With the NHL setting an attendance record for a single game yesterday (71,217) at the outdoor Winter Classic between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Buffalo Sabres at Ralph Wilson Stadium, they have more to crow about today: national television ratings.

The game that was “classic” in more ways than one, pulled in an impressive 2.6 overnight rating and a 5 share on NBC. To place that in perspective, it was the highest television rating for the NHL since a six-game regional telecast on Fox drew a 3.0 overnight rating and a 7 share on Feb. 3, 1996. As reported by The AP:

"We're delighted by the success of this historic event," NBC Sports president Ken Schanzer said. "The Winter Classic exposed hockey to a larger audience and definitely made new fans of the game."

The Winter Classic ratings also surpassed Wayne Gretzky's final game, which was broadcast on Fox on April 18, 1999, and drew a 2.5/6.

The Buffalo and Pittsburgh markets led the ratings, at 38.2/58 and 17.7/30, respectively. But markets such as Sacramento, Calif., St. Louis and Denver also drew strong ratings, even though the game went up against a number of college football bowl games, including an intriguing Capital One Bowl between Florida and Michigan.

A single national ratings point represents one percent of the total number, or 1,128,000 households for the 2006-07 season. Share is the percentage of television sets in use tuned to the program.

Maury Brown is the founder and president of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football ,The Biz of Basketball, and The Biz of Hockey. He is a contributor to Baseball Prospectus, Basketball Prospectus and is an available writer for other media outlets.

Brown's full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network.

It was a game for the record books: the first regular-season NHL game ever played outdoors. It was an attendance record for an NHL game at 71,217 (381.0% of capacity at Ralph Wilson Stadium). And, it was the first outdoor NHL game ever played in the US. Add in that it will most certainly be the most highly watched NHL game on television in recent memory when the Nielsen ratings are released, and all in all it was a rousing success for the NHL.

But, that wasn’t all that made for a memorable script.

It was a game that saw a steady stream of snow, fans in the lower bowl of Ralph Wilson Stadium standing for the duration of the game, and the game winning goal coming on a shootout by Sidney Crosby.

In a word, it was almost a nearly perfect game.

Were there issues with playing outdoors? Certainly. One of the Zambonis froze up, extending the time at the 10 min. mark of the 3^rd period when the ice was being resurfaced. There was an issue with one area of the rink having to be maintained throughout the game due to placing the rink on the football field surface. All of that played out as a minor annoyance rather than the focus to what will be one of the most memorable games in NHL history. As reported by The AP:

With the success of this event, it seems likely the NHL would seek to host more, perhaps even on an annual basis.

"When you see 70,000 people packed into a stadium to watch hockey, that's usually a good sign," Crosby said.

The record crowd that topped the one in Edmonton four years earlier, cheered and took pictures as the conclusion approached. The camera flashes dotted the entire stadium as each of the six shooters came in on goal through lake-effect snow.

That game in Edmonton, played at Commonwealth Stadium between the Canadiens and Oilers, was deemed the Heritage Classic and played on Nov. 22, 2003 saw a total attendance of 57,167. The game has been remembered more for the incredible coldness of the day than anything as temperatures reached as low as -28C. The highlight of that game may have been Jose Theodore’s use of a toque to stave off the cold. Sabres goalie Ryan Miller wore three different versions of a toque during today’s Winter Classic (Miller will sell the toques and donate the proceeds to charity).

Below is a break down of team stat comparison for the Winter Classic.

Team Stat Comparison
104	Goals	113
110	Goals Against	104
34	Power Play Goals	32
35	Power Play Goals Allowed	27
3	Shorthanded Goals	6
3	Shorthanded Goals Allowed	3
571	Penalty Minutes	477
15	Average Penalty Minutes	13

Source: ESPN

Maury Brown is the founder and president of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football ,The Biz of Basketball, and The Biz of Hockey. He is a contributor to Baseball Prospectus, Basketball Prospectus and is an available writer for other media outlets.

Brown's full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network.

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