The winter classic isn’t for regular hockey fans. It’s a TV event for casual sports fans. There really aren’t many good choices of teams to host this event. Crosby and Ovenchicken are great players and fun to watch. Pittsburgh will do the event well and hopefully people home nursing a hangover will tune in.
That’s great.
It’s going up against college football all day long. You aren’t going to get a lot of casual fans if it’s the same teams over and over and over again.
Essentially, after the Pittspuke/Buffalo game, the NHL has gotten lucky with the ratings. Eventually that gravy train is going to end.