167-625: The NHL Winter Classic ( French : La Classique hivernale de la LNH ) is an annual outdoor ice hockey game played during the National Hockey League 's (NHL) regular season on or around New Year's Day . It is generally held in a football or baseball stadium in the United States in an area with a resident NHL team, though for most of the game's existence, they are usually played in a baseball stadium to avoid scheduling and logistical conflicts with football stadiums during
334-806: A Stanley Cup Playoff game. The network provided coverage of four Sunday afternoon playoff games during the 1965–66 postseason. On April 10 and April 17, NBC aired semifinal games between the Chicago Black Hawks and the Detroit Red Wings . On April 24 and May 1, NBC aired Games 1 and 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals between the Montreal Canadiens and the Detroit Red Wings. Win Elliot served as
501-413: A 3.3 rating, a 21% drop from ABC 's 4.2 for game seven in 2004 . However, some NBC affiliates didn't air game seven live. Overall, NBC had an average rating of 2.3 for its five telecasts of the final, down 12% from ABC's 2004 average. For the 2006–07 season , NBC broadcast three regional NHL games per weekend of coverage during the regular season. The network also scheduled ten coverage windows during
668-744: A French official to teachers in the department of Finistère , in western Brittany, included the following: "And remember, Gents: you were given your position in order to kill the Breton language". The prefect of Basses-Pyrénées in the French Basque Country wrote in 1846: "Our schools in the Basque Country are particularly meant to replace the Basque language with French..." Students were taught that their ancestral languages were inferior and they should be ashamed of them; this process
835-607: A Tuesday night. Had the Finals gone to a seventh game, NBC would have pre-empted its prime-time lineup on a Thursday night to carry that deciding contest. But by that time, the network had informed the NHL that unless ratings for the Finals spiked, it would drop the sport, which it did at the end of the season. In 1976 , the NHL put together a syndication package that was carried in Chicago on WFLD . Speaking of Chicago, WTTW carried
1002-431: A comprehensive academic study entitled "The World's 10 most influential languages". In the article, Weber ranked French as, after English, the second-most influential language of the world, ahead of Spanish. His criteria were the numbers of native speakers, the number of secondary speakers (especially high for French among fellow world languages), the number of countries using the language and their respective populations,
1169-555: A foreign language. Due to the rise of French in Africa, the total French-speaking population worldwide is expected to reach 700 million people in 2050. French is the fastest growing language on the continent (in terms of either official or foreign languages). French is increasingly being spoken as a native language in Francophone Africa, especially in regions like Ivory Coast , Cameroon , Gabon, Madagascar , and
1336-444: A network option for a third year). Versus was expected to use NHL coverage to show it was a legitimate suitor for Major League Baseball and National Football League packages that were to be negotiated later in 2005, but they did not land agreements with either league. In 2007, the NHL signed an agreement to extend the NHL on Versus to the 2010–2011 season. Versus paid $ 72.5 million for 2007–2008 and will pay inflationary increases over
1503-705: A period of prosperity and prominence among European nations. Richelieu established the Académie française to protect the French language. By the early 1800s, Parisian French had become the primary language of the aristocracy in France. Near the beginning of the 19th century, the French government began to pursue policies with the end goal of eradicating the many minorities and regional languages ( patois ) spoken in France. This began in 1794 with Henri Grégoire 's "Report on
1670-696: A ratings success for the league in the United States and is regularly the league's most watched regular season contest (in the US), rivaling the ratings for the Stanley Cup . The 2014 Winter Classic between the Detroit Red Wings and the Toronto Maple Leafs had a television viewership in the U.S. and Canada of 8.2 million television viewers, a North American record for a regular season game; in addition to setting an NHL-record paid attendance of 105,491. Sportsnet's Chris Johnston said, "The feeling when
1837-494: A relic of the old nominal case system of Latin longer than most other Romance languages (with the notable exception of Romanian which still currently maintains a case distinction), differentiating between an oblique case and a nominative case. The phonology was characterized by heavy syllabic stress, which led to the emergence of various complicated diphthongs such as -eau which would later be leveled to monophthongs. The earliest evidence of what became Old French can be seen in
SECTION 10
#17327730985722004-587: A second language. French is the second most taught foreign language in the EU. All institutions of the EU use French as a working language along with English and German ; in some institutions, French is the sole working language (e.g. at the Court of Justice of the European Union ). French is also the 16th most natively spoken language in the world, the sixth most spoken language by total number of speakers , and
2171-526: A second language. However it has also become a native language in a number of urban areas, especially in regions like Ivory Coast , Cameroon , Gabon, Madagascar , and the Democratic Republic of the Congo . In some North African countries, though not having official status, it is also a first language among some upper classes of the population alongside indigenous languages, but only
2338-941: A second one among the general population. In 2015, approximately 40% of the Francophone population (including L2 and partial speakers) lived in Europe, 36% in sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian Ocean, 15% in North Africa and the Middle East, 8% in the Americas, and 1% in Asia and Oceania. French is the second most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union . Of Europeans who speak other languages natively, approximately one-fifth are able to speak French as
2505-662: A television deal which did not require it to pay any rights fees was in 1994–1995, when the division was involved in the Major League Baseball joint venture called " The Baseball Network ." To a lesser extent, NBC also had a similar sort of revenue-sharing agreement with the Arena Football League and, because of their ownership in the XFL , also paid no rights fees for airing that league. NBC's out-of-market games were available on NHL Center Ice through
2672-628: A traditionally crowded sports and entertainment market. Versus was the fifth-most watched cable network in the Los Angeles market for game one, good only for a 1.7 local rating. Local numbers did improve as the series moved to NBC. The Cup-clinching game five drew a 6.0 and a 12 share for an average audience of 496,000 viewers in the Los Angeles market, twice larger than a high-profile regular season game between baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres on KCAL 9 (3.0/5, 218,000 viewers). This symbolic, if short-lived, victory against one of
2839-547: A variant of Canadian French , is spoken in parts of New England . Missouri French was historically spoken in Missouri and Illinois (formerly known as Upper Louisiana ), but is nearly extinct today. French also survived in isolated pockets along the Gulf Coast of what was previously French Lower Louisiana , such as Mon Louis Island , Alabama and DeLisle, Mississippi (the latter only being discovered by linguists in
3006-437: Is 95%, and in the French collectivity of Wallis and Futuna , it is 84%. In French Polynesia and to a lesser extent Wallis and Futuna, where oral and written knowledge of the French language has become almost universal (95% and 84% respectively), French increasingly tends to displace the native Polynesian languages as the language most spoken at home. In French Polynesia, the percentage of the population who reported that French
3173-779: Is a Romance language of the Indo-European family . Like all other Romance languages, it descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire . French evolved from Gallo-Romance , the Latin spoken in Gaul , and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues d'oïl —languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, which French ( Francien ) largely supplanted. French
3340-472: Is a widespread second language among the Lebanese people , and is taught in many schools along with Arabic and English. French is used on Lebanese pound banknotes, on road signs, on Lebanese license plates , and on official buildings (alongside Arabic). Today, French and English are secondary languages of Lebanon , with about 40% of the population being Francophone and 40% Anglophone. The use of English
3507-489: Is also a working language in nonprofit organisations such as the Red Cross (alongside English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic and Russian), Amnesty International (alongside 32 other languages of which English is the most used, followed by Spanish, Portuguese, German, and Italian), Médecins sans Frontières (used alongside English, Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic), and Médecins du Monde (used alongside English). Given
