It's New Year's Day and I got to enjoy what has become a tradition for me. That tradition is watching the Winter Classic on TV. For those that don't know, the Winter Classice is a regular season NHL Hockey game that is put on outside. It was started in 2008 as a way to draw attention to the league. The first one was indeed a classic as it was the Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres playing in Buffalo. It snowed during the game and the game ended in a shootout with the Penguins winning. Last year, the Chicago Blackhawks played the Detroit Red Wings in Chicago at Wrigley Field. The Red Wings won the game played on that historic field.
This year it was the Boston Bruins and the Philadelphia Flyers and the game was at historic Fenway Park in Boston. The game was a classic game between these two rivals. There was a fight, lots of checking into the boards and even some goals. The game ended in overtime with Boston getting the win 2-1.
When they were thinking of implementing this back in '08, there was a lot of skepticism. New Year's Day was college football. Would hockey make a dent? I think the last three years have shown that it has. With less bowl games on New Year's Day along with really good matchups at historic venues, the Winter Classic has been a success. It is something that I look forward to now each year. I would not be surprised if next year it's in New York with the Rangers as the home team and they're playing at Yankee Stadium. I'll go with that as a prediction, my first of the year. We'll see next New Year's if it holds true.
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