Maple Leafs vs. New York Rangers in Winter Classic 2017?
The Toronto Maple Leafs turn 100 years old in 2017, and like any spoiled kid on their birthday they want ALL THE TOYS.
They’ll have the World Cup of Hockey in Toronto as an appetizer in 2016. In the last two years, they’ve negotiated with the NHL to potentially get the same gifts the Montreal Canadiens got for their centennial: The NHL All-Star Game and the NHL Entry Draft.
But oh no, they’re not stopping there. The big gift – that Turbo Man doll or that Red Rider B.B. gun, depending on your preferred reference – is having the first Canadian-held Winter Classic in Jan. 2017.
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.
From Berger:
Some have questioned whether BMO Field is “big enough” to host the event; wondering if Rogers Centre wouldn’t be a more appropriate venue. Apart from the fact the former SkyDome — home of the Toronto Blue Jays — has never been mentioned as a possible site for the Winter Classic, renovation and temporary seating would increase BMO to an agreeable capacity. The stadium currently holds 30,991 seats. At least 10,000 more will be added to the end zones and corner spaces for the Grey Cup game (Nov. 27, 2016). The portable stands would simply remain in place for the NHL outdoor clash just more than a month later.
Why not have it at Rogers Centre? Mike Zeisberger of the Toronto Sun looked into it last January:
In a perfect world, the NHL would love to hold a showcase event at the Rogers Centre, lid rolled back, in front of 50,000-plus fans. But according to one NHL official here Saturday, there still has yet to be a solution to the dilemma of opening the roof in the winter, despite years of discussions attempting to find a way to get it done. A mixture of financial and technical obstacles remain the stumbling blocks.
“That is still the biggest issue and it has yet to be resolved,” the official said.
So the question becomes if the NHL will sacrifice “spectacle” for location. What they’ll lack in capacity they’ll make up for in jersey sales and all the ancillary revenue streams that arrive with this traveling circus.
Provided, of course, that Toronto fans have already dedicated their entertainment expenditures to the 100 other centennial events happening for the Leafs in the next two years. Oh, and those new jerseys as well.
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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at [email protected] or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.
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