SECTION 20
#17327730985723674-430: Is among the top five most studied languages worldwide, with about 120 million learners as of 2017. As a result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 16th century onward, French was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa, and Asia. French has a long history as an international language of literature and scientific standards and is a primary or second language of many international organisations including
3841-462: Is an official language in 27 countries , as well as one of the most geographically widespread languages in the world, with about 50 countries and territories having it as a de jure or de facto official, administrative, or cultural language. Most of these countries are members of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), the community of 54 member states which share
4008-524: Is broadcast in full on the NHL Center Ice package (although some writers even speculated that NBC's playoff broadcasts were superior to CBC's, largely because of their choice of announcers and the fact that NBC provided HD coverage of games prior to the Finals). Games one and two of the Stanley Cup Finals were on OLN, while the remainder of the series was on NBC. NBC's broadcast of game seven drew
4175-652: Is enacted only in New Brunswick, where about one third of the population is Francophone. French is also an official language of all of the territories ( Northwest Territories , Nunavut , and Yukon ). Out of the three, Yukon has the most French speakers, making up just under 4% of the population. Furthermore, while French is not an official language in Ontario , the French Language Services Act ensures that provincial services are available in
4342-503: Is growing in the business and media environment. Out of about 900,000 students, about 500,000 are enrolled in Francophone schools, public or private, in which the teaching of mathematics and scientific subjects is provided in French. Actual usage of French varies depending on the region and social status. One-third of high school students educated in French go on to pursue higher education in English-speaking institutions. English
4509-404: Is known as Old French. The period of Old French spanned between the 8th and 14th centuries. Old French shared many characteristics with Latin. For example, Old French made use of different possible word orders just as Latin did because it had a case system that retained the difference between nominative subjects and oblique non-subjects . The period is marked by a heavy superstrate influence from
4676-469: Is often considered to be a useful skill by business owners in the United Kingdom; a 2014 study found that 50% of British managers considered French to be a valuable asset for their business, thus ranking French as the most sought-after foreign language there, ahead of German (49%) and Spanish (44%). MIT economist Albert Saiz calculated a 2.3% premium for those who have French as a foreign language in
4843-828: Is one of the official languages of such major international and regional courts, tribunals, and dispute-settlement bodies as the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights , the Caribbean Court of Justice , the Court of Justice for the Economic Community of West African States , the Inter-American Court of Human Rights , the International Court of Justice , the International Criminal Tribunal for
5010-763: Is served by television stations in South Bend. The NHL announced on January 26, 2019, that the Dallas Stars would host the Nashville Predators in the 2020 Winter Classic at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas , Texas . It would be the first Winter Classic to take place at a warm-climate city and the first outdoor game for both the Predators and Stars. The Stars won the game 4–2 in front of 85,630 fans,
5177-576: Is taught in universities around the world, and is one of the world's most influential languages because of its wide use in the worlds of journalism, jurisprudence , education, and diplomacy. In diplomacy, French is one of the six official languages of the United Nations (and one of the UN Secretariat 's only two working languages ), one of twenty official and three procedural languages of the European Union , an official language of NATO ,
NHL Winter Classic - Misplaced Pages Continue
5344-553: Is the language of business and communication, with French being an element of social distinction, chosen for its emotional value. French is an official language of the Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu , where 31% of the population was estimated to speak it in 2023. In the French special collectivity of New Caledonia , 97% of the population can speak, read and write French while in French Polynesia this figure
5511-483: Is the native language of about 23% of the Swiss population, and is spoken by 50% of the population. Along with Luxembourgish and German, French is one of the three official languages of Luxembourg , where it is generally the preferred language of business as well as of the different public administrations. It is also the official language of Monaco . At a regional level, French is acknowledged as an official language in
5678-492: Is the second-most spoken language (after English) in the states of Maine and New Hampshire . In Louisiana , it is tied with Spanish for second-most spoken if Louisiana French and all creoles such as Haitian are included. French is the third most spoken language (after English and Spanish) in the states of Connecticut , Rhode Island , and New Hampshire . Louisiana is home to many distinct French dialects, collectively known as Louisiana French . New England French , essentially
5845-424: Is the sole official language in the province of Quebec , where some 80% of the population speak it as a native language and 95% are capable of conducting a conversation in it. Quebec is also home to the city of Montreal , which is the world's fourth-largest French-speaking city, by number of first language speakers. New Brunswick and Manitoba are the only officially bilingual provinces, though full bilingualism
6012-533: The 1992–93 season but nothing materialized. More specifically, NHL officials had arranged a four-to eight-game, time-buy package on NBC, but that fell through when the NHL wanted assurance that all NBC affiliates would carry the games (by 2006, NBC had generally gotten all but a couple of affiliates in the Top-50 markets to carry the games). For instance, in 1990 , NBC's affiliates in Atlanta (NBC's coverage of
6179-605: The 1993–94 season before Fox took over the broadcast television league rights for the next five seasons). From 1990 through 1994 , NBC only televised the All Star Game . NBC reportedly wanted to test the appeal of hockey, having recently lost the Major League Baseball package to CBS . Shortly thereafter however, NBC would gain the broadcast television rights to the National Basketball Association (NBA) from CBS , thus there
6346-576: The 2012–13 NHL lockout ) and 2021 (due to the COVID-19 pandemic ). The 2014 game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Detroit Red Wings set a new NHL attendance record of 105,491. The Winter Classic has been contested only in the United States, while the Heritage Classic has been held exclusively in Canada. The Winter Classic featured only American teams for its first five games, until
6513-764: The Aosta Valley region of Italy where it is the first language of approximately 50% of the population, while French dialects remain spoken by minorities on the Channel Islands . It is also spoken in Andorra and is the main language after Catalan in El Pas de la Casa . The language is taught as the primary second language in the German state of Saarland , with French being taught from pre-school and over 43% of citizens being able to speak French. The majority of
6680-462: The Aosta Valley region of Italy; and various communities elsewhere. French is estimated to have about 310 million speakers, of which about 80 million are native speakers. According to the OIF, approximately 321 million people worldwide are "able to speak the language" as of 2022, without specifying the criteria for this estimation or whom it encompasses. In Francophone Africa, it is spoken mainly as
6847-539: The Democratic Republic of Congo . There is not a single African French , but multiple forms that diverged through contact with various indigenous African languages . Sub-Saharan Africa is the region where the French language is most likely to expand, because of the expansion of education and rapid population growth. It is also where the language has evolved the most in recent years. Some vernacular forms of French in Africa can be difficult to understand for French speakers from other countries, but written forms of
NHL Winter Classic - Misplaced Pages Continue
7014-485: The European Union , French was the dominant language within all institutions until the 1990s. After several enlargements of the EU (1995, 2004), French significantly lost ground in favour of English, which is more widely spoken and taught in most EU countries. French currently remains one of the three working languages, or "procedural languages", of the EU, along with English and German. It is the second-most widely used language within EU institutions after English, but remains
