It's Official: NHL Winter Classic Coming to Gillette Stadium

On Jan. 1, 2016, the Boston Bruins will call Foxborough home for one day.

The NHL announced during a press conference on Saturday that Gillette Stadium will host the 2016 Winter Classic between the Bruins and the Montreal Canadiens.

“Since I was a little kid, the Bruins-Canadiens rivalry has been one of the very best in any sport,” said New England Patriots Chairman and CEO Robert Kraft in a press release. “I remember watching some of the greats like the Bruins’ Milt Schmidt, Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito and the Canadiens’ Maurice ‘The Rocket’ Richard, his younger brother, Henri, and Bernie ‘Boom Boom’ Geoffrion. For us to be able to host the 2016 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic is a tremendous honor and we are so excited to work with the NHL and Bruins on what promises to be an exciting day for hockey fans everywhere. We cannot wait to see what’s in store for us when these two teams take the ice on New Year’s Day.”

The game will be the second appearance for the Bruins in the New Year’s Day tradition and the first for the Canadiens. In 2010, the Bruins beat Philadelphia Flyers 2-1 in the Winter Classic at Fenway Park.

While it is the first Winter Classic for the Habs, it is not their first outdoor game. The team played the Calgary Flames in the 2011 Heritage Classic at McMahon Stadium in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The Flames won that game 4-0.

News of a Winter Classic at the stadium was originally reported by ESPN earlier in the week, with the official announcement happening as expected during All-Star Weekend in Columbus.