Which cities with NHL teams, should be excluded from consideration for the annual Winter Classic and why?
I'm of the opinion that cities with warmer climate should be excluded to host the game, but not participation. ie. Los Angeles playing in Montreal or Dallas playing in Vancouver.
olympicvacations :: Jun.30.2009 :: Olympics :: 1 Comment »
The league, for now, seems pretty hell-bent on keeping this in climates where ice occurs naturally. The visuals of the 2008 and 2009 games (plus the frigid conditions in 2003) make for good television; you're just not going to get that playing in the Sun Belt.
As to timing…the NHL also seems to prefer a 1pm EST start (keeping them from going up against the Rose Bowl game).
Obviously, this could all change, but the league has a plethora of options in the northern part of the US that seem much more likely to be explored as hosts. Not to mention all six Canadian cities (Edmonton might be ruled out due to the extreme cold), even though NBC may not want to have a game in Canada.