NHL May Play 6 Outdoor Games in 2014
Wednesday · Apr 17 · 2013 | 1:42 AM PDT
Could it be true? Is the NHL really considering six different outdoor games in the span of two months? It would be a heck of a way to ring in the new year. And ESPN says it's in the works.
The network reported yesterday that a series of outdoor games will take place beginning with the Winter Classic on Jan. 1 and wrapping up with the Heritage Classic on Mar. 2. And the official announcement could come in the next couple of weeks. Here's what ESPN is reporting.
Jan. 1: Maple Leafs at Red Wings (Michigan Stadium)
This one is official. The NHL announced it on April 7. We've even seen the jerseys and everything. The Detroit Red Wings will host the Toronto Maple Leafs at Michigan Stadium — "The Big House" — in Ann Arbor, Mich. on New Year's Day.
Jan. 25: Ducks at Kings (Dodger Stadium)
Three weeks later, it's the most surprising outdoor game of the series. The Los Angeles Kings will apparently host the Anaheim Ducks at Dodger Stadium. A sheet of outdoor ice in southern California is a novelty, but it's doable. I believe the Rangers and Kings once played outdoors in Las Vegas.
Jan. 26: Rangers at Devils (Yankee Stadium)
A day later on the other side of the continent, the New York Rangers would play in their first of two games at Yankee Stadium — this one against the New Jersey Devils. But ESPN reports that for both games, oddly, the Rangers would play the visiting team. Not sure why that would be.
Jan. 29: Rangers at Islanders (Yankee Stadium)
In the same week, the Rangers would square off against the New York Islanders in the elements. It's likely the NHL would be looking to capitalize on the media attention given to the Super Bowl — which in 2014 takes place at MetLife Stadium in nearby New Jersey. I think this would get the job done.
Mar. 1: Penguins at Blackhawks (Soldier Field)
The next game would be more than a month later and be the first cross-conference match-up of the outdoor series. The Chicago Blackhawks would host the Pittsburgh Penguins at Soldier Field as part of Hockey Weekend in America. It would be the Penguins' third appearance in an outdoor NHL game.
Mar. 2: Senators at Canucks (B.C. Place)
Finally, the series would wrap up the following day back on the west coast with the Vancouver Canucks hosting the Ottawa Senators for the third Heritage Classic at B.C. Place — just across the street from Rogers Arena. The previous two have each featured the Montreal Canadiens taking on the Edmonton Oilers (2003) and Calgary Flames (2011) with both games being staged in Alberta.
Both of these teams already have "heritage" jerseys too — the Sens' black "O" sweater and the Canucks just debuted their Millionaires jersey last month. One of the teams would have to introduce a white version though, because black and maroon wouldn't quite work together the way blue and red will for the Jan. 1 game.
Does this mean 11 new sweaters?
I doubt we'd see special uniforms for all six games, but if the NHL is looking to make each one as special as the Winter and Heritage Classics of past years, it might be necessary. I could see Anaheim sporting Mighty Ducks colors and the Kings in their Gretzky-era threads.
What about the Rangers? They already have two throwbacks — their dark blue third and the "vintage white" jersey they wore for the 2012 Winter Classic in Philadelphia. Should they try to come up with an alternative for their games against the Devils and Islanders.
And speaking of which, the Devils already have a retro sweater — the green and red one they've worn around St. Patrick's Day in recent seasons. The Islanders? Well they're already wear throwbacks night in and night out. The only other option they have is the fisherman. And there's no way that happens.
What's left is Pittsburgh and Chicago. Both of these teams still have huge collections of past jersey designs to choose from. I know most Penguins fans will push for the early '90s Cup-era design of black and yellow. It makes sense now why they wouldn't introduce a third jersey next year — as has been reported. They'd probably just do a special outdoor jersey that could be adopted as a third in 2014.
For the Blackhawks, there are a lot of choices. Maybe something in black and white from the early, early days of their existence? All I know is there is a lot of money to be made with all of these potential jerseys. And a lot of news to cover here on Icethetics should that happen.
I'll keep an eye on it, but for now, of course, even these games are all still speculation.
Reader Comments (27)
I have additional news concerning the PEI Rocket. They might never be called Islanders at all. The team is currently for sale and if no local buyers can be found in the next few days, it seems the team will move to Sorel, QC.
Hope this is true, I'd love a ranger-islander game at the stadium
Wild Wing vs. Burger King. PLEASE HAPPEN!
My only guess as to why the Rangers are playing two "road" games in Yankee Stadium is that they don't want to lose any of their home games. As for the sweaters, I'm hoping for something orange from the Islanders, perhaps a fauxback tribute to the old LI Ducks.
Since the Rangers are "away" both games at Yankee Stadium, that means they'll still have all 41 home games at MSG, whereas the Devils and Islanders each lose a game in their home arenas.
I'm so pumped for the Kings/Ducks outdoor game (early 90's throwbacks please!). I would have preferred it to be at the LA Coliseum with its amazing history, but unfortunately the place is a dilapidated dump. Dodger stadium will still be fun, it'll just be a giant pain to get in and out of the parking lot on a week night.
Seriously Anaheim and LA are going to get an outdoor game before Minnesota? Total BS!
Obviously my PEI Rocket comment was meant for the other article. Sorry about the confusion
thats 4 games too many for me, have to keep these games as special events and not over-do them so it becomes just another game. and los angeles?? are they swapping skates for flippers for that game??
I bet the Rangers are away so they can wear their jerseys from last Winter Classic.
