The Winter Classic: Past, Present and Future

The Winter Classic was another hit in the Bunker, from start to finish. And after the game was over, it was nice to have the Atlanta/Buffalo game to help bring this viewer back down to the matters at hand.

The games are played indoors, the magic somewhat limited to what the two teams on the ice conjure up. Not that the Fenway Park game was pure fantasy. Not at all. But the indoor games here will be more about the work, which concludes when one team is lifting the Stanley Cup in June.

Until then, we have a few weeks of regular-season action (as you read this the New York Rangers have found another way to lose at home) before the Olympic break. Then the run through March and early April to get us to the tournament. The Cup.

For now, what to do with the Winter Classic. I'm not certain there is much more one can achieve with the game in the remaining stadiums available in the United States and Canada.

The game in Buffalo was fun because it was the first regular-season NHL game of its kind we could see across much of the United States (Thanks ESPN, ABC, Fox, whomever had the contract and chose any number of not so interesting games rather than show the Heritage Classic in Edmonton).

But Bills' football field was not the attraction that came in the following games at Wrigley Field and Fenway Park. And in the name of greed; more club seats and luxury boxes; larger tax breaks; or stadiums that were actually ready to fall down, there does not seem to be any others that will bring to the table what the ballparks in Chicago and Boston did.

Olympic Stadium, or the Big Owe, as my former colleague Jeff Hale calls the cost ineffective enterprise for the 1976 Summer Games, will not do justice to a game involving the Canadiens. Toronto's ballpark doesn't have it. Vancouver's football big top lacks appeal. Yankee Stadium is not a classic, unless you consider the Las Vegas-style building (let's make it look like something great and maybe people will close their eyes and believe they are paying -- paying big time -- for the real deal ... suckers.)

I believe it's time for a Woodstock approach. Time to get back to the land. Find a pond, open field or wide street. Build a rink and allow the fans to get right up to the glass. If the league wants corporate partners at the game, the NHL can build a little hut in a corner. There, the corporate partners can watch or ignore the game in comfort.

Every NHL city has a grand park or outdoor setting that could make this game become part of the urbanscape, playing off the architecture of the host city. New York could have one in Central Park, for example; Toronto's game could be situated on one of its grand boulevards.

Take the game to the streets, parks and open areas in every NHL city. Now that is a New Year's celebration that a community and a league should get behind. Those are my two cents, anyway.

Hey, the Kings are going on the power play against the Capitals right now, which means I will end it here. Here is the Team USA roster and discussion on From the Rink. Below is a rundown of the action Friday night.

THE SCOREBOARD
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
At Boston 2, Philadelphia 1 OT
At Buffalo 4, Atlanta 3 OT
The standings are here.
The recap from Sportsnet.
Three stars from Puck Daddy.

AMERICAN HOCKEY LEAGUE
Houston 5, at Milwaukee 2
At Providence 4, Bridgeport 2
Hershey 3, at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 2
At San Antonio 3, Abbotsford 1
The standings are here.
The roundup is here.

EAST COAST HOCKEY LEAGUE
Kalamazoo 1, at Toledo 0
Trenton 7, at Elmira 4
At Idaho 5, Stockton 1
The standings are here.

QUEBEC MAJOR JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE
No games scheduled.
The standings are here.

ONTARIO HOCKEY LEAGUE
At Kingston 3, Peterborough 0
At Kitchener 5, Plymouth 2
Ottawa 4, at Oshawa 3
Windsor 6, at Guelph 3
The standings are here.
The roundup is here.

WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE
At Swift Current 3, Medicine Hat 2
The standings are here.
The roundup is here.

UNITED STATES HOCKEY LEAGUE
Tri-City 4, at Des Moines 2
Team USA 4, at Sioux Falls 2
At Chicago 5, Lincoln 4 SO
The standings are here.

WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP
No games scheduled.
The standings and statistics are here.
Preliminary round three stars from Puck Daddy.