Winter Classic Alumni Game 2012: Flyers Win Bragging Rights, 3-1

The 2011 Winter Classic Alumni Game included a handful of goals and a fair bit of good play, and went to the Philadelphia Flyers' alumni, 3-1.

The Flyers scored twice in the first period, on goals from John LeClair and Shjon Podein, and though the Rangers pulled one back in the second period via Glenn Anderson's stick, Mark Howe added a penalty shot goal in the third period to produce the game's final margin.

Versus' crew named Bernie Parent, Eric Lindros, and Mark LaForest its three stars of the game. Parent, the legendary 66-year-old Flyers goalie, played for just five minutes, but did not allow a goal, and sprawled to make one memorable save. Lindros assisted on LeClair's goal, and LaForest made a number of saves in relief of Parent.

For more on this year's Winter Classic, head over to SB Nation's Rangers blog Blueshirt Banter and Flyers blog Broad Street Hockey. For everything Winter Classic in the build-up to the game, head over to our NHL Winter Classic StoryStream.

Citizens Bank Park is dressed in orange as Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers legends celebrate the game of hockey by laughing at each other, falling over and, occasionally, putting on huge bursts of speed and blowing past defensemen who haven't played pro hockey in 30 years.

It's a beautiful thing. As is the ballpark, which has been transformed into an orange mob that looks a whole lot like hockey heaven. More than 45,000 people turned out for the event, which will now almost certainly be an annual tradition that's just as big as the Winter Classic itself. Fans were decked out in all kinds of old jerseys, with the most popular coming with a big No. 88 on the back.

We walked around the park during the second period of the game and took in the scene. Now, we'll share it with you as best we can.

For complete coverage of Saturday's Winter Classic Alumni Game, stay tuned to our StoryStream for updates. For coverage of Monday's Winter Classic, check in with that StoryStream.

The Winter Classic Alumni Game is through two periods and darkness is slowly creeping in, but the legends from the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers are still playing as hard as ever on Saturday afternoon. The Rangers scored once in the second period, but the hosting Flyers are still on top 2-1 through two stanzas of play.

Rangers right wing veteran Glenn Anderson was able to score an assist from Darius Kasparaitis to tally the Rangers first goal of the game. It initially looked as though Kasparaitis was planning to pass to Brian Leetch, but Anderson deflected the puck into the net to put New York on the scoreboard.

The Flyers took the lead in the first period when John LeClair and Shjon Podein each getting the puck past the opposing team and into the net.

For complete coverage of Saturday's Winter Classic Alumni Game, stay tuned to our StoryStream for updates. For coverage of Monday's Winter Classic, check in with that StoryStream.

The 2011 Winter Classic Alumni game got off to a slow start, but things have quickly changed around as the Philadelphia Flyers scored two goals in just a few minutes to put the home team on top of the former New York Rangers legends. The famed Legion of Doom line put the first goal in before Shjon Podein scored just a couple of minutes later.

The first goal came when Eric Lindros assisted on a goal for John LeClair as they reconnected from their run with the famed Legion of Doom line back in the mid-90s. The third skater on that line, Mikael Renberg, isn't in attendance, but Lindros and LeClair represented him well.

Just a short while later, Shjon Podein corralled a rebound and put the puck in the net to give the Flyers a 2-0 advantage. No word on if the Rangers plan to change goalies anytime soon.

For more on this year's Winter Classic, head over to SB Nation's Rangers blog Blueshirt Banter and Flyers blog Broad Street Hockey. For everything Winter Classic in the build-up to the game, head over to our NHL Winter Classic StoryStream.

PHILADELPHIA -- The 2012 NHL Winter Classic Alumni Game is here, and just about everything about it is a little bizarre. It's about 50 degrees at 3 p.m. in Philadelphia, and while the ice was covered until warmups.

It feels like Opening Day for the Phillies... minus the whole ice rink on the field and orange, not red, in the stands thing. The teams aren't decked out in the jerseys that'll be worn in the Winter Classic come Monday afternoon. Instead, they're wearing the everyday jerseys for their team.

The game is certainly slower than the average NHL game, as you'd expect. Guys like Jeremy Roenick and Mark Recchi are on the ice and still in or close to NHL shape, but the rosters are mainly filled out by men who haven't played competitive hockey in a very long time.

Like Bernie Parent, for example. The legendary Flyers goaltender only played about five minutes in the first period, but after being serenaded with Bernie! Bernie! chants during introductions, he made three saves in those five minutes to pitch a shutout. One stop on a Ron Duguay breakaway looked a whole lot less than smooth, but it's Bernie Parent making a save on a breakaway. In the year 2011. On an ice rink built on a baseball diamond.

When Parent left the ice, the orange-clad crowd shouted more chants, and he stepped off the bench for a curtain call. It's probably the last time Parent will play hockey in an orange Flyers sweater, but it was five minutes that Flyers fans wil never forget.

For complete coverage of Saturday's Winter Classic Alumni Game, stay tuned to our StoryStream for updates. For coverage of Monday's Winter Classic, check in with that StoryStream.

Due to poor ice conditions, The Winter Classic Alumni Game between alumni from the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers, originally scheduled for Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. ET at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia on Saturday, has been pushed back to 3 p.m. ET.

The game will be shown on VERSUS in the United States and CBC in Canada. In the Philadelphia area, the game will be carried on Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia.

Lacing up the skates for the Rangers will be Glenn Anderson, Dan Blackburn, Paul Broten, Ron Duguay, Nick Fotiu, Mike Gartner, Adam Graves, Ron Greschner, Darius Kasparaitis, Kris King, Nick Kypreos, Tom Laidlaw, Darren Langdon, Brian Leetch, Dave Maloney, Stephane Matteau, Mark Messier, Brian Mullen, Dale Purinton, Mathieu Schneider, Darren