While this space has been used to occasionally criticize the NHL-very deservingly we must point out-credit must be given to the usually-horrendous Bettman administration when they manage to secure an increasingly rare, league-improving venture. As so diligently chronicled by every professional or recreational sports expert in Canada, the NHL in the last decade, aided by its ludicrous expansion, has become a dismal failure, if not a complete farce, in the United States and fostered a nation-wide sense of disinterest among Americans towards hockey. The NHL execs, however, seem to have finally stumbled upon their golden ticket back into the American sporting limelight-the outdoor game.
Although the league had already taken the game into the blistering cold of Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium in 2003, the all-Canadian Heritage Classic between Montreal and the Oilers didn't generate any response below the 49th parallel; rather, it was only this year's clash between Buffalo and Pittsburgh in the flurries of New Year's Day that had American pundits clamouring for more hockey and more outdoor gimmicks. The NHL, realizing that its product can nostalgically be transported back to the old-timey days of frozen ponds and rivers where little scallywags numbed their toes but warmed their hearts, set out to find another venue for their kitschy but extraordinarily popular event.
Enter Yankee Stadium.
Naturally the NHL, trying to find a fresh but populous location for their next outdoor affair, centered its search on Original Six cold-weather locales like Boston, Chicago and New York, and sure enough, they seemed to have found a fit just down the road from their Manhattan headquarters, in the Bronx. Scheduled to finally close its doors at the end of the 2008 baseball season, the iconic Yankee Stadium, which never before wanted to host the NHL for fear of the ice surface ruining the baseball grass, is now rumoured to be hosting an outdoor match on New Year's Day 2009 that would pit the New York Rangers against another high profile squad. Although this proposal is still being negotiated, the Yankees have endorsed the idea and if it comes to fruition, the NHL would be honoured with playing the final sporting match in the hallowed park.
2008 Woodie Awards
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