As soon as the Winter Classic ended, you knew everyone was going to start gushing about what a wonderful event it was – even if there was a whistle approximately once every six seconds during the first two periods. This one, hot off the presses, is entitled “NHL Sets Higher Bar with Latest Classic“.

Doesn’t every kid want to stay on the ice when the session is over? I mean, I’m 28 years old, and when the sessions at Cantiague Park end, I start to cry and beg the attendant for five more minutes on the ice.

Isn’t EVERY version of the national anthem performed by a singer considered “lyrical”?

It is not a stretch to suggest that for every Boston Bruins player, every Philadelphia Flyers player, every coach and manager, and the 38,112 who jammed into the Fenway Park stands, there will be a separate memory of the Winter Classic that they will tuck away forever.

OK, first of all, this is a one-sentence paragraph. Second of all, this isn’t even possible. Third of all, people are going to have exactly two memories of this game – it was cool to see a rink at Fenway, and the Bruins won in overtime. In that order.

First, would this audacious plan work? The Buffalo experience on Jan. 1 2008, answered in the affirmative.

Fun fact – if the Winter Classic didn’t debut in Buffalo, it would NEVER be held there. Somehow, I doubt the allure of Ralph Wilson Stadium could attract non-hockey fans.

Corporate sponsors are clamoring to get on board and NHL teams are now bidding to host the event.

Keep this sentence in the back of your mind.

“It is a cornerstone of the strategy we began over three years ago to build scale and connect with our fans in ways we haven’t done before, using all of the platforms available to us,” commissioner Gary Bettman said Friday.

Except, of course, ESPN. This game was listed ninth in ESPN.com’s top stories just an hour after the game was over, behind non-stop college football coverage. That’d probably change if ABC was airing the game. Not saying it’s fair, but that’s the way it’d be.

Success is said to breed success, but at the same time, the bar has been set extremely high and the risk of backsliding, of having an event that doesn’t measure up and therefore becomes subject to criticism or disappointment, goes up.

The bar was never NOT high. Last year’s game set the bar as high as it was going to go. This year’s game just happened to have a better finish. Now, every Winter Classic will have to be held at an iconic stadium and feature two major-market, media-friendly teams.

The NHL has for the first time opened up a bid process to come up with a host for the 2011 game.

Hey, this sounds familiar! I think I read this somewhere before.

The process will force teams to think outside the box in suggesting venues and activities that will “wow” the league.

I’d imagine the bids of teams like Nashville and Columbus will be pieces of paper stating simply, “We know we have no chance of ever getting a Winter Classic. However, we’re submitting this so we can tell our fans we’re in the market for a Winter Classic someday.”

The New York Rangers, for instance, are the only U.S.-based Original Six team that has yet to play in a Winter Classic, and it is important they are involved given their heritage and importance to the league.

Wrong. A GOOD Rangers team is important to the league. The current Rangers team doesn’t do anything for the casual fan outside of New York. It’d be like putting the Knicks on a Christmas Day game… oh wait, nevermind.

Yankee Stadium may not be a possibility, though, with word college football will be using the facility over the holidays; so, the league must consider ways for the Rangers to host a game somewhere else or invite them to play in the contest as a visiting team.

Let’s also not forget that the new Yankee Stadium has been open for exactly one year. A game there isn’t what it would have been a year or two ago. I’d rather see a Winter Classic at the decaying carcass of Giants Stadium than at new Yankee Stadium.

One memory many fans will cherish from Friday’s Winter Classic was watching former Bruins great Bobby Orr skate onto the ice as the team’s honorary captain. Former Philadelphia captain and GM Bob Clarke was the Flyers’ honorary captain, and to see the two Hall of Famers skate to center ice together for the ceremonial puck drop was a nice moment.

Are we saying that places like Tampa, Atlanta, Carolina or Phoenix should never have an Outdoor Classic?

What’s an Outdoor Classic?
Wrigley and Fenway were no-brainers, but now it becomes more difficult to find those iconic venues.

This is actually a good point. I guess there’s a first time for everything.

The game also has to celebrate its biggest stars, and that’s why we don’t have any problem with Pittsburgh and Sidney Crosby being involved in a second game, or Detroit hosting a Winter Classic in the near future even if the Red Wings have already been in one.

We are guessing it is a formality that wherever the game is held next year, the Washington Capitals and Alex Ovechkin will be involved in some way. It is mystifying that three events have passed without the Caps being involved.

You can bet that Ovechkin and Crosby will each play in three Winter Classics before they retire. God forbid NBC and the NHL promote the other teams in the league.

In the end, the challenge of maintaining the Classic’s magical spark isn’t about being fair, it’s about making the right choices.

Awesome. So teams like the Islanders will always be stuck playing second fiddle to the “big” teams and attractive venues. And the “right choices” will always be what yields the biggest TV ratings, not what hockey fans want to see. Get ready for Rangers-Capitals next year, which will be followed by some regurgitation of past Winter Classic matchups. Thank goodness NBC is here to expose the unheralded talent in the NHL.