So who’s watching Atlanta against Buffalo on Friday night? What was the National Hockey League thinking when they scheduled this game? The fact that the heavily-promoted Winter Classic between Philadelphia and Boston at Fenway Park takes place during the day not only completely overshadows the nightcap, but there is even going to be about three hours between the games. Just enough time to forget that Atlanta and Buffalo even exist once the new New Year’s tradition ends.

The NHL actually has been doing it right when it comes to the Winter Classic. The promotion, the anticipation, even the growing mythology surrounding the event is taking a stage separate from any other NHL arena – both figuratively and literally. Granted, the problem with the quality of the ice itself is an ongoing issue, but the outdoor venue is nothing new to each and every player in the game. Street hockey, pond hockey, even schoolyard games are played in all kinds of weather, and that just adds to the atmosphere around the Winter Classic. So who decided to put a regular game after the event?

The Sabres hosted the Penguins two years ago in the official “first” Winter Classic, and this season they’ll host the Thrashers in a regular season affair that makes you think that the schedule-makers just forgot that 82nd game for the two teams and struggled to find a date that fit their schedules, then saw the gap on Jan. 1. Now this is probably not what actually happened, but there doesn’t seem to be any rational reason for why this game exists where it does on the NHL’s schedule.

The NHL is known for being one of the worst-run leagues going, but they’ve managed to impress with the way they are handling the Winter Classic series. The problem is when they follow up successes with moves like this. Thousands will plan their Friday afternoons around the game at Fenway Park. Nobody outside of Buffalo and maybe a few in Atlanta will know about the back end of the day’s games.