Botterill was a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins organization during the first Winter Classic in 2008, which pitted the Sabres against the Penguins in Orchard Park. He was on a scouting trip, however, and thus had to watch from afar as the snow globe feel in New Era Field set the precedent for what's become one of the NHL's hallmark events.
"I had family members who were in the crowd and still talk about the tailgate and just the atmosphere that was surrounding the game," he said.
Aspects of the game have grown in the decade since Buffalo was last involved, including the "Road to the Winter Classic" documentary series filmed in the weeks preceding the event. The Sabres have had camera crews from the show following them throughout the month of December.
The first episode, which aired on Wednesday, can be seen at the top of this article.
"I think our players have done a great job," Botterill said. "They've embraced having the cameras around, they've had fun with it, and I think it's great for our fans to get sort of a little more access to what our players and what our coaches are like behind the scenes."
Botterill was asked about a few other topics during the brief session, which you can read below:
On Buffalo's four-game point streak
"We have to improve in shortened situations here. You look at five-game segments, you look at seven-game segments. Yeah, we've been impressed with how we've been the last little bit here. Last night was disappointing, I thought we had an opportunity to continue the point streak. But now it's a scenario where, hey, we have to respond from that and have a good performance in front of our fans here. We haven't done that enough throughout the year."
On potential trades prior to the holiday roster freeze, which runs from Dec. 19-27
"I can't tell you whether I can predict that or not. We've definitely had conversations going on but I wouldn't say anything is imminent right now."
On Alexander Nylander's potential World Junior involvement
"We've still been having discussions with Team Sweden. They've been very accommodating in that situation. Like I said, I've always been a big proponent of the World Juniors tournament. Right now we're just focusing on the games this weekend and seeing how things progress next week."