7181-559: The Francien dialect is one that not only continued but also thrived during the Middle French period (14th–17th centuries). Modern French grew out of this Francien dialect. Grammatically, during the period of Middle French, noun declensions were lost and there began to be standardized rules. Robert Estienne published the first Latin-French dictionary, which included information about phonetics, etymology, and grammar. Politically,
7348-877: The International Olympic Committee , the Council of Europe , the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development , Organization of American States (alongside Spanish, Portuguese and English), the Eurovision Song Contest , one of eighteen official languages of the European Space Agency , World Trade Organization and the least used of the three official languages in the North American Free Trade Agreement countries. It
7515-490: The NHL All-Star Game beginning in 1990 ) and only spotty coverage on local TV stations and regional sports networks in markets that had NHL clubs. This was because no network was willing to commit to a large number of games, in turn, providing low ratings for NHL games. ABC would eventually resume broadcasting regular NHL games (on a time-buy basis through ESPN ) for the 1992–93 season (and continuing through
7682-527: The NHL Draft (both a simulcast from Canadian television). Under the terms of the contract running from 2007 – 2011 , Versus aired 54 or more NHL games each season, generally on Monday and Tuesday nights, and provided coverage of as many Stanley Cup Playoff games as possible (generally two per night in the first two rounds; the Conference finals are usually played on alternating days), and two games of
7849-450: The National Football League regular season . The Winter Classic is distinct from the league's two other series of outdoor games, the NHL Heritage Classic and the NHL Stadium Series . The first Winter Classic was held in 2008 at Ralph Wilson Stadium (now Highmark Stadium) in Orchard Park, New York , between the Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins . Fifteen Winter Classics have been held as of January 2024. The most recent game
8016-420: The Oaths of Strasbourg and the Sequence of Saint Eulalia , while Old French literature began to be produced in the eleventh century, with major early works often focusing on the lives of saints (such as the Vie de Saint Alexis ), or wars and royal courts, notably including the Chanson de Roland , epic cycles focused on King Arthur and his court , as well as a cycle focused on William of Orange . It
8183-446: The Ottawa Senators and Buffalo Sabres , instead going directly to pre-race coverage of the Preakness Stakes horse race. A typical "Triple Crown" horse racing broadcast generally contains about two hours of pre-race coverage, with the actual races lasting two or three minutes. Coverage of the overtime period was shifted to Versus , the league's cable partner, although viewers in Buffalo and Rochester were able to continue watching
8350-453: The Road to the NHL Winter Classic brand, but the 2017 edition was retitled Road to the NHL Outdoor Classics with the inclusion of the NHL Centennial Classic as part of the buildup. Starting with the 2018 Winter Classic, the NHL opted to distribute the Road to the NHL Winter Classic series to its broadcast partners. In addition, each episode was made available on NHL.com and the league's social media pages. From 2010 to 2020, episodes of
8517-409: The Stanley Cup Finals (games three and four in 2009 , 2010 and 2011 ). In the 2006–07 season, Versus began to carry an exclusive national "game of the week"; the games were typically scheduled on Monday nights, though aired on Tuesday nights during the National Football League season in defense of Monday Night Football . No other broadcaster could carry an NHL game during the window, although
SECTION 50
#17327730985728684-520: The United Nations , the European Union, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization , the World Trade Organization , the International Olympic Committee , the General Conference on Weights and Measures , and the International Committee of the Red Cross . French is a Romance language (meaning that it is descended primarily from Vulgar Latin ) that evolved out of the Gallo-Romance dialects spoken in northern France. The language's early forms include Old French and Middle French . Due to Roman rule, Latin
8851-455: The 1990s) but these varieties are severely endangered or presumed extinct. French is one of two official languages in Haiti alongside Haitian Creole . It is the principal language of education, administration, business, and public signage and is spoken by all educated Haitians. It is also used for ceremonial events such as weddings, graduations, and church masses. The vast majority of the population speaks Haitian Creole as their first language;
9018-406: The 1992 All-Star Game aired on the independent station WTLK in that market), Charlotte , Memphis , New Orleans , Indianapolis and Phoenix did not clear the game ( Atlanta and Phoenix would eventually receive NHL teams, however the Atlanta franchise relocated to Winnipeg in 2011). Ultimately, roughly 15% of the nation did not have access to the game. As previously mentioned, ABC became
9185-406: The 1994 All-Star Game. In August 1989, The New York Times asked Marv Albert why had hockey lacked the popularity of other team sports in the United States. According to Albert, not many people have played hockey, and it was very difficult to capture as a televised sport. While Wayne Gretzky , playing for the Los Angeles Kings , had to help, there was according to Albert, also the impression that
9352-407: The 2006 WNBA All-Star Game on ESPN which drew 447,000 households. It was the 74th best rated program of that day. The move to NBC did little to compensate for the series' limited drawing power. A perennial last among the Big Four American television networks, NBC was at the time going through an intense period of ratings turmoil, setting lowest rated week records in several viewing categories over
9519-572: The 2006–07 season; NBC switched to stand-alone games for the 2007–08 season. NBC's initial contract with the NHL ran for two years, with an option given to the network to renew for two additional years. NBC's NHL coverage was delayed a year because of the 2004–05 NHL lockout , which wound up cancelling the entire regular season and playoffs. NBC instead, decided to replace five of its scheduled NHL broadcasts with alternate sports programming (such as reruns of NASCAR Year in Review and The Purina Incredible Dog Challenge ). NBC also decided to give one of
9686-498: The 2008 NHL Winter Classic led the NHL to schedule a second one for 2009 , held at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois , on January 1, 2009, matching the Detroit Red Wings against the Chicago Blackhawks . That game had the highest American television ratings of any hockey game in 33 years. Weather has proven to affect the game, with the 2011 and 2012 classics being delayed due to rain and other weather. Outdoor effects of wind and sun glare may give an unfair advantage to one team, so
9853-560: The 2016 Winter Classic featuring the Canadiens). The Winter Classic games ranked among the most watched regular season NHL games on NBC when the network held the national U.S. broadcast rights from 2005 to 2021. Early entries in the Winter Classic ranked among the highest ratings for professional hockey in the U.S. since the 1970s, prior to that, the highest rating for an NHL game since then had been Wayne Gretzky 's final game, which aired on Fox in 1999. Winter Classic viewership peaked in 2011 (due to it being rescheduled to primetime) and, with
10020-474: The 20th century, when it was replaced by English as the United States became the dominant global power following the Second World War . Stanley Meisler of the Los Angeles Times said that the fact that the Treaty of Versailles was written in English as well as French was the "first diplomatic blow" against the language. During the Grand Siècle (17th century), France, under the rule of powerful leaders such as Cardinal Richelieu and Louis XIV , enjoyed
10187-415: The Buffalo Sabres would take part in the 2018 game against the New York Rangers at Citi Field . Due to a 1982 agreement with New York City and state tax laws that give their home arena Madison Square Garden tax-exempt status, the Rangers must not "cease playing" home games at MSG (which is generally interpreted as meaning playing a home game at any other venue), and thus Rangers hosted the game but played as
SECTION 60
#173277309857210354-510: The Canadian capital, is also effectively bilingual, as it has a large population of federal government workers, who are required to offer services in both French and English, and is just across the river from the Quebecois city of Gatineau . According to the United States Census Bureau (2011), French is the fourth most spoken language in the United States after English, Spanish, and Chinese, when all forms of French are considered together and all dialects of Chinese are similarly combined. French
