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NHL Sees ratings increase for
already-successful Winter Classic
HOCKEYTALK.BIZ
JANUARY 2, 2009 -- Overnight Nielsen ratings show that in its
third outdoor regular season game, the NHL Managed a huge success, with
solid numbers that topped the first year's total.
Bloomberg News reported Friday that early overnight ratings show a 2.9,
which is up 12 percent over last year’s 2.6 figure. This season's event,
then, is the highest-rated NHL regular-season game in 13 years.
Almost universally, the league is receiving praise, and across Chicago, the
Blackhawks' renaissance is at a fever pitch.
The event represents the NHL's willingness to assert itself in the
post-lockout age. By offering a direct confrontation to the NCAA's college
football games on Bowl Day itself, the league shows moxie that's refreshing
to many hockey observers.
Purists have to applaud the celebration of hockey in its natural element.
Newbies are welcome to embrace hockey thanks to the Winter Classic's
brilliant spectacle. The league is smart to welcome purists and newcomers
alike.
Interesting when you don't have the snow; you don't have the same aura
without it. When you don't have it, the quality of play is better. In
Buffalo, the aura was more intense; In Chicago, the action was better. The
spectacle is so grand, however, that either scenario is perfect, really. The
only way to have the best of both worlds--snow and no snow--is to pray that
the snow either starts or stops, depending on your preference, at the ten
minute mark of the second period.
Here's a wish of good luck to New York, Toronto, Boston, Detroit, or
whichever town hosts the next Winter Classic. Keep the traditions of the
first two, and add to the legacy.
--Editor
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