Center John Mitchell skated with the New York Rangers in the 2012 Winter Classic. In fact, Mitchell told the Avalanche website that the lack of proximity to the crowd can be disconcerting:
“You kind of feel like you are playing in a minor hockey rink because there are really no stands right there, right beside you. But then when you look up and take a look around, you see that there is close to 50,000 people in the stands.”
Goalie Calvin Pickard played for the Lake Erie Monsters in the 2013 Frozen Frontier.