Catching up on Old News...

First things first: the 2nd Winter Classic.

40,818 Blackhawk, Red Wing, and hockey fans packed the friendly confines at Wrigley New Years Day for the Noon start. It was a great spectacle indeed.

The game counted as a sellout home game (20,500) for the Hawks, their 18th of the season. I doubt that the figure included the packed rooftops around Wrigley, but I doubt it did. All in all, what else can I say about the event that already hasn't been said? It was a success in so many ways, and I look for it to come back annually for at least the next 3 years.

Puck the Media reported the top 10 markets for the television ratings of the classic. The game earned a 2.9 overnight, the highest regular-season rating in 13 years.

Top 10 Metered Markets:
1. Chicago 11.8/21
2. Detroit 10.5/20
3. Buffalo 10.1/20
4. St. Louis 5.3/10
5. Pittsburgh 4.4/8
6. Denver 4.2/10
7. Providence 3.5/7
8. Indianapolis 3.4/6
9. West Palm Beach 3.3/6
10. Orlando 3.2/5

St. Louis is really turning into a hockey town these days... With the Blues selling out 16 of their so far 21 home games, they are enjoying great success everywhere but on the ice; where the team is in last place in the west. They are a young team, and the fans dedication will pay off in the coming years. You also gotta love the last 4. No doubt all the transplanted hockey fans in Florida were tuned in, but Providence and Indianapolis?

Providence is home to the Providence Bruins, Boston's AHL counterpart. They enjoy relatively good success for the AHL, ranking 10th in Attendance and averaging 5,206 a night at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence (11,000 Capacity). As for Indianapolis, I'm not sure what the big draw to outdoors hockey exactly was.

Other than that, a great review of the classic was done by Greg Wyshynski over at Puck Daddy.

Moving on...

Puck the Media had another great piece on Friday, lending some suggestions to the NHL Network on how to step it up (this a day after the MLB Network launched, which has been given great reviews, I guess). The suggestions?

1. New Studio. Now, if not Sooner.
2. A Little More Conversation on “On the Fly”
3. More Inside Info

That's all I have for now, check back tomorrow.