At the Daily News, Jesse Spector looks at the possibilities for a potential Winter Classic at one of the local stadiums.

Spector cites the Sports Business Journal as saying the New Meadowlands Stadium and Citi Field could host the game while Yankee Stadium has a College Football Bowl Game which makes hosting the game nearly impossible.

It had been reported before that the NHL may start to prefer football stadiums over baseball stadiums and that Citi Field was under consideration for the upcoming Winter Classic in Pittsburgh.

…After thinking about it, my prediction on this is that the Rangers will play Philadelphia, at Lincoln Financial Field in Philly, in one of the next two or three years. I think it goes out West again next season with Detroit possibly playing at the University of Michigan, maybe against Colorado to re-ignite that old rivalry.

I think it’s really Yankee Stadium or bust for the Rangers and the first time that it’s available, the NHL will try to get in on it. As much as I like Citi Field, I don’t believe you can hold it there and not involve the Isles and the New Meadowlands Stadium is in New Jersey.

The best idea is playing the game in Central Park, but that one is also seemingly impossible.

At the Daily News, Jesse Spector writes about NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman talking about how football may be more conducive to hold the Winter Classic than a baseball stadium because of sightlines and how seats are positioned.

…It makes sense, but it also puts the fans farther from the game which is a littler bothersome. He does say that this is case by case and that he doesn’t know about the future, but it could look like the new meadowlands stadium could be the front runner to host a Winter Classic. Of course that means that it will be Devils Rangers and I am not sure that will sell very well.

At some point, they will play a game at Yankee Stadium. It may take a little while until the College Bowl game at the Stadium is done with with, but that is where I see the game being held with the Rangers as the hosts.

At his blog for USA Today, Kevin Allen spoke with 17 NHL stars who voted New York as the place they would like to see hold the 2012 Winter Classic.

Allen says that two players specifically said Yankee Stadium.

Yankee Stadium is holding a college football bowl game through 2013.

…It’s tough. In the past it has been said that Citi Field was under consideration, but I just don’t see it unless the Mets ownership take a big role in getting it. Yankee Stadium is such an attraction that if/when New York gets the Winter Classic, it has to be there and it can’t be for a few more years. I would LOVE Central Park as an option but have no idea how it would work or be constructed.

Update:7:42PM: Zipay has more on this at Newsday

Update:4:58PM: Andy Martino of the NY Daily News has a follow up to this

OP:According to Steve Zipay, Gary Bettman says that Citi Field is under serious consideration to host the Winter Classic for next season.

Last month it was reported that Pittsburgh would host the game at Heinz Field and most likely play the Washington Capitals.

The Steelers have three straight home games, December 12th, 19th and 23rd before closing the season on the road on January 2nd.

…The Steelers schedule would cut it close, they would have eight days to build the rink, and it would be over Christmas too, so Pittsburgh could be out as an option.

Citi Field would be nice and would be a great thing, but its not Yankee Stadium. As a Mets fan, I love Citi Field but to me, Citi Field means Rangers Islanders, which is great, but maybe not for a National audience. With Yankee Stadium locked up for the next few years due to a college bowl game, Citi Field is the best option for a NY related Winter Classic

According to Andrew Gross, of The Record, Yankee Stadium will not be an option for next season’s Winter Classic.

Gross says that ESPN will televise the Yankee Stadium bowl game on December 30th and that won’t leave enough time to create and build the rink and adjustments to the Stadium.

Gross also says that there is no interest from the NHL in having the Islanders or Devils in the Winter Classic, only the Rangers.

…Well that could rule out Citi Field. It just seems like Citi Field has to have the Islanders and Rangers involved in it.

Gross also notes that the new Meadowlands Stadium is also not high on the list.

…As I wrote yesterday, easy solution to having the Meadowlands Stadium work, INVOLVE BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN. This would easily sell out the game, and you work in the post-game performance into the NBC deal and suddenly it works for everyone.

At least it works for me and my dad then.

Even before the Winter Classic happened, people were already debating where next seasons would be. This happens with all sports, like on Day Two of the NFL Draft when Mel Kiper dishes out his top ten for the following draft even though this one hasn’t finished.

At Puck Daddy, Greg Wyshynski lists out the top thirty future locations of the Winter Classic

He lists the number one choice as Yankee Stadium

…It’s what we are all hoping for.

