Minnesota's Outdoor Game Likely On Hold Until 2015-16

Craig Leipold (left) is not thumbs up right now if the reports are true. Photo: ESPN

Early in January, the Wild's hopes of landing a Winter Classic in the distant future looked dim. It still is a dim outlook for that event. So not too long after the Wild missed out on the 2015 Winter Classic, Owner Craig Leipold quickly changed his tune on landing a WC and expressed interest in hosting a Stadium Series game for 2014-15 after seeing the great results from the 2013-14 games.

Minnesota's Winter Classic Hopes Looks Dim

It was another memorable Winter Classic in Ann Arbor today. Photo: Rick Osentoski/USA Today

Every New Years Day, the NHL puts on its grandest regular season event, the Winter Classic. And on that same day every year, Minnesotans from Warroad to Albert Lea wonder when the NHL will come calling to have the Wild host the league's premier event. One thing we know for sure, is that the Wild's chances of hosting the Winter Classic are growing dim.

Wild Lose Out on 2015 Winter Classic

In the past 24 hours, multiple sources have confirmed that the 2015 NHL Winter Classic will be hosted by the Washington Capitals. The announcement is expected to be made official tomorrow at 9 AM at the Capitals fan convention by Washington owner Ted Leonsis.

Minnesota and the Winter Classic

Happy New Year everyone. I took a little hiatus from here to relax and enjoy the holidays. Too bad the Wild one just once during that time. Also as you can see, I changed up the blog design on here. Hopefully you all enjoy this than the last background (It really annoyed me in the end). Now on to business...

Today, the Flyers and Rangers partake in perhaps the NHL's biggest event, the Winter Classic. They play it in Citizens Bank Park (Home of MLB's Philadelphia Phillies) in the city of brotherly love. It is the fifth consecutive year, the NHL has put this event on ('08 in Buffalo, '09 in Chicago, '10 in Boston, and '11 in Pittsburgh). And for everyone of those years, Minnesotans (including myself) have asked: When does the State of Hockey get its chance to host the league's premier event?

Since the event's inception, the game has been played between two of the league's premier teams, and in one of the league's premier US markets. So first and foremost, Minnesota has to start putting up more wins every season. Something that appears to be trending in the right direction, under rookie head coach Mike Yeo. Also, the league likes to have teams in there with some big names players on the teams, something the Wild is lacking (Mikko Koivu should be put in the big name discussion; Dany Heatley was a big name, but lack of production is killing that). Its not a necessity, but it certainly helps when the NHL decides on which two teams get to play every year. And then finally, this market certainly supports NHL hockey, so securing a WC after the team starts winning should be no problem.

So realistically, if the Wild continue to improve at the way they are under Yeo, when can Minnesota expect the NHL to come calling for the Winter Classic? As I mentioned earlier on twitter today, you should expect Detroit to host the WC in 2013. They are one of the league's most storied franchises, and they have been one of the most consistent teams over the last two decades. Its pretty much a lock for them next year. Then I took a guess that in 2014, Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals will host the WC. The Caps were promised a WC "soon" following their appearance in last year's WC against Pittsburgh. But, the way the Caps have gone down hill this year is a cause for concern, but I'm sure by '14 they will have righted the ship. So that leaves 2015 up for grabs for the WC. And I'm sure Craig Leipold will do everything he can to get that game here, but I'm sure he will have to go up against the city of New York because they have not hosted a WC yet. So given the league's east coast bias in this event, look for the Rangers to host the 2015 WC.

By the time the 2015-16 NHL season comes around, you should expect the State of Hockey to get its chance to host the Winter Classic. Do I believe we should wait that long, absolutely not. But as I mentioned before, the league has seen just one team from the central time zone play in this event (Chicago '09), and I don't expect that to change any time soon (Unless the Wild acquire one of the league's best players and become a top 5 team next year...but don't bet on that).

The league has acknowledged Minnesota as a future site for this event. They always come away impressed when a big event comes to the State of Hockey (See: '04 ASG, '11 Draft). But, our love of this game will not secure the league's best event...its going to have to come from our on ice product. And that's the cold truth. So let's hope we can continue to win. Or else we may see a later WC here than 2016.

UPDATE (1/3): Today Yahoo.com had a story on where the Winter Classic will go from here. There are a lot of similarities to this post.

Behind The Net: Roster Trimming, Scandella, Goaltending, and the Winter Classic

• Yesterday, the Wild trimmed their roster from 46 to 28 yesterday. Notable players that made the cut were Marco Scandella, Justin Falk, Nate Prosser, Casey Wellman, and Brett Bulmer. The Wild need to have their roster trimmed to 23 players by opening night, so it will be interesting to see who can step up and make their case to stay on the team when the Wild open their season on October 8th.
  
• One of the players who made the cut yesterday was Marco Scandella. And honestly, if you have watched the Wild at any point this preseason, he should be on the opening night lineup card. He has been very solid so far. Not one bad play with the puck. And somehow, he managed to play all three consecutive games this past week between the Blues, Blue Jackets, and Penguins (On consecutive nights). The only blemish for him this preseason was the instigating penalty he took against Pittsburgh, that set him back 19 minutes in the box. Scandella projects to be a very good defenseman for the Wild, so look for him to get solid time with the big club this year.
  
• Up until Friday's game with Pittsburgh, Niklas Backstrom and Josh Harding had been having very solid preseasons. But then Harding had a shaky start against Columbus, and Backstrom did not look good against Pittsburgh (Then again, no one would, when Pittsburgh has 300 Power Plays). Both goaltenders were playing their first full games of the season then as well. So look for some bounceback games from the two this week as they tune up for the October 6th opener.
  
• This afternoon, the NHL announced that they will be playing the 2012 NHL Winter Classic in Philadelphia between the Flyers and Rangers at Citizens Bank Park (Home of the Phillies). The Flyers are making their second appearance (2010-Boston) in the league's showcase game, and the Rangers are making their first. The Flyers join the Penguins as the teams to be in this twice. This is one of my favorite sporting events of the year. And hopefully, this event can come to the Twin Cities in the not so distant future.