Winter Classic at the Rose Bowl?

The NHL has found a goldmine with this Winter Classic business.

As it becomes more and more likely that the Winter Classic will be an annual event, the league has some interesting decisions to make. There figures to be an impressive line of potential sites ready to host the event, whether it's held every year on New Year's Day or not.

So where do you take the Classic for 2010? Beaver Stadium? Yankee Stadium? TCF Bank Stadium (Minneapolis)? The Rose Bowl?

Wait, did I just mention the Rose Bowl?

NHL executives, justifiably proud of the Winter Classic game at Chicago's Wrigley Field on New Year's Day, have been brainstorming about potential sites for future outdoor games. Chief Operating Officer John Collins said the league "might even be able to have a night game out at the Rose Bowl," Bloomberg News reported Wednesday.

I'm hooked. I mean, as a Minnesota guy, I'm the first one to stand up and crow about getting a Winter Classic in the State of Hockey. That just makes sense to me.

However, how could anyone pass up the chance to stage this thing in the Rose Bowl?

I'm sure you're wondering how this could happen. So was I, but the Los Angeles Times article addressed my primary concerns.

The NHL has invested more than $1 million on a refrigeration system and portable rink that can be set up almost anywhere. Dan Craig, the ice-making guru who helped craft a surface for Wrigley Field that was better than many NHL rinks, recently said an outdoor game could be played in California if a canopy were placed above the ice to shield it from direct sunlight.

Play the game at night, and the sun isn't an issue. You have the teams practice the night before the game, and you shield the ice from the sun throughout the day of the game. If you start the game after 5PM local time, the sun is gone, and you have no problems.

Yes, we know the Rose Bowl is normally booked on January 1. The league appears open to playing on a different day, however.

The league hasn't formally talked about this move yet, so this is just speculation.

If they do it, who plays in the game? I vote for San Jose and Anaheim, unless Los Angeles really surges in the very near future.

There is also talk of playing a future Winter Classic in Las Vegas, which would also be an interesting -- but technically feasible -- setup.