Buffalo goaltender Ryan Miller was a college teammate of Pittsburgh's Adam Hall when their Michigan State squad played to a tie outdoors against Michigan on Oct. 6, 2001, (Don Heupel/Associated Press)

Adam Hall of the Pittsburgh Penguins is not blasé about getting a second chance to play hockey in front of a huge outdoor crowd.

Hall will try and score on Buffalo Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller during NHL's Winter Classic game at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Buffalo, N.Y., on New Year's Day (CBC, 12:30 p.m. ET).

"You know, it's something that doesn't happen every season or every day," Hall said during a recent media conference call. "A lot of players never get the chance to go through something like this. So because it's so rare, I think that adds to it [and] makes all the fans more excited."

Hall and Miller were collegiate teammates for Michigan State when it played to a tie outdoors against Michigan on Oct. 6, 2001, a game played in front of a record hockey crowd of 74,554 at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Mich.

The pair's second game under open skies on Jan. 1 also promises to be a huge event. The tickets that were not set aside for Buffalo season ticket holders, over 40,000 in total, were snapped up in a mere half hour when they went on sale months ago.

In addition to a crowd that could climb over 70,000, the Sabres are welcoming fans to watch on the Jumbotron in the warmer confines of their regular home, HSBC Arena.

Despite the hoopla, Hall said the game is still likely to retain some quaint charm.

"A lot of us have fond memories when we were little kids, skating around on frozen lakes or backyard rinks [or] homemade rinks," said Hall. "Just that outdoor aspect of it has a little bit more of a down-to-earth aspect."

Because the NHL's previous outdoor foray during the regular season was a frigid affair, players are preparing to don toques and long underwear and to put hand warmers in their gloves.

Miller said the unpredictable Buffalo weather could be a factor.

"It can be sunny and 40 degrees in the middle of January or even warmer, or else it can be a complete whiteout and well below zero," the goalie said.

Despite the hoopla, Hall said the game is still likely to retain some quaint charm. (Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press)

Hall and Miller both still vividly remember their colossal collegiate game, and not just because Detroit Red Wings legend Gordie Howe dropped the ceremonial puck.

"At the far end of the tunnel, you saw the far end of the stadium, the crowd," said Hall. "It was a distant roar. I just remember the crowd noise, just the sheer number of people. There's nothing quite like it.

The game, which ended in a 3-3 tie, featured a number of other players who are now coming into their own as NHLers.

Mike Cammalleri of the Los Angeles Kings scored a pair of goals for Michigan, a team which featured current Montreal defenceman Mike Komisarek, as well as a pair of Calgary Flames, David Moss and Eric Nystrom.

Playing in his first NCAA game Jim Slater scored the tying goal in the final minute of regulation for Michigan State, whose defensive corps include John-Michael Liles of the Colorado Avalanche and Chicago's Duncan Keith. Slater, meanwhile, now plays with the Atlanta Thrashers.

Played in the early evening, the game was a challenge for the goaltenders.

"I just remember some issues with shadows and glare," Miller said. "The background wasn't too bad. But you do kind of feel like you're floating out in the middle of the ocean sometimes as goalie with no roof. The players are so far away from the crowd that it's definitely a different look."

The Buffalo-Pittsburgh matchup will likely break the record set when the Montreal Canadiens and Edmonton Oilers played in the NHL's first regular season outdoor game on Nov. 22, 2003, dubbed the Heritage Classic.

A crowd of 57,167 braved temperatures that plummeted as far as -28 C at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton.

Ty Conklin and Georges Laraque, now with Pittsburgh, competed for the Oilers then. Laraque recently told NHL.com the game wasn't the typical regular season affair.

"There wasn't much hitting or blocking shots," Laraque said. "The puck was really cold."

The Oilers-Canadiens game drew a Canadian television audience of 2.747 million, which ranks as the second-highest average audience for a regular-season game on Hockey Night in Canada.

With the biggest U.S. college football bowl games now played after Jan. 1, the NHL is hoping the game will attract a captive holiday audience looking for exciting sports action.

"If I weren't a hockey fan, I'd want to know why they were playing on a football field," said Miller. "Honestly, I'd just flip the channel and I'd watch. I'd be curious."

The game will also provide an opportunity for two of the league's most exciting teams to begin 2008 on a positive note after some rough patches in the first three months of the season.

Eastern Conference finalists the past two playoffs, Buffalo have struggled as a team to adjust in their first season without longtime leaders Chris Drury and Daniel Briere, who each departed via free agency.

After engineering a 47-point improvement in 2006-07, Pittsburgh are now facing opposing teams that don't take them lightly.

The Penguins have had issues finding the right chemistry between their veterans and young stars so far this season. Inconsistent play and a major injury at the goaltender position are also factors in a so-so start for the team.