Outdoor game in Buffalo is exactly what NHL needs

All-time greats Wayne Gretzky, Guy Lafleur and Mark Messier lit up Edmonton's outdoor Heritage Classic in 2003. Dave Sandford/Getty Images

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For the NHL and the players set to brave the elements, the Winter Classic is all about exposure.

So far, so good.

Despite the surprisingly negative outlook from many in the media toward the outdoor game scheduled for Jan. 1 at Buffalo's Ralph Wilson Stadium between the Sabres and Penguins, the contest has been given the warmest of receptions from one important group: the fans.

Already, the made-for-American TV match has generated a story line that's impossible for even the most cynical scribe to brush off. One day after the game was officially confirmed -- admittedly, an announcement that boasted the surprise factor of Christmas falling on the 25th of December this year -- 42,000 tickets went on sale to the general public. Within minutes, each and every one was snapped up by fans who had waited in line all night or spent the morning jamming the phone lines. Official reports put the sellout at 30 minutes, although local sources told me it was closer to 10.

No doubt a number of those tickets were corralled by ticket brokers hoping to cash in on the hype as the game draws near, but still, 10 minutes! Frank, Dean and Sammy could come back from the dead for a one-off date with Elvis as the opening act and they'd be hard-pressed to move that many tickets that quickly. . . at least if they were playing outdoors in Buffalo in January.

Of course, there are still 32,000 more seats to be filled. Most of those will be offered to Sabres and Penguins season ticket holders. The league also is holding back a few ducats for corporate cronies. But this game is now essentially sold out.

Does that sound to you like a concept that's grown tired?

I'll admit that I'm still not sold on the wisdom of staging the game on Jan. 1. Seems to me that NBC, which pushed for the date, would draw better ratings by counter programming a full slate of college football bowl games with the 1937 classic Heidi, and saving this contest for the relatively competition-free date of Feb. 17. But the Peacock Network made the call, and you can expect them to put some valuable promotional might behind the event.

The thing is, it's hard to say at this point what they'll get. No one expects this to mimic the experience of the 2003 Heritage Classic in Edmonton. Aside from being the NHL's first-ever outdoor game, the legend of that event was built on the Megastars exhibition that featured the return of Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier in Oilers uniforms against a Montreal side led by Guy Lafleur. Hard to recreate that kind of magic.

But that game was a celebration for the converted. This one is for the great unwashed. The curiosity factor of the event should draw plenty of eyes that have yet to take in the magic of Sidney Crosby, an athlete with every bit of the charisma that LeBron James, Derek Jeter or Peyton Manning possess. And those are eyes that wouldn't blink twice if the game were being held in the cozy confines of HSBC Arena.

Catching those viewers won't be cheap. The league is expected to take on seven figures worth of red ink to stage the contest, but they're obviously looking at it as a loss leader. As well they should. Given what Crosby means to the game, the long-term value of that exposure makes the Winter Classic the most important game of the season, bar none.

Even if the event tanks this season -- inclement weather could push it back to Jan. 2 (a non-holiday Tuesday) or worse, force it indoors -- the outdoor game is a concept that needs to be vigorously pursued in the future.

Why not take a page from the Super Bowl playbook and open up next year's Classic to bids? It would be nice for those towns deemed too cold for the NFL's big game to have their cruel winter climate work in their favor for a change. And it wouldn't just be the bidding process that puts the game out front. Imagine the kind of excitement that could be generated by a game in Fenway Park or Soldier Field or the new Yankee Stadium.

But why limit it to NHL cities? Why not consider something more exotic a few years down the road, like the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field? Or the pitch at Old Trafford? Since it's a TV event, why not stage a real-life sequel to Mystery, Alaska by holding a game in some remote northern outpost? Gimmicky? Sure. But for a league struggling for airtime and column inches, a good gimmick is exactly what's needed to prod the American creature of habit to click away from football and mix in a little shinny.

The promise of Marc-Andre Fleury in a toque wouldn't hurt, either.