As if there weren't enough college football bowl games to satisfy even the heartiest of New Year's Day sports revelers, now comes a report that the NHL and NBC will soon announce the Jan. 1 game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres will be played outdoors and televised nationally.
Sources told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review the Penguins and Sabres will ring in the new year with a 1 p.m. (ET) tilt at Ralph Wilson Stadium, home of the NFL's Buffalo Bills.
The Penguins and Sabres will skate on an outdoor rink in the made-for-TV event that is tentatively being called "Ice Bowl," the newspaper said. Neither the league nor network would comment; however, the report said an official announcement is expected Sept. 10, prior to the start of training camps.
The NHL played its first outdoor game on Nov. 22, 2003, when the Montreal Canadiens and Edmonton Oilers played at Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium. That game was played in sub-freezing temperatures before a crowd of more than 52,000.
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