January 10, 2008
For most, the new year was ushered in by shouts and little toys that make funny sounds.
But for the Buffalo Sabres, Pittsburgh Penguins and all of the NHL and its fans, it opened with the thunderous applause of an audience that had so long been absent from the league.
On Jan. 1, the NHL hosted its 2nd annual Winter Classic, a game played every year in an outdoor setting. The game set a new attendance record for the NHL with 71,217 people in attendance, shattering the previous record of 57,167.
Pittsburgh\'s Sidney Crosby celebrates his game-winning shootout goal against the Buffalo Sabres during the NHL Winter Classic outdoor hockey game at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y., on Jan. 1. (David Duprey/Associated Press)
This year, the game took place in Buffalo, N.Y., at the NFL's Buffalo Bills' Ralph Wilson Stadium, making this the first time the event has been held in the U.S.
For the game to take place, the stadium had to go through the transformation from a football stadium to a hockey rink, no easy task.
The stadium’s transformation began on Dec. 24, with a regular-size NHL stadium constructed between the 16-yard lines of the football field. It took four days to create ice on the rink and another two days of painting to complete the rink.
When the rink was complete and game time came, fans flooded the stadium, nearly filling it, a scene the NHL has not seen in a long time.
The game did not disappoint, as the Pittsburgh Penguins won the shootout to take the game, 2-1.
Sidney Crosby, the Penguins young superstar forward, won the shootout and ultimately the game for his team.
The biggest win of the day did not come for the Penguins though; it came for the NHL.
The hockey league, once considered one of the "Big Four" sports leagues in America, has taken some serious blows to its popularity since a labor strike in 2004 lasted long enough so that the '04-'05 season wasn't even played.
Since the strike, attendance, income and overall league morale has been greatly diminished. Many did not even see the NHL as one of the big sports leagues anymore.
This game, however, has NHL fans hoping the league is back on the rise. The near-sellout game was an encouraging sign that the league is slowly but surely returning to its previous stature.