10521-614: The Caribbean that are collectively referred to as the French West Indies , namely Guadeloupe , Saint Barthélemy , Saint Martin , and Martinique . French is the official language of both French Guiana on the South American continent, and of Saint Pierre and Miquelon , an archipelago off the coast of Newfoundland in North America. French was the official language of the colony of French Indochina , comprising modern-day Vietnam , Laos , and Cambodia . It continues to be an administrative language in Laos and Cambodia, although its influence has waned in recent decades. In colonial Vietnam,
10688-408: The Empire, this local elite had been slowly abandoning Gaulish entirely, but the rural and lower class populations remained Gaulish speakers who could sometimes also speak Latin or Greek. The final language shift from Gaulish to Vulgar Latin among rural and lower class populations occurred later, when both they and the incoming Frankish ruler/military class adopted the Gallo-Roman Vulgar Latin speech of
10855-416: The Germanic Frankish language , which non-exhaustively included the use in upper-class speech and higher registers of V2 word order , a large percentage of the vocabulary (now at around 15% of modern French vocabulary ) including the impersonal singular pronoun on (a calque of Germanic man ), and the name of the language itself. Up until its later stages, Old French , alongside Old Occitan , maintained
11022-411: The Greenburg era. Unlike previous seasons, the season finale did not include highlights of the Winter Classic itself. Each episode was made available on the Bleacher Report YouTube page. The Road to the Winter Classic series did not return for the 2023 edition, but in 2024, the NHL resumed producing four half-hour episodes of the series, albeit without the highlights from the game itself. The series
11189-409: The Maple Leafs in the 2014 Winter Classic and the Canadiens in the 2016 edition. Nevertheless, the Winter Classic continues to air on Canadian television, but since 2016 the games are moved to Sportsnet . In addition, Sportsnet elected to simulcast the American broadcast feed of the Winter Classic as opposed to sending their own broadcast crews, except when a Canadian team is involved (as was the case in
11356-464: The Maple Leafs' appearance in 2014. Along with the NHL All-Star Game , the Winter Classic is considered one of the NHL's premier events; with matchups generally booked to showcase the league's most popular teams and players, the event garners the league its highest attendance and among its highest television ratings. The event is typically promoted as a return to the sport's outdoor roots, meant to evoke memories of pond hockey . Its popularity has led to
11523-460: The NHL and HBO announced a four-part documentary series as part of the build-up to the 2011 Winter Classic. The series, entitled 24/7: Road to the NHL Winter Classic , gave HBO exclusive access to the teams that were participating in the game. HBO went on to air two more editions in 2012 and 2014. For the 2015, 2016 and 2017 Winter Classics, the NHL partnered with Epix to air another series of four-part documentaries. The first two editions carried
11690-505: The NHL and NBC needed the flexibility to pick the Western Conference Finals for that window if they so desired. Since then, NBC had contingency plans if scenarios like this occur moving forward. Starting in 2008 until 2016, the NBC game aired starting at 12:30 p.m. ET in order for them to air at least one overtime period if it gets there (at max two). Starting in 2016, NBC aired playoff game at about 7:15 p.m. ET immediately following horse racing. In 2006 , NBC televised Game 1 of
11857-399: The NHL announced that the Chicago Blackhawks would host the Boston Bruins in the Winter Classic scheduled for January 1, 2019. The game was played at Notre Dame Stadium , in Notre Dame , Indiana , and was the first instance of a Winter Classic being played in a different state and media market from the host team—the stadium is located less than 100 mi (160 km) from Chicago but
12024-426: The NHL sometimes modifies the third and overtime periods. In this case, play is stopped at the midway point and teams switch directions. This option was exercised in 2008, 2011, 2014, and 2018. The 2008, 2014, and 2018 games also featured the teams switching ends halfway through the five-minute overtime period for the same reason. In 2008 and 2014 the games went into a shootout, where both goaltenders alternated defending
12191-537: The National Mall or Central Park have also been proposed, but present logistical challenges the league is unlikely to want to overcome given the other options available. For the Winter Classic, participating teams typically wear throwback, or retro-style sweaters, and occasionally retro-styled equipment. The throwback sweaters are popular with fans, and teams have often continued to wear them after
12358-530: The Stanley Cup broadcasts. NHL broadcast rights returned to CBS the next season , however due to other programming commitments, regular season games were handed off to RKO General . From 1972–73 – 1974–75 , NBC not only televised the Stanley Cup Finals (including a couple of games in prime time ), but also weekly regular season games on Sunday afternoons. The previous contract with CBS
12525-514: The Winter Classic throughout the entire broadcast contract. On February 4, 2022, the NHL announced that Fenway Park would be the site of the 2023 NHL Winter Classic . As a result, Fenway Park became the third outdoor stadium to host multiple outdoor games, and the first to host two Winter Classics. On April 13, 2022, the Penguins were announced as the opponent with the game being held on January 2 (as January 1, 2023, falls on Sunday). The Bruins won
12692-540: The Winter Classic. An NHL-record total of 105,491 tickets were sold, greater than the Guinness World Records -certified world-record attendance of 104,173 at The Big Chill at the Big House , also held at Michigan Stadium. However, on January 24, 2014, an NHL source reported that the certified attendance, based on tickets scanned at the venue, fell short of the world record. In 2017, the Winter Classic
12859-416: The Winter Classic. The Penguins and Blackhawks made their Winter Classic sweaters their alternates the following season. The Flyers went a step further and made their 2010 Winter Classic sweaters their permanent road sweaters, beginning with 2010–11. The Sabres had already been using a variation of their throwback sweater prior to their appearance (that particular season, there were no third sweaters anywhere in
13026-405: The ability for other support events such as alumni games or local college/lower level hockey games as the rink would have to be de-constructed immediately after the Winter Classic to ensure venue availability for NFL Playoff games. While some NCAA College Football stadiums are unavailable to host due to already existing bowl games, most of these games are held in warmer weather climates opening up
13193-509: The backs of jerseys, NBC persuaded NHL commissioner Clarence Campbell to make teams put on players' names on NBC telecasts beginning with the 1973–74 season to help viewers identify them. Peter Puck was introduced during NBC's NHL coverage in the 1970s. The animated character, whose cartoon adventures (produced by Hanna-Barbera ) appeared on both NBC's Hockey Game of the Week and CBC 's Hockey Night in Canada , explained hockey rules to
13360-536: The commentary. About 300 people in the New York City area saw the Rangers win, 6–2. Over the next few years, W2XBS (later WNBT) carried some New York Rangers home games on a local basis. A few New York Americans and Rangers games were on experimental TV stations in 1940-41 and 1941-42 ; then TV closed down until 1945-46 . Regularly scheduled American network broadcasts of NHL games would not begin until
13527-470: The country near French-speaking Quebec, however, it is the foreign language more commonly taught. Vowel phonemes in French NHL on Versus The NHL on NBC is an American presentation of National Hockey League (NHL) games produced by NBC Sports , and televised on NBC properties, including MSNBC , CNBC , Golf Channel , USA Network and NBCSN in the United States. While NBC covered
13694-550: The course of Spring 2007. Game three's coverage on NBC garnered a mere 1.1 rating (approximately 1,205,600 households), making it the lowest rated prime-time broadcast in the network's history. For comparison, game six of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals , broadcast opposite game three on cable channel TNT , achieved a 5.3 rating, approximately 5,808,800 households. Game four achieved a 1.9 rating (approximately 2,082,400 households), down 5% from game four
13861-519: The demographic prospects of the French-speaking nations of Africa, researcher Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry wrote in 2014 that French "could be the language of the future". However, some African countries such as Algeria intermittently attempted to eradicate the use of French, and as of 2024 it was removed as an official language in Mali and Burkina Faso . Significant as a judicial language, French
14028-448: The economic power of the countries using the language, the number of major areas in which the language is used, and the linguistic prestige associated with the mastery of the language (Weber highlighted that French in particular enjoys considerable linguistic prestige). In a 2008 reassessment of his article, Weber concluded that his findings were still correct since "the situation among the top ten remains unchanged." Knowledge of French
