The sixth annual Winter Classic was held on January 1, 2014, Toronto came out victorious by a score of 3-2. The game was held at Michigan Stadium, home to the University of Michigan Wolverines, between the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs. Toronto’s goalie Jonathan Bernier registered 41 saves on 43 attempts while Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard had 24 saves on 26 attempts. During the second period, the teams started switching ends every 10 minutes instead of every period because wind was such a large factor.
The scoring did not start until about 13 minutes into the second period when Detroit’s Daniel Alfredsson deflected Henrik Zetterberg’s shot to sneak the puck past Bernier. Toronto’s James Van Riemsdyk scored with less than 40 seconds left in the period, right as the power play expired.
Toronto kept the chemistry flowing, scoring less than five minutes into the third period; Tyler Bozak snuck a puck by Jimmy Howard for the second goal for the Leafs. Detroit fired back about ten minutes later, Justin Abdelkader had a tip in with Brendan Smith getting the assist.
Physical education teacher Tony Sorice knew the game was going to be exciting going into overtime.
“The Winter Classic itself is an exciting game, and once over-time arrived I couldn’t take my eyes off the television,” said Sorice. “The Leaves had more energy than the Wings, and that is why they won.”
There was no scoring in overtime leading to the shootout. Detroit started the shooting with Alfredsson, missing the attempt. Toronto then sent James Van Riemsdyk out to shoot, and he also missed.
Both teams scored in their second attempt, Datsyuk for Detroit and Lupul for Toronto. The Wings failed to score in the third round while the Leafs won the game on Tyler Bozak’s shot.
Freshman Emily Schertle watches the game every year, it has become a tradition.
“The game was a slower pace than normal because of the snow” said Schertle. “It was obvious that it was not played in a rink, but the Winter Classic is something unlike anything else.”
The snow seemed to have made the game much more difficult than a normal inside rink would, but scoring still went on. The goaltenders did not seem affected by the snow; in fact, Bernier seemed to have played better. He has a goals against average of 2.4 according to the NHL, and he only let two goals slip past him. Howard has a higher goals against average of 2.72 and let two goals in during the shootout, counting for one goal against when the Leafs won.
Senior Olivia Bond thought the game was a break away from modern hockey.
“It was really cool to watch the Winter Classic,” said Bond. “It didn’t feel like a modern game, it felt like a game from many years ago, especially with the rink outside, and the fact that the weather was harsh only added to it.”
For the Leafs, only four players had a positive goal scoring to player on ice ratio, Daniel Phaneuf leading with a rating of +2. The Red Wings had five players with a positive rating, however, all five only had a +1 instead of +2.
Currently, Toronto is ahead of Detroit in the standings, 53 points compared to 50, and in the end the Winter Classic could determine who makes the playoffs in April and who sits at home and watches.
