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The NHL Winter Classic is an annual event held by the National Hockey League (NHL) on or around New Year's Day in which a regular-season ice hockey game is played outdoors, generally in a football or baseball stadium, in an area with a resident NHL team. The first Winter Classic was held in 2008 at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park, New York, between the Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins. A total of seven have been held, the most recent one taking place in 2015, between the Chicago Blackhawks and Washington Capitals. After the success of the 2003 Heritage Classic, the NHL's first regular season outdoor game, the league inaugurated the Winter Classic in 2008. It eventually caught on as an annual tradition for the league, suspending only in 2013 due to 2012–13 NHL lockout. The 2014 game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Detroit Red Wings set a new NHL attendance record of 105,491. The Winter Classic has been contested only in the United States, while the Heritage Classic has been held exclusively in Canada. The Winter Classic featured only American teams for its first five games, until the Leafs' appearance in 2014. Along with the NHL All-Star Game, the Winter Classic is considered one of the NHL's premier events; with matchups generally booked to showcase the league's most popular teams and players, the event garners the league its highest attendance and among its highest television ratings. The event is typically promoted as a return to the sport's outdoor roots, meant to evoke memories of pond hockey. Its popularity has led to the scheduling of additional outdoor hockey games, both in the NHL and other leagues worldwide. In May 2014, the SportsBusiness Journal and SportsBusiness Daily named the Winter Classic its "Sports Event of the Year," the second time in five years the Classic has won that distinction. ==History== The Winter Classic as a television event was presented by NBC Sports Executive VP Jon Miller. He pitched the idea to the NHL in 2004 "but they didn't find the concept workable."〔Wyshynski, Greg. (“Chatting with NBC Sports executive producer Sam Flood about Winter Classic, cable cam for hockey, Mike Milbury and HBO '24/7'” ), “Puck Daddy,” December 21, 2010〕 In December 2006, Miller found an ally in then Executive VP/Business & Media John Collins, who embraced the idea.〔Brink, Bill. (“Winter Classic is a cool concept” ), ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', December 26, 2010〕〔Dowbiggen, Bruce. (“How hockey found its signature moment” ), ''The Globe and Mail'', December 30, 2010〕 The first Winter Classic was held January 1, 2008, between the Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park, New York. The game had a then-NHL-record crowd of 71,217 fans in attendance. The success of the 2008 NHL Winter Classic led the NHL to schedule a second one for 2009, held at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois, on January 1, 2009, matching the Detroit Red Wings against the Chicago Blackhawks. That game had the highest American television ratings of any hockey game in 33 years. The third Winter Classic was held at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts, on January 1, 2010, featuring the Boston Bruins and the Philadelphia Flyers. The result was a 2–1 overtime win for Boston, the first home team to win a Winter Classic. The 2011 game was played at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals with Washington winning 3–1. The fifth Winter Classic was held at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on January 2, 2012, featuring the New York Rangers and the Philadelphia Flyers. The result was a 3–2 win for New York. Weather has proven to affect the game, with the 2011 and 2012 classics being delayed due to rain and other weather. Outdoor effects of wind and sun glare may give an unfair advantage to one team, so the NHL sometimes modifies the third and overtime periods. In this case, play is stopped at the midway point and teams switch directions. This option was exercised in 2008, 2011, and 2014. The 2008 and 2014 games also featured the teams switching ends halfway through the five-minute sudden-death overtime period for the same reason; in addition, during both games' shootouts, both goaltenders alternated defending the same goal, rather than the normal practice of defending opposite goals. The Winter Classic was made a part of the NHL schedule through at least January 1, 2021, as part of the league's television contract, initially with NBC and Versus, then just NBC after Comcast (the parent company of Versus) bought NBC and merged Versus into the NBC Sports banner. The 2012 Winter Classic in Philadelphia was not played on New Year's Day, as that fell on a Sunday in 2012 and conflicted with the NFL's final week of regular season games. Instead, following precedent set by college football's bowl games (which move their games to Monday when January 1 lands on Sunday), and to prevent a weather delay from pushing into the timeslot for ''NBC Sunday Night Football'', the game took place on January 2, 2012. The game was played at Citizens Bank Park, home of the Philadelphia Phillies. Neighboring Lincoln Financial Field, home of the Philadelphia Eagles, reportedly was preferred, but as the Eagles hosted a home game on January 1, the NHL could not undertake the required week-long renovations needed to construct the outdoor playing arena. The New York Rangers defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 3–2. The 2013 Winter Classic was scheduled for Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, with the Detroit Red Wings hosting the Toronto Maple Leafs in an Original Six matchup. However, the 2012–13 NHL lockout disrupted the season, leading to the game's cancellation on November 2, 2012.〔National Hockey League. ("NHL announces cancellation of 2013 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic & SiriusXM Hockeytown Winter Festival" ), November 2, 2012.〕 The matchup was rescheduled for the 2014 Winter Classic, at the same venue with the same participants.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=2014 NHL Winter Classic will match Wings and Leafs )〕 It was the first time a Canadian team participated in the Winter Classic. An NHL-record total of 105,491 tickets were sold, greater than the Guinness World Records-certified world-record attendance of 104,173 at The Big Chill at the Big House, also held at Michigan Stadium. However, on January 24, 2014, an NHL source reported that the certified attendance, based on tickets scanned at the venue, fell short of the world record. On September 21, 2013, Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis announced the 2015 Winter Classic would be hosted by his franchise. On June 22, 2014, the NHL announced the Capitals would play the Chicago Blackhawks. On September 10, 2014, the NHL announced the game would be played at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Nationals Park to Host Capitals vs. Blackhawks in 2015 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic )〕 On January 24, 2015, at an All Star Game press conference, the NHL announced that the Winter Classic would return to Massachusetts, with the Bruins hosting the Montreal Canadiens at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough. 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「NHL Winter Classic」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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