NHL Winter Classic update

[BadSeed84]

If they do a Penguins vs Flyers Winter Classic, it should be at Lincoln Financial Field.

[OMMF]

If they do a Penguins vs Flyers Winter Classic, it should be at Lincoln Financial Field.

Yeah, no bias there at all.

I'll stem the tide.

If (rival team) plays (favorite team) in an outdoor game, it should be at the biggest outdoor stadium near (favorite team or where I live)

[Gothamite]

Yep, that pretty much covers it.

[SabreGuy]

So... not to get off the current topic hating Pittsburgh (and I'm right up there in the club of Pittsburgh sports haters, though I find this "the lottery was fixed" discussion to be ridiculous)...

but man... a week later and I still can't get over how gorgeous that game was to watch. I have watched my tape of it at least 3 times (you can thank my newborn daughter for keeping me awake late at night, after having the bad manners to be born sometime during the second period of the Winter Classic) and I just can't get past how good those two teams looked. I have gone Sabres classic merchandise crazy in the past week. Just really tied a lot of good childhood memories together with that game... from skating outside during a snowfall to watching the Sabres skate around the Aud in those gorgeous whites when my uncle brought me to games... really just the most visually appealing hockey game I've seen in a long, long time.

[Luigi74]

If they do a Penguins vs Flyers Winter Classic, it should be at Lincoln Financial Field.

They want to have it at Beaver Stadium because they would draw over 100,000 fans due to it's location and size.

Also I got my Pens light blue throwback yesterday and it looks awesome, I need to start playing street hockey again so I can wear it more often.

[charger77]

I always thought these could make a great throwback:

-Dan

[maz]

did anybody think to realize that Letang, crosby, and staal are the only guys currently on the team drafted to the team on and after 05/06? And everyone else was signed after.

lets look at the guys on the team other than crosby that werent signed from free agency or another team

Armstrong: '01

Christensen: '01

Kennedy: '04

MALKIN: '04

Malone: '99

Talbot: '02

Fleury: '03

Letang: '05 (did the NHL fix it for the pens to get him to?)

Orpik: '00

Scuderi: '98

Whitney: '02

Staal: '06 (did the NHL tell the pens to throw the season and draft him?)

everyone else on the pens current active roster and alot of the Wilkes Barre roster was drafted before 05/06 and/or signed form another team. Anyone other than Staal, Crosby, and Letang that was drafted after 05/06 is eitehr in juniors, or WIlkes'Barre, or part of a deal to another team. Anyone signed after the drafting of Crosby and eventually Staal was to support them and the guys stated above. Or did the NHL tell the pens who to sign or trade and the other teams to give up those guys or accept the trade?

And I think a team on the brink of moving or folding had throwing a few seasons as highest on their list....heck....4 of those guys are from years the pens made the playoffs.

Maybe....just maybe...good scouting and management happened to pay off at the right time? Need I remind you that in Crosby's first season the pens sucked? Wouldnt the NHL want the pens to immediately become awesome and dominate thanks to Crosby?

The NHL may be a shady buisness, but fixing a draft (kind of ridiculous enough) that, as far as we know, would require every teams participation to fix (and with crosby, who would want to cover a fix so detrimental to your team as sending the best player to a diffeent team) when its obvious just about all the pieces except him came from before the lockout, even...just seems ridiculous.

[Neon_Matrix]

did anybody think to realize that Letang, crosby, and staal are the only guys currently on the team drafted to the team on and after 05/06? And everyone else was signed after.

lets look at the guys on the team other than crosby that werent signed from free agency or another team

Armstrong: '01

Christensen: '01

Kennedy: '04

MALKIN: '04

Malone: '99

Talbot: '02

Fleury: '03

Letang: '05 (did the NHL fix it for the pens to get him to?)

Orpik: '00

Scuderi: '98

Whitney: '02

Staal: '06 (did the NHL tell the pens to throw the season and draft him?)

everyone else on the pens current active roster and alot of the Wilkes Barre roster was drafted before 05/06 and/or signed form another team. Anyone other than Staal, Crosby, and Letang that was drafted after 05/06 is eitehr in juniors, or WIlkes'Barre, or part of a deal to another team. Anyone signed after the drafting of Crosby and eventually Staal was to support them and the guys stated above. Or did the NHL tell the pens who to sign or trade and the other teams to give up those guys or accept the trade?

And I think a team on the brink of moving or folding had throwing a few seasons as highest on their list....heck....4 of those guys are from years the pens made the playoffs.

Maybe....just maybe...good scouting and management happened to pay off at the right time? Need I remind you that in Crosby's first season the pens sucked? Wouldnt the NHL want the pens to immediately become awesome and dominate thanks to Crosby?

