NHL should do it more often....

The NHL on New Year's day did something that I believe they should do EVERY year, and maybe more than just one game.

That is, play the game outdoors.

If you did not see the game, you missed a GREAT spectacle, of a sport born from that roots. The NHL is all but dead as a professional sport in the minds and hearts of America, save for a very small portion of the nation, located almost exclusively in the NE sector of the U.S.

And with the idiocy of the NHL exec offices over the summer of 2007 with regard to their TV deal, they have all but killed any chance of it ever being anything other than an afterthought for most sports fans.

However, the NHL did make a very bold move and scheduled a regular season game between the Pittsburg Penguins and the Buffalo Sabers to be played outdoors at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Buffalo, NY. Home stadium of the NFL's Buffalo Bills.

This was a GREAT idea to try and capture some viewing audiences, and casual sports fans, that would not otherwise even care about hockey. And the weather and the game did not disappoint.

To play hockey outdoors is to return to the true "roots" of where this sport began, AND, to add a new dimension to it that many fans love about other sports like the NFL and even MLB. That weather can and will play a part of the outcome.

I know that the "NHL purists" absolutely HATED this idea. The players hated the ice conditions, the NHL ref's and the players hated the delays for surface prep. But that is EXACTLY why it made the game interesting for those of us who are NOT "hockey purists". Talent is one thing, but the ability to deal with adverse conditions is another. And that SHOULD be part of the game that was originally CREATED by playing outdoors on frozen ponds.

This is an idea which should have been done long ago. And not only should the NHL play one game a year outdoors, but maybe more than one.