January 1st we witnessed hockey history! The first ever NHL outdoor game in the United States was played at Ralf Wilson stadium in Buffalo. Now there have been other outdoor games like the heritage classic, which was in Canada, but this was the first one in the United States. The 2 teams selected were Buffalo and Pittsburgh. Watching any outdoor game would be great but if it is your hometown team playing it is even better. The game was held at Ralf Wilson stadium, where the Buffalo Bills play football. What the NHL did was build a rink in the center of the field! You can check out the building of the rink here.
Playing hockey outdoors is how most players started and it brings back a lot of memories for them. To bring it back even more both Pittsburgh and Buffalo wore their original jerseys they started with when they came into the league. The game was being broadcast on national television in the U.S. and Canada. Not many hockey games are broadcast on national television so it was great that anyone could watch this game. Tickets for this game sold out in the matter of minutes, it was a complete sell-out all 73,000+ seats, the largest audience for a hockey game ever! (most arena’s seat between 16,000 – 20,000 people).
As it came to 1PM both teams came out of their lockers rooms and onto the ice. It would have to be surreal for them as they have never played in front of this many people. After the opening ceremonies began they even had blackhawks fly over the stadium and fireworks, sort of felt like the super bowl. Conditions for the game were not that great, at the beginning of the game it was snowing heavily, but towards the end of the game it let up a bit. The Penguins scored first on their first shot of the game, but Buffalo came back in the 2nd to tie it. You could definitely tell the players had to adjust to the conditions, they were not used to the cold or all the snow on the ice. Both teams remained tied the rest of the game so it went to overtime. When overtime was done it was still tied, so it went to a shootout. My friend Jason and I said weeks ago that this game would be amazing if it went to a shootout (because not that many do) and it was crazy that this one did. In the shootout each team selects 3 players to go 1 on 1 with the goalie on a break-away. Buffalo elected to go first and they scored on their first shot. The pens first shooter missed and after that I was pretty scared since the ice has so much snow on it, it was hard for the players to make any real moves on the goalie. The pens 2nd shooter scored to tie it and Buffalo’s last 2 shooters did not score so it was tied 1-1. The Pens final shooter was Sidney Crosby everyone in the Stadium was on their feet. With the game on his stick he put it away and the Pens won the game!
I was really great seeing all the players play in the natural environment and seeing so many fans come out for the game. I hope the NHL does a game like this each year. I’ve heard people saying the Pittsburgh might play Philadelphia in the next one. That would be really great because they are one of our biggest rivals. Anyways if you have not heard anything about this game you should definitely check out the highlights! Oh and I go myself a nice Christmas present!