The NHL may be a shady buisness, but fixing a draft (kind of ridiculous enough) that, as far as we know, would require every teams participation to fix (and with crosby, who would want to cover a fix so detrimental to your team as sending the best player to a diffeent team) when its obvious just about all the pieces except him came from before the lockout, even...just seems ridiculous.

What the hell are you going on about, no one is questioning anything other than Crosby. Whoopie they drafted well, so did Detroit, Columbus and Ottawa just to name a few. Thats not the issue here, the issue is whether Pittsburgh was legitimatly selected through a random lottery process or not. No one said anything about Letang or Staal or anyone else on that team and their legitimacy.

And if my memory serves me correctly, that draft had all teams with equal odds to win the first pick as they decided not to go off the previous seasons results. I will have to double check this but thats what I remember, to make it more "fair" and to give every team which did not have the chance to play the season a shot at getting number 1.

[CJR]

And if my memory serves me correctly, that draft had all teams with equal odds to win the first pick as they decided not to go off the previous seasons results. I will have to double check this but thats what I remember, to make it more "fair" and to give every team which did not have the chance to play the season a shot at getting number 1.

Your memory does not serve correctly. Because there was no previous season to go off of, the four (I think that's right) previous seasons were used.

Edit: Three years, not four. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_NHL_Entry_Draft

[FlyersHockey1967]

If they do a Penguins vs Flyers Winter Classic, it should be at Lincoln Financial Field.

Too risky. The weather at this time of year is unpredictable.

I mean, it's 60 degrees right now where I'm at, and that's about 30 minutes away from the stadiums and rinks. It was also raining for most of December. We've only had snow once or twice here. I still haven't gone outside with my winter coat because it just isn't that cold yet.

Remember that weather plays a huge factor in deciding where to put an outdoor game.

[charger77]

If they do a Penguins vs Flyers Winter Classic, it should be at Lincoln Financial Field.

Too risky. The weather at this time of year is unpredictable.

I mean, it's 60 degrees right now where I'm at, and that's about 30 minutes away from the stadiums and rinks. It was also raining for most of December. We've only had snow once or twice here. I still haven't gone outside with my winter coat because it just isn't that cold yet.

Remember that weather plays a huge factor in deciding where to put an outdoor game.

Same reason they are nervous about a detroit event. On new years day we got pummled with snow. Lastnight I left the gym at 8:15 and it was 61 degrees!

-Dan

[OMMF]

If anyone wants to "own" the game, iTunes has it available for $1.99. It is the full NBC broadcast.

[maz]

did anybody think to realize that Letang, crosby, and staal are the only guys currently on the team drafted to the team on and after 05/06? And everyone else was signed after.

lets look at the guys on the team other than crosby that werent signed from free agency or another team

Armstrong: '01

Christensen: '01

Kennedy: '04

MALKIN: '04

Malone: '99

Talbot: '02

Fleury: '03

Letang: '05 (did the NHL fix it for the pens to get him to?)

Orpik: '00

Scuderi: '98

Whitney: '02

Staal: '06 (did the NHL tell the pens to throw the season and draft him?)

everyone else on the pens current active roster and alot of the Wilkes Barre roster was drafted before 05/06 and/or signed form another team. Anyone other than Staal, Crosby, and Letang that was drafted after 05/06 is eitehr in juniors, or WIlkes'Barre, or part of a deal to another team. Anyone signed after the drafting of Crosby and eventually Staal was to support them and the guys stated above. Or did the NHL tell the pens who to sign or trade and the other teams to give up those guys or accept the trade?

And I think a team on the brink of moving or folding had throwing a few seasons as highest on their list....heck....4 of those guys are from years the pens made the playoffs.

Maybe....just maybe...good scouting and management happened to pay off at the right time? Need I remind you that in Crosby's first season the pens sucked? Wouldnt the NHL want the pens to immediately become awesome and dominate thanks to Crosby?

The NHL may be a shady buisness, but fixing a draft (kind of ridiculous enough) that, as far as we know, would require every teams participation to fix (and with crosby, who would want to cover a fix so detrimental to your team as sending the best player to a diffeent team) when its obvious just about all the pieces except him came from before the lockout, even...just seems ridiculous.

What the hell are you going on about, no one is questioning anything other than Crosby. Whoopie they drafted well, so did Detroit, Columbus and Ottawa just to name a few. Thats not the issue here, the issue is whether Pittsburgh was legitimatly selected through a random lottery process or not. No one said anything about Letang or Staal or anyone else on that team and their legitimacy.

