The Penguins will be the Bruins’ 2023 Winter Classic opponents

While the NHL announced that the Bruins would be hosting the 2023 Winter Classic at Fenway Park about two months ago, their opponent was still a mystery.

Further detail was provided today, with the league announcing that the Pittsburgh Penguins will be the B’s opponent at Fenway.

The game will be played on Monday, January 2, which takes some of the “New Year’s Day” fun out of it but likely avoids a conflict with football games on Sunday the first.

The biggest winners? John Henry and Fenway Sports Group, which not only owns Fenway Park, but now owns the Penguins as well.

Big day for billionaires, folks.

The 2023 edition will air on TNT, so it seems like a bit of a step back for the NHL in some ways (game on cable, pushed to a Monday).

Still, the league must know that these two fanbases will tune in regardless, so it should still be a nice event for the NHL.

The consensus from those who attended the 2010 Winter Classic at Fenway was that the atmosphere and experience of “being there” was awesome, but that the sightlines for watching the game were pretty brutal, save for a few sections.

Still, the Winter Classic is mostly about that atmosphere and experience, not the actual hockey, so it should still be pretty cool.