Winter Classic
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| National Hockey League | |
|---|---|
| First played | January 1, 2008 |
| Times held | 9 |
| Teams participated | 11 |
| Most wins | 2: Washington Capitals (2011, 2015) |
| Most recent | January 2, 2017 |
| Most recent winner | St. Louis Blues |
The NHL Winter Classic is an annual event held by the National Hockey League (NHL) on or around New Year's Day in which a regular-season ice hockey game is played outdoors, generally in a football or baseball stadium, in an area with a resident NHL team. The first Winter Classic was held in 2008 at the venue then known as Ralph Wilson Stadium (now New Era Field) in Orchard Park, New York, between the Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins. A total of nine have been held, the most recent one taking place in 2017 between the Chicago Blackhawks and the St. Louis Blues. The next game will be played during the 2017–18 season at a venue yet to be determined.
After the success of the 2003 Heritage Classic, the NHL's first regular season outdoor game, the league inaugurated the Winter Classic in 2008. It eventually caught on as an annual tradition for the league, suspending only in 2013 due to 2012–13 NHL lockout. The 2014 game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Detroit Red Wings set a new NHL attendance record of 105,491. The Winter Classic has been contested only in the United States, while the Heritage Classic has been held exclusively in Canada. The Winter Classic featured only American teams for its first five games, until the Maple Leafs' appearance in 2014.
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