The Detroit Red Wings will be taking it outdoors yet again and while you might think it would be getting old hat for them, they couldn’t be more excited.
The NHL announced Wednesday that the Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs would play the Centennial Classic Jan. 1, 2017 at Toronto’s BMO Field. It will be the fourth outdoor game for the Red Wings, who beat the Colorado Avalanche 5-3 in the Stadium Series Feb. 27 at Denver’s Coors Field.
The Wings also defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 6-4 in the 2009 Winter Classic at Wrigley Field and dropped a 3-2 shootout decision to the Leafs in the 2014 Winter Classic at Michigan Stadium.
Playing at BMO Field, a soccer stadium that is home to Toronto FC and will soon also be home base for the CFL’s Toronto Argonauts, should be a more intimate encounter than the Leafs-Wings showdown at the Big House, witnessed by 105,491 fans.
Even though the stadium’s capacity is currently being expanded, at 30,000 capacity it will still be the tiniest venue to ever play host to an NHL outdoor game. The smallest crowd to witness an outdoor game between two NHL teams was the 38,112 who attended the 2010 Winter Classic at Boston’s Fenway Park.
“It’s unfortunate we’ll only see 30,000 because I imagine we could easily get as many as we had in the Big House,… Detroit forward Justin Abdelkader said. “I imagine tickets will be pretty expensive.…
An astute businessman, Abdelkader offered a suggested to ease the queue for tickets.
“Why not play two outdoor games?… he suggested. “Each team has a home game.…
Even though it seems as if the NHL is oversaturating what at first was a wonderful idea, to return to the world’s best hockey players to the game’s roots of pond hockey, no one who is asked to play in the games seems to mind one bit.
“I think they’re still good,… Abdelkader said. “As long as fans keep coming and the games keep selling out, I think it should be a part of every year, having three or four outdoor games. I think they’re great.
“I think the fans enjoy them just as much as the players enjoy them. It’s a different-type atmosphere. It’s always fun watching a hockey game outdoors. Players obviously enjoy the experience.
“I think outdoor games are great, as long as the fans keep coming and enjoying the experience.…
Changing Up The Wings face another Canadian team that wears blue uniforms tonight at Joe Louis Arena, meeting the Winnipeg Jets, and as they look to shake a three-game losing streak, Detroit coach Jeff Blashill has shuffled the deck.
His line combinations at Thursday’s skate were as follows: Abdelkader-Henrik Zetterberg-Dylan Larkin; Gustav Nyquist-Riley Sheahan-Teemu Pulkkinen; Tomas Tatar-Pavel Datsyuk-Andreas Athanasiou; Brad Richards-Luke Glendening-Darren Helm.
Defense pairings were: Danny DeKeyser-Kyle Quincey; Niklas Kronwall-Mike Green; Jonathan Ericsson-Brad Smith.
That also means two changes to the lineup, Pulkkinen in for Tomas Jurco at forward and Smith for Alexey Marchenko along the blue line.
Petr Mrazek will start in goal.
Blashill insisted people shouldn’t read into Athanasiou with Datsyuk as a promotion for the rookie, or an expansion to his role on the team.
“He’s on a different line, I don’t know if it’s expanded or not,… Blashill said. “I think he’s played lots five on five. Where he loses minutes at times is not playing a lot of specialty teams. He’s been on our fifth penalty killer, so depending on if someone’s in the box or not (he gets more ice time).
“So he’ll get an opportunity to play with some real good players, but I think he has over the last number of games. Hopefully he can continue to make an impact.…
Jets coach Paul Maurice anticipates a bunch of Red Wings who will take the ice in a foul frame of mind.
“I think they’re probably a little snarly here tonight,… Maurice said. “Things haven’t gone the way they wanted to in the last three and that playoff picture tightens up.
“And then you’ve got two of the finest leaders in sports sitting in that locker room, so you know they’re coming tonight. They know they have to win. On their calendar, this is a must-win game for them, which at times you can probably look to using that to your advantage. But I’m not sure with Zetterberg and Datsyuk having final say before they go out on the ice that there’s going to be much of an advantage there.…
The Wings will make another change for the game. They will wear their away white sweaters tonight, while the Jets done their home blues.
Gadsby Dead Hall of Fame defenseman Bill Gadsby, a 20-year NHL veteran who played for the Wings from 1960-66, died Thursday at the age of 88.
Gadsby played in four Stanley Cup finals with the Wings, but never won the Stanley Cup during his career.
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