Music: {allcanada} Nostalgia key to Winter Classic's appeal

Monday, December 30, 2013

{allcanada} Nostalgia key to Winter Classic's appeal

Sons of Anarchy, Season 6 - Sons of Anarchy

ANN ARBOR, Mich.- The Winter Classic is a $30 million to $40 million business enterprise supported by the idea that the relationship between fans and outdoor hockey is often a passionate love story.

"Watching outdoor hockey is almost like taking a trip back in time," said Detroit Red Wings season ticketholder Vicki Seach of Plymouth, Mich. "Growing up, I remember whenever the weather got cold, there was the anticipation of getting out the skates.

"It's exhilarating to have the winter cold nipping at your nose while watching a good hockey match."

The five Winter Classics have ranked among the top six most-viewed NHL games since 1975. The NHL is expecting another strong television number Wednesday when the Red Wings and the Toronto Maple Leafs square off in the Winter Classic at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor.

MORE: Kevin Allen's choices for Team USA

A world-record hockey crowd of more than 107,000 is expected at the Big House.

"The brand that we have looked to develop is the romance and nostalgia with everyone's first experience with the game, which typically is on the frozen lakes and ponds," NHL chief operating officer John Collins said.

NBC analyst Pierre McGuire said he never had met an NHL player who didn't want a chance to play in a Winter Classic.

"It does take players back to where they started," he said.

Players view playing in the game as a badge of honor, McGuire said.

"If you grew up in Canada or in a border state, you grew up playing on outdoor ice," McGuire said. "It wasn't a complicated game. It was you and your friends. You dropped the sticks, and you played until someone's mother called you for dinner or your feet got too cold to take it anymore."

McGuire, a former NHL coach, grew up playing on a frozen lake in Quebec.

"We would shovel the lake and use a big potato, wrapped in tin foil, from our mother's kitchen rather than a puck because it would not travel as far once it hit a snow bank," McGuire said.

Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall played in the second Winter Classic at Wrigley Field in 2009 and was ready to do it again the minute the game was over.

"It was an awesome experience, and I think everyone that played that game, or in any of the outdoor events, would love to do it again," Kronwall said. "I'm really thankful that we get another shot at it."

The Winter Classic seemed to become an instant classic the moment the snow began to fall when the Pittsburgh Penguins played the Buffalo Sabres at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y., on Jan. 1, 2008.

"When Bob Costas did the first one, he came back to the city that night and went to the theater," NBC executive producer Sam Flood said. "He was stopped by many people, and all they wanted to talk about was the Winter Classic. He was stunned by the number and the diversity of people who tapped him on the shoulder, not to say, 'Are you Bob Costas?' but rather, 'How much fun was it being out in the elements?'"

Red Wings winger Henrik Zetterberg is from Sweden, and he didn't play indoors until he was 9. Teammate Pavel Datsyuk, born in Russia, said he played outdoors every day when he was a youngster.

"Sometimes without skates," he said. "We just run after the puck in our boots."

How I Met Your Mother, Season 9 - How I Met Your Mother