Outdoor hockey in Windy City

The NHL and NBC will look to build upon the success of its outdoor Winter Classic with a game next New Year's Day in Chicago.

Meanwhile, the New York Daily News reported the league has been involved in discussions to bring the annual event to the new Yankee Stadium, which is scheduled to open for the 2009 Major League baseball season.

The NHL is set to unveil its 2008-09 schedule next week and in it will be a Jan. 1 game at the legendary Wrigley Field pitting the up-and-coming Chicago Blackhawks against the Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings.

According to the Daily News, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, Yankees COO Lonn Trost and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg recently concluded discussions with each expressing an interest in playing a Winter Classic in the new Yankee Stadium perhaps as early as 2010. The New York Rangers would be one of the featured teams.

The NHL had looked into the possibility of playing the game next year as the final event in the current Yankee Stadium but logistical concerns scuttled the idea.

This year's Winter Classic in Buffalo's Ralph Wilson Stadium between the hometown Sabres and the Pittsburgh Penguins drew big ratings for NBC and was a public-relations bonanza for the league.

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