NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman says good chance Winter Classic returns to Buffalo area in 2028

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said there was a good chance the league in 2028 would celebrate the 20th anniversary of its annual Winter Classic in the place where the outdoor event first launched — Orchard Park, New York.

“I’m not making an announcement or committing to it, but we’re kind of focused on whether or not we can do it around the 20th anniversary of the original Winter Classic,” Bettman said while attending the Sabres’ season-opener in Buffalo on Thursday night. “We’ve already had discussions about the possibility of an outdoor game at Highmark, and that’s something that we think would be great.”

Bettman’s mention of Highmark is in reference to the Buffalo Bills’ current NFL stadium, which will also be the name of the team’s new $2.1 billion facility being built across the street and set to open in July.

And it was in the old facility, then called Ralph Wilson Stadium, where the first Winter Classic was held on Jan. 1, 2008, and immediately captured the NHL’s and its fans’ imaginations. The combination of falling snow and a packed stadium of 71,217 fans created a snow-globe effect for an international TV audience.

Even better, the NHL’s then rising star Sidney Crosby sealed the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 2-1 victory over Buffalo by scoring the decisive shootout goal.

The NHL has since hosted 16 Winter Classics at various notable stadiums across the U.S. — including Chicago’s Wrigley Field, Boston’s Fenway Park and Dallas’ Cotton Bowl — in a game usually played on New Year’s Day. The league has since added other outdoor games to its calendar in having 41 overall since the first Winter Classic, with this year’s game set for the Miami Marlins’ LoanDepot Park on Jan. 2.

Bettman joked the NHL envisioned how the Winter Classic would be an instant success, before adding he was kidding about what began as a one-time proposal the Sabres and NBC pitched to the league.

“We’re grateful that we did it here first,” Bettman said. “And we are going to come back, I promise.”

Helping in the logistics is the Sabres and Bills both being owned by Terry Pegula.

Highmark Stadium also served as home to a international hockey game between the United States and Canada in December 2017 when Buffalo hosted the world junior championships.

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