series games (2017 and 2019), and we were fortunate to attend both. Both games were fun- Pens won in Pittsburgh in 2017, and the Flyers returned the favor with a win in Philadelphia in 2019…in the rain no less.
While the game in Pittsburgh left a little to be desired from an entertainment and presentation standpoint (it felt very much like the league phoned this one in, with very little going on around the game and a first intermission performance by Train), both games were fun to attend. Even with the Philly game ending with it raining on the players, it was a great time and fun to be in the crowd.
I’m not sure what the NHL does to make the Winter Classic more exciting again, but they can start by simply having fewer outdoor games, and simply go back to making the Winter Classic the special event it once was. I also believe involving the PWHL would be an incredibly smart decision. Think of it- a televised PWHL outdoor game the day before would not only benefit the women’s game but also make the NHL’s event relevant for multiple days, not to mention the PR boost for pushing the PWHL’s growing league.
Or perhaps make the All-Star weekend the NHL’s outdoor game? A weekend-long event (again, involving the PWHL) would make both events worth watching again and would take away from concerns that weather has had on previous events (such as the rain, extreme cold, unseasonable warmth, etc.) affecting standings. The NHL could also hold the All-Star Winter Classic at neutral sites across the U.S. and Canada to grow the game in places where there aren’t major hockey fanbases.
I don’t know…I certainly don’t claim to have all the answers. And frankly, the NHL has little incentive to change anything with their current outdoor game format. But I know I’m not alone in feeling this way. And the longer the NHL dilutes the “cool” factor of the outdoor game, the greater the chance that it eventually catches up to them and becomes less of a money-maker for the league. I’d rather see them save it now while people are still interested.
And frankly, it’s a crime that they haven’t had one in Canada yet.
McCarthy, Michael. “NHL Shouldn’t Panic about Worst-Ever Winter Classic Ratings.” Front Office Sports, 3 Jan. 2025, frontofficesports.com/nhl-winter-classic-lowest-ratings-2025/. Accessed 20 Jan. 2025.