I’ve made it to Buffalo, and outside of the turbulence I must say the flight in was quite beautiful and really got me thinking and gearing up for the NHL Winter Classic.

Looking out from my window seat as we approached the airport I was able to see the ground still covered by a sheet of snow and ice. Pure signs of winter. I believe I saw a few frozen over ponds, one of which looked like it was shoveled for some shinny. Awesome! If that doesn’t gear you up for the Winter Classic, what will?

It was an easy landing and an even easier time gathering my luggage and getting to my rental car. I have a nice Ford Edge, a good four-wheel drive vehicle specially requested just in case of a blizzard. Although the weather isn’t calling for one, I’m in Buffalo and you never know.

As soon as I turned the key the radio came on and it was already tuned to 550 on the AM dial, which is WGR Sports radio. Whew. I’m glad I didn’t have to do a scan for that. Nice work guy/girl/family that had the car before me. Nice work.

Anyway, it was immediately evident to me exactly what this New Years Day event means to this city and its surrounding area. Buffalonians are talking about the Winter Classic as the greatest single event to ever come to their city. Sure, they have hosted the Stanley Cup Final and a couple of AFC Championship games, but those events were here because those Sabres and Bills teams were good enough to bring them here.

The Winter Classic is here because the NHL decided Buffalo would be a great place for the historic event. It’s a little different, and some of the callers who were dialing up the station roughly two hours before the Sabres-Senators game tonight were making note of it. It’s a pride thing. They feel this event, although it’s international and put on by the NHL, belongs to them. It’s for them. It’s a celebration of them and their love of hockey.

In this little neck of the world, that means a great deal, and it’s something special to be here for it and to bask in the glow of it with them. This is my first trip to Buffalo in my lifetime, but I already got a sense this is a great sports town, and an even better hockey town. All this, mind you, is gained from my 20-minute journey from the airport to the HSBC Arena for the game tonight.

So, NHL.com is here, safe and sound in chilly Buffalo and we’re ready to bring the NHL Winter Classic right to your desktops and laptops. The coverage leading up to the event has already been unprecedented, and it’s only going to get better.

It’s the least we can do for the NHL and the city of Buffalo.