2013 Winter Classic Officially Cancelled
Bad news for hockey fans, the NHL has officially cancelled the 2013 Winter Classic in wake of the lockout, according to NBC Sports.
The game, which generally has one of the highest viewer ratings for the season, was set to be played in “The Big House” (University of Michigan’s football stadium) between the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs on January 1, 2013.
The news has come before any official announcement from the NHL, but has been confirmed by many sources including the Associated Press and ESPN.
According to University of Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon, the event had already sold 80,000-90,000 tickets in the stadium that holds over 110,00 people.
And to add insult to injury for the NHL faithful, there is no resurrection plan for the Classic this season, that is, they have no plans on making it happen even if the lockout ends.
“I can certainly confirm that if the game is canceled, there is no ‘resurrection’ scenario for this year,” NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said in an email to the New York Times
As if that wasn’t enough for the people of Michigan, Detroit’s Hockeytown Winter Festival, an event that was supposed to take place over the course of two weeks and feature amateur games, open skates, musical acts, the Great Lakes Invitational, an OHL doubleheader, an AHL game and the Red Wings-Maple Leafs alumni contests has also seen a falling-out due to the cancellation of the Winter Classic.
The only thing positive that could come out of this story is Daly did mention despite all the cancellations, the CBA will resume talks in the “relatively near future.”
