The forecast for Michigan Stadium calls for temperatures
in the teens, wind chills in the single digits, and a sprinkling of snow
— the perfect wintry mix for 100,000 fans to feel a big chill at the
Big House.
In short, hockey weather fit for the traditional Winter Classic.
"Move fast," Detroit center Pavel Datsyuk said, "or you’ll be frozen."
For
the NHL, the frigid elements are part of the DNA of the sport,
old-school hockey for scores of players who grew up learning the game on
frozen ponds. For broadcast partner NBC, the images of snow coating the
rink, the players’ breath, even fans bundled in their licensed hats and
jackets — all in sparkling high-definition — are a viewership boon for a
league counting on record ratings on Jan. 1.
"It’s going to be
even better with a few snowflakes floating through the air to create a
perfect backdrop for the greatest game on earth," NBC Sports executive
producer Sam Flood said.
The Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs
have no complaints about wearing an extra layer or two for Wednesday’s
signature event. Fans have steeled themselves to brave the cold, with
Michigan Stadium expected to set an NHL attendance record, though
they’ll surely welcome plopping down their commemorative seat cushions
on jet-dried seats.
The wind, snow, and slush are all part of the
deal for the Winter Classic, the NHL’s weeklong winter carnival, that’s
been on a yearly tour from classic ballparks to super-sized football
stadiums. The league has been pulling off global, outdoor, winter events
for quite a few years now.
For the first time, the NFL will hold
the Super Bowl in an outdoor, cold-weather venue, but the Winter
Classic, which began in 2008, has been there, done that — and
encountered many weather roadblocks along the way. There was a blizzard
in Buffalo, rain in Pittsburgh, and even — get this — too much sun in
Philadelphia. But the league, and its marquee day, has persevered to the
point where there will be six outdoor games this season, including two
in New York during Super Bowl week.
All the ingredients for a
classic Classic are exactly what have some fans, players, and media
concerned regarding a Feb. 2 Super Bowl at MetLife Stadium. The NFL
ditched warm-weather cities and climate-controlled stadiums to stage its
championship game in the cold and one of the largest media markets in
the nation. What works for the NHL may not be a perfect match for the
NFL.
"New York is a great city, it’s one of the best cities you
could play in as far as the Super Bowl," Packers tight end Andrew
Quarless said. "But yeah, as a player, you’d like to be in a dome or
somewhere warm where you don’t have to worry about the weather."
NHL players worry more about the drop pass then dropping temps in the cold.
"I
think you know you expected it to be a lot colder than it actually
was," Chicago Blackhawks star Patrick Kane said. "You’re worried about
staying warm underneath your gear and once you start playing, your body
temperature is just going to take over and you’re going to be warm. You
don’t have to worry about it too much. There were guys actually taking
off layers of clothing as the game went on."
Kane and the Blackhawks played in the 2009 game against Detroit at Chicago’s Wrigley Field.
Snow,
a sold-out football stadium and Sidney Crosby scoring the shootout
winner highlighted the inaugural event in 2008 between the Pittsburgh
Penguins and Buffalo Sabres at the NFL’s Ralph Wilson Stadium. In 2010,
the Boston Bruins hosted the Flyers at Fenway Park. In 2011, the
Penguins hosted the Washington Capitals at Heinz Field. The New York
Rangers beat the Philadelphia Flyers in 2012 at Citizens Bank Park.
Conditions
were near perfect for the first three Winter Classics in Buffalo,
Chicago and Boston, with seasonal temperatures and, in Buffalo, plenty
of snow. The game at Pittsburgh was switched from an afternoon start to 8
p.m. to avoid predicted rain. The rain drops and slick ice still hit.
"It
was a great idea to get outside and play in front of a lot of people.
You feel the energy. You feel the excitement," Sabres goalie Ryan Miller
said. "It builds some hype and you get to have that kind of football
moment where there’s a lead up, people talk about it a lot before you
play the game and people kind of make an event out of it rather just
showing up in time for the drop of the puck. They are showing up
tailgating, having some fun and it really picks up the energy and makes
people feel good about hockey."
It makes fans want to stay home
and watch, too. NBC Sports has produced five of the six most-watched NHL
regular-season games in the past 38 years, topped by the 4.5 million
viewers for the 2011 game (there was no 2013 game because of the
lockout).
If NBC and the NHL hit the jackpot and the weather turns
the game into a 3-hour scene straight out of a Christmas skate at
Rockefeller Center, buzz on Twitter and other forms of social media
could push even casual viewers toward their TV sets.
"I think the
word will get out in a different way than it could have even in 2008,
which is remarkable to think how recent that was," Flood said. "So we’re
excited. We think (weather) is a big part of it. We just don’t need a
blizzard because we’d like them to be able to make crisp passes, but at
the same time have a little bit of that snow globe effect."
For
the whining out of some critics, the chilly Super Bowl still won’t
measure to some of the NFL’s classic nailbiters — or, is it frostbiters —
that helped put the league on the map.
The NFL last year listed
its 10 coldest games, and, odds are, the first weekend at MetLife
Stadium will seem like summer in Miami compared to the minus-6 degrees
at Arrowhead Stadium for a Chiefs-Colts playoff game on Jan. 7, 1996. Or
a wind chill of minus-59 degrees for the Jan. 10, 1982 AFC championship
game between San Diego and Cincinnati.
Of course, no bone chiller
has yet to top to the Ice Bowl, the 1967 NFL Championship Game between
Dallas and Green Bay played on December 31, 1967 that clocked in at
minus-13 degrees with a wind chill of minus-48.
The forecast that day had called for temperatures in the 20s.
"The
operator said, ‘It’s 7:30 a.m. and 19-below,’" former Cowboys
linebacker Lee Roy Jordan told The AP in a 2003 interview. "I got up out
of bed, looked out the window and saw 40 other guys starting out in
disbelief."
Some Packers had trouble starting their cars and had
to hitch a ride to the game. The doors at the Cowboys’ hotel were frozen
shut and had to be kicked in.
When the grounds crew rolled up the
tarpaulin, a layer of condensation had formed underneath and, with 40
mph wind, the field promptly froze like an ice rink.
Bart Starr, the Packers’ quarterback during the Ice Bowl game, said it’s a mental adjustment to a cold
game
"I
don’t want this to sound trite, because it’s not — it’s attitude,"
Starr said in 2008. "It’s a mental thing and you, an individual,
regardless of what’s coached to you, you have to put it out of your mind
and focus on what the purpose and what your objectives are.
"You have to push it away."
The
Seattle Seahawks sure seemed cozy in chilly New York when they thumped
the New York Giants 23-0 earlier Dec. 15 at MetLife. Should they return
to New Jersey this season, it would be for the Super Bowl.
"Playing
in the snow is like one of my things that I’ve kind of always wanted to
do a good amount," Seahawks QB Russell Wilson said. "I’ve played in
some at Wisconsin, but it was more so practice. So we never really got
to play in it.
"So I’m looking forward to the snow."
__
AP
Sports Writers Larry Lage in Detroit, Genaro C. Armas in Green Bay,
Wis., Jay Cohen in Chicago, and freelance writer Nicholas Mendola in
Buffalo, N.Y., contributed to this report.
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