NHL Winter Classic 2009
The NHL Winter Classic 2009 (official sponsorship name Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic 2009 ) was an outdoor ice hockey game between the Detroit Red Wings and the Chicago Blackhawks that was held on January 1, 2009 at Wrigley Field in Chicago , Illinois as part of the NHL -Season 2008/09 was held. It was the second edition of the NHL Winter Classic series of outdoor games in the history of the National Hockey League after the Heritage Classic , which took place in 2003had taken place in Edmonton. It was the first Winter Classic in which at least one team from the so-called " Original Six " was involved.
Stadium and surroundings
Stadion
→ Main article: Wrigley Field
The game took place at Wrigley Field , a ballpark in Chicago used by the Chicago Cubs from Major League Baseball . It was built in 1914, making it the second oldest baseball stadium still in use in the North American professional league after Fenway Park in Boston , Massachusetts , where the Winter Classic was held the following year . In addition to baseball, the arena is occasionally used for American football games or concerts.
In the preliminary round, Chicago prevailed against New York City , which had also applied to host the Winter Classic. In New York, the game would have been played in the old Yankee Stadium , the home of the New York Yankees until 2008 . The decision was finally made against New York for logistical reasons, as the Yankee Stadium was already closed and should be demolished; a possible NHL game would have been the last event ever in the arena. Originally the game was supposed to take place at Soldier Field in Chicago, but since the Chicago Bears were to play a play-off game there only a week later, this plan was discarded.
The Beaver Stadium , the largest open-air stadium in the United States and home of the Pennsylvania State University football team , was also shortlisted according to media reports, but only if the two participating teams had been the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Philadelphia Flyers . However, since the Penguins had already participated in the 2008 NHL Winter Classic , this scenario was rejected for 2009.
Preparations
Construction of the ice rink began on December 16, 2008 and was overseen by Dan Craig, the NHL's Facilities Operations Manager . The floor of the playing area consisted of plywood and aluminum plates with a pipe system for cooling, which came from a truck parked outside the stadium. Due to the stadium's 95-year history of baseball, the interior was designed with many borrowings from the sport of baseball.
Side events
40,818 spectators saw the game on site in the stadium. In addition to the game, a fan festival was held in the vicinity of the stadium under the title Winter Classic Spectator Plaza . With free admission, fans were offered a supporting program on December 31, 2008 and January 1, 2009, which included live music, interactive games and ice sculptures .
Preliminary program
As part of the game, numerous events took place inside and outside the stadium. Former Red Wings and Blackhawks players, Billy Williams , Ferguson Jenkins and Ryne Sandberg , all of the Chicago Cubs' Baseball Hall of Famers, took part in the opening ceremony . Sandberg also presented the baseball anthem Take Me Out to the Ball Game together with Bobby Hull , Stan Mikita and Denis Savard during a break in the third period , which, however, also contained numerous allusions to ice hockey in the version presented.
reporting
The game was broadcast live in the United States on NBC television ; in Canada , CBC broadcast the game in English and RDS in French. The broadcaster NASN secured the transmission rights for Europe . In addition, the match was broadcast via the league's own, fee-based portal NHL GameCenter Live on the Internet. With 4.4 million viewers on NBC, it was the most watched regular season game since a match between the Philadelphia Flyers and the New York Rangers on February 23, 1975.
Rule changes
Due to the fact that it was held in the open air, some minor rule changes were made in the run-up to the game so that both teams had equal opportunities in adverse conditions. Due to the expected wind, the rules were changed in such a way that the teams switched sides again after the half of the final third, so that each team played 30 minutes on one of the two goals.
Course of the game
For the game, both teams wore jerseys that deviated from their regulars and were inspired by historical jerseys from both clubs. The home team was wearing a mix of the jerseys from the 1936/37 and 1937/38 seasons in black, white and red as well as the original team logos. The Red Wings played in one of the jerseys of the previous team Detroit Cougars from the 1926/27 season , whose first season in the NHL, ajar equipment in the colors white and red. While the logo of the Cougars was on the chest, but was for the Arms uses the traditional Red Wings logo.
Ty Conklin was in goal for the Red Wings, making him the only player to have participated in all the league's open-air games to date, having played in the 2003 Heritage Classic for the Edmonton Oilers and the 2008 Winter Classic for the Pittsburgh Penguins .
The first three goals of the game were all in power play . After just under three and a half minutes, Kris Versteeg gave the Blackhawks the lead with his first NHL goal, before Mikael Samuelsson was also able to equalize for the Red Wings in the majority. After goals from Martin Havlát and Ben Eager , the Blackhawks led 3-1 in the first third break. The Red Wings then scored five goals in a row. In the second period, Jiří Hudler met twice before Pawel Dazjuk brought the Red Wings 4-3 ahead . Brian Rafalski and Brett Lebda only 17 seconds later extended the lead in the third period to 6: 3, before Duncan Keith scored the next goal for the Blackhawks ten seconds before the end of the game.
| January 1, 2009 12:30 p.m. |
Detroit Red Wings M. Samuelsson ( H. Zetterberg , M. Hossa ) (9:50) J. Hudler (M. Hossa, H. Zetterberg) (21:14) J. Hudler ( B. Rafalski , N. Lidström ) ( 32:43) P. Dazjuk ( J. Franzén , B. Rafalski) (37:17) B. Rafalski (J. Hudler, T. Holmström ) (43:07) B. Lebda (H. Zetterberg, M. Hossa) (43:24) |
6: 4 (1: 3, 3: 0, 2: 1) |
Chicago Blackhawks K. Versteeg ( M. Havlát , B. Seabrook ) (3:24) M. Havlát (K. Versteeg, B. Campbell ) (12:37) B. Eager (M. Havlát) (19:18) D Keith ( P. Sharp , J. Toews ) (59:50) |
Wrigley Field , Chicago , Illinois Spectators: 40,818 |
Individual evidence
- ^ Report: Blackhawks to Host Next Season's Winter Classic . In: TSN . May 29, 2008. Retrieved July 17, 2008.
- ^ Report: NHL Eyes Yankee Stadium Game . In: TSN . March 10, 2008. Retrieved July 17, 2008.
- ↑ Michael Russo: Hawks, Wings to play Jan. 1 at Wrigley Field . In: StarTribune.com , Star Tribune , July 6, 2008. Archived from the original on October 6, 2008. Retrieved September 4, 2008.
- ↑ Greg Wyshynski: Yankee Stadium: Too old to host the Winter Classic? , Yahoo! Sports. May 15, 2008. Retrieved July 29, 2008.
- ↑ Steven Shea: What does it take to build a hockey rink? , NHL.com . December 17, 2008. Retrieved December 23, 2008.
- ^ Scott Burnside: Another successful outdoor tilt gives NHL its signature event , espn.com. January 1, 2009. Retrieved January 2, 2009.
- ^ NHL to transform streets outside Wrigley into NHL Winter Classic Spectator Plaza , NHL.com . December 22, 2008. Retrieved December 23, 2008.
- ↑ Wings' game draws largest TV audience in 33 years . In: Detroit News , January 12, 2009. ( Page no longer available , search web archives )
- ^ Hawks and Wings to sport retro jersey outdoors , NHL.com . October 25, 2008. Retrieved December 31, 2008.
