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Report: NHL to finally announce 2012 Winter Classic on September 26

San Francisco Giants v Philadelphia Phillies, Game 1

of the Philadelphia Phillies of the San Francisco Giants in Game One of the NLCS during the 2010 MLB Playoffs at Citizens Bank Park on October 16, 2010 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Doug Pensinger

We admit, we’re being a bit silly about harping on about how the 2012 Winter Classic in Philadelphia hasn’t been made official yet. It’s a game on the schedule taking place on Monday, January 2 and, of course, it’s a 1 p.m. puck drop that will be live on NBC but the league had yet to make all the details official.

Our days of having a bit of fun at the NHL’s expense are about to come to an end. Tim Panaccio of CSNPhilly.com followed up on a report from Broad Street Hockey that the NHL would be announcing the mid-winter spectacle on September 26th to find out that, yes, indeed the NHL will be bringing the Rangers and Flyers together to make the game official on that date.

From Panaccio:

The announcement has been long overdue and was actually expected in August.

It will be made prior to the Flyers-Rangers exhibition game, scheduled that night at Wells Fargo Center. The Flyers are scheduled to play the Rangers in the Winter Classic on Jan. 2.

It is expected the announcement will be made at Citizens Bank Park.


If you’re wondering, the Phillies are on the road in Atlanta on the 26th so the stadium is free and clear to hold the press event if need be. It’s been the league’s worst kept secret since early in the summer when the first details leaked about who was playing and where it would be, but making it all absolutely official now means we can get officially geeked up about the game.

Last year’s Winter Classic had the marquee match-up of having Sidney Crosby going up against Alex Ovechkin. This time around, there’s an array of personalities and story lines to follow along with. Brad Richards in his first year on Broadway, Jaromir Jagr with Philadelphia after spurning Pittsburgh in the offseason, Ilya Bryzgalov’s first season in Philly as the starting goalie savior, John Tortorella yelling at everyone and everything. At the very least, the set up for HBO’s 24/7, which has already started taping, will serve to be must-watch programming leading up to the Winter Classic.

Just think, the season hasn’t started yet, but we’re less than four months away from the Winter Classic. Not that we’re looking ahead or anything.