Winter Classic 2012: Why NHL's Premier Event Must Branch Out to Smaller Markets

Since 2008, the Winter Classic outdoor game has been an NHL staple. While every Classic game has been great for one reason or another, it is hard to imagine another one living up to the original in Buffalo, N.Y. in 2008.

This year's game at Citizens Bank Park between the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers will certainly be a spectacle, but like the games of the past three years in Chicago, Boston and Pittsburgh, I don't think it will have the same feel as the first one.

While the fact that Buffalo's Winter Classic was played in front of a record crowd of 71,217 at Ralph Wilson Stadium was one of the things that made it so great, I think that the fans simply appreciated it more than others because of Buffalo's small-market status.

There are certainly diehard hockey fans in Philadelphia and in every other market, but fans of the Sabres eat, breathe and sleep hockey. In Philadelphia, sports fans have the Eagles, 76ers and Phillies in addition to the Flyers, but all the people of Buffalo have are the Sabres and the lowly Bills.

When it comes to the Winter Classic, atmosphere is everything. The game is rarely well played because of the outdoor conditions that often involve snow and a shoddy ice surface, so the fans and the overall aesthetics are what make the event great.

It is understandable that the NHL wants to put the game in big markets like Philadelphia in order to capitalize on television ratings, and I don't disagree that bigger markets do deserve to have the Winter Classic. With that said, though, I think the league needs to go back to the roots of what made the Classic so successful to begin with.

I don't think that necessarily involves going back to Buffalo, although I do think Buffalo should get the game again on its 10th anniversary or something to that effect. The best thing the NHL could do, in my opinion, is give the Minnesota Wild the game next season or in the near future.

Like Buffalo, the people of Minnesota are crazy for hockey and they would form a fun, raucous crowd for the event. Also, the event could be played TCF Bank Stadium where the Minnesota Golden Gophers' football team plays its games.

The venue only holds roughly 50,000, so it would fall short of the attendance that Buffalo and Pittsburgh were able to pull in, but it would surpass ballparks like Wrigley Field in Chicago, Fenway Park in Boston and Citizens Bank Park in Philly.

I'm not sure that it's widely known around the league just how much the people of Minnesota love hockey and the Wild more specifically, just as I think that was the case with Buffalo prior to 2008. Not only would a Winter Classic in Minnesota help broaden the league's horizons, but it would give it that special feel it had in Buffalo.

There is no question that the 2012 Winter Classic in Philadelphia will be special in its own right, but I feel like we've seen it before in Chicago and Boston. Like they say with movies, though, the sequels are rarely as good as the original.