That's why when he and some Flyers teammates took a tour of the historic ballpark this past Sunday, the Monster was the only thing that piqued his interest.
"It's huge, really," Tollefsen said. "I never understood what it was because I'm not a baseball fan, but it's really cool. Obviously, I don't know much about baseball but yeah, that must be cool sitting up there."
What Tollefsen and his teammates can relate to is skating and playing hockey outdoors, and they're very excited to be part of the third annual Winter Classic.
"Yeah, this is going to be a lot of fun," he said. "We're really pumped and it's something different you don't really get to do much so that's cool too."
Rookie forward James van Riemsdyk, a former UNH standout but New Jersey native, admitted he cheers for the Red Sox' bitter rivals. Still, he said he appreciates the history of Fenway Park and can't wait to play some shinny in the home of the Red Sox.
"I've been to one Red Sox game before this and you hear how special it is, and even though I'm a Yankee fan, you have an appreciation for it," van Riemsdyk said. "It's got a lot of history in the building and it seems like it will be great for hockey with an exciting atmosphere."
Towering defenseman Chris Pronger has been a big fan of the event each year, but now he will be able to play in the marquee game of the NHL regular season. Needless to say, he's psyched.
"Pretty much all of my childhood memories were outdoors, whether on the lake, or roller hockey, you name it, it was pretty much outdoors every day," Pronger said. "You remember playing on the outdoor rink, the sounds of the blades ripping on the ice. That maybe won't be drowned out by the sound effects of the crowd. Stuff like that will bring you back in time for sure."
As Pronger reminded reporters though, this is an official game that counts for a vital two points in the standings. So on that note, there is nothing more that he and his teammates would like to do than to crash the party at Fenway Park and steal a victory.
"When it comes down to it, this is two points, and you need to really block all the hoopla out and focus on the game," he said. "We got no problems coming in here and putting a damper on things with a win."
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NESN.com's James Murphy will be answering one Winter Classic question every day in December.
Monday, Dec. 14: Why will this year's Winter Classic be better than any of the previous ones?
Wednesday, Dec. 16: How do players feel about playing outdorrs?
