2009 Winter Classic Hockey Game
2009 Winter Classic… What a Classic Indeed!
The Detroit Red Wings has proven it again to the world that they could play in any element against the Chicago Blackhawks and win in this year's 2009 Winter Classic! Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk had split in between two Blackhawk defensive players and scored in a three goal second period, and the Wings scored two more times during a 17 second span during the third Thursday to beat the Blackhawks with a score of 6-4.
Temperatures were at a chilly 32 degrees in the Windy City for the 2009 Winter Classic, though the 18 mph winds made things a lot colder at Wrigley Field and the 40,816 fans that were there to show their support. Though most of the snow melted around Christmastime in the Chicagoland region, the entire field was covered by snow during the game. The conditions exceeded the expectations of Red Wings Nicklas Lindstrom who had missed two games, due to a sore ankle. He stated that the wind or playing outdoors did not bother either team during the game.
The Blackhawks had some assistance from Martin Havlat who scored a goal and two assists leading them at 3-1 after one period. However, Detroit showed Chicago why they are the defending Stanley Cup champions, beating the Blackhawks for a fourth time this season and second time within the last 48 hours.
Red Wings defensive player Brian Rafaiski leads the team 5-3 by a power play 3:07 into the third period. However, officials needed a video review of a play made by Brett Lebda that gone from between the circles to go over Huet. After the play ruled in Lebda's favor, Huet was replaced by Nikolai Khabibulin.
The 2009 Winter Classic is the third NHL outdoor game for Red Wings goaltender Ty Conklin. He won last year's Winter Classic when Pittsburgh won against Buffalo 2-1 in a shootout taken place at Ralph Wilson Stadium before a record crowd of 72,217 fans and was also in net when Edmonton played against Montreal in 2003 for a crowd of 57,167 fans.
The game was held up for a moment during the first period for some minor ice repair that only took less than a minute to fix. There weren't any major problems that were caused by the ice repair, which was a part of the two week transition from a ballpark to a hockey rink!
Fans at the 2009 Winter Classic were entertained by several Red Wings players, including goalie Ty Conklin for about 90 minutes prior to the game by kicking and heading a soccer ball to one another.
Dan Cleary of the Red Wings caused a leg injury for Blackhawks Patrick Kane due to a hard check during 2009 Winter Classic game and was driven into the bench early into the game on a hit by Ben Seabrook. Chicago had a power play rebound made by Kris Versteeg to give them an early 1-0 lead in the game.
Henrik Zetterberg evened it out with a power play and gone behind the net and fed Mikeal Samuelsson. However, just minutes later Versteeg made a nice backhanded pass to Hevlat who shot it way past Conklin for a nice power play that gave Detroit a 2-1 lead.
Ben Eager of the Blackhawks made their third goal for the opening period with only 42 seconds to go. He skated behind the goal and took a hit by Red Wing Andreas Lijia and reversed his original direction and beat Conklin to get a score of 3-1. Hudler got a rebound goal within less than 2 minutes during the second period which tied the Wings after he scored again just one second after Detroit's power play ended.
The Red Wings wore a version of the jerseys worn by the Detroit Cougars' first season, but with the logo of their current jerseys printed on the shoulders. The Blackhawks wore a combination of their 1936-1937 jerseys and their 1937-1938 jerseys, with the design of their jersey from the 1936-1937 season and the chest crest from the 1937-1938 season jersey. Although the game was destined to be a classic, the 2009 Winter Classic jerseys also stole the show and have become instant classics among NHL hockey fans!
The 2009 Winter Classic… another NHL outdoor game for the history books!
The 2008 Winter Classic Hockey Game was probably one of the greatest days in the history of hockey. One hour before the game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres the hockey stadium was already setting up a new record in the history of hockey… with 71,217 fans!
The 2003 Heritage Classic was the first NHL regular season outdoor game which featured the Edmonton Oilers and Montreal Canadians…