2013 NHL Winter Classic

2013 NHL Winter Classic was to be an outdoor regular season National Hockey League game. It was to be the sixth Winter Classic in the series. The game was to feature the Toronto Maple Leafs vs. the Detroit Red Wings. 
The event was be the first to occupy two locations. The Winter Classic itself will be played at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the highest capacity non-motorsports stadium in North America. Another rink will be constructed at Comerica Park in Detroit. Comerica Park will host The Hockeytown Winter Festival and the NHL Alumni Showdown. The game would have marked the first time a stadium dedicated solely to college football was to have hosted the Winter Classic (all five previous events were held at MLB and NFL stadiums). The game was to return to its traditional January 1 date, and it could also return to prime time, one of the conditions of the league's television contract with NBC.
The Red Wings–Maple Leafs matchup, an Original Six era rivalry, was to have marked the first time an American team and a Canadian team will face each other in an outdoor NHL game (prior to this, the Winter Classic was reserved for American teams and the Heritage Classic for Canadian ones). The only other teams to be in a Winter Classic but having not hosted are the New York Rangers and the Washington Capitals. The two teams would end up playing in the 2014 NHL Winter Classic
On February 8, 2012, the University of Michigan Board of Regents authorized athletic director David Brandon to negotiate a contract with the NHL regarding the Winter Classic. On February 9, 2012, the NHL officially announced at Comerica Park that the 2013 Classic will take place at Michigan Stadium, while the Great Lakes Invitational will take place at Comerica Park. Some OHL and AHL games are also slated to be played at Comerica Park. 
The game is contingent upon the ratification of a new NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement prior to the start of the 2012–13 NHL season. The event would be cancelled due to the 2012–13 NHL lockout.
==References==
Category:NHL Winter Classic