Rumors have been running wild for weeks now regarding the possibility of the St. Louis Blues hosting an outdoor game in 2017. Those rumors have picked up even more steam this week.
When those rumors started swirling there was one team that made sense, but also was the option that provided the most dread and that has nothing to do with the potential outcome of the game. Interesting options might have been the Nashville Predators or Dallas Stars to involve the Midwest and southern fans. The Detroit Red Wings could also have made sense given the intense rivalry between St. Louis and Detroit in the 90’s and early 2000’s.
If nothing else, people should be tired of seeing the Blackhawks in outdoor games. They’ve been in four already. However, it has become clear that only one opponent will come to the Gateway to the West.
With the St. Louis Blues taking on the Chicago Blackhawks on national television this week, the situation seems ripe for the Blues’ matchup in an outdoor game against the ‘Hawks to be announced on Wednesday. Not so fast says the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Jeremy Rutherford.
It is not guaranteed that the Winter Classic announcement will happen tomorrow. That has been the expectation but it has not been finalized.
— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) March 8, 2016
Take that tweet for what you will, but if you read between the lines it seems that the situation has become a when not an if. The team’s President of Business Operations, Chris Zimmerman said a month or so ago that the team had expected to be awarded a Stadium Series game but was then told they would be in the mix for a Winter Classic.
So, slice it any way you want, but it’s looking like all but a certainty that the Blues will be playing outdoors next winter and it will likely be in the league’s showcase game. That brings up the important point – SHOW UP AT THE GAME.
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There is no doubt that this game will be incredibly expensive. Nobody is asking people who can’t afford to go to a regular Blues game to go to this game. However, the Blues have had long standing support in the area, a fervent fan-base that is proud of their team’s history and enough of a population to make a hell of a showing on national television while the entire country is watching.
The fear, which is unfortunately well founded, is this game will be entirely attended by fans clad in red. Over the years, with the advent of online ticketing options and resale sites as well as many Chicagoans moving to the area, the Scottrade Center has become almost a home arena when the Blackhawks are in town.
Many overstate the fact, but while it may never be a 50-50 split, there is just far too many Chicago fans in the arena and there are a lot of Blues fans to blame. Many different people have admitted that they can pay for much, if not all, of their season tickets by selling their tickets to Chicago games to Blackhawks fans.
Even arena ushers have told stories that it is cheaper for Chicago fans to travel to St. Louis, stay a day or two with food costs etc. and attend the game than it is to go to a game at the United Center.
The ease with which Chicago fans seem to invade St. Louis breeds the fear that a Winter Classic in St. Louis would end up being another home game for the Blackhawks. Nothing would be a bigger stain on the city, from a sporting perspective, than Blues fans trying to make a buck by selling off their allocated tickets or allowing Chicago fans to snatch them all up.
Sure, there’s going to be Chicago fans there. There are always fans of both teams at these events. Given the proximity of the cities and the likelihood that visiting teams are given an allotment of tickets, it would be impossible to keep them all out. However, St. Louis cannot let Busch Stadium look like it does in the summer.
There could be arguments that go on for hours about the merits of those issues for regular season games. However, if/when the Blues are given an outdoor game there is no argument. Blues fans have to represent their city and themselves. They must make the normally red Busch Stadium bleed blue.
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There can be no allowance for wiggle room here. There can be no excuse. Show up at this game. Show the country that St. Louis is an NHL town. From the outside view, the city has a black eye after the NFL relocation debacle. What better way to show how wrong all that stuff was than to paint the town blue for a spectacle the entire country will see.