Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 25, 2015, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE B4 B4 winnipegfreepress. com WINNIPEG FREE PRESS SUNDAY, JANUARY 25, 2015 C OLUMBUS - Two years after the massive success at Michigan Stadium, the Montreal Canadiens will become the second Canadian NHL team to take part in a Winter Classic. The Canadiens will visit the Boston Bruins at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., on New Year's Day 2016, taking hockey's oldest rivalry outside. " It was special in 2010 just to be there with the history behind Fenway Park and all that," Bruins centre Patrice Bergeron said. " But playing Montreal outside at Foxborough, we'll see if it beats it, but it's definitely going to be something great." The Toronto Maple Leafs were the first Canadian team to crack the Winter Classic. The success of the 2014 game at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor between the Leafs and Detroit Red Wings, especially in U. S. TV ratings, helped set the stage for the Habs' involvement. This is the Bruins' second Winter Classic after hosting the Philadelphia Flyers at Fenway in 2010. Boston is the first market to host multiple Winter Classic events, though Chicago has had one of those and a Stadium Series game. " We know it's a great sports town, it's a great hockey town," commissioner Gary Bettman said. " The Bruins have a wonderful organization. And the opportunity to go back with this rivalry and play in a large stadium like Gillette, we think it's going to be a spectacular day." Gillette Stadium, home of the NFL's New England Patriots, seats 68,756. A sellout wouldn't rival the Big House at Michigan, but it would be a step up from baseball stadiums that have hosted the game previously. Saturday, Bettman also announced two Stadium Series games for next season: the Minnesota Wild hosting the Chicago Blackhawks at TCF Bank Field in Minneapolis on Feb. 21 and the Colorado Avalanche hosting the Red Wings at Coors Field in Denver on Feb. 27. Wild general manager Chuck Fletcher is looking forward to showcasing the " State of Hockey" at the University of Minnesota's football stadium. " Our owner, Craig Leopold, has been adamantly pursuing this game and ( is) very passionate about it," Fletcher said. " I think down the road we'd even like to get a Winter Classic, as our team continues to improve and we make strides. To land a Stadium Series game is a great accomplishment and it's going to be a lot of fun." The Blackhawks will be appearing in their league- high fourth outdoor game. They were most recently visitors against the Washington Capitals in the 2015 Winter Classic. " I don't think it gets old at all," Chicago winger Patrick Kane said. " We kind of view ourselves and pride ourselves on being one of the faces of the league, as far as team- wise." The Winnipeg Jets were supposed to host the Heritage Classic, but the NHL and CFL's Blue Bombers were unable to agree on a date to have the game at Investors Group Field. The league preferred December, but the Blue Bombers wanted it to be later in winter so as not to conflict with the Grey Cup. " It was the window we had been talking about both with the ( Jets) and with the Bombers for a long time, like two years," deputy commissioner Bill Daly said Friday. " It was kind of a lastminute pivot by them with respect to no, we don't want to have it so close to the Grey Cup." Bettman said he was hopeful the league could schedule something for the 2016- 17 season. Toronto will reportedly host the 2017 Winter Classic and maybe even the allstar game, too, to celebrate the Leafs' 100- year anniversary. Bettman said the league wanted to honour that milestone and the NHL's 100th anniversary appropriately and was in discussions with the Leafs about future plans. Bettman also said the Senators have expressed interest in hosting an outdoor game in Ottawa. TD Place, home of the Redblacks, has a capacity of just 24,000, which is the same issue with Montreal's Percival Molson Memorial Stadium. " The problem is the stadium situation," Bettman said of Montreal. " Unless that changes dramatically or we figure out a way to pop up a stadium that would work, there's an indoor stadium and I think the football stadium only seats about 20,000 people, so it's not the same experience." The 2016 Winter Classic will be the Canadiens' third outdoor game after visiting the Edmonton Oilers in the 2003 Heritage Classic and the Calgary Flames in the 2011 Heritage Classic. Chips During his state of the league address, Bettman also announced that Sportvision would be tracking player and puck movement at Saturday night's skills competition and this afternoon's all- star game. There will be chips in jerseys and pucks to track speed and other things. The NHL and NHLPA have discussed the possibility of doing that in the future but have not come to an agreement. This is an experiment, though Bettman said they were in the " embryonic" stage of discussions. On the value of the Canadian dollar and its impact on next year's salary cap, Bettman said it won't cause too much of a decline from the early projection of US$ 73 million. An 80- cent dollar would see the cap drop to $ 71.7 million. " I assure you, even with the decline in the Canadian dollar, the salary cap does not fall off a cliff," Bettman said. " No one can project where it's going but the point I'm making is, you are not going to see a dramatic difference." The board of governors met Saturday morning in downtown Columbus, and the group was briefed on expansion, among other things. Bettman