As the Jan. 1 outdoor game continues to grow as the centerpiece of both the NHL season and its television rights package, there is this truth Sixth Avenue must confront: The Winter Classic has become too big to fail.
And as U.S. taxpayers have come to understand, it is not necessarily always a positive development when an entity reaches those proportions.
The hype reached new heights of hyperbole this year with the NHL’s signature matchup between the Caps and villainous Alexander Ovechkin and the Penguins and heroic Sidney Crosby, or at least that sure was the storyline that was fed the machine that somehow has become lost in the time of the cold war.
There would have been no HBO “24/7” if not for this matchup and if not for this game at the ketchup football stadium in Pittsburgh that was pushed back to last night because of inclement weather. From the moment the Bruins and Flyers finished their business at Fenway on New Year’s Day 2010, Penguins-Caps was an automatic.
But now what and now where and now who for the NHL, and this concept that has captivated an audience that would probably have a difficult time distinguishing the Stanley Cup from the Davis Cup?
And how many of these decisions will the league have to cede to the U.S. television network that gets its rights in the postseason negotiations?
All those devoted hockey fans out there who have been clamoring for the NHL to strengthen its television presence should understand this without confusion — the greater the rights fees, the greater control a network assumes over a league.
The partnership between a television network and a pro sports league is very much like the one the NHL claims to have with the NHLPA, except that the league would be the position of the union, which means limited partnership.
There are no more iconic ballparks for the NHL to winterize. Every marquee U.S. team except the Rangers already has been in the event, the Penguins now twice. If this event is about promoting attention and generating ratings, it is about big-time teams, big-name players, and big markets.
It is not about an egalitarian approach to satisfy the small markets and the southern tier. That’s what the salary cap is for.
The Lakers play on Christmas every year, and no one (other than Phil Jackson) seems to have much trouble with that, so it’s reasonable to believe the league and its network — there is an assumption that NBC will retain the rights — will ride the Penguins as often as possible. Maybe next year, Pittsburgh will play in the event for the third time in five years and face Detroit in its second appearance.
There can’t be a game at Yankee Stadium because of the Pinstripe Bowl, and there won’t be a game at Citi Field. Let’s face it, it’s just not a sexy enough venue. Beyond that, even with the bitter fallout of the Ilya Kovalchuk affair, it is difficult to imagine the NHL having the Rangers as the home team at the Meadowlands while the Devils twiddle their thumbs.
If the event is about gate receipts, it won’t be coming to New York for some time. But if it’s as much about finding the perfect backdrop for television, if it is about the setting as much as it is about marquee teams, then Central Park would be the perfect venue.
Look, we’d be fine with the Rangers and Devils or even the Rangers and Islanders, but please, television won’t allow a single-market game. So if the game can be played in New York, if the focus changes from gate revenue to romance, if Central Park is the place and the skyline is the dramatic backdrop for television, then it’s the Rangers and the Flyers or the Rangers and Penguins.
If they can build a rink on Sheep’s Meadow with temporary stands seating up to 20,000 — people will come. If they play the Winter Classic in New York, people will notice.
Regardless, the choices become more difficult for the league now. After so much gain, there is now much to lose. The Winter Classic has become synonymous with the NHL. It has become the league’s signature event, with more widespread appeal than the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The Winter Classic has become too big to fail.
* There is no doubt Crosby is the league’s pre-eminent player at the moment, none whatsoever. But the glee with which No. 87’s acceleration past Ovechkin has been chronicled and framed somehow as Truth, Justice and the North American Way prevailing, well, it’s been more than slightly off-putting.
Correct me if I’m wrong (please don’t), but when a baseball player hits safely in 27 consecutive games, we don’t try and pretend he’s on the verge of smashing Joe DiMaggio’s 56 in a row, do we?
Contrary to recent reports, the Rangers will make every effort to sign Michigan left wing Carl Hagelin after the senior completes his collegiate career. Indeed, we’re told the Blueshirts attempted to sign Hagelin, their sixth-round selection in 2007, last summer but the 22-year-old decided to return to school.
So the Islanders gave up a conditional third-rounder over the summer to get James Wisniewski from Anaheim and just got a second-rounder and a conditional fifth-rounder for him from Montreal.
This means GM Garth Snow found the only person in the world in Montreal GM Pierre Gauthier, who believes the defenseman increased his value through a desultory half-season on the Island.
larry.brooks@nypost.com