Blackhawks Earn Big Ratings, All-Star Trio

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Jan 4, 2009 6:45PM

A few days after this year's Winter Classic, and the ratings are in. The prognosis? Good. Very good. Better than last year, in fact. It earned the NHL's best overnight ratings in 13 years and increased 12 percent over last year's game.

This year's outdoor game between the Blackhawks and Red Wings earned a 2.9 overnight rating and a 6 share. Each overnight ratings point equals about 735,000 TV homes. Last year's game featuring the Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres had a 2.6 overnight rating and 5 share...In Chicago, Thursday's game drew a national high of an 11.8 rating and 21 share, with Detroit second at 10.5 and 21.

Though the 'Hawks ultimately dropped the game (and every other game to the Wings this year), they remain the up-and-coming team of the league this season and have been rewarded, sending three players to next month's All-Star game in Montreal. Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews were the top two Western Conference vote-getters, with 917,551 and 809,599 votes, respectively. Defenseman Brian Campbell is the third 'Hawk to get an All-Star nod.