Outdoor NHL games haven't lost their momentum

Anyone who believes the NHL's outdoor hockey concept has lost its charm probably has not seen a Winter Classic in person.

This is an event where you have to be there to appreciate the romance.

The Winter Classic isn't a made-for-TV event. It's a made-to-be-there event.

Originally, it seemed like the Winter Classic's impact would come from the NHL carving out its own television niche on New Year's Day. As soon as the snow started falling at Ralph Wilson Stadium outside Buffalo during the first game on Jan. 1, 2008, college football lost exclusive rights to New Year's Day television.

Word started to spread through social media about the snow globe effect at the game and by the time Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby trudged through snow to score the winning shootout goal, 3.9 million had tuned in to NBC to see how players dealt with the elements.

The day after that game, most of the teams in the NHL called the league office to see if they could host the next one.

The following year, 4.4 million people tuned in to watch the Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Blackhawks play at Wrigley Field.

But anyone who was in the vicinity of Wrigley Field that day understood that the Winter Classic became less about TV and more about being there.

When you were walking up to the gate that day, there was a Super Bowl-like atmosphere. Every Winter Classic since then has seemed like the annual festival of hockey.

Last year's game at the Big House in Ann Arbor, Mich., was played during a winter storm and there still were roughly 100,000 fans in the stadium that day.

This is not an event that is losing momentum.

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Critics say the NHL has made outdoor hockey less special by scheduling too many events other than the Winter Classic. Last season, the NHL had the Winter Classic, four Stadium Series games, plus the Heritage Classic in Vancouver.

Was that overkill or was the NHL embracing supply and demand? The fact that more than 216,000 people attended the four Stadium Series games would suggest it was the latter.

Nobody who attended the Los Angeles Kings-Anaheim Ducks game at Dodger Stadium, with KISS providing the musical entertainment, believed the NHL scheduled too many games.

Those who believe outdoor hockey has run its course don't take into account how big these games are in the host cities.

The fan watching his sixth outdoor game on television might feel like he has seen enough. But it is a far different experience when you are there in person. It's enchanting.

Players admit to being in awe as they look around the stadium before a game. In 2010, then-Boston Bruins forward Marco Sturm said he almost didn't jump over the boards for his first shift because he was gazing at the crowd.

For many fans, outdoor hockey reminds them of their younger days when they skated on the pond or lake or backyard rink.

When you are watching and hearing the sounds of outdoor NHL hockey, you don't care how many games have already been played. All Washington Capitals fans will care about Thursday afternoon is that this is the first outdoor game in the nation's capital.

Outdoor hockey still has considerable momentum. Thirty NHL cities would love to host a game. We haven't been to Denver or Minnesota or St. Louis or Columbus or Winnipeg or Toronto or Montreal. The game at Dodger Stadium proved the concept works in warm-weather cities.

Every big stadium in America is a potential site for this event. And when you finish up all of the possibilities, it will be time to go back to Wrigley Field or Fenway Park or Dodger Stadium.

We are a long way from being done with outdoor hockey.

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