14195-594: The elites primarily spoke French, while many servants who worked in French households spoke a French pidgin known as " Tây Bồi " (now extinct). After French rule ended, South Vietnam continued to use French in administration, education, and trade. However, since the Fall of Saigon and the opening of a unified Vietnam's economy, French has gradually been effectively displaced as the first foreign language of choice by English in Vietnam. Nevertheless, it continues to be taught as
14362-517: The end of the NFL season taking place at the same time of the Winter Classic followed by the NFL Playoffs starting the following week, in order to host the game the stadium's NFL team would have to play a Thursday Night Football game in Week 16 followed by an away game in Week 17 to even consider the possibility of hosting (as was the case for the 2011 game). The tight timeline would also rule out
14529-422: The exception of one-year bumps in 2014 and 2019, has been in a mostly steady decline since then. TNT holds the rights to televise the Winter Classic from 2022 to 2028. The 2022 game thus became the first time that the Winter Classic aired exclusively on American cable television. 1.36 million people watched the game on TNT and it earned a 0.6 rating. This rating was a decline of 48% from the 2019 edition. However,
14696-795: The first "true" All-Star weekend. Firstly was the addition of the Heroes of Hockey game, a two-period oldtimers' game between past NHL greats. The second was the addition of the National Hockey League All-Star Skills Competition , a competition between the players invited to the All-Star Game. The Skills competition was created by Paul Palmer, who adapted the Showdown feature seen on Hockey Night in Canada from 1972–73 to 1979–80 . All-Star players would be rewarded with US$ 2,500 for any win in
14863-516: The first government authority to adopt Modern French as official was the Aosta Valley in 1536, while the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts (1539) named French the language of law in the Kingdom of France . During the 17th century, French replaced Latin as the most important language of diplomacy and international relations ( lingua franca ). It retained this role until approximately the middle of
15030-565: The first time that NBC televised the Winter Olympics since the 1972 Games from Sapporo , Japan . For the men's hockey tournament , NBC enlisted ESPN / ABC ’s Gary Thorne to call the games with color commentator John Davidson . The secondary announcing crew consisted of Fox ’s Kenny Albert and ESPN/ABC’s Joe Micheletti . Albert also did play–by–play for the women's tournament alongside Lisa Brown-Miller . Meanwhile, ESPN/ABC’s Darren Pang served as ice-level reporter for both
15197-915: The former Yugoslavia , International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda , the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea the International Criminal Court and the World Trade Organization Appellate Body . It is the sole internal working language of the Court of Justice of the European Union , and makes with English the European Court of Human Rights 's two working languages. In 1997, George Weber published, in Language Today ,
15364-405: The game had the widest audience in history of any NHL regular season game broadcast on cable. This was surpassed by the 2024 Winter Classic, which was viewed by only 1.1 million people (0.4 rating) combined on TNT and truTV . Starting with the 2025 Winter Classic, the game would take place on New Year's Eve to avoid competing with the newly-expanded College Football Playoff bowl games . In 2010,
15531-525: The game live across the United States – marking (surprisingly) the first time that a national audience would see Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux play. Referees and other officials were also wired with microphones in this game, as were the two head coaches. Finally, NBC was also allowed to conduct interviews with players during stoppages in play, to the chagrin of the Hockey Night in Canada crew, whose attempts to do likewise were repeatedly denied by
15698-582: The game on local NBC affiliates in the respective markets, WGRZ and WHEC-TV . The move was originally seen not only as a snub of small-market teams (such as and not just the Sabres), but of hockey in general especially fans realized that Daniel Alfredsson scored the series-winning goal at 9:32 of overtime. However, NBC and the NHL later revealed that the Preakness deal had been made several years before and contained mandatory advertising commitments during
15865-456: The game would take place on December 31, 2024, which marked the first and only time two Winter Classics were held in one calendar year, and the first Winter Classic to take place on New Year's Eve . Due to the popularity of the event, every NHL team has requested to participate in the Winter Classic either as the host or the visiting team. While proposals have been made for nearly every outdoor National Football League (NFL) stadium to host, with
16032-616: The game, 2–1. On January 2, 2023, the day of the 2023 Winter Classic, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced on the game's pregame show that the Seattle Kraken would host the 2024 edition of the Winter Classic at T-Mobile Park , playing against the Vegas Golden Knights . This was the first Winter Classic to be held on the American West Coast and the first between Pacific Division opponents. This
16199-476: The games of the 1974 and 1975 Stanley Cup Finals that weren't on NBC. The feed was syndicated by Hughes . WGN had picked it up in 1970 and 1972 (and originated Hawks road games in 1971 and 1973 unless CBS , then NBC, carried them), but passed in 1974 and 1975. In New York, the PBS station carried Game 5 of the 1974 Finals at Boston and several of the games in 1975 that NBC did not have. While Hughes provided
16366-829: The gender of the corresponding word in Gaulish. The estimated number of French words that can be attributed to Gaulish is placed at 154 by the Petit Robert , which is often viewed as representing standardized French, while if non-standard dialects are included, the number increases to 240. Known Gaulish loans are skewed toward certain semantic fields, such as plant life ( chêne , bille , etc.), animals ( mouton , cheval , etc.), nature ( boue , etc.), domestic activities (ex. berceau ), farming and rural units of measure ( arpent , lieue , borne , boisseau ), weapons, and products traded regionally rather than further afield. This semantic distribution has been attributed to peasants being
16533-651: The home viewing audience. Besides Peter Puck, the 1970s version of The NHL on NBC had a between-periods feature titled Showdown . The concept of Showdown involved 20 of the NHL's greatest players (16 shooters and four goaltenders) going head-to-head in a taped penalty shot competition. After the NHL left NBC in 1975, Showdown continued to be seen on Hockey Night in Canada and local television broadcasts of U.S.-based NHL teams. The December 29 and March 16 games were on Friday nights; all other regular season games were on Sunday afternoons. All start times at 3 p.m. Eastern Standard Time unless noted. The January 4 game
16700-469: The hookup, it took the visiting team announcers like Gene Hart and Don Earle from Boston for the Bruins - Flyers series, for instance. For 17 years after the 1975 Finals , there would be no national over-the-air network coverage of the NHL in the United States (with the exception of CBS' coverage of game two of the 1979 Challenge Cup and game six of the 1980 Stanley Cup Finals and NBC's coverage of
16867-560: The idea to the NHL in 2004 "but they didn't find the concept workable." In December 2006, Miller found an ally in then Executive VP/Business & Media John Collins, who embraced the idea. The first Winter Classic was held January 1, 2008, between the Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park, New York . The game had a then-NHL-record crowd of 71,217 fans in attendance. The success of
17034-401: The language are very closely related to those of the rest of the French-speaking world. French is the second most commonly spoken language in Canada and one of two federal official languages alongside English. As of the 2021 Canadian census , it was the native language of 7.7 million people (21% of the population) and the second language of 2.9 million (8% of the population). French
17201-479: The language, although it has now given way to Tamil and English. A former French mandate , Lebanon designates Arabic as the sole official language, while a special law regulates cases when French can be publicly used. Article 11 of Lebanon's Constitution states that "Arabic is the official national language. A law determines the cases in which the French language is to be used". The French language in Lebanon
17368-612: The language. The Act applies to areas of the province where there are significant Francophone communities, namely Eastern Ontario and Northern Ontario . Elsewhere, sizable French-speaking minorities are found in southern Manitoba, Nova Scotia , Prince Edward Island and the Port au Port Peninsula in Newfoundland and Labrador, where the unique Newfoundland French dialect was historically spoken. Smaller pockets of French speakers exist in all other provinces. The Ontarian city of Ottawa ,
