You know the Leafs defense has been utter trash when the guy who coached Patrick ****ing Roy can't help the team GAA.

I could have coached Patrick Roy to RANGZ, bro

JS Jiggy tho

Has the lockout ended yet?

dam Davos must really enjoy playoff futility and overall WIL

this was a pretty awesome event imho, I've been to the place before but couldn't make it to the hockey game...

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-pu...4444--nhl.html

You know the part that annoys me?
They can get a game going in the middle of ****ing summer in Croatia, BUT THE ****ING NHL WILL BILLIONS OF DOLLARS can't seem to get a winter classic in anyplace with no snow.

AT&T PARK ONE TIME, DAMMIT.

Las Vegas dessert one time?

Hell, just bring it back to Commonwealth Stadium.

Need to ask for two times IMO.

Well I know you're just teasing but on a serious note and FWIW, Nash and Thornton played for Davos during last lockout and they had like 1.5pts/game overall and won the cup for Davos lol. (They had Hagman too).

So far besides Nash and Thornton its mostly Swiss players coming back home. Streit, Weber, Sbisa, Josi. The Canadians Couture should come over here too, aswell as Backes. Apparently Price was looking for a job in Switzerland too but decided to finally remain in MTL for the time being..

Well there ya go. Darryl was on to something ldo.

are you really this dumb? the NHL thinks the potential presence of snow appeals to the image people have of hockey in their youth, if they played it outdoors. i'd be very surprised if they played in a place like that in the next 5 years.

I think SF for a SJ Sharks game for the classic would be great.

Philly had zero snow last year (well, it barely flurried a little in the 2nd period) and the event was great.

The Las Vegas preseason game in the early 90's was really cool too. I truly think they should seriously consider doing something like that again.

I think if they had one at Dodger Stadium people could be really into it. Why the heck not? St. Louis could absolutely have one. Definitely Colorado where obviously you really could get that romantic snowy evening.

Definitely think the western Canadian teams should get back into this scene too for a second outdoor NHL game. Have Edmonton vs. Winnipeg trade a home-and-home in back to back years. Or Vancouver and Minnesota. Whatever.

Lots of possibilities there.

Colorado and St. Louis have turned into garbage markets - they won't get one in the next 5 years.

LA v SJ on a carrier one time?

Bob McKenzie is going to have his All-Signing Bonus team on TSN tonight lol.

22 players who've banked a total of $91 million for the season.

in other news, i got 6 pieces of chubby chicken when i ordered the 5 strip chubby chicken combo.

Dodger stadium has got to be one of the worst stadiums in baseball, so im not to keen on that. Att park would obviously be great if the event was extended to the west coast. Van and minny would be phenomenal if there is a venue for it (target field in minneapolis?).

lol wat, they've been top 10 in average attendance in each of the last 4 seasons and they averaged just under 19,000 fans per home game last season.

I'm not saying they're a bastion of impeccable fandom but easy there Capt. Hyperbole.

Actually, LA Coliseum would be better. Such history there even though it is old and beat up. But hosted the first of the major league sports west coast teams when they had the LA Rams in 1946. First Super Bowl there which I believe was same year they got the Kings as well.

Then fast forward to the 90's and the Gretzky Hockey Boom there. And now first Stanley Cup. Lots of ways of marketing this and cute tie-ins. Incredible the number of up and coming players from southern California that are directly attributable to the Gretzky boom. Have two players on our AHL roster who grew up in SoCal.

And it would be a neat way to push hockey and market it even more for those areas where the ceiling is higher.

And yes, I was thinking Target Field for MIN but also possibly new outdoor football stadium at U of Minnie. Their Athletic Director is a big hockey guy. Such a great hockey state, North Stars history, the big high school tourney there, tradition at U of M, Shattuck St. Mary's high school, etc etc.

And Min obviously looking to be a pretty decent team for the immediate future. probably have them play DAL since that is the first MIN franchise and they still wear essentially the same colors...kinda. if NHL wanted to make it MIN vs OTT or WPG I would have no objection. But those smaller Canadian markets aren't as eye catching for NBC and American audience and I think they are always considering that factor. But thank god they are having TOR in it this year...if they play it. Finally a Canadian team. Honestly no idea why they are so afraid of that stuff. Just push those Canadian markets to the US fans and embrace your sport's culture and history.

Or just do NJ vs NYI or something in a concrete lot off the Garden State Parkway. Only northeast region teams who haven't been in urn..besides MTL.

I was thinking the same thing Geddy. That franchise has been there for like a billion years, and while it's no Montreal, i'd never consider STL in the bottom 10 of the league. Nevermind the fact that they have a premium team now.

STL has some really really good fans. Way better fan base than a ton of teams imo. And they've been pretty solid for quite some time. They are hardly like a Columbus or something where they seem to be barely hanging on and struggling to get any attention or notice at all.

I hate hate hate hate hate attendance numbers. Hate hate hate hate hate. It's about ticket revenue, and the Blues were 24th in ticket prices in the NHL. The Blues are a mid-market, but pre-lockout they spent like a top-tier market (dunno if they were one or if the owner was just spending like one). It's unlikely that the NHL would give a team w/ zero recent cachet and a mid market audience a Winter Classic.

I do think the Blues have a lot of loyal fans, but let's stop using attendance as a measure.

oh, you mean the first one that they had no idea whether or not it was going to be a success or an annual thing or anything like that? sure.