Mike "Doc" Emrick, who will call the 2016 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic between the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., on Jan. 1 (1 p.m. ET; NBC), said his favorite part about the annual event is the unpredictability.
"With the exception of Sidney Crosby (Ralph Wilson Stadium, Buffalo, 2008), there's no marquee [player] who [has ended] up being the hero," Emrick said Tuesday. "It was Jiri Hudler at Wrigley Field (Chicago, 2009), Marco Sturm at Fenway Park (Boston, 2010), Eric Fehr at Heinz Field (Pittsburgh, 2011), Mike Rupp in Philadelphia (Citizens Bank Park, 2012), Tyler Bozak in Ann Arbor (Michigan Stadium, 2014) and Troy Brouwer in Nationals Park (Washington, 2015), so that's another one of the unpredictable elements.