17535-479: The last to hold onto Gaulish. The beginning of French in Gaul was greatly influenced by Germanic invasions into the country. These invasions had the greatest impact on the northern part of the country and on the language there. A language divide began to grow across the country. The population in the north spoke langue d'oïl while the population in the south spoke langue d'oc . Langue d'oïl grew into what
17702-400: The late 1950s, when CBS began carrying regular season games, but no playoff games. The deal was terminated in 1960 , due to a combination of a dispute over the players receiving a share of the rights fee and the then-regional nature of the sport. Nationally televised NHL games in the United States resumed for the 1965–66 NHL season , but this time on NBC; the regional issues were settled by
17869-400: The league at various points in its history, the network's last relationship with the NHL is the result of NBC Sports acquiring the league's broadcast television rights from ABC in 2005 . Its most recent contract with the league ran until the end of the 2020–21 NHL season ; NHL broadcasting rights onward have been acquired by ABC / ESPN and Turner Sports (now known as TNT Sports ). Though
18036-561: The league in previous years. NBC ultimately earned a 4.4 rating for the 1990 All-Star Game. In 1991 , NBC broke away from the telecast in the third period to televise a briefing from The Pentagon involving the Gulf War . SportsChannel America included the missing coverage in a replay of NBC's telecast (NBC owned 50% of Rainbow Enterprises , the parent of SportsChannel America). There were reports about NBC making an arrangement to air four to eight regular season games for
18203-497: The league stated that it would try to arrange its schedule in future seasons so that few other games would be played during the window. Versus also provided postgame coverage after every game they broadcast. The postgame show was initially known as Hockey Central , airing from their Stamford, Connecticut , studios. Beginning in the 2011–12 season, the program was renamed NHL Live , and began incorporating NHL on NBC personalities. NHL games officially returned to NBC under
18370-539: The league's network broadcaster instead, and then Fox won a bidding war with CBS for television rights lasting from the 1994–95 through 1998–99 seasons. NBC's coverage of the 1993 All-Star Game drew a .450 rating in the males 18-34 bracket, the highest among sports shows this year and well above the NBA ’s .350 average. In 2002, NBC broadcast the Winter Olympics from Salt Lake City , Utah . It marked
18537-459: The league's pending addition of six new teams , which expanded the league's reach nationwide and into lucrative markets in Pennsylvania and California (in addition to two other midwestern markets; NBC, however, would lose the broadcast rights before the six new teams would make it to play). In 1966, NBC became the first television network in the United States to air a national broadcast of
18704-457: The league) and adopted a slightly updated version of the sweaters as their main uniform in 2010–11, while the 2011 contestants, the Penguins and Capitals, wore their classic uniforms as third jerseys in 2011–12 . The Capitals continued to do so through the 2014–15 season, the same year the Flyers adopted their 2012 Winter Classic sweaters as their third jerseys. The Winter Classic has proven to be
18871-1054: The main NBC network no longer airs NHL games, NBC Sports Regional Networks currently airs some games in the form of game telecasts that air on a regional basis, featuring local NHL franchises that each of the regional networks has respective broadcast rights to air in their designated market. From 2008 until the end of the NHL on NBC in 2021, NBC's regular season coverage included the annual NHL Winter Classic , an outdoor game usually played on New Year's Day ; one national weekly regular season game each Sunday afternoon after New Year's Day ; one week of nationally televised contests in February for Hockey Day in America ; and one nationally televised game one day after Thanksgiving . NBCSN's coverage included 90 regular season games that were mostly aired on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday evenings , and later in
19038-450: The men's and women's ice hockey tournaments. ESPN/ABC’s Bill Clement worked with Jim Lampley as a studio analyst during their coverage of both ice hockey tournaments. In May 2004, NBC reached an agreement with the NHL to broadcast a slate of regular season games and the Stanley Cup Finals . The plan called for NBC to air at least six weeks of regular season games (three regional games each week) on Saturday afternoons. In addition, NBC
19205-420: The necessity and means to annihilate the patois and to universalize the use of the French language". When public education was made compulsory , only French was taught and the use of any other ( patois ) language was punished. The goals of the public school system were made especially clear to the French-speaking teachers sent to teach students in regions such as Occitania and Brittany . Instructions given by
19372-408: The new agreement on January 14, 2006, debuting with three regional games ( New York Rangers at Detroit Red Wings , Colorado Avalanche at Philadelphia Flyers , which is aired on NBC Sports Philadelphia also followed by the Dallas Stars at Boston Bruins ) to substantial praise among hockey fans and writers, who often compare the television network's presentation to Hockey Night in Canada , which
19539-546: The next three years. The network broadcast at least 54 games during the regular season (usually two games per week, sometimes three or just one), plus the All-Star Game , Skills Competition, and YoungStars game. At the end of the season, the network would have blanket coverage of the playoffs, culminating in the first two games of the Stanley Cup Finals. Versus also showed the NHL Awards Show and first round of
19706-589: The official use or teaching of French. It is spoken as a first language (in descending order of the number of speakers) in France; Canada (especially in the provinces of Quebec, Ontario, and New Brunswick); Belgium ( Wallonia and the Brussels-Capital Region ); western Switzerland (specifically the cantons forming the Romandy region); parts of Luxembourg; parts of the United States (the states of Louisiana, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont); Monaco;
19873-534: The other main foreign language in the Vietnamese educational system and is regarded as a cultural language. All three countries are full members of La Francophonie (OIF). French was the official language of French India , consisting of the geographically separate enclaves referred to as Puducherry . It continued to be an official language of the territory even after its cession to India in 1956 until 1965. A small number of older locals still retain knowledge of
20040-537: The owners encouraged fighting because they felt that the fans wanted it. The Montreal Canadiens were slated to host the 1990 All-Star Game, but the team withdrew their bid to considerations due to the superb hosting by Quebec City of Rendez-vous '87 . This had allowed the Pittsburgh Penguins , which wanted to host an All-Star Game in 1993, to move up three years early. For its part, Pittsburgh's organizers added much more to previous games, creating
20207-507: The play-by-play man while Bill Mazer served as the color commentator for the games. NBC's coverage of the 1966 Stanley Cup Finals marked the first time that hockey games were broadcast on network television in color . The CBC would follow suit the following year. NBC's Stanley Cup coverage preempted a sports anthology series called NBC Sports in Action , hosted by Jim Simpson and Bill Cullen , who were between-periods co-hosts for
20374-544: The players walked into the 87-year-old stadium in front of more than 100,000 fans was truly something special. The biggest and best Winter Classic of them all lived up to its advanced billing." The game went down to the wire, ending in a 3–2 Toronto victory in a shootout. Despite the overwhelming popularity of the original Heritage Classic between the Montreal Canadiens and the Edmonton Oilers in 2003,
20541-728: The playoffs (not including the Stanley Cup Finals). The additional broadcasts were expected to replace the Arena Football League , which NBC dropped after the 2006 season . NBC also produced two games per week in high definition, up from one in 2005–06. The newly titled NHL on NBC Game of the Week returned on January 13, 2007, with three regional games (between the Los Angeles and St. Louis Blues , Boston Bruins and New York Rangers , Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers ) at 2 p.m. Eastern Time . Games started at various times, ranging from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. during
20708-479: The popularity of the Winter Classic in Canada is not as high as it is in the United States. On Canada's CBC Television network, the Winter Classic has lower ratings than its weekly regular season telecasts Hockey Night in Canada . This has been attributed to the lack of Canadian teams in any of the Winter Classics and has led to both the revival of the all-Canadian Heritage Classic and the scheduling of
