Playing Canada's game -- outdoors

You may have flipped around the dial this afternoon and seen a hockey game played outdoors. Yes, Pittsburgh and Buffalo battled at Ralph Wilson Stadium, home of the NFL's Buffalo Bills. The Penguins edged the hometown Sabres 2-1 in a OT shootout.

The Canadian angle? They billed this game as the first NHL outdoor game ever -- in the United States. Montreal took on Edmonton at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton (home of the CFL's Edmonton Eskimos). Also, the CBC carried the game 4 years ago and the one on New Year's Day 2008.

On November 22, 2003, Montreal skated past the Oilers 4-3.

Watching 70,000 some fans watching hockey was very exciting, but it wasn't much of a game -- the weather played a negative factor. Pittsburgh's 2 second-period shots were barely shots if at all. Still, showing off the great game of hockey in the United States has been a problem for marketing-challenged officials of the NHL. So even if it wasn't much hockey-wise, for a day, more people were talking about hockey.