NHL Winter Classic headed to Fenway Park
Legendary stadium 2nd baseball park to hold a hockey game in two seasons
Last Updated: Friday, July 10, 2009 | 8:21 PM ET
CBC Sports
The home of Ted Williams will see a different type of hitting this coming winter. (Getty Images file) Most days at Fenway Park the famous Green Monster fence in left field plays a significant part in the outcome.
Not the game playing this winter.
The National Hockey League has called a press conference for next Wednesday at the iconic baseball stadium where it will likely announce the Boston Bruins as host for the 2010 Winter Classic against an as-yet unnamed opponent, though the Associated Press was reporting it would be either Washington or Philadelphia.
Fenway Park, opened in 1912 as the home of the Boston Red Sox just days after the Titanic sank in the North Atlantic, had been rumoured to be the spot for the next iteration of the hugely popular hockey event since the last one was played back on New Year's Day at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
Almost 49,000 fans saw the hometown Blackhawks lose to the Detroit Red Wings that day while the famous ivy on the outfield walls was still hibernating for the winter.
On the first day of 2008, the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the host Buffalo Sabres in front of 71,000 at Ralph Wilson Stadium.
The Winter Classic has turned out to be a boon to the NHL, especially in the United States where broadcaster NBC garnered an average of 4.4 million viewers throughout the 2009 game.
That was the most since a Philadelphia Flyers-New York Rangers game on Feb. 23, 1975, according to Nielsen Media Research.
