The NHL has begun preparation for the '16 Winter Classic, as dozens of workers on Sunday "began rolling out the rink’s infrastructure on the Gillette Stadium field" just hours after the Patriots' home finale, according to Kevin Paul Dupont of the BOSTON GLOBE. Personnel of both the NHL and Toronto-based BaAM Productions will "produce the main ice surface, along with a much smaller auxiliary surface, and all the accompanying on-field staging inherent in what has turned into an annual marquee event for the NHL." A crowd of "more than 60,000 spectators" will attend the Jan. 1 Canadiens-Bruins game. The ice sheet is "now constructed on a raised platform, the surface of which is some 10 to 12 inches above the field’s artificial turf." NHL Senior Dir of Facilities Operations Dan Craig promised that the ice will be "ready to go Dec. 29, some 48 hours before" the teams practice there Dec. 31 (BOSTON GLOBE, 12/22). NHL Senior VP/Events Don Renzulli said, "We are going to have a lot of fans from Montreal coming down. Over 10,000 people purchased tickets up there (and) they will have a good contingent here." In Boston, Rich Thompson notes tickets for the sold-out game were "distributed to the NHL, the Canadiens, the Bruins and the Patriots." The Bruins’ share was "offered to season ticket-holders." The Bruins first hosted the Winter Classic "on a balmy day" at Fenway Park in '10, and the league has "made logistical advancements in staging and ice preparation" since then. Renzulli: "We are a lot better now than we were in the first few years of this, so I think we are in pretty good shape. This building is very vertical so the people are going to have a very good view of the game." Craig said that it would take 72 hours of "round-the-clock work to complete the staging, erect boards and glass, and put down the first layer of ice." He added that the week of unseasonably warm temperatures leading to New Year’s Day will "have no effect on the ice sheet" (BOSTON HERALD, 12/22).
