January 1, 2008: The National Hockey League holds its 1st Winter Classic.
There had been outdoor hockey games before, both in the NHL and in college hockey. But it took until 2004 for someone -- NBC Sports Executive Vice President Jon Miller (not the San Francisco Giants broadcaster of the same name) -- to suggest to NHL management that they have a special event, beyond the League's annual All-Star Game.
The idea was rejected then, but revisited in 2006, and set up for every New Year's Day. It probably wouldn't have happened a few years earlier, when the major college football bowl games were all played on the day, including whichever ended up deciding the National Championship. But with the advent of the Bowl Championship Series, the National Championship was no longer decided on January 1, opening the day to a major event in another sport.
The Pittsburgh Penguins were chosen as one of the teams, because NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman wanted to showcase the NHL's "most popular" player, the Penguins' Sidney Crosby. The Penguins' arch-rivals, the Philadelphia Flyers, weren't interested in hosting. But the team closest in distance to the Penguins, the Buffalo Sabres, were. And so the game was set for January 1, 2008, at Ralph Wilson Stadium in suburban Orchard Park, New york, home of the NHL's Buffalo Bills. (It's now named Highmark Stadium.)
A crowd of 71,217 fans came in. At the time, this was the largest crowd in NHL history, although about 3,000 short of the biggest in the history of hockey. The game was broadcast on NBC in America, and in Canada, on CBC in English and RDS in French.
The Penguins had worn black and yellow uniforms since 1979, to capitalize on the success that year of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Steelers. From 1973 to 1979, they wore navy blue and yellow. For this game, they went back to their original 1967-73 powder blue uniforms. The Sabres also wore "throwback" uniforms, white jerseys with their original logo. Game-time temperature was 32 degrees, the freezing point of water, and snow fell during the game.
Like clockwork, like Bettman had planned it that way, the Penguins scored just 21 seconds into the game, with Crosby assisting Colby Armstrong. Just 1:25 into the 2nd period, Brian Campbell scored for the Sabres. The score remained 1-1 through the rest of regulation, and through the 5-minute overtime period.
So a shootout was necessary to decide it. Just the way Bettman wanted it. The Sabres shot first, and Ales Kotalik got the puck past Ty Conklin. Erik Christensen followed for the Pens, but missed.
That should have put the Sabres in command. But Tim Connolly was stopped by Conklin, and Kris Letang scored past the Sabres' Ryan Miller. Conklin saved the try of Maxim Afinogenov. And Crosby was next, and scored the winning goal. Just the way Bettman wanted it. Officially, the final score was Penguins 3, Sabres 2, even though each team scored 1 in regulation and at least 1 more in the shootout.
The game proved enormously popular. Since then, the game has always been played on January 1, with these exceptions: 2012 and 2017, when the date fell on a Sunday, and, to avoid competition with the NFL Playoffs, was pushed back to Monday, January 2; 2013, when a lockout of the NHL players by the team owners canceled the game; and 2021, when the game was canceled due to the COVID-19 epidemic. In the cases of 2013 and 2021, each team that was supposed to host the game did so the next season.
The Chicago Blackhawks have hosted the Classic in 2009 at Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs; and 2019 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana, home of the University of Notre Dame football team. The Boston Bruins have hosted in 2010 at Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox; and 2016 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, home of the New England Patriots.
The Penguins have hosted in 2011 at Heinz Field, home of the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Philadelphia Flyers have hosted in 2012 at Citizens Bank Park, home of the Philadelphia Phillies. The Detroit Red Wings have hosted in 2014 at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, home of the University of Michigan football team. The Washington Capitals have hosted in 2015 at Nationals Park, home of the Washington Nationals. The St. Louis Blues have hosted in 2017 at Busch Stadium, home of the St. Louis Cardinals. The Dallas Stars have hosted in 2020 at the Cotton Bowl. And, tonight, the Minnesota Wild host at Target Field, home of the Minnesota Twins.
The NHL has staged other outdoor games. So far, every Winter Classic has been in the United States, while outdoor games in Canada carry the label "Heritage Classic," starting with the one-off that inspired it all, in 2003, with the Edmonton Oilers hosting at Commonwealth Stadium, home of the Edmonton Elks (then known as the Edmonton Eskimos).
