When they were kids skating on ponds, current NHL players dreamt of playing in the NHL. Every Winter Classic game brings the great sport back to its roots – outdoors. This year’s game between the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia sends the Atlantic Division rivals outside. It’s hockey’s biggest holiday.

Giroux was putting up MVP-like numbers before colliding with teammate Wayne Simmonds and suffering a concussion during a Dec. 10 game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. When it was announced that Giroux would be out indefinitely, the Flyers feared their star would be out for the Winter Classic. But after missing four games, he returned to the lineup on Dec. 21 and recorded six points (1 goal, 5 assists) in the four games leading up to the Winter Classic.

Flyers legendary goalie Bernie Parent put on the pads during Saturday's Alumni Game. Now, that's Old Time Hockey. The current Flyers have to be able to draw a little inspiration from that (also, the Flyer alums won, 3-1). For the Rangers, their last Cup came in 1994 when Mark Messier, Brian Leetch and Adam Graves were running the show. All three played in the Alumni Game and afterwards Messier told Versus he was more disappointed than tired. Spoken like a true warrior. Maybe the real Rangers can get some revenge for their former captain.

Marian Gaborik (pictured) and Brad Richards are the flashiest players for the Rangers. Gaborik (seven goals in last seven games) has been on fire lately. He was held scoreless in the two games leading up to the Classic, so he'll be hungry to showcase his offensive talents. As for Richards, he didn’t come to New York in the offseason to not perform the way his mega-contract expects him to, especially on this big stage.

Sometimes in the biggest games the smaller names outstage the big guns. Marco Sturm. Eric Fehr. In Winter Classic’s past, there have been some unlikely heroes. Last year, it was Washington’s Fehr, who scored two goals to lead the Caps to a 3-1 victory over the Penguins. Fehr went on to score only 10 the entire season. In 2010, Sturm’s OT goal gave the Boston Bruins a 2-1 victory over the Flyers. Sturm had two game-winners that season and 22 total goals. This year, we like the Flyers’ Wayne Simmonds to bring some fire — and maybe a surprise.

Rangers defenseman Marc Staal (concussion) was cleared for contact just one week before the game. If he makes his return in the Winter Classic game, it could really give New York an emotional boost. Staal, 24, suffered the concussion in February, so it’s been a long wait for one of the team’s top blue liners. But it wouldn’t be the first time a Staal brother made a return from an injury in a Winter Classic game. Just last season, Pittsburgh’s Jordan Staal (hand injury) came back to the lineup in the Classic against the Capitals. Will Marc follow in his younger brother’s footsteps?

Part of the Winter Classic fun is the vintage jerseys the players wear. The Flyers will be sporting orange jerseys while the Rangers are going back to an old-school crest on front of theirs. Hands down, the best vintage style points always go to the goalies. The Flyers' Ilya Bryzgalov will pay tribute to many Philly sports heroes on his mask, including Reggie White, Joe Frazier and Julius Erving. Rangers netminder Henrik Lundqvist went a different way with his. The Swede had his mask designed to look worn and rusty. "It was very interesting to create something that both looks good and also looks used," David Gunnarsson, Lundvist’s mask designer, told NHL.com.

There’s a lot of hype that comes along with this game: Playing in front of 40,000-plus fans, pregame festivities, etc. The Rangers have never played in a Winter Classic, but the Flyers have, a 2-1 loss at Fenway Park in 2010 to the Boston Bruins. Six Flyers from that team are still on the current roster: Daniel Briere, Matt Carle, Braydon Coburn (pictured), Claude Giroux, Scott Hartnell and James van Riemsdyk. Flyer Max Talbot will be playing in his second straight Winter Classic after skating for the Pittsburgh Penguins in a 3-1 loss to the Washington Capitals last year at Heinz Field. Will the experience benefit the Flyers?

How will the ice play at Citizens Bank Park? Ice guru Dan Craig (pictured) is hoping his masterpiece won’t make the headlines like it did in 2011. At Pittsburgh’s Heinz Field last season, the game was delayed from a 1 p.m. ET start to 8 p.m. because inclement weather (rain) was making for unplayable ice conditions. Even with the game moved to a later time, the ice still wasn’t what everyone hoped it would be. Bumpy ice affects passing the most and wears down players' skate blades as well. Here’s hoping it’ll be smooth sailing (skating?) in Philly.

Philadelphia goalie Ilya Bryzgalov has been a hit on HBO’s series "24/7 Flyers/Rangers: Road to the NHL Winter Classic" with his strange ramblings about the universe and tigers. Lately, though, Bryz has been the one taking the hits. Bryz even told members of the media on the Sunday before the Classic that he actually wasn't going to start. NHL.com confirmed the Flyers were starting Sergei Bobrovsky over their star. Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist, on the other hand, has had a much more solid year. His .936 save percentage and 1.95 goals-against average rank in the top five in the league, and he also won 10 of 11 games from Oct. 29 to Dec. 3. In addition to that, he’s given up an average of just one goal a game in two starts against the Flyers this season.

Fights haven’t been common in the Winter Classic in previous years. In fact, no game has seen more than one (2008 had 1; 2009, 0; 2010, 1; 2011, 1). Will this be the year we see two fights in the outdoor game for the first time? It’s very possible, considering the two games between these teams this season have both featured two bouts. For the Rangers, three of those four have featured tough guy Brandon Prust, a 5-foot-11, 195-pound winger.