By Scott Burnside

LAS VEGAS -- It appears the NHL is prepared to trade its wildly successful Winter Classic for what would be Winter Overkill.

As ESPN The Magazine's E.J. Hradek first reported Thursday, the NHL is contemplating running two outdoor games on Jan. 1, one in Boston at Fenway Park followed by a second game in Calgary at McMahon Stadium, home of the CFL Stampeders and the site of the opening and closing ceremonies of the 1988 Olympics.

Apparently, the Canadian franchises were annoyed at the prospect that the annual outdoor game -- so successful the past two years in Buffalo and Chicago, respectively -- would be unlikely to include Canadian participation at least in the near future.

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