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Thursday, December 2, 2010

NHL WINTER CLASSIC FEATURES THROWBACK JERSEYS AGAIN


The Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic set for New Year's Day will take place at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, PA as two of the biggest superstars in the game today will go at it in their conference match-up outdoors as Alex Ovechkin will lead his Washington Capitals against Sidney Crosby and the host Pittsburgh Penguins.

In the previous three years, each of the teams participating have worn their throwback uniform. The Buffalo Sabres, who hosted the first ever Winter Classic at Ralph Wilson Stadium in the Buffalo subarb of Orchard Park wore the old school blue and gold uniforms that they used to be seen in at the Aud. The visiting Penguins wore their powder blue uniforms which they still wear to this day on different occasions. As seen in the picture, Sidney Crosby scoring the winning goal in the shootout to give the Pens a 2-1 win over Ryan Miller and the Sabres. The announced crowd at the Ralph was 76, 000.


In the 2009 season, the Winter Classic was played at historic Wrigley field in Chicago as the Blackhawks hosted their division rivals, the  Detroit Red Wings, who happened to be the defending Stanley Cup Champions at the time. Detroit would get the better of the battle of the Original 6 teams as the Wings won the contest 6-4 in front of just about 41, 000 people. Detroit would go on and play for the Stanley Cup but would lose to Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins.





Last season, the Winter Classic was played in another historic ball bark as Fenway Park in Boston hosted the contest between the Philadelphia Flyers and the Boston Bruins. A Fenway Park sell out of 38,112 saw Marco Sturm score the game winner in Overtime to give the Bruins the win. Boston would go on and lose in the playoffs while Philadelphia played in the Stanley Cup Finals and lost in six games at the hand of Patrick Kane and the Chicago Blackhawks.

In each season of the Winter Classic, one of the two teams have eventually gone on and play for the greatest trophy in all of professional sports, the Stanley Cup. So who will we see playing in June? Crosby and the Pens or Ovi and the Caps? Only time will tell.