2014 NHL Winter Classic

The 2014 NHL Winter Classic was an outdoor regular season National Hockey League (NHL) game that was played on January 1, 2014 at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The visiting Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Detroit Red Wings, 3–2, in a shootout to move past the Red Wings in the Atlantic Division. The game was televised nationally in Canada on CBC and nationally in the United States on NBC. The game set an NHL attendance record of 105,491, surpassing the previous record set during the 2008 NHL Winter Classic.Frigid temps, snow, deliver Classic screen NHL.com, January 2, 2014
The game was originally planned to be played on January 1, 2013, as the 2013 NHL Winter Classic, but was postponed until the following year due to the 2012–13 NHL lockout. The 2014 Winter Classic was one of six outdoor games to be held during the 2013–14 NHL season, which will include the new NHL Stadium Series and the 2014 Heritage Classic. These six games served as the NHL's premiere showcase games for the season as there were be no All Star Game due to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
==Background==
===Initial announcement===
After the success of "The Big Chill at the Big House" at Michigan Stadium on December 11, 2010, where Michigan's hockey team defeated Michigan State University, 5–0, outdoors in front of 104,173 spectators, interest began in also holding an NHL Winter Classic game there. 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 announced at Comerica Park that the 2013 Classic would take place at Michigan Stadium, while the Great Lakes Invitational would take place at Comerica Park. Some OHL and AHL games were also slated to be played at Comerica Park.
The NHL Alumni Showdown coaches were named on July 26, 2012. Former Red Wings coach Scotty Bowman along with assistant Barry Smith were to coach the Red Wings' alumni team. The pair of Bowman and Smith coached three Stanley Cup wins in Detroit. Former Maple Leaf coach Pat Quinn was to coach the Maple Leafs' alumni team, along with Red Kelly, Hall of Fame player and former Maple Leafs' coach.
===Cancellation and postponement===
On November 2, 2012, the NHL cancelled the game due to the 2012–13 NHL lockout. The date for the cancellation came as a result of a deadline in the league's contract with Michigan Stadium, in which the league would have incurred additional expenses if they cancelled after November 2. During the announcement, NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly stated that the 2014 Winter Classic and associated events would be awarded to Ann Arbor and Detroit and would also feature the Maple Leafs and Red Wings. The NHL then officially announced the game on April 7, 2013.
The event will be the first Winter Classic to hold events in two locations. The Winter Classic game itself will be held at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the highest capacity non-motorsports stadium in North America. Another rink is to be constructed at Comerica Park in Detroit and will host the Hockeytown Winter Festival and the NHL Alumni Showdown. The Winter Classic game itself marks the first time a stadium dedicated solely to college football would have hosted the Winter Classic (all five previous events were held at Major League Baseball and National Football League stadiums; Heinz Field, the site of the 2011 classic, hosts both college and professional football). The game will return to its customary January 1 date after being played on January 2 in 2012.
The Red Wings-Maple Leafs matchup, an Original Six era rivalry, is the first time an American team and a Canadian team have faced each other in an outdoor NHL game and the first time a Canadian team has played in the Winter Classic (prior to this, the Winter Classic was reserved for American teams and the Heritage Classic for Canadian ones). The unexpected high television viewership from the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals (which featured a Canadian team, the Vancouver Canucks, against the Boston Bruins) prompted the league and NBC to reconsider the conventional wisdom that a contest featuring a Canadian team would not draw as well as two American teams; it was this reconsideration that prompted the idea of an international Winter Classic.Johnston, Chris (December 30, 2013). NHL dreaming 'Big' for Winter Classic. Sportsnet. Retrieved January 1, 2014. Because of a divisional realignment that took effect during the preceding offseason, the Red Wings and Maple Leafs are also now division rivals; both teams were placed in the new incarnation of the Atlantic Division, which was renamed from the Northeast Division (the old Atlantic Division became the Metropolitan Division). Had the Winter Classic been played in 2013 it would have been the only meeting between the teams, as both were in separate conferences at the time (as division rivals, they will meet 4-5 times a year, ultimately playing 30 times over a seven-year period).
