The 2008 Winter Classic in Buffalo, N.Y.

With excitement building for the NHL’s annual outdoor Winter Classic, guest blogger Perry Espardinez takes us on a little trip down an icy memory lane:

This New Year’s Day, the Philadelphia Flyers and the Boston Bruins will square off in the Winter Classic, an NHL annual event that brings ice hockey out of the arenas and into the cold of winter. This regular season match tries to bring the sport back to its roots, plus gives sports fans something to watch aside from the usual New Years hangover helpers of parades and college bowl games.

Now, the NHL is considering a Canadian outdoor game each season, which should make us wonder why the Winter Classic isn’t already played in Canada.

In fact, it was … on a technicality.

The Heritage Classic, as it was billed in 2003, was the NHLs first regular season game to be played outdoors.

Hosted by the Edmonton Oilers, it was held on a rink set up at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton. The Montreal Canadians beat the home team 4-3 with 57,000 in attendance.

Keeping with tradition, the NHL plans to feature Canadian teams in an outdoor Canadian venue in the new annual outdoor game, which would start. All six Canadian NHL teams have expressed interest, but there’s been no announcement on when or where the game would be played.