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The 2008 NHL Winter Classic (known via corporate sponsorship as the AMP Energy NHL Winter Classic) an outdoor regular season National Hockey League (NHL) game played on January 1, 2008, at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park, New York. The Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Buffalo Sabres, 2–1, in a shootout, on a goal by captain Sidney Crosby. It was the first outdoor regular-season professional ice hockey game to be played in the United States, and was sponsored by AMP Energy. It was the successor to the 2003 Heritage Classic, the NHL's first regular-season outdoor game, played in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The game was televised in the United States on NBC and in Canada on CBC and RDS. Due to the snowy conditions, the game was at the time colloquially referred to as the "Ice Bowl" by residents of the area and Sabres fans. The game, which was played at a temporary ice rink built on the football field, set an NHL attendance record of 71,217. The Sabres held a Winter Classic "house party" at HSBC Arena during the game where another 11,000 fans saw the game shown live on the arena's video scoreboard with synched-up audio from the team's radio coverage.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 title=Happy, Happy New Year )〕 The Buffalo Sabres Alumni Hockey Team played a pre-game at the HSBC Arena as part of the house party festivities.〔 〕 Buffalo Sabres anthem singer Doug Allen sang the Canadian national anthem, as is customary at Sabres home games. Irish tenor Ronan Tynan performed "God Bless America" before the game at the stadium. The success of the event has led to subsequent outdoor hockey games being scheduled and helped establish the Winter Classic as an annual NHL tradition. == Preparations == Construction of the outdoor rink began on December 24, the day after the Buffalo Bills played their last home game of the 2007 NFL season. It was built between the 16-yard lines of the football field,〔 under the supervision of NHL facilities operations manager Dan Craig. Initially, six inches (150 mm) of the nine-inch (230 mm) crown of the football field had to be leveled using styrofoam insulation. On top of the newly created flat surface, three inches (75 mm) of plywood with plastic covering were laid as a base for the necessary piping. At the same time the boards were being put in place, an inch of sand was spread amongst the piping and was then wet by a combination of hoses and timely rain so it could freeze into a rink overnight and be painted four days before the game.〔 〕 Another ¾ of an inch of ice was added to complete the playing surface.〔 〕 After this experience, Commissioner Gary Bettman stated that the League would like more time to prepare the site for the next outdoor game. He also wanted to ensure that not too many outdoor games are held so the event can remain special.〔 〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「2008 NHL Winter Classic」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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