20875-620: The possibility of the largest Big Ten Conference Stadiums such as Michigan Stadium (which hosted in 2014), Ohio Stadium , Beaver Stadium , and other large stadiums such as Notre Dame Stadium (which hosted in 2019). Most Major League Soccer soccer specific stadiums have seating capacities significantly lower than the other available facilities. With Major League Baseball (MLB) in its offseason and with few other uses for its stadiums during winter, more MLB stadiums have hosted than other type of venue and are expected to be contenders for hosting most future Winter Classics. Non-sports venues like
21042-408: The pre-race build-up. Both sides could have agreed that the entire game would air only on Versus or begin earlier in the day, but the NHL wanted at least one Eastern Conference Finals game to air on NBC and said that it does not schedule with the assumption that games will go into overtime. Moreover, an earlier start time could not be arranged because the broadcast window was fixed in advance, and both
21209-471: The preferred language of certain institutions or administrations such as the Court of Justice of the European Union , where it is the sole internal working language, or the Directorate-General for Agriculture . Since 2016, Brexit has rekindled discussions on whether or not French should again hold greater role within the institutions of the European Union. A leading world language , French
21376-456: The previous year. Game five received slightly less, 1.8 (approximately 1,972,800 households). As a whole, NBC's ratings for the championship series were down 20 percent from the previous season, making it the least watched final in the United States. At the time, Versus was only available to 50% of cable-equipped homes in the Los Angeles area, which hurt the buzz around the Ducks ' playoff run in
21543-600: The region's flagship teams allowed the Ducks to close the series on a relatively high note, with the Los Angeles Times ' Larry Stewart calling their final ratings performance "pretty good". On May 19, 2007, during the Stanley Cup playoffs , NBC angered many fans and journalists when it pre-empted coverage of the overtime period of the tied Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals between
21710-471: The rest largely speak French as a first language. As a French Creole language , Haitian Creole draws the large majority of its vocabulary from French, with influences from West African languages, as well as several European languages. It is closely related to Louisiana Creole and the creole from the Lesser Antilles . French is the sole official language of all the overseas territories of France in
21877-546: The revival of the Heritage Classic, an outdoor game featuring only Canadian NHL teams; and the creation of the NHL Stadium Series , another regular season event held at an outdoor venue. [REDACTED] Media related to NHL Winter Classic at Wikimedia Commons French language French ( français [fʁɑ̃sɛ] or langue française [lɑ̃ɡ fʁɑ̃sɛːz] )
22044-413: The rights from 1999 to 2004 ), NBC paid no upfront rights fee, instead splitting advertising revenue with the league after meeting its own production and distribution costs. On the other hand, the league avoided the arrangement some minor sports leagues have, in which they pay networks for broadcast time and produce their own telecasts, but keep any advertising revenue. The last time NBC Sports entered
22211-529: The same goal, rather than the normal practice of defending opposite goals. The Winter Classic was made a part of the NHL schedule through at least January 1, 2021, as part of the league's television contract, initially with NBC and Versus , then just NBC after Comcast (the parent company of Versus ) bought NBC and merged Versus into the NBC Sports banner. The 2012 Winter Classic in Philadelphia
22378-579: The scheduling of additional outdoor hockey games, both in the NHL and other leagues worldwide. In May 2014, the SportsBusiness Journal and SportsBusiness Daily named the Winter Classic its "Sports Event of the Year," the second time in five years the Classic has won that distinction. The Winter Classic as a television event was presented by NBC Sports Executive VP Jon Miller. He pitched
22545-610: The season (this variation primarily resulted from NBC's commitments to the PGA Tour and other programming). NBC moved its NHL telecasts to Sundays after its season premiere (which occurred on a Saturday) for the final eight dates of the season. The nine weeks of games (totaling 22 regional games) scheduled by the network amounted to the league's most extensive U.S. broadcast television coverage since 1998 , during Fox 's tenure. A new Sunday Night Football -esque horizontal score banner, designed by Troika Design Group, also debuted during
22712-708: The season on Sunday nights . Coverage of the Stanley Cup Playoffs was split between NBC and NBCSN, with CNBC and the USA Network (beginning in 2015 ) airing selected playoff games during the first two rounds. As part of a series of experimental broadcasts that W2XBS (now NBC's flagship station , WNBC ) produced between 1939 and 1940, the station broadcast a game between the New York Rangers and Montreal Canadiens from Madison Square Garden on February 25, 1940 . Bill Allen provided
22879-438: The season. The 2007 Stanley Cup Finals was also notable for its exceptionally poor television ratings in the United States. Games one and two were carried by cable channel Versus , then a new and little known player on the sports television scene. Game one produced a 0.5 national rating or 523,000 households. It was the 58th best rated program of that day. Game two produced a 0.4 national rating or 446,000 households, lower than
23046-598: The second largest attendance in an NHL game behind the 2014 Winter Classic. The league originally announced on January 1, 2020, that the 2021 NHL Winter Classic would feature the Minnesota Wild at Target Field in Minneapolis , Minnesota . The league later confirmed the St. Louis Blues as the opponent. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic delaying the conclusion of the 2019–20 season to September and postponing
23213-453: The series were produced by Ross Greenburg in conjunction with the NHL. Beginning in 2021, NHL Studios will oversee production of the series, with Steve Mayer as executive producer, and Jay Nelson and Steve Stern as producers. For the 2022 edition, the Road to the Winter Classic was aired as a five or eight-minute segment on the NHL on TNT postgame show as opposed to a standalone episode during
23380-446: The skills competition. As previously mentioned, when NBC broadcast the 1990 NHL All-Star Game, it marked the first time that a National Hockey League game of any kind was aired on American network television, since CBS aired Game 6 of the 1980 Stanley Cup Finals. To accommodate the altered activities, the game itself was played on a Sunday afternoon instead of a Tuesday night, as was the case in previous years. This allowed NBC to air
23547-425: The slots back to local affiliates, some of which filled the time given back to them with infomercials . The NHL on Versus was a presentation of National Hockey League (NHL) games broadcast on Versus . The NHL's television deal with Versus was made at the conclusion of the 2004–05 NHL lockout that caused the cancellation of an entire season. At the time, Versus offered a two-year, US$ 130 million contract (with
23714-471: The start of the following season , the event was moved to 2022 at its earliest. With a temperature of -5.7 °F at puck drop, the 2022 Winter Classic became the coldest outdoor game in NHL history as the Blues won 6–4. In 2021, the NHL ended its relationship with NBC and signed new agreements with ESPN and TNT . As ESPN has a full slate of college bowl games on New Year's Day, TNT will hold rights to
23881-466: The total number of French speakers will reach approximately 500 million in 2025 and 650 million by 2050, largely due to rapid population growth in sub-Saharan Africa . OIF estimates 700 million French speakers by 2050, 80% of whom will be in Africa. In a study published in March 2014 by Forbes , the investment bank Natixis said that French could become the world's most spoken language by 2050. In
24048-679: The two official languages—along with Dutch —of the Brussels-Capital Region , where it is spoken by the majority of the population (approx. 80%), often as their primary language. French is one of the four official languages of Switzerland, along with German, Italian, and Romansh , and is spoken in the western part of Switzerland, called Romandy , of which Geneva is the largest city. The language divisions in Switzerland do not coincide with political subdivisions, and some cantons have bilingual status: for example, cities such as Biel/Bienne and cantons such as Valais , Fribourg and Bern . French
24215-508: The urban intellectual elite. The Gaulish language likely survived into the sixth century in France despite considerable Romanization . Coexisting with Latin, Gaulish helped shape the Vulgar Latin dialects that developed into French contributing loanwords and calques (including oui , the word for "yes"), sound changes shaped by Gaulish influence, and influences in conjugation and word order. Recent computational studies suggest that early gender shifts may have been motivated by