And if my memory serves me correctly, that draft had all teams with equal odds to win the first pick as they decided not to go off the previous seasons results. I will have to double check this but thats what I remember, to make it more "fair" and to give every team which did not have the chance to play the season a shot at getting number 1.

i say all that meaning the only reason people go on and say it may have been fixed was because the team is doing so well...if the pens still suck now, they would be in kansas city and youd never hear of sidney crsoby. If the team never did well because all those picks turned out to be busts, he wouldnt have done as well without the talent to support him, and people wouldnt have looked at him as the savior of hockey and the best player in the world like they do now, but jsut another good player ona crappy team - nobody would want to think of the draft as being fixed, because they wouldnt care about having once had the chance at having him

sure, what im saying is alittle bit of a stretch, but still...

[JStamper]

I've also read how the classic was "scripted" because the NHL's darling Crosby got the winner in OT. Maybe Crosby got the winner in OT because he's...good? Money drives sports. If they were to fix things, they will fix things in LA, NY, and other big cities that drive revenues, tourism, big stadiums, etc. They wouldn't do it for crappy Pittsburgh.

I'd tend to agree. If the NHL was interested in fixing anything to improve a team, they'd go for one of the big markets.

No kidding....do you really think if the NHL had their choice they would have their marquee player playing in Pittsburgh? Don't you think they would rather see him revitalizing one of the dying big market teams like the Blackhawks or Bruins?

[capsfan1000]

No kidding....do you really think if the NHL had their choice they would have their marquee player playing in Pittsburgh? Don't you think they would rather see him revitalizing one of the dying big market teams like the Blackhawks or Bruins?

I have been quiet on this topic to long. Yes they would. Pittsburgh also has somewhat of a tradition of playing hockey. But also Pittsburgh had as young core at that point. Wouldn't it be good to put Crosby on a good young team that he can led to becoming a good team. Yes it would.

Also as much as a hate the Penguins I don't think the NHL actually purposely pulled strings so that Crosby would wind up on the Penguins. They pulled strings so that there would be a greater chance of him winding up on the Penguins. For the 2005 NHL draft the number of balls each team got was supposed to be based of that the worse the team did the more balls they got. It makes sense then that Pittsburgh gets 3 becuase they sucked. However another factor was that teams that had had high draft picks in past drafts were supposed to get less balls. For examples the Capitals also sucked but becuase they had the number 1 pick in 2004 they only got 1 ball. However look at Pitssburgh's picks before they drafter Crosby

# 2002: Ryan Whitney (5th overall)

# 2003: Marc-Andre Fleury (1st overall) (originally pitsburgh had the 3rd pick)

# 2004: Evgeni Malkin (2nd overall)

Those are some low draft poistions. The Penguins should have been in the same position as the Caps (and the Panthers for that matter) and both should have been in the same boat with one draft ball each. But the NHL fixed it so that the Penguins would have three thereby giving Pitssburgh a better chance of drafting Crosby. In that way the NHL did fix the draft.

[OMMF]

To those who think the league rigged the lottery, what do you suggest be done about it? Should Crosby go back into the next draft? Should he move from one team to another, helping each team a little instead of one team a lot? Should Pittsburgh lose their arena? Honestly, even if it was rigged, what is their to do to fix it now? Besides bitch and moan, of course, but you guys have that down already.

To keep this logo-related, those jackets the Sabres coaching staff wore were nice but I can't imagine after being in the cold and snow for 4 hours that they held up very well after.

[CJR]

# 2002: Ryan Whitney (5th overall)

# 2003: Marc-Andre Fleury (1st overall) (originally pitsburgh had the 3rd pick)

# 2004: Evgeni Malkin (2nd overall)

Those are some low draft poistions. The Penguins should have been in the same position as the Caps (and the Panthers for that matter) and both should have been in the same boat with one draft ball each. But the NHL fixed it so that the Penguins would have three thereby giving Pitssburgh a better chance of drafting Crosby. In that way the NHL did fix the draft.

I put together a big, long post building off of this and then realized that I don't want to keep going so off-topic with this thread. If anyone's interested, I blogged it instead.

[NYBadshah1]

So, the events on campus today kind of confirmed that the Big House will not see an outdoor game until the renovations are done in 2010.

We seniors were notified today that the graduation ceremonies will be taking place at Eastern Michigan University because of the renovations being done, so if they can't have graduation, then they definately will not have a game.

[Panthers]

I talked to someone in Devils management a few Fridays ago when they hosted Buffalo. The Rangers abd Isles it seems, lobbied for Yankee Stadium. That would have been a brilliant move I tell ya.

[letterform]

The NHL may be a shady buisness, but fixing a draft (kind of ridiculous enough) that, as far as we know, would require every teams participation to fix (and with crosby, who would want to cover a fix so detrimental to your team as sending the best player to a diffeent team) when its obvious just about all the pieces except him came from before the lockout, even...just seems ridiculous.

Would you stop repeating this ridiculous notion that every team would have to be involved for a fix to take place? If you don't believe it to be so fine, but your opinion is completely uneducated and follows absolutely no logic. A fix was certainly possible and some think probable. Enough already.