It will be next season against the Bruins in Fenway Park. It sucks that it’s in the heart of Masshole country but I think it’s a miracle Bettman allowed my team to participate at all. These ridiculously overpriced match-ups people pay a small fortune to attend outside (horrible weather) in a stadium (poor view) on New Year’s Day is another demonstration of the NHL’s greed and short-sightedness. The game which started it all (the Heritage Classic) was different. It was the Canadiens versus the Oilers in Edmonton. I know it didn’t take place on New Year’s Day, it was much earlier (November 2003). Best of all, there was a two-period game of the teams’ legendary players before the regular season yawner was carried out. The 2008 and 2009 contests were more cynical demonstrations of commercialism minus the “old timer” game.
I do admit the 2009 game involving the Blackhawks and Red Wings was more interesting. They’re both cities with big hockey followings, I can’t imagine it with the Sabres and Penguins. The former had a bankruptcy problem recently and the latter extorted a new rink out of its city; I’d still like to see those crybabies try to make a go of it in Kansas City or (snicker) Oklahoma City as the rumors went.
Being a fan of the Broad Street Bullies, I’ll probably try to take in the game and get a jersey. Philly’s can’t be very “retro.” Their general design hasn’t changed much since the team appeared in 1967 unlike Chicago and Detroit going all the way back to the Twenties.