2009 NHL Winter Classic The 2009 NHL Winter Classic , also known as the Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic 2009 , was a specially - staged National Hockey League regular - season game played outdoors on January 1 , 2009 at 12 : 36 p . m . local time at Wrigley Field in Chicago , Illinois . The game pitted the Chicago Blackhawks , who normally play their home games indoors at United Center , against the defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings in the 701st game between these rivals in the NHL ' s Central Division . The Red Wings won the game 6 – 4 despite falling behind 3 – 1 in the first period . This was the first Winter Classic to involve at least one of the Original Six teams . The two teams wore vintage - style uniforms , using the current Reebok Edge equipment and material . The Red Wings wore a version of the sweaters worn by the Detroit Cougars in 1926 – 27 , their first season in the NHL , but with their familiar " Winged Wheel " logo on the shoulders . The Blackhawks wore sweaters which were a mix of their 1936 – 37 sweaters and their 1937 – 38 sweaters , with the design from 1936 – 37 and the chest crest from 1937 – 38 . Host selection . On May 29 , 2008 , TSN reported that Chicago was chosen to host the annual outdoor game over New York City , the other host finalist for the game . A game in New York City would have been played at the Yankee Stadium , which closed after hosting the New York Yankees from 1923 - 2008 . Logistical concerns forced New York out because the stadium was to be demolished ; if the game had been played at Yankee Stadium , it would have been the last event in that building . Original reports said the game was going be played at Soldier Field . However , the Chicago Bears objected to the use of Soldier Field , citing the potential to host a National Football League playoff game on the following weekend . On July 6 the " Minneapolis Star Tribune " reported that Wrigley Field , home of the Chicago Cubs , was chosen to host the game . Ten days later , on July 16 , the Blackhawks and the NHL confirmed the site and date . There had never been a hockey game at Wrigley Field in the past , and in addition , the rink was left up until January 4 for community skates at The Friendly Confines , with the $ 10 admission for an hour of skating donated to Cubs Care charities , which was sold out . Preparations . Construction of the ice rink began on December 16 , 2008 , eight days earlier than last season ' s game . It was again being supervised by Dan Craig , the NHL ' s facilities operations manager . This time , the crew did not have to wait for any other sport to be played in the stadium , so there was more time to prepare the venue for the Classic . The rink was built from the bottom with plywood and aluminum panels , the latter of which have tubes to move coolant under the ice to maintain a cold temperature . The coolant comes from a truck based outside of the ballpark . The NHL had a Spectator Plaza outside of Wrigley Field at the intersection of West Waveland and North Clark Streets . This included ticket giveaways , live music , interactive games , ice sculpting , and other entertainment on the day of the Classic . The 95 - year legacy of Wrigley Field as a baseball venue resulted in several nods to baseball . The exterior of the rink was decorated to resemble the low brick wall that fronts the box seating area at the ballpark . Cubs ' Hall of Famers Billy Williams , Ferguson Jenkins and Ryne Sandberg were on hand for the pregame ceremonies , along with several retired Blackhawks and Red Wings players . About halfway through the third period , Sandberg along with Bobby Hull , Stan Mikita and Denis Savard sang a variation on " Take Me Out to the Ball Game " with a few word changes to reference hockey . Rule changes . As with the 2008 game in Ralph Wilson Stadium , the NHL announced a rule change to account for any possible adverse weather conditions . Taking into account high winds which are common during baseball games at Wrigley Field , the teams changed sides at the first whistle after the halfway point of the third period . This was done at exactly the halfway point of the third in 2008 because of falling snow . Media coverage . Television coverage of the game was handled in the United States by NBC . Mike Emrick , who is the lead announcer for NBC , was not able to call play - by - play for the game due to laryngitis . He was replaced by Dave Strader . Ed Olczyk , Pierre McGuire , and Mike Milbury again provided analysis . In Canada , CBC carried the game in English and RDS broadcasted in the French language . NASN televised the game live overseas in the United Kingdom , where it started at 6 : 00 p . m . local time . Additionally , NHL . com offered bonus video coverage . The radio feed was broadcast by NHL Radio on Westwood One throughout North America , excluding the markets of the competing teams , and was carried by Sirius XM Radio . In addition , the NHL Network ( United States ) and NHL Network ( Canada ) versions of the NHL Network carried programming bookending the event starting with the practice sessions one day earlier , as well as the pre - game and post game events , and offered replays that weekend using both NBC ' s and CBC ' s feeds . Television ratings . One reason that the NHL does the outdoor game is to promote the league on television . The television ratings will partially determine if the outdoor game events will continue . On January 3 , 2009 NHL reported that the " overnight television ratings " had increased 12 % over the 2008 game . Nationally , the game had 2 . 