Pens, Sabres Will Play Outside

The NHL has scheduled its first outdoor game since 2003, with Pittsburgh visiting Buffalo in the 73,000-seat Ralph Wilson Stadium on New Years Day, 2008. The current NHL attendance record is 57,167, when Montreal visited Edmonton; this is poised to be shattered, as tickets for Buffalo-Pittsburgh sold out within half an hour.

Commissioner Gary Bettman waxed poetic, saying, "There is something very special about taking hockey out into the elements, back to its roots, back to the place where so many boys and girls first learned to love our game." Added Penguins GM Ray Shero: "We're hoping that, in the worst case, it might be cold. That would be great." (More NHL stories.)