==Game summary==
=== Scoring summary ===
Period 	Team 	Goal 	Assist(s) 	Time 	Score
1st 	No scoring 	No scoring 	No scoring 	No scoring 	No scoring
2nd 	DET 	Daniel Alfredsson (11) 	Henrik Zetterberg (22), Brendan Smith (7)	13:14 	1–0 DET
2nd 	TOR 	James van Riemsdyk (15) 	Phil Kessel (18), Dion Phaneuf (12) 	19:23 	1–1
3rd 	TOR 	Tyler Bozak (5) 	Dion Phaneuf (13) 	4:41 	2–1 TOR
3rd 	DET 	Justin Abdelkader (5) 	Brendan Smith (8) 	14:28 	2–2
Overtime 	No scoring 	No scoring 	No scoring 	No scoring 	No scoring
Shootout 	Team 	Shooter 	Goaltender 	Result 	SO Score
Shootout 	DET 	Daniel Alfredsson 	Jonathan Bernier 	miss 	
Shootout 	TOR 	James van Riemsdyk 	Jimmy Howard 	save 	
Shootout 	DET 	Pavel Datsyuk 	Jonathan Bernier 	goal 	1–0 DET
Shootout 	TOR 	Joffrey Lupul 	Jimmy Howard 	goal 	1–1
Shootout 	DET 	Tomas Tatar 	Jonathan Bernier 	save 	1–1
Shootout 	TOR 	Tyler Bozak 	Jimmy Howard 	goal 	2–1 TOR
Shootout 	Maple Leafs win shootout 2–1	Maple Leafs win shootout 2–1	Maple Leafs win shootout 2–1 	Maple Leafs win shootout 2–1	Maple Leafs win shootout 2–1
Maple Leafs win game 3–2	Maple Leafs win game 3–2 	Maple Leafs win game 3–2 	Maple Leafs win game 3–2 	Maple Leafs win game 3–2 	Maple Leafs win game 3–2
=== Penalty summary ===
Period 	Team 	Player 	Penalty 	Time 	PIM
1st 	DET 	Justin Abdelkader 	Cross-checking 	6:39 	2:00
1st 	TOR 	Joffrey Lupul 	Cross-checking 	11:04 	2:00
1st 	TOR 	Dion Phaneuf 	Holding 	16:21 	2:00
2nd 	TOR 	Jay McClement 	High-sticking 	11:04 	2:00
2nd 	DET 	Jakub Kindl 	Closing Hand on Puck	17:23 	2:00
3rd 	TOR 	James van Riemsdyk	Hooking 	11:45 	2:00
Overtime	No penalties	No penalties 	No penalties 	No penalties	No penalties
;Shots
Period 	1st	2nd	3rd	Overtime	Total
Toronto	5 	13 	6 	2 	26
Detroit	13 	14 	14 	2 	43
;Power play opportunities
 	Goals/Opportunities
Toronto	0/2
Detroit	0/4
=== Three star selections ===
 	Team	Player 	Statistics
1st	TOR 	Jonathan Bernier	41 Saves (.953)
2nd	DET 	Jimmy Howard 	24 Saves (.923)
3rd	TOR 	Tyler Bozak 	1 Goal
==Team rosters==
Toronto Maple Leafs	Toronto Maple Leafs	Toronto Maple Leafs 	Toronto Maple Leafs 	
# 	 	Player 	Position 	
45 	 	Jonathan Bernier 	G 	
42 	 	Tyler Bozak 	C 	
71 	 	David Clarkson 	RW 	
29 	 	Jerry D'Amigo 	LW 	
4 	 	Cody Franson 	D 	
51 	 	Jake Gardiner 	D 	
36 	 	Carl Gunnarsson (A) 	D 	
24 	 	Peter Holland 	C 	
43 	 	Nazem Kadri 	C 	
81 	 	Phil Kessel 	RW 	
41 	 	Nikolai Kulemin 	LW 	
19 	 	Joffrey Lupul (A) 	LW 	
11 	 	Jay McClement (A) 	C 	
28 	 	Colton Orr 	RW 	
3 	 	Dion Phaneuf (C) 	D 	
15 	 	Paul Ranger 	D 	
12 	 	Mason Raymond 	LW 	
34 	 	James Reimer 	G 	
44 	 	Morgan Rielly 	D 	
21 	 	James van Riemsdyk 	LW 	
 	 	Head coach: Randy Carlyle	Head coach: Randy Carlyle	Head coach: Randy Carlyle
Detroit Red Wings	Detroit Red Wings	Detroit Red Wings 	Detroit Red Wings 	
# 	 	Player 	Position 	
8 	 	Justin Abdelkader 	LW 	
11 	 	Daniel Alfredsson 	RW 	
18 	 	Joakim Andersson 	C 	
44 	 	Todd Bertuzzi 	RW 	
71 	 	Danny Cleary 	RW 	
13 	 	Pavel Datsyuk (A) 	C 	
65 	 	Danny DeKeyser 	D 	
17 	 	Patrick Eaves 	RW 	
41 	 	Luke Glendening 	RW 	
35 	 	Jimmy Howard 	G 	
4 	 	Jakub Kindl 	D 	
55 	 	Niklas Kronwall (A) 	D 	
23 	 	Brian Lashoff 	D 	
20 	 	Drew Miller 	LW 	
34 	 	Petr Mrazek 	G 	
14 	 	Gustav Nyquist 	LW 	
27 	 	Kyle Quincey 	D 	
2 	 	Brendan Smith 	D 	
21 	 	Tomas Tatar 	LW 	
40 	 	Henrik Zetterberg (C) 	LW 	
