Taste of great outdoors sparks hunger for Classic
Mayor touts Downsview but Leafs in Michigan could bring in $10M
G-g-g-g-g-go Leafs Go.
Yup, it was teeth-chattering cold for about 1,000 Rexdale-area Leaf fans at the club’s annual outdoor practice Wednesday.
Temperatures weren’t near the brutal levels they dipped to Tuesday, but still chilly enough for parkas in the crowd and balaclavas under the helmets of the Leafs and their coaches.
“I don’t want to be as cold in a game as I am today,” Leafs coach Ron Wilson said with a smile.
But the theme of the day — besides celebrating the $150,000 that Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment and RONA home improvement spent to renovate the Sunnydale Acres rink — was the prospect of a Winter Classic game in Toronto.
After the NHL’S New Year’s Day spectacle in Philadelphia on Monday, talk spread quickly that the league was entertaining a DetroitToronto game next year — to be staged at Comerica Park or the legendary Big House at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where the world record for hockey attendance (113,411) was set in 2001 for a Michigan-michigan State game.
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford told reporters he envisions a Leafs-canadiens outdoor game in Toronto at the former Downsview air base.
Ford said provisions could be made for seating of 40,000 to 50,000 people, although the land is owned by the federal government.
“I was part of those Cold War games in Michigan, and as a player, those kind of games are among the best memories in your career,” Leafs defenceman Mike Komisarek said.
“I’m from a place (Long Island) where we didn’t have many of these types of rinks, so this is great. I know it’s only a practice today, but we as players would love to be part of a (Winter Classic game).”
On paper, playing in Detroit makes economic sense for the league, which buys the entire TVmarketing-ticketing package from the home team for the game. A Detroit game at the Big House, for instance, could conceivably shatter the record.
At $100 a ticket, gate revenue could surpass $10 million for a game between two of the NHL’S highest profile teams.
There is also talk that, ultimately, the NHL would try for a New Year’s weekend where two or three Winter Classic games would be played.
The Leafs have lobbied for an out- door game, as well as the chance to host the NHL draft and all-star game. MLSE is targeting those events in time for the franchise’s 100th anniversary in 2017.
At the moment, MLSE’S only facility for an outdoor game is BMO Field. The NHL has not commented on whether the 20,000-seat facility is grand enough to fit the business plan for the Winter Classic.
“I think any city with a winter climate that can have good ice should get the opportunity (to stage a Winter Classic game),” Wilson said. “I’d love to have it in Toronto, but I’d go anywhere as long as we’re involved.”