13-degree temperatures.  And Snow.  Lots of snow.

Who would want to spend their New Year’s Day sitting outside in those conditions?

Well, apparently about 105,000 passionate, snow-powdered hockey fans.

Exactly 105,491 fans, clad in red and blue, packed Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor on Jan. 1 to watch the Toronto Maple Leafs take on the Detroit Red Wings in a classic battle of two Original Six franchises, setting a record for attendance at a hockey game.

What we saw was not just a great hockey game (Toronto won, 3-2, in a shootout), but one of the greatest spectacles in all of sports; two of the game’s oldest teams duking it out on the ice in wintry conditions on the most hallowed of college football grounds.  How fitting that a hockey game was played on a college football field on New Year’s Day, right?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoKsZZn1Xms

New Year’s Day is a day reserved for college football.  One of the oldest bowl games, the Rose Bowl, is played on this day, and has produced some of the greatest college football moments in history.  Since 2008, though, hockey has begun to make a name for itself on New Year’s Day with the playing of the annual Winter Classic game.

Since its inception, the Winter Classic has been a success.  The first game, played between the Buffalo Sabres and the Pittsburgh Penguins on Jan. 1, 2008, saw a then-NHL record 71,217 fans fill Ralph Wilson Stadium in New York.  The following two Winter Classics were played at two of the oldest baseball stadiums in America, Wrigley Field in Chicago and Fenway Park in Boston.  After stops in Pittsburgh at Heinz Field and in Philadelphia at Citizens Bank Park, the Classic arrived in Ann Arbor for the highly anticipated tilt between the Maple Leafs and Red Wings.

The NHL has often struggled to compete with the NFL, for example, when it comes to television ratings.  And quite frankly, football is the more popular American sport.  But, the Winter Classic is a great way for the NHL to present some of its greatest rivalries on a national stage to a diverse audience.  Matchups like Red Wings-Blackhawks, Flyers-Bruins and Maple Leafs-Red Wings are some of the greatest rivalries the NHL has to offer, and all have been played at the Winter Classic.

The NHL, realizing the success that the Winter Classic has had, is expanding this concept to the 2014 Stadium Series, which is a series of four outdoor games that will be played during the second half of this year’s NHL season.  The inaugural game will be played on Jan. 25 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles between the Anaheim Ducks and the Los Angeles Kings.  The next will be a pair of games played at Yankee Stadium in New York.  First, the New York Rangers will take on the New Jersey Devils on Jan. 26, followed by the Rangers again, playing the New York Islanders on Jan. 29.  The fourth and final game of the 2014 Stadium Series will be played between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Pittsburgh Penguins on March 1 at Soldier Field in Chicago.

NHL franchises know that the Winter Classic can offer beneficial national exposure for their team.  With the introduction of the Stadium Series, even more teams will be able spend some time in the spotlight.  Next year, we will see the Washington Capitals take the ice on New Year’s Day in the 2015 Winter Classic.  Reports say that the game will be played at Nationals Park in Washington D.C., home of the MLB’s Washington Nationals.  An opponent has yet to be announced.

https://twitter.com/richarddeitsch/status/418618378425602048

Overall, the Winter Classic has been a great success for the NHL.  The games have broken attendance records and have regularly produced television ratings that compete with those of the Stanley Cup Final.  Commissioner Gary Bettman and his confidantes hit the jackpot with this idea and should continue to showcase their league on New Year’s Day in the future.  For as much criticism that Bettman receives for the lockouts the NHL has endured, the Winter Classic is one immense success of his tenure.  Fans show up to the games, and even more watch at home.

The NFL has Thanksgiving Day, the NBA has Christmas Day and now, the NHL has New Year’s Day.

That’s right.  Hockey.  Not college football.

The bowl games are nice, and rich with tradition, but the NHL is beginning to carve its own tradition into holiday sporting events.  105,491 loyal fans proved that hockey is alive and kicking, and that New Year’s Day is a day that hockey fans should be proud of.