Winter Classic 2013: Why NHL Can't Pass Up Opportunity to Play at The Big House

With the NHL's biggest yearly spectacle, the Winter Classic, having just passed, the league is already in discussions for next year's game. If reports are true that a game at the University of Michigan's Michigan Stadium is a possibility, then the NHL has to pull the trigger.

According to SI.com, there is talk of the Detroit Red Wings hosting the 2013 game at "The Big House." If this is true, then it is precisely the type of venue that the league should try to secure, especially since it holds an incredible 110,000 people.

Scott Burnside of ESPN.com is reporting that the deal is all but finalized and that the Red Wings will be hosting the Toronto Maple Leafs who would be the first Canadian team to compete in a Winter Classic. There are also plans for a second outdoor rink in downtown Detroit that will hold other events.

While every Winter Classic has been special in its own right, I think the general consensus is that the best atmosphere still belongs to the first one between the Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins, which was held at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y.

Part of the reason for that was certainly the appreciation that the fans showed, but I think that football stadiums give the Winter Classic much more of a big-game feel than ballparks do. The first Winter Classic had an attendance of 71,217, and that was considered to be huge. A game at The Big House, though, would completely shatter that mark.

It may seem unlikely that the game would sell out, but a game between Michigan and Michigan State sold out, so you would have to think that a game on a much larger scale would easily sell out as well. The people of Michigan are crazy about hockey and they love their Red Wings, so everything about the game would be fantastic.

I'm not a big proponent of continually reusing the same teams in the Winter Classic like the NHL has been doing as of late, but even though the Red Wings already played in the 2009 Winter Classic, they deserve a chance to host one.

The Winter Classic has helped the NHL regain some of the traction it lost due to the lockout in the 2004-05 season, but the league has to continue to push the envelope. That means continually putting the game in bigger and better venues, and Michigan Stadium certainly fits the bill in that regard.

Eventually, I think the game should branch out to smaller markets like Minnesota and Colorado, but it's vital to keep the momentum of the game going. It's obvious that the American public is interested, as the ratings for the game continue to do well, so they have to knock it out of the park every time.

I understand that seeing the same teams over and over can be tiresome for diehard hockey fans, but the Red Wings have national appeal and a great venue to play in. Everything makes perfect sense, so it would be a shame if the NHL somehow managed to botch the proposed 2013 Winter Classic.