High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The NHL Winter Classic is an annual event held by the National Hockey League (NHL) on New Year`s Day where regular-season games are played outdoors, in areas hosted by NHL teams. Though largely derived from the Heritage Classic outdoor game held in Edmonton in 2003, the Winter Classic has so far only featured US-based teams, while the Heritage Classic involves Canada-based teams. The first Winter Classic was held in 2008.