Gary Bettman.

BY MARK SPECTOR
sportsnet.ca

PEBBLE BEACH — Hello Calgary.

National Hockey League commissioner Gary Bettman confirmed Wednesday that the league is serious about playing a second outdoor game next season — and playing it in Canada.

The strong belief is that the game will be played in February at Calgary's McMahon Stadium, featuring the Flames and likely the Vancouver Canucks.

"We will look at a second Winter Classic between two Canadian teams again next year," Bettman said Wednesday at the conclusion of the league's Board of Governors meetings.

Last June the league's ice guru Dan Craig inspected McMahon in preparation for a game this season, but the league couldn't pull it off. According to Hockeycentral analyst John Shannon, the NHL Players Association would not give its approval for an extra game, with one already scheduled for Boston's Fenway Park on Jan. 1. The NHL had hoped to use the extra seating already installed in McMahon Stadium for this year's Grey Cup.

Bettman confirmed that all six Canadian teams have expressed interest in being part of an outdoor game. The Edmonton Oilers hosted the first one against the Montreal Canadiens at Commonwealth Stadium in November 2003, before the Winter Classic concept had been born.

"Either they want to host it or they just want to be in it," Bettman said of the six Canadian teams. "I think every U.S. club (does) as well. It has become an event that our clubs are having the desire to participate in."

By holding the game in February, the league can use the same outdoor rink set-up that is used on New Years Day for the Winter Classic.

That event has become wildly popular in the United States, and always features two American teams.