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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. CT 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. This was the first Winter Classic to involve two 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 their first season, but with their familiar "Wheeled Wing" logo on the shoulders. The Blackhawks wore sweaters comprised of 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 Yankee Stadium, which closed after hosting the New York Yankees from 1923-2008. Logistical concerns forced New York out because the stadium is to be demolished following the Yankees' 2008 season. If the game had been played at Yankee Stadium, it would have been the last event in that building.

Beaver Stadium, the largest outdoor sports venue in the United States and the home of the Penn State Nittany Lions football team, was also in consideration, with that location likely only if the two teams were the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers; because the Penguins had played in the previous Winter Classic, this scenario was ultimately rejected for 2009.

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 NFL 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 has never been a hockey game at Wrigley Field in the past, and in addition, the rink will be 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 is 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 they had more time to be ready 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 also plans to have Spectator Plaza outside of Wrigley Field at the intersection of West Waveland and North Clark Streets. This will include 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 Orchard Park, 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. Eddie 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 American and Canadian 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.

Game summary

The Red Wings dressed seven defensemen for this game, as they did in the prior game on Tuesday, 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 outdoor games, as well as the only to play in both Winter Classics, after playing for the Edmonton Oilers in the Heritage Classic, and the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2008 Classic.

Scoring summary

Penalty summary

Team rosters

Detroit Red Wings				Chicago Blackhawks
#		Player	Position	#		Player	Position
3		Andreas Lilja	D	2		Duncan Keith	D
5		Nicklas Lidstrom	D	7		Brent Seabrook	D
11		Daniel Cleary	RW	8		Matt Walker	D
13		Pavel Datsyuk	C	10		Patrick Sharp	C
18		Kirk Maltby	RW	16		Andrew Ladd	LW
22		Brett Lebda	D	19		Jonathan Toews	C
23		Brad Stuart	D	22		Troy Brouwer	RW
24		Chris Chelios	D	24		Martin Havlat	RW
26		Jiri Hudler	LW	25		Cam Barker	D
28		Brian Rafalski	D	28		Craig Adams	RW
29		Ty Conklin	G	32		Kris Versteeg	LW
30		Chris Osgood	G	33		Dustin Byfuglien	LW
33		Kris Draper	C	36		Dave Bolland	C
37		Mikael Samuelsson	RW	38		Cristobal Huet	G
40		Henrik Zetterberg	C	39		Nikolai Khabibulin	G
51		Valtteri Filppula	C	43		James Wisniewski	D
55		Niklas Kronwall	D	46		Colin Fraser	C
81		Marian Hossa	RW	51		Brian Campbell	D
93		Johan Franzen	LW	55		Ben Eager	LW
96		Tomas Holmstrom	RW	88		Patrick Kane	RW
		Head Coach: Mike Babcock				Head Coach: Joel Quenneville

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.

See also

• 2008 NHL Winter Classic
• Heritage Classic
• Cold War (ice hockey)

External links

• 2009 Winter Classic television commercial

References

1. Rosen, Dan (2008-07-16). "Blackhawks, Red Wings meet in the great outdoors". NHL.com. Retrieved 2008-07-17.
2. "'Hawks and Wings to sport retro jersey outdoors". NHL.com. 2008-10-25. Retrieved 2008-12-31.
3. TSN.CA Staff (2008-05-29). "Report: Blackhawks to Host Next Season's Winter Classic". TSN. Retrieved 2008-07-17.
4. TSN.CA Staff (2008-03-10). "Report: NHL Eyes Yankee Stadium Game". TSN. Retrieved 2008-07-17.
5. Wyshynski, Greg (2008-05-15). "Yankee Stadium: Too old to host the Winter Classic?". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved 2008-07-29. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
6. Russo, Michael (2008-07-06). "Hawks, Wings to play Jan. 1 at Wrigley Field". StarTribune.com. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Star Tribune. Retrieved 2008-09-04.
7. Shea, Steven (2008-12-17). "What does it take to build a hockey rink?". NHL.com. Retrieved 2008-12-23.
8. "NHL to transform streets outside Wrigley into NHL Winter Classic Spectator Plaza". NHL.com. 2008-12-22. Retrieved 2008-12-23.
9. "Emrick to miss Bridgestone Winter Classic". NHL.com. 2008-12-31. Retrieved 2008-12-31.
10. Morreale, Mike G. (2008-12-29). "Emrick: Neither rain, nor snow ..." NHL.com. Retrieved 2008-12-31.
11. Khan, Ansar (2009-01-01). "Tomas Kopecky, Derek Meech scratched for Red Wings". mlive.com. Retrieved 2009-01-01.
12. "Reebok and the NHL challenge hockey fans to find the lost logo at NHL Winter Classic 2009". NHL.com. 2008-12-08. Retrieved 2008-12-31.

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