9 overnight rating and a 6 share . In Chicago , Thursday ' s game drew a national high of an 11 . 8 rating and 21 share , with Detroit second at 10 . 5 and 21 ( this despite that yet again , a Michigan - based team was playing in the Capital One Bowl opposite the Winter Classic — this time the Michigan State Spartans ) . Other above - average markets included Buffalo ( whose 10 . 1 rating / 20 share was comparable to Detroit ' s ) , St . Louis ( 5 . 3 / 10 ) , Pittsburgh ( 4 . 4 / 8 ) , Denver ( 4 . 2 / 10 ) , Providence ( 3 . 5 / 7 ) , Indianapolis ( 3 . 4 / 6 ) , West Palm Beach ( 3 . 3 / 6 ) , and Orlando ( 3 . 2 / 5 ) . Each overnight ratings point equals about 735 , 000 TV homes . On January 12 , the final ratings figure was announced . There was an average of 4 . 4 million viewers of the game on NBC , and this was the largest since the February 23 , 1975 match between the Philadelphia Flyers and the New York Rangers . Game summary . The Red Wings dressed seven defensemen for this game , as they did in their prior game , to account for Nicklas Lidstrom returning from an ankle injury . Healthy scratches were forward Tomas Kopecky and defenseman Derek Meech . The Blackhawks scratched forward Adam Burish and defenseman Aaron Johnson . Ty Conklin started in goal for the Red Wings , making him the only player to take the ice for all three regular - season NHL outdoor games ( after having played for the Edmonton Oilers in the Heritage Classic in 2003 , and the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2008 NHL Winter Classic ) . The first three combined goals were scored on the power play . The Red Wings paid for a mistake while they were already shorthanded , having too many players on the ice , putting them down by two men . Rookie winger Kris Versteeg scored the first goal of the game for the Blackhawks with three seconds left in the two - man advantage . The Red Wings ' Mikael Samuelsson scored with three seconds remaining on his team ' s second power play which was the result of a Dustin Byfuglien roughing minor that was called during one of the many post - whistle scrums during the first period . Martin Havlat capitalized on another Red Wings mistake , scoring on the power play that resulted from Brett Lebda shooting the puck over the glass from his defensive zone . Ben Eager closed the scoring in the first period with a wrap - around goal . Detroit scored the next five goals , the first two from Jiri Hudler and the next from Pavel Datsyuk at even - strength in the second period . Datsyuk ' s goal was hailed as being wind - assisted , since Datsyuk picked up a burst of speed as he went between two Blackhawks defenders to find a clear path to the net . In the third period , defenseman Brian Rafalski scored the eventual game - winning goal on the power play . 17 seconds later , Brett Lebda scored the Red Wings ' final goal , chasing Cristobal Huet from the net , with Nikolai Khabibulin taking over for him . In his 16 : 36 of play , Khabibulin saved all 13 shots that he faced , after Huet saved 24 of 30 shots . Duncan Keith closed the scoring for Chicago on the power play with less than ten seconds remaining . Conklin made 33 saves for the Red Wings on 37 shots . Lost Logo Challenge . Reebok sponsored a contest known as the " NHL Winter Classic Reebok Lost Logo Challenge , " which challenged fans to find the one player on the ice without a Reebok logo on the back of his jersey . The player without the logo , therefore the correct entry to the contest , was Dustin Byfuglien of the Blackhawks . All RBK Edge sweaters have a Reebok vector logo near the top of the jersey above the player ' s nameplate , but this one jersey had no logo stitched in that position . Each person attending the game was given binoculars and was able to enter the contest by cell phone ; television viewers could enter the contest online . Entries were accepted through the first two periods , at which time two winners , one inside Wrigley Field and one home viewer , were selected from those who chose the correct player . Each winner received an identical prize : a trip to a Stanley Cup Finals game and a $ 1 , 000 gift certificate to NHL . com .