The Heritage Classic isn't held every year. In 2011, the Calgary Flames hosted at McMahon Stadium, home of the Calgary Stampeders. In 2014, the Vancouver Canucks hosted at BC Place, home of the BC Lions, with the roof open. In 2016, the Winnipeg Jets hosted at Investors Group Field, home of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. In 2019, the Jets were the official home team when the game was played at Mosaic Stadium in Regina, home of the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Come up this March 13, the Sabres will host the Toronto Maple Leafs in between the 2 cities, at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton, Ontario.
There is also the NHL Stadium Series. In 2014, the Los Angeles Kings hosted at Dodger Stadium; and the Blackhawks hosted at Soldier Field, home of the Chicago Bears. In 2015, the San Jose Sharks hosted at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, home of the San Francisco 49ers, even though it's closer to downtown San Jose than to downtown San Francisco.
In 2016, the Wild hosted at TCF (now Huntington) Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, home of the University of Minnesota's football team; and the Colorado Avalanche hosted at Coors Field, home of the Colorado Rockies. In 2017, the Penguins hosted at Heinz Field. In 2019, the Flyers hosted at Lincoln Financial Field, home of the Philadelphia Eagles.
In 2018, the Capitals hosted at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. In 2020, the Avalanche hosted at Falcon Stadium at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. Michie Stadium, on the campus of the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York has been considered as a site for an outdoor game, but not yet used as one.
This coming February 26, the Nashville Predators will host a Stadium Series game at Nissan Stadium, home of the Tennessee Titans. And in 2023, the Carolina Hurricanes will go from PNC Arena in Raleigh, next-door to Carter-Finley Stadium, home of the football team at North Carolina State University.
On New Year's Day 2017, the Toronto Maple Leafs hosted the NHL Centennial Classic at BMO Field, home of the Toronto Argonauts and Toronto FC. On December 16 of that year, closer to the actual 100th Anniversary day for the NHL, the Ottawa Senators hosted the NHL 100 Classic at TD Place Stadium, home of the Ottawa Renegades. In February 2021, without fans due to COVID restrictions, 2 games were played at Edgewood Tahoe Resort in Stateline, Nevada, with the Vegas Golden Knights as the home team.
In 2014, the New York Rangers played Stadium Series games at Yankee Stadium, one against the New Jersey Devils, the other against the New York Islanders. In 2018, the NHL Winter Classic was played at Citi Field, home of the New York Mets.
For these games, the Rangers were officially the visiting team, because a contract means that any game where they are the designated home team must be played at Madison Square Garden. Some sort of tax break thing. So, despite there being a 374-mile distance from the KeyBank Center in Buffalo to The Garden, the Buffalo Sabres were the home team for the 2018 NHL Winter Classic.
Once the 2023 NHL Stadium Series game in Raleigh is played, that means all but the following NHL teams will have hosted at least one outdoor regular-season game: The Arizona Coyotes, the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Florida Panthers, the Anaheim Ducks, the Columbus Blue Jackets, and, oddly, the oldest NHL team, the Montreal Canadiens.
The reason the Habs haven't hosted is understandable: The Bell Centre, their usual home, is bigger than the biggest outdoor stadium in town, Molson Stadium, home of the Montreal Alouettes and McGill University's football team. The Olympic Stadium is a lot bigger, but the roof is now permanently closed, so it wouldn't be "outdoor hockey."
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January 1, 2008 was a Tuesday. There were 3 other games played in the NHL that day:
* The Washington Capitals beat the Ottawa Senators, 6-3 at what's now the Capital One Arena in Washington.
* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 4-3 at what's now the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.
* And the Los Angeles Kings beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 9-2 at what's now the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
There were no NBA games played that day. Baseball was out of season. The NFL was in midweek. But 6 college football bowl games were played:
* Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California: Number 6 USC beat Number 13 Illinois, 49-17.
* Sugar Bowl, Superdome, New Orleans: Number 4 Georgia beat Number 10 Hawaii, 41-10.
* Cotton Bowl, Dallas: Number 7 Missouri beat Number 25 Arkansas, 38-7.
* Capital One Bowl, from the Florida Citrus Bowl (now Camping World Stadium) in Orlando: Number 9 Florida were upset by unranked Michigan, 41-35.
* Outback Bowl, Raymond James Stadium, Tampa: Number 16 Tennessee beat Number 18 Wisconsin, 21-17.
* Gator Bowl, Jacksonville Municipal Stadium (now TIAA Bank Field: Number 21 Virginia were upset by unranked Texas Tech, 31-28.
And North London's Arsenal beat East London's West Ham United, 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium in North London.