Op-Ed: NHL outdoor Bridgestone Winter Classic, Toronto and Detroit 2013

Ann Arbor - It was announced recently by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman that the next outdoor Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic will be held in Michigan Stadium with over 100,000 seats.

It will be hosted by Detroit Red Wings against Toronto Maple Leafs (both original six) on New Year's day 2013, in Ann Arbor Michigan. You may well need binoculars to see any of the action, but this (if full) will be the largest hockey attendance in North America. The largest crowd so far, was back in 2010 at the Michigan Stadium, when 104,000 attended a match between University of Michigan and Michigan State University. This will be the sixth running of Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic® and probably one of the riches rivalries in the NHL. There’s no doubt many of the Toronto Maple Leaf fans will make their way to Ann Arbor for the event and the festivities prior to the regular scheduled league game. Previously the largest crowd for The Winter Classic was back in 2008 (the first game in The Winter Classic) when Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins played before 71,000 at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Buffalo, NY. Detroit currently sits atop the Western Conference, and with 74 points is the top team in the League. The Maple Leafs sit at eighth place in the Eastern Conference, one point behind Ottawa.