Leahy reported here yesterday that the Montreal Canadiens are considering playing a regular season game at Olympic Stadium in Dec. 2009, as part of their centennial celebration; and that the contest may very well be played with an open roof, Winter Classic-style.

Dave Stubbs of Canwest picks up the story today and reports that the Canadiens are in the early planning stages for the event, and that the Dec. 4 game marking the team's 100th birthday may not in fact be played at the former home to the Montreal Expos:

The Canadiens say there's not a strong link, for now, between that Dec. 4 game and one at Olympic Stadium. "A game (at the Big O) is a project that we've discussed with the RIO," Canadiens vice-president Donald Beauchamp said Wednesday of talks the club has had with the stadium's provincial-government landlord. "That's as far as the project has gone."

While this project could obviously go the way of a Winter Classic at Yankee Stadium, the early momentum on this indicates at least a willingness to make Stade Olympique relevant for the first time since Pedro Martínez was traded.

Would this outdoor game take the place of one in the U.S. on New Year's Day 2010? Would this game's proximity to the holiday cause the NHL to move its traditional Winter Classic to later in the season, as Stan Fischler predicted recently? How would that work in the context of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics?

Perhaps the most critical question: Would hockey fans embrace two Winter Classics per season, so Canadian fans can get in on the fun?

The Winter Classic exists for the same reason the Tony Awards exist: It's an opportunity to get your niche product on U.S. national television in front of casual fan eyes, while earning a moment of cultural relevance validated by the Nielsen overnights. The only difference being the complete lack of either David Hyde Pierce or Nathan Lane at the Winter Classic ...

To satisfy that first aim in the U.S., you need teams that can draw (like the Red Wings or the Penguins) in a venue of some cultural importance: Snowy Buffalo, historic Wrigley or Yankee Stadium or Fenway Park. (Still say Boston Bruins/New York Rangers at Fenway would be outrate 99 percent of the college bowl games.) 

To satisfy that second aim, the U.S. ratings, you can't schedule a Canadian team in the Winter Classic.

If you schedule the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Detroit Red Wings somewhere in Michigan, it's just like any other NHL telecast in the U.S.: The monster ratings in Toronto won't count in the American numbers, so you're limiting the measurable audience. The mainstream media doesn't care about that nuance -- just like it didn't while pissing on hockey during the Calgary Flames' and Edmonton Oilers' appearances in the Stanley Cup finals -- and suddenly the NHL is answering questions about why ratings for the game fell dramatically from year to year.

The Winter Classic might still draw good numbers with the Leafs or the Canadiens playing in an American stadium. But the rest of Canada's teams will never, ever see themselves in a Winter Classic. Unless we start scheduling annual, or perhaps every-other-year, Winter Classics in open-air Canadian venues, that is.

Would this dilute the brand? No, because the Canadian Edition Winter Classics will most likely be bound for Versus in early December rather than NBC on New Year's Day, and the casual fans won't feel overwhelmed because they won't be watching it anyway.

Plus, the gimmick of the U.S. Winter Classic will continue to be a combination of compelling teams playing in interesting venues. A Canadian Winter Classic in Olympic Stadium is not going to reduce the interest for the Philadelphia Flyers and the Pittsburgh Penguins facing off at Penn State.

This Montreal Canadiens game will likely be a one-off stunt next December in honor of the anniversary. But if the Battle of Alberta wants to rage in McMahon Stadium come 2011, one month before the next U.S. version of the Winter Classic is played, then that's good for hockey. Because these outdoor games are rather awesome.

Related: Hockey Fans, Gary Bettman, Commissioner for Life