had little update on the impending season- ticket drive in Las Vegas but confirmed he met with the mayor of Seattle. Las Vegas is considered the frontrunner for NHL expansion, with arena issues holding Seattle back. Quebec City has an arena under construction, but unbalanced conferences mean the league is looking to expand West before East, Daly said. - The Canadian Press Habs, Bruins in Classic GENE J. PUSKAR / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Player's Association executive director Donald Fehr ( Ieft) and commissioner Gary Bettman listen to the thoughts of Chicago's Patrick Kane Saturday. COLUMBUS - The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are weary of wearing the goat horns for the postponement of the Heritage Classic planned at Investors Group Field next winter. Bomber president and CEO Wade Miller took exception with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman's suggestion Saturday at the NHL All- Star Weekend's festivities the game has been delayed because the football club wouldn't make the stadium available in December. Bettman, in announcing a slate of three outdoor games in Boston ( Canadiens vs. Bruins) on New Year's Day, in Minnesota ( Wild vs. Chicago) on Feb. 21 and Denver ( Avalanche vs. Detroit on Feb. 27), did say the league hoped to play a fourth game in Winnipeg but the three parties - including, obviously, the Jets - couldn't agree on a date. Since the postponement became official last week the Bombers have been taking flak for not making the stadium available in December - a date too close to the 2015 Grey Cup game to be held at IGF Nov. 29. " It's unfortunate the commissioner of the NHL may not have all the facts with regards to the Heritage Classic in Winnipeg," said Miller. " All three parties had agreed on the date in February. Within the last two weeks, we were told that didn't work for the NHL. " There was a date in January that didn't work for True North and a date in December that didn't work for the Bombers. We look forward to hosting the game next year or the year after." Bettman did promise as much in his address Saturday. " We had hoped to have a fourth outdoor game in 2015- 16 season, a Heritage Classic in Winnipeg," he said. " We were unable to agree with the Blue Bombers on a date that would make each comfortable. Hopefully we can schedule something for the following season. There are no firm plans to announce other than it's something we'd like to do because we very much wanted an outdoor game next season in Winnipeg." Jets governor Mark Chipman, meanwhile, said Saturday he was disappointed, but they completely understand the Bombers' position on not wanting a Heritage Classic game in December and so close to the Grey Cup. The good news for the Bombers, Jets and the NHL is this: The initially proposed game for Winnipeg in February 2016 may still happen in the same calendar year, with a possible Heritage Classic in December of next year. ed. tait@ freepress. mb. ca Twitter: @ WFPEdTait AROUND The NHL NEWARK, N. J. - A former Prudential Center executive has sued New Jersey Devils president and general manager Lou Lamoriello, claiming he jeopardized his livelihood by falsely accusing him of running the arena poorly. Richard Krezwick, the former president of Devils Arena Entertainment, seeks $ 2.3 million in the lawsuit filed this week in federal court in New Jersey. The bulk of the amount is the wages Krezwick claims he lost when he was fired in August 2013, when the team and the Prudential Center were sold. The suit alleges that Lamoriello resented Krezwick's hiring in 2009 because it scaled back the scope of Lamoriello's authority to hockeyrelated matters. It also alleges Lamoriello laughed as Krezwick's replacement was introduced and when other team executives were fired a few weeks later. Krezwick also claims he was offered a four- year contract to become chief executive of MetLife Stadium - the home of the NFL's New York Jets and Giants - at a base salary of $ 700,000. But he said he turned down the offer when then- Devils owner Jeff Vanderbeek promised him a future multiyear contract. The Devils declined comment. Lightning star injured COLUMBUS, Ohio - Tampa Bay Lightning forward Tyler Johnson was ruled out from playing in the NHL All- Star skills competition on Saturday night because of a lower body injury. The Lightning also announced it's unclear whether the secondyear player will be able to compete in the All- Star game today. The team did not reveal the severity of the injury or how Johnson was hurt. Johnson is eighth in the NHL and leads Tampa Bay with 48 points ( 17 goals and 31 assists) in 46 games this season. Full circle for Kane COLUMBUS, Ohio - Patrick Kane came full circle when he arrived in Columbus for the NHL All- Star Game. The Blackhawks winger was the top pick in the 2007 draft in Columbus and has fond memories of that first step in his NHL career. " This is kind of where it all started for me," Kane said Friday at All- Star Game media day at Nationwide Arena. " It was an intense day. I was so nervous for the draft and what was going to transpire. At that time you're not really thinking about what team you're going to or where you're going to be selected or what the city was going to be like." - from the news services Bombers' Miller says NHL changed plans By Ed Tait Hockey's oldest rivals will battle New Year's Day in Foxborough By Stephen Whyno Patrice Bergeron Lou Lamoriello Former arena boss to sue Devils' Lamoriello Tyler Johnson Patrick Kane B_ 04_ Jan- 25- 15_ FP_ 01. indd B4 1/ 24/ 15 9: 27: 46 PM ;