New Year's Day brings the NHL's Winter Classic, the annual outdoor game that is one of the league's marquee regular season events. And with the Winter Classic always comes a visual spectacle that's worth appreciating, and this year's event at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas was no exception.
While Dallas may not be viewed as the traditional, hockey-rich market that often plays host to the Winter Classic, it did provide a great scene for Wednesday's event. The league really embraced the country western matchup between Dallas and Nashville, and the weather allowed for a great game between the Stars and Predators.
The Stars ultimately came away victorious as they scored four answered goals to climb out of an early 2-0 deficit, which made the hometown fans happy (though it should be recognized that Nashville fans traveled well for the game). If you're interested in some takeaways and a recap of the game, you can find that here.
But the game often takes a backseat to the spectacle at the Winter Classic -- at the end of the day it's just one of 82 regular season games, so the sights and sounds of the outdoor game hold stronger than the box score.
With that in mind, let's admire some of the photos that will best help capture the spirit of Wednesday's Classic.