I hope to God the Penguins keep the blue jerseys retired for that game.
too many games. bettman and his board are going to make something special mundane. i'm ok with them doing more than one outdoor game a year but six is way too many. keep the wings and leafs. people have been waiting for that for some time now. and it's too big teams for network. i like the idea of a california game as a novelty. so keep that one. and i like the idea of an all canada game (i'm not canadian myself). the two teams don't seem like a good pairing (mtl vs ott or van vs edm would be my choice) but whatever.
as for the rest... ugh. ok, a game in yankee stadium would be cook, but two? the rangers twice? pass. chicago v. pittsburgh? two good teams but i have no interest in seeing either outdoor AGAIN. a saturday game of the week like any other week is plenty for that match-up.
But BC Place is a stadium with a ROOF! That's not a retractable one either! That's not a Heritage Classic but a simple hockey game played inside a larger arena. Tampa Bay played at Tropicana Field when they started . These were no Classic games at all!
Ducks need to wear a throwback for the game. 20th anniversary is next season and it would be great to see plum and jade on the jersey again even for just one night.
Bob: For what it's worth, they replaced the roof at B.C. Place in 2011 and it is now retractable.
While Blackhawks/Penguins would be the first West vs East Winter Classic, let's not forget the Edmonton/Montreal and Calgary/Montreal outdoor games.
The Sens and Canucks may not have much of a history, but the Original Ottawa Senators and the Vancouver Millionaires met in the 1915 and 1921 Stanley Cup Finals. It will be interesting to see if the uniforms acknowledge this in any way.
As much as I love the outdoor games, I think six is just a little too much. I think the only reasons for that many games are for money and PR damage control from the Lockout. The Lockout has ruined the NHL's reputation and a lot of people are fed up and the NHL needs to regain popularity with the fans and being in the spotlight with a bunch of outdoor games will be a huge draw and for them, a great place to start.
I could see the Islanders wearing an Americans-inspired fauxback
Way too many outdoor games! 1-2 is enough. Betmann says the public wants more of these games.The truth is the public will like anything the league puts in front of them,Just because we watch the outdoor games, doesn't mean we want more of them.
Like the now defunct NHL Premiere games having 5-6 outdoor games is gonna get old real fast. The unique feeling of the Winter Classic/Heritage Classic should be kept for 2 outdoor games a season.
As for seeing Pittsburgh again outdoor haven't they been in enough of these? I don't mind Chicago hosting another game but why not match up St. Louis/Chicago at Busch Stadium or even better Minnesota/Dallas at Target Field? Just my two cents.
While as a Rangers fan I would certainly dig seeing a Rangers/Islanders game at Yankee Stadium (and considering it'll be the Islanders' last season at Nassau Coliseum, they could use the attendance bump), I feel like two games is beyond overkill. I would pare the 6 games down to three or four - definitely get rid of one of the Rangers outdoor games, the Chicago-Pittsburgh game (enough with Pittsburgh in the outdoor games!). I'm on the fence about Ducks-Kings - it would be fun to have a game at Dodger Stadium but I feel like there are other clubs like Colorado or Minnesota who would want one too.
As for the jerseys, I feel the Islanders will either do a Brooklyn Americans or Long Island Ducks-inspired jersey (there's no way they're bringing back the Fisherman, and I don't think they'd try a more postmodern Brooklyn Nets-inspired jersey then, though maybe eventually on the latter), Rangers with either a dark version of the previous WC sweater or a 1946 or late '70s inspired jersey, Devils with a red, green and vintage-white quasi-fauxback, and Chicago and Pittsburgh with some crap cobbled together. Vancouver, Ottawa, Anaheim, and LA are pretty obvious in what they'd be doing, I'd imagine.
@ Bob, BC Place now has a retractable roof. It was installed two years ago.
What I don't understand is why the Canucks need to have their heritage game in 2014 instead of 2015. It is the latter year that is the centennial anniversary of the 1915 Millionaires Stanley Cup championship.
I know this wouldn't be a very creative thing to do but since the Islanders are rumored to be playing in an outdoor game next year, instead of some lame fauxback uniform, they could take the Royal Blue jersey that they wore during their dynasty years and use that. I know that jersey is very similar to what they wear now but the striping on that is different enough that it could be a possibility.
I can see why the Rangers will be the road team in both...but I disagree on the decision. At least make one a home game. If that's the case I'd rather see the Devils host the game in NJ and the Isles host the game at Citi Field (I know superbowl and all is in Metlife though I'm sure something could be done elsewhere/before/after/etc. Yankee stadium was always seen as the home venue for the Rangers if they ever had winter classic. Having two in the bronx, and the Rangers being the road team twice is just odd.
Then again. since the Devils are Red and the Isles can pull any color from black to white to orange, I could see the Rangers wearing a Blue jersey (liberty/heritage/another new design) despite being "road".
This is nothing more than a cash grab, plain and simple. If anyone saw the intermission report during Hockey Night in Canada on 4/20, the panel mentioned the league is set to make millions (if not close to a billion $$$$ in revenue). With the salary cap going down, the players escrow would dive, so the NHLPA is on board with any means to generate revenue. And this is an ideal way to do so. Hey, I'm not against the league trying to make $$$, but not at the expense of ruining a great tradition. Unfortunately, like just about every other pro sport, the NHL is focusing on $$$$$ . . it won't be too long until tradition is flushed down the toilet. Too bad, since that was one item that differentiated the NHL from these other sports. Oh well . ...
League announced the Hawks Pens game on March 1st today so that one's confirmed.