24382-485: The use of French in official government publications, public education except in specific cases, and legal contracts; advertisements must bear a translation of foreign words. In Belgium, French is an official language at the federal level along with Dutch and German. At the regional level, French is the sole official language of Wallonia (excluding a part of the East Cantons , which are German-speaking ) and one of
24549-585: The visiting team. The arrangement gave the Sabres only 40 games for the 2017–18 season in their home city of Buffalo, while the Rangers played 42 games (not counting away games against the New York Islanders ) in New York City. The NHL had used a similar policy for the Rangers in the 2014 Stadium Series and the 2011 NHL Premiere . The game was played on January 1, 2018. On November 18, 2017,
24716-536: The workplace. In 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked French the third most useful language for business, after English and Standard Mandarin Chinese . In English-speaking Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland, French is the first foreign language taught and in number of pupils is far ahead of other languages. In the United States, French is the second-most commonly taught foreign language in schools and universities, although well behind Spanish. In some areas of
24883-402: The world's French-speaking population lives in Africa. According to a 2023 estimate from the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie , an estimated 167 million African people spread across 35 countries and territories can speak French as either a first or a second language . This number does not include the people living in non-Francophone African countries who have learned French as
25050-413: Was a bit of a notion that NBC no longer really needed. Marv Albert , and John Davidson called the action, while Mike Emrick served as an ice-level reporter in 1990 . Meanwhile, Bill Clement served as an ice-level reporter in 1991 , 1992 and 1994 . Also, Hockey Night in Canada ' s Ron MacLean helped out with NBC's coverage of the 1993 All-Star Game , as would Brenda Brenon for
25217-417: Was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by the ( Germanic ) Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to the French colonial empire , there are numerous French-based creole languages , most notably Haitian Creole . A French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French. French
25384-596: Was also be the first Winter Classic, and the second NHL outdoor game, to take place in a retractable roof stadium. Due to Seattle's rainy climate that may affect ice conditions, organizers planned on closing the T-Mobile Park roof in case of heavy rainfall. The game ended with the Kraken becoming the first team to earn a shutout in a Winter Classic, defeating the Golden Knights 3–0. On February 7, 2024, it
25551-403: Was announced that the 2025 NHL Winter Classic will take place at Wrigley Field in Chicago, with the Chicago Blackhawks facing the St. Louis Blues. Wrigley Field joined Fenway Park as the only two-time hosts of a Winter Classic, and it will also mark the first repeat matchup in a Winter Classic, with the Blackhawks and Blues previously facing off at Busch Stadium in 2017. It was then announced that
25718-531: Was during the period of the Crusades in which French became so dominant in the Mediterranean Sea that became a lingua franca ("Frankish language"), and because of increased contact with the Arabs during the Crusades who referred to them as Franj , numerous Arabic loanwords entered French, such as amiral (admiral), alcool (alcohol), coton (cotton) and sirop (syrop), as well as scientific terms such as algébre (algebra), alchimie (alchemy) and zéro (zero). Within Old French many dialects emerged but
25885-400: Was gradually adopted by the inhabitants of Gaul. As the language was learned by the common people, it developed a distinct local character, with grammatical differences from Latin as spoken elsewhere, some of which is attested in graffiti. This local variety evolved into the Gallo-Romance tongues, which include French and its closest relatives, such as Arpitan . The evolution of Latin in Gaul
26052-469: Was known in the Occitan-speaking region as Vergonha . Spoken by 19.71% of the European Union's population, French is the third most widely spoken language in the EU, after English and German and the second-most-widely taught language after English. Under the Constitution of France , French has been the official language of the Republic since 1992, although the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts made it mandatory for legal documents in 1539. France mandates
26219-428: Was not played on New Year's Day, as that fell on a Sunday in 2012 and conflicted with the NFL's final week of regular season games. Instead, following precedent set by college football's bowl games (which move their games to Monday when January 1 lands on Sunday) and to prevent the risk of a weather delay pushing the game into the timeslot for NBC Sunday Night Football , the game took place on January 2, 2012. The game
26386-443: Was on a Friday night; all other regular season games were on Sunday afternoons. All start times were at 2 p.m. Eastern Time unless noted. All start times (except the January 19 and February 9 telecasts) were at 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time. NBC did not broadcast the sixth game of the 1975 Finals , in which the Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Buffalo Sabres to clinch their second consecutive championship, played in prime time on
26553-431: Was paying the NHL less than $ 2 million a year and NBC jumped in with an offer of $ 5.3 million. NBC also aired one regular season and a couple of playoff games in prime time during the first couple of seasons. Tim Ryan and Ted Lindsay (with Brian McFarlane as the intermission host) served as the commentators for NBC's NHL coverage during this period. Since most NHL teams still did not have players' names displayed on
26720-417: Was played at Citizens Bank Park, home of the Philadelphia Phillies . Neighboring Lincoln Financial Field , home of the Philadelphia Eagles , was reportedly preferred, but as the Eagles hosted a home game on January 1, the NHL could not undertake the required week-long renovations needed to construct the outdoor playing arena. The New York Rangers defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 3–2. The sixth Winter Classic
26887-441: Was played during the 2023–24 NHL season at T-Mobile Park , with the Seattle Kraken defeating the Vegas Golden Knights 3−0. After the success of the Cold War at Michigan State University in 2001 and the 2003 Heritage Classic , the NHL's first regular season outdoor game, the league inaugurated the Winter Classic in 2008. It eventually caught on as a league tradition and has been played every year since except for 2013 (due to
27054-504: Was produced by Radan Films and NHL Productions. Its popularity in the United States led to the American Hockey League adopting a similar contest in 2010, the AHL Outdoor Classic , which it continued to organize each season through 2017–18. Both the Winter Classic and the earlier Cold War contest helped repopularize outdoor hockey at the college and university level , and several college organizations, minor and junior hockey leagues hold outdoor games each year. The Winter Classic also led to
27221-419: Was scheduled for Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor in 2013, with the Detroit Red Wings hosting the Toronto Maple Leafs in an Original Six matchup. However, the 2012–13 NHL lockout disrupted the season, leading to the game's cancellation on November 2, 2012. The matchup was rescheduled for the 2014 Winter Classic, at the same venue with the same participants. It was the first time a Canadian team participated in
27388-411: Was shaped by its coexistence for over half a millennium beside the native Celtic Gaulish language , which did not go extinct until the late sixth century, long after the fall of the Western Roman Empire . The population remained 90% indigenous in origin; the Romanizing class were the local native elite (not Roman settlers), whose children learned Latin in Roman schools. At the time of the collapse of
27555-437: Was the language they use the most at home rose from 67% at the 2007 census to 74% at the 2017 census. In Wallis and Futuna, the percentage of the population who reported that French was the language they use the most at home rose from 10% at the 2008 census to 13% at the 2018 census. According to a demographic projection led by the Université Laval and the Réseau Démographie de l'Agence universitaire de la Francophonie ,
27722-409: Was the second of two outdoor games to be held over the New Year's weekend, with the NHL Centennial Classic being held in Toronto on January 1 and the Winter Classic following on January 2. The St. Louis Blues defeated the Chicago Blackhawks by the score of 4–1, scoring 3 goals in the third period. To celebrate the tenth anniversary of the first Winter Classic, the NHL announced on May 10, 2017, that
27889-441: Was to show one or two playoff games per weekend during the playoffs. Between two and five games from the Stanley Cup Finals would air in prime time (OLN/ Versus received the other two as part of its package). NBC's primary game each week, as well as the Stanley Cup Finals, would air in high definition . Unlike previous network television deals with the NHL (like Fox , which had the rights from 1994 to 1999 and ABC , which had
#571428