The Winter Classic Going Up To Toronto And What That Would Mean For a Flyers Outdoor Game Against Pittsburgh At Beaver Stadium
The Toronto Maple Leafs turn 100 next season. So the rumor floating around the internet right now (aside from the Leafs getting a new logo/uniform next year which we’ll get into at the end) is that the Winter Classic will jump the border for the first time since its creation in 2008 and will be hosted by Toronto to commemorate the historic year. Via Puck Daddy…
According to Howard Berger’s source, the annual outdoor game is coming to Toronto’s BMO Field on Jan. 2, 2017. The opponent? Fellow Original Six franchise, the New York Rangers.
The Leafs previously played in the 2014 Winter Classic in front of 105,000 fans freezing their collective behind off before sitting traffic for 10 hours leaving the place.
BMO Field is the home of Toronto FC, which like everything else in the city is owned by Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment.
Now it’s important to remember that this is just a rumor right now and obviously nothing is set in stone. Personally I’m not a huge fan of taking the Winter Classic out of the United States but I realize that the NHL is running out of new places to hold the event that could draw a serious crowd. I know that Minnesota would be a logical place to put the Winter Classic next but I can’t imagine too many people are lining up to buy plane tickets out to Minny to watch a game in the freezing cold. So yeah, Toronto seems like one of the only places left for the NHL to go especially considering it being the 100th anniversary of the Toronto Maple Leafs and that they’ll have a big name like Steven Stamkos to draw everyone in. However, there’s another option that also makes a ton of sense, and stop me if you’ve heard this one before.
Flyers v Penguins. Battle of the Keystone State. Beaver Stadium. I swear this rumor has popped up every single year since that first Winter Classic in Buffalo. At first, it got shot down because apparently JoePa wouldn’t allow it. Then that old bastard finally bit the dust but the rumor got shot down because Penn State said it would cause too much damage to the field (which is bullshit but whatever). Well like I said, the rumor pops up every single year and every single year it’s been shot down. However, next season will be the 50th anniversary for both the Flyers and the Penguins and the rest of the ’67 Expansion teams.
Now do the Flyers suck this year? Yes, they’re not a very good hockey team. Do the Penguins suck this year? Yes, they somehow might manage to be even more disappointing than the Flyers by the end of the season. But regardless, Flyers vs Penguins is still one of the best rivalries in the league. The players hate each other, the coaches hate each other, the fans hate each other, the Zamboni drivers even hate each other. When these two teams meet, you know you’re in for a show. So what better way for the league to sell this rivalry than to put it on display New Years Day in front of over 100,000 people at Beaver Stadium?
This game just doesn’t work if it’s mixed in with the rest of the Stadium Series games. Nobody really gets up for those games. Sure, you may still be able to fill the seats even if it is just for the Stadium Series since it’s a great rivalry and both teams’ fans would obviously flock in packs to Happy Valley to attend. But that’s the type of match up that deserves the attention on January 1st. Plus, the Flyers 50th anniversary plus the Penguins 50th anniversary equals 100 so tell the Maple Leafs to go kick rocks or something.
* Okay so it would appear that the Toronto Maple Leafs will be getting both a new logo next year as well as new uniforms. I know there are a lot of “purists” out there who think that Original Six teams shouldn’t be touched but in reality, this is nothing new. All of the Original Six teams have had their uniforms and logos altered with at some point during their existence and honestly, the Maple Leafs need a shake up. I doubt that the change to the logo will be anything significant, and also I’m pretty sure that announcing that they’ll be getting new uniforms now means that it won’t be an Adidas design. Which is good. If they waited until the end of next season to do the redesign then Adidas would have their slimey paws all over it and try to do something with the three stripes. This seems like it will be an in-house design. If anything, I’d like to see the Maple Leafs go back to a logo less angular like they had in their earlier days when they didn’t suck balls.
