The NHL Winter Classic is the most famous and longest played annualy series of regular season outdoor gamesof the three NHL outdoor series. The Winter Classic is annualy played on or around New Year's Day since 2008. Games take place in the football or baseball stadiums.
The inaugural Winter Classig game in 2008 followed the successeful NCAA Cold War in 2001 and the first NHL Heritage Classic in 2003. This game between Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres took place at the Ralph Wilson Stadium (currently the New Era Field) in Orchard Park, the home of the Buffalo Bills (NFL) and had a then-NHL attendance record of 71217 people at the stadium. By the way, this match is still the second most-attended NHL game. Penguins won that game 2-1 in the shootouts.
This outdoor series became an annual event, and it's considered one of the NHL's premier events, nas the highest attendance and one of the highest television ratings of all the NHL events. And this is understandable, it's a great winter holidays tradition. Hockey and New Year spirit.
Since 2008 ten Winter Classic games were played. It's an annual event, why ten, not eleven? Because of lockout in 2012-13 NHL season. Scheduled in 2013 game between Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings in the Michigan Stadium (football) was played a year later, in 2014, in the same venue. Maple Leafs won 3-2 in the shootouts. Also, this game became the most attended in the NHL history and still holds the record. 105 491 spectators were at the Michigan Stadium to watch the game of the Original Sixers Maple Leafs and Red Wings.
The rest of the Winter Classics didn't had such crowds at the stadiums, but anyway were an interesting events with the lot of spectators, much more than the Bell Center can have. The second and the third NHL Winter Classics were played at the legendary ballparks (baseball stadium). In 2009 Detroit Red Wings faced Chicago Blackhawks at the Wrigley Field in Chicago, home of the MLB Chicago Cubs opened in 1914, and the hometeam lost to Red Wings 4-6. The next year the Winter Classic took place at the legendary Fenway Park in Boston where the MLB's Boston Red Sox plays. Boston Bruins defeated Philadelphia Flyers 2-1 in the overtime then.
In 2011 Pittsburgh Penguins became the first NHL team to participate in the Winter Classic for the first time. They played against Washington Capitals at the Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, home of the Pittsburgh Steelers (NFL), but Penguins lost 1-3 in front of the 68-thousand-crowd. Philadelphia Flyers became the Winter Classic team for the second time the next year, in 2012, when they met the New York Rangers in Philadelphia at the Citizens Bank Park (MLB's Philadelphia Phillies home venue) and also lost like Penguins a year before. The final score was 2-3 Rangers won.
After the 2012-13 lockout and Maple Leafs - Red Wings game played a year later, the Winter Classic was played in 2015 in the U.S. capital Washington for the first time. The local Capitals faced the Chicago Blackhawks at the baseball Nationals Park and won 3-2. In 2016 a Canadian team participated in the Winter Classic for the first time. Montreal Canadiens defeated Boston Bruins 5-1 at the Gillette Stadium where the NFL's New England Patriots plays. Attendance was very well at this game, 67246 people came to watch this game.
The St. Louis Blues started their Winter Classic history with the 4-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks in 2017. The game took place at the Busch Stadium in St. Louis, another ballpark, the home of the St. Louis Cardinals (MLB). The last Winter Classic game played took place at the Citi Field (the MLB's New York Mets home venue) in Queens, New York on the January 1, 2018. This game between the New York Rangers and the Buffalo Sabres finished with the 3-2 overtime win by the Rangers. It was an anniversary NHL Winter Classic game, the 10th one.
As you can see, all the Winter Classic games were held in the USA, and the next one scheduled in the forthcoming season will not be an exception. The 2019 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic take place at the Notre Dame Stadium (college football) in Notre Dame, Indiana. The game between Boston Bruins and Chicago Blackhawks is scheduled on January 1, 2019 and will be the 11th NHL Winter Classic event.
As well as all the games were played in the USA, almost all the teams participated are American franchises. Only Toronto Maple Leafs in 2014 and Montreal Canadiens in 2016 were a Canadian teams to play in the NHL Winter Classic. The Chicago Blackhawks played is this series the most times - in 2009, 2015, 2017 and will play in 2019, too.
For me the Winter Classic is a great pastime for the New Year's Day despite I watch it on a TV and not in the stadium. I wait for this game every year, the atmosphere is special and the game is great.
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