He lists the new Meadowlands stadium at four

…This has to be Rangers Devils which is why it probably won’t happen. It’s also 80,000 seats which, well…it’s the Devils and they probably won’t want to tarp over some sections. Then again, if they promise that Bruce Springsteen will somehow be involved, they could sell out at least two nights of it. And it goes without saying that if they can secure the Boss in anyway, I will campaign my heart out to have Rangers Devils outside in New Jersey.

Central Park comes in at number thirteen on the list

…This is without a doubt the best place to have it. But as written before, logistically it just won’t work. It would be great PR for the NHL and probably raise the ratings for it, but the money they would lose from attendance and concessions would probably be too much to overcome.

And coming in at 30, the new home of Jason Bay, Citi Field:

If Yankee Stadium. Giants Stadium, Central Park the stadium at Rutgers, all the minor league baseball stadiums, Liberty State Park, a barge on the Hudson and most of the front lawns in North Jersey are booked, there’s always the new home of the New York Mets.

Charles Wang probably won’t be thrilled reading that paragraph.

…I mean it just doesn’t seem like it will be Citi Field.

According to MSG, State Officials from New Jersey are sending a letter to NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman about having the 2011 Winter Classic at the New Giants Stadium.

The Stadium opens next season and the Jets will play the last football game there this Sunday.

The Winter Classic has been previously held at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Buffalo, last year at Wrigley Field in Chicago and this Friday in Boston at Fenway Park.

Yankee Stadium has a College Football bowl game starting next season that will probably eliminate itself from being chosen.

…This is probably the best option for the Rangers to be in the Winter Classic unless they do it at Citi Field. The problem with this, is that it won’t attract a national media hype because these two teams play so often, are so close, and it would happen in New Jersey. Its too regional but its the only way the Devils or even the Islanders could play in it.

It just seems like the Rangers will have to wait to hold it at Yankee Stadium. No other option seems like it would work as well. Having it at Citi Field would be really cool, but it doesn’t have the same cache that Yankee Stadium does.

Central Park would be the ultimate option, but the cost for that would be astronomical. Seats and stands would have to be added everywhere and locker rooms. It would be by far the coolest and it wouldn’t matter who the Rangers played, but that just seems to far fetched.

Today, the Yankees, Big East and Big 12 announced that an annual College Football Bowl Game will take place between Christmas Day and New Years starting after the 2010 season.

This could cause a problem with having the NHL’s Winter Classic game at the Stadium, since it would be tough to turnaround the College Football configuration and get everything set up for hockey in such a short time.

The deal is for four seasons.

….This stinks, I mean its nice that there is a bowl game at Yankee Stadium but if this means the Winter Classic can’t happen there its bad news. It was bad enough that they couldn’t work it out to get the game to be the last thing at the Old Yankee Stadium and  this could delay it even more.

There is Citi Field, which as a Mets fan, would be cool, but its not Yankee Stadium, it doesn’t have that same aura. The New Giants Stadium isn’t an option because of the Jets and Giants, so it could be Citi Field or bust to get a Winter Classic soon in NY.

There is considerable buzz going around that the Yankee Stadium will host the 2011 Winter Classic, where the Rangers will most likely play either the, Islanders, Capitals or Maple Leafs.

Yankees COO Lonn Trost said yesterday that he hopes the Stadium will host the game on January 1st, 2011, though no promise from the NHL has been made.

The old Yankee Stadium had been rumored to be the site of last seasons Winter  Classic, which was held at Wrigley Field in Chicago, though a variety of problems stopped it from happening.

The Islanders with #1 pick Johnathan Tavares would be a big deal for them but may prove to be too local of a game. Alexander Ovechkin and the Capitals would give the league arguable its #1 star against its biggest market and Toronto would join the Rangers in an Original Six matchup. Toronto and the Rangers are the only Original Six teams not to play in an outdoor game. Montreal played Edmonton in the “Heritage Classic” 2003, Detroit and Chicago played last season and Boston hosts Philadelphia this season.

…I think the Isles are the logical choice but the Original Six possibility with Toronto is intriguing. Washington should host their own game in Washington so Ovechkin can get the hometwom treatment that he deserves. All this buzz is great and all but we won’t get an official announcement until basically a year from now.