ANTHONY DASILVA, STAFF WRITER
Photo Courtesy of Wikimeida Commons
Outdoor games have a history of being special, magical events for the NHL but have lost their luster over the last few years. These games were special because they were unique and played between teams with a rich history — it’s time for the NHL to return to that.
From 2003 to 2013, the NHL only held seven outdoor games, five Winter Classics and two Heritage Classics. The first Winter Classic was played in 2008 between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres; fans loved the atmosphere, so the NHL decided to make this a yearly tradition.
The next four Winter Classics continued to be successful, drawing large attendance numbers and becoming popular with fans, so the NHL wanted more than one outdoor game per year, thus creating the Stadium Series.
The Stadium Series debuted in 2014, with four more outdoor games being played that season. The Winter Classic and Heritage Classic were also being played that season, so the NHL now has six outdoor games. This was a year where outdoor games lost some of their magic.
After debuting with four Stadium Series games in 2014, the NHL hasn’t had more than four outdoor games in a season, averaging a little less than three outdoor games per year.
The change did bring back some of the outdoor game magic, but after the 2018 Winter Classic, these games started to lose their magic again, but for a different reason.
Every outdoor game until the 2018 season was either played between two storied franchises or was a rivalry matchup, and the game was typically played in a cold weather city.
Since 2018, there have been some unique outdoor game choices. The 2022 Stadium Series between The Tampa Bay Lightning and Nashville Predators was an interesting choice. These two newer “warm weather” teams don’t even play in the same conference, so that decision was mind-boggling to me. I understand that the Lightning were coming off winning the Stanley Cup, but they have little history with the Predators.
This year’s Winter Classic between the Seattle Kraken and Vegas Golden Knights was a controversial choice. The Winter Classic is typically reserved for traditional, storied franchises, but this game was played between the NHL’s two newest franchises. The game ended up being a boring 3-0 shutout victory for the Kraken.
The NHL did redeem itself with one of its Stadium Series Games. The New York Rangers played the New York Islanders in an exciting game. There were many goals, fights, big hits, rowdy fans, and an unusual overtime winner. This is everything that an outdoor game should embody.
The Rangers, Islanders Stadium Series game brought back the magic in outdoor games that fans have sought. The NHL can get more games like this if they return to scheduling outdoor games for teams with long, rich rivalries.
dasilvaf21@bonaventure.edu
