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“Worst kept secret in sports": NHL announces 2012 Winter Classic in Philadelphia

WC12_PrimaryMarks

The inevitable has finally come to pass: The NHL made the 2012 Winter Classic in Philadelphia official.

Today at Citizens Bank Park in Philly, the Rangers and Flyers each joined NHL commissioner Gary Bettman on the field at the home of the Phillies to make the announcement of the long known Winter Classic matchup official. Commissioner Bettman helped make things go nice and easy by admitting that the announcement of the Winter Classic was, “the worst kept secret in sports.”

With a Monday, January 2 date set for the two teams to square off, the Winter Classic will round out the New Years holiday by playing a day later so as to avoid conflicts with the NFL and the Philadelphia Eagles who will host the Washington Redskins at home on January 1. Commissioner Bettman also hyped up this year’s game in typical fashion playing up the rivalry between the two teams and cities.

“The Rangers-Flyers rivalry is one of our very best,” said Gary Bettman, NHL Commissioner. “It is only a short distance from Broadway to Broad Street, and over the years, these not-so-neighborly teams have provided an assortment of memorable games. I have every expectation that the 2012 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic will provide more great moments to remember.”

The two teams have collided in the past two seasons to play some memorable games that affected each others standings in the playoff race including seeing the Flyers clinch their own playoff spot and knocking the Rangers out two seasons ago. As if the two teams needed any fuel to the fire, Rangers general manager Glen Sather made it clear that the Rangers were coming to town to win and then some.

“We’re going to come to Philadelphia, and we’re going to win... At the end of the year, we’ll be carrying the [Stanley] Cup just like the Yankees will the World Championship.”

Nothing like trolling the entire city of Philadelphia and doing so across two sports on top of it all.

Also included this year, once again, will be HBO’s 24/7. We knew that HBO was already filming some shots in training camp so this too was no surprise. What will be worth watching is to see who embraces the spotlight of the HBO cameras. Philadelphia has Ilya Bryzgalov, Chris Pronger, Daniel Briere, and Jaromir Jagr to mug for the camera for them while the Rangers have Henrik Lundqvist, Brad Richards, Marian Gaborik, and Sean Avery to eat up the spotlight.

While last year’s Winter Classic had Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby to draw in the superstar firepower, this year’s game and HBO documentary series will have a host of other players to bring in attention. For our own liking, we’d love to see Bryzgalov, Pronger, and Avery get followed around every day just to see what shakes loose. Getting to see how Rangers coach John Tortorella works the room could bring footage that would make Caps coach Bruce Boudreau blush.

Some may complain that the game won’t be the same since it’s not being played on New Year’s Day, but avoiding competition with the last week of the NFL schedule on top of a game being played in the same town makes a world of sense. Getting a full day dedicated to the Winter Classic itself has always been the point and January 2 will be a holiday for most fans. Besides, it won’t matter what day the game is played to get Flyers and Rangers fans to be at each others throats.