 	 	Head coach: Mike Babcock	Head coach: Mike Babcock	Head coach: Mike Babcock
: James Reimer and Petr Mrazek dressed as the back-up goaltenders. Neither entered the game.
===Scratches===
*Toronto Maple Leafs: Mark Fraser, John-Michael Liles, Frazer McLaren
*Detroit Red Wings: Mikael Samuelsson, Jonas Gustavsson, Darren Helm
=== Officials ===
* Referees — Dan O'Halloran, Brian Pochmara
* Linesmen — Scott Driscoll, Mark Shewchyk
===Liles trade===
Despite taking the warmup and initially being pencilled in as a healthy scratch, John-Michael Liles found out early in the game that he had in fact been traded to the Carolina Hurricanes, alongside Dennis Robertson, for Tim Gleason. Gleason made his Leafs debut on January 7, 2014. Liles scored against his former team two days after Gleason's debut in a 6-1 Carolina win.
==Television ratings==
The combined average television viewership for the 2014 NHL Winter Classic on NBC in the U.S., and CBC and RDS in Canada was 8.234 million viewers in North America, becoming the most watched regular season game ever. The previous highest combined average television viewership was 6.6 million viewers for the 2011 NHL Winter Classic. The 4.404 million average viewers for NBC's broadcast in the U.S. was the second-largest audience for an NHL regular-season game since 1975. The 3.57 million average viewers for CBC's broadcast in Canada was the largest audience ever for an NHL regular-season game in Canadian broadcast history. The game garnered a 2.5 rating, tying the 2009 NHL Winter Classic as the highest-rated NHL regular-season game since 1975. The rating and viewership for the game were up 19% and 18%, respectively, compared to the 2012 NHL Winter Classic.2014 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic watched by record 8.2 million viewers across North America NHL.com, January 3, 2014
==Hockeytown Winter Festival==
Comerica Park served as the venue for the 2013 Hockeytown Winter Festival, a two-week event that took place in Detroit leading up to the 2014 NHL Winter Classic.Frequently Asked Questions NHL.com, December 31, 2013 As part of this event, on December 27–28, the 2013 Great Lakes Invitational four-game tournament was held, with Western Michigan emerging as champion over in-state rival Michigan Tech.WMU hockey wins Great Lakes Invitational with gritty 1-0 win over Michigan Tech at Comerica Park MLive.com, December 29, 2013 On December 29, two OHL games were played, the first between the Windsor Spitfires and the Saginaw Spirit, and the second between the London Knights and the Plymouth Whalers. These were the first outdoor regular-season games for the OHL. The Spitfires won the first game 6–5, while a shootout was required for the second game, with the Whalers getting the 2–1 win.Spits, Whalers win outdoors at Comerica ontariohockeyleague.com, December 31, 2013 On December 30, in front of 20,337 fans, the AHL affiliates of the Detroit Red Wings and the Toronto Maples Leafs, the Grand Rapids Griffins and the Toronto Marlies played to a shootout, with the Marlies holding the 4–3 edge. This was the seventh outdoor AHL game.Marlies edge Griffins at Comerica Park theahl.com, December 31, 2013
==Alumni Showdown==
As part of the Hockeytown Winter Festival, two consecutive alumni games were played between former players of the Red Wings and the Maples Leafs on December 31. The Detroit Red Wings swept the doubleheader, winning the first alumni game 5–4, and the second alumni game 6–5, following a shootout, in front of 33,425 in attendance at Comerica Park.NHL.com - Marquee names expected for alumni doubleheader - Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic - Maple Leafs vs. Red Wings
In the first alumni game of the doubleheader, Jiri Fischer scored the first goal of the game on a pass from Jason Woolley just 1 minute, 20 seconds into the game. Less than one minute later, Kevin Miller's goal gave the Red Wings a 2–0 lead. The Leafs then got goals from Stew Gavin and Todd Warriner, to tie the game at 2–2. Petr Klima then gave the Red Wings a one-goal lead when he scored on a pass from Martin Lapointe with 4:04 left in the first period.
In the second period, Pat Verbeek's goal from Miller and Mathieu Schneider gave the Red Wings a 4–2 lead with 15:40 left in the second. Aaron Ward scored the eventual game-winner from Fischer and Jimmy Carson with 11:50 left before the Maple Leafs mounted a comeback on goals by Brad May, and Tom Fergus who made it a one-goal game with 2:31 remaining in the second period. The Leafs pulled their goalie for the extra attacker with a minute left. Then, Red Wings coach Scotty Bowman sent 74-year-old Red Berenson, Michigan's head coach, to take the face off with 14.3 seconds left. Berenson was one of two players who participated in the Alumni Showdown who actually started his NHL career in the Original Six era. The other was 68-year-old center Mike Walton, who began his career with the Leafs in 1965.Mio, Berenson excite fans, teammates NHL.com, December 31, 2013
Prior to the second alumni game of the doubleheader, former linemates Gordie Howe and Ted Lindsay dropped the first puck in a ceremonial faceoff between former captains Steve Yzerman of the Red Wings and Darryl Sittler of the Maple Leafs. Vladimir Konstantinov was then helped onto the ice for a rare Russian Five reunion with his former teammates, Sergei Fedorov, Viacheslav Fetisov, Vyacheslav Kozlov and Igor Larionov. Joe Kocur honored his late Bruise Brother by wearing Bob Probert's No. 24 in the second alumni game.
In the second alumni game, goals by Doug Brown, Chris Chelios, Sergei Fedorov, Nicklas Lidstrom and Brendan Shanahan gave the Red Wings a 5–1 lead early in the second period. Three straight unanswered goals from Shayne Corson, Tie Domi and Steve Thomas cut the Red Wings' lead to one goal. Bryan McCabe then scored with two seconds left in regulation, to send the game to a shootout. During the shootout, Tomas Holmstrom scored Detroit's lone goal, to give them the 6–5 victory.Legendary Wings didn't disappoint fans NHL.com, December 31, 2013
===Alumni showdown rosters===
====Game 1====
Toronto Maple Leafs
Coaches: Red Kelly and Pat Quinn
# 		Player 	Position
24		Dan Daoust 	C
12		Mark Osborne 	LW
19		Bill Derlago 	C
9 		Stewart Gavin 	LW
15		Pat Boutette 	C
12		Rob Pearson 	RW
15		Claude Loiselle 	C
10		Brad May 	LW
27		Shayne Corson 	C
19		Tom Fergus 	C
29		Mike Krushelnyski 	C
7 		Dave McLlwain 	C
20		Mike Johnson 	RW
8 		Todd Warriner 	LW
14		Dave Reid 	RW
16		Nikolai Borschevsky	RW
15		Lou Franceschetti 	RW
28		Mike Pelyk 	D
34		Jamie Macoun 	D
28		Matt Martin 	D
3 		Brad Marsh 	D
4 		Greg Hotham 	D
3 		Cory Cross 	D
1 		Mark Laforest 	G
1 		Peter Ing 	G
Detroit Red Wings
Coaches: Scotty Bowman and Barry Smith.
Ambassadors: Gordie Howe, Ted Lindsay and Vladimir Konstantinov.
# 		Player 	Position
25		John Ogrodnick 	LW
17		Dallas Drake 	RW
10		Jimmy Carson 	C
20		Martin Lapointe 	RW
85		Petr Klima 	RW
8 		Dennis Polonich 	C
7 		Red Berenson 	C
7 		Garry Unger 	C
23		Kevin Miller 	RW
15		Pat Verbeek 	RW
21		Paul Ysebaert 	LW
14		Brent Fedyk 	LW
22		Mike Knuble 	RW
12		Mike Sillinger 	C
15		Jason Woolley 	D
27		Aaron Ward 	D
11		Mathieu Dandenault	D
2 		Jiri Fischer 	D
23		Mathieu Schneider 	D
31		Kevin Hodson 	G
35		Ken Holland 	G
41		Eddie Mio 	G
====Game 2====
Toronto Maple Leafs
Coaches: Red Kelly and Pat Quinn
# 		Player 	Position
27		Darryl Sittler 	C
22		Rick Vaive 	RW
17		Wendel Clark 	LW
93		Doug Gilmour 	C
14		Dave Andreychuk	LW
16		Darcy Tucker 	RW
18		Kevin Maguire 	RW
4 		Gary Leeman 	RW
9 		Russ Courtnall 	RW
7 		Gary Roberts 	LW
7 		Lanny McDonald 	RW
22		Tiger Williams 	LW
13		Mats Sundin 	C
16		Mike Walton 	C
28		Tie Domi 	RW
11		Mike Gartner 	RW
25		Joe Nieuwendyk 	C
32		Steve Thomas 	RW
4 		David Ellett 	D
24		Bryan McCabe 	D
4 		Bob McGill 	D
21		Borje Salming 	D
33		Al Iafrate 	D
34		Bryan Berard 	D
31		Curtis Joseph 	G
29		Felix Potvin 	G
29		Mike Palmateer 	G
Detroit Red Wings
Coaches: Scotty Bowman and Barry Smith.
Ambassadors: Gordie Howe, Ted Lindsay and Vladimir Konstantinov.
# 		Player 	Position
19		Steve Yzerman 	C
14		Brendan Shanahan 	RW
8 		Igor Larionov 	C
20		Mickey Redmond 	RW
96		Tomas Holmstrom 	LW
33		Kris Draper 	C
18		Kirk Maltby 	LW
25		Darren McCarty 	RW
26		Joe Kocur 	RW
22		Dino Ciccarelli 	RW
13		Vyacheslav Kozlov 	LW
91		Sergei Fedorov 	C
17		Doug Brown 	RW
5 		Nicklas Lidstrom 	D
24		Chris Chelios 	D
4 		Mark Howe 	D
77		Paul Coffey 	D
55		Larry Murphy 	D
2 		Viacheslav Fetisov	D
28		Brian Rafalski 	D
30		Chris Osgood 	G
34		Manny Legace 	G
==See also==
*2014 Heritage Classic
*2014 NHL Stadium Series
==References==
*NHL Winter Classic 2014 Red Wings - Leafs 01/01/2014 Full Game Replay of the 2014 NHL Winter Classic
Category:2014 in hockey