Busch Stadium hosts the 2017 Alumni game 2 days prior to the Winter Classic. December 31, 2016
St. Louis had expressed interest in an outdoor game as early as 2011, with this matchup being their first.[3]
The Blackhawks played in their third Winter Classic, following appearances in 2009 and 2015; with the appearance, the Blackhawks will have appeared in the contest more times than any other team. It is also the fourth consecutive year (and fifth overall) in which the Blackhawks play an outdoor game, having also played the 2014 and 2016Stadium Series in addition to the 2015 and 2017 Winter Classics.
This matchup was of the storied Blackhawks–Blues rivalry, both members of the NHL's Central Division. The game was held in St. Louis to mark the 50th anniversary of the Great Expansion of 1967, in which the Blues, Pittsburgh Penguins, Philadelphia Flyers, Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota North Stars (which became the Dallas Stars in 1993) and California Golden Seals (who merged with the North Stars in 1978; the San Jose Sharks were then spun off from the North Stars in 1991) were formed, doubling the league's size.[2] The Flyers and Penguins were another candidate for the 2017 Winter Classic, but scheduling conflicts with the National Football League in both cities and winterization concerns regarding Beaver Stadium (a neutral site stadium discussed as another possibility for a Flyers–Penguins outdoor contest) led St. Louis to be chosen instead.[2] St. Louis has no NFL or major college team, and even when it did, the Rams (who left in January 2016 for Los Angeles) played in an indoor dome; Busch Stadium, a baseball venue, is the city's only sufficiently sized outdoor stadium. The Penguins and Flyers will instead play a Stadium Series game in Pittsburgh later in 2017.
The league considered having BMO Field and the Toronto Maple Leafs host the 2017 Winter Classic against the New York Rangers, but the 2016 Winter Classic, which featured the Montreal Canadiens, received the lowest U.S. ratings in the game's history. Jon Miller, president of NBC Sports programming, credited the poor ratings to multiple factors, including several bowl games involving teams from markets that are popularly associated with hockey, not being held at a sufficiently iconic venue, and most prominently, the presence of a Canadian team. Miller argued that having all-U.S. matchups in the Winter Classic helps to guarantee local viewership that counts towards NBC's ratings.[4][5]
The NHL ultimately announced on March 9, 2016 that there would be two outdoor games during the New Year's weekend. First, as January 1, 2017 fell on a Sunday, the NHL followed the precedent of the 2012 Winter Classic and college footballbowl games by scheduling the 2017 Winter Classic for Monday, January 2, instead of its customary New Year's Day scheduling.[6][7] The league then announced an outdoor game would be played on New Year's Day in Toronto, known as the Centennial Classic—a re-match of the 2014 Winter Classic between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Detroit Red Wings. It would be held at BMO Field to commemorate the centennial season of the Maple Leafs, and the beginning of the NHL's centennial year.[8]
The St. Louis Blues won 4–1 behind goalie Jake Allen's 22 saves, and with star Vladimir Tarasenko scoring two goals in the third period turning a 1–1 tie into a 3–1 lead. An empty-net goal provided the 4–1 final score. Michal Kempný had the Chicago Blackhawks' only goal.[9]
In the United States, the game was broadcast by NBC. In Canada, the game was broadcast in English on Sportsnet, and in French by TVA Sports. Sportsnet simulcast NBC's feed while TVA used NBC's video.
Epix would produce a documentary series, Road to the NHL Outdoor Classics, focusing on preparations for both the Winter Classic and NHL Centennial Classic.[10] Unlike previous years, where NBC was able to share resources with other rightsholders at the Winter Classic, NBC was the only rightsholder with a production presence at the game. St. Louis native and NBC Sports anchor Bob Costas contributed to pre-game coverage.[11]
An average of 2.557 million viewers watched the U.S. broadcast, making it the tenth highest-rated regular season broadcast on NBC, but the lowest-rated Winter Classic overall, continuing a years-long decline in viewership for the event.[12]
Alumni Game
The alumni game was played on Saturday, December 31, 2016, with the Blues defeating the Blackhawks 8-7.[13]
Blues organist, Jeremy Boyer, entertained and pumped up fans throughout the game on the Busch Stadium organ. Boyer also plays organ for the St. Louis Cardinals and has played organ for both the Blues and Cardinals at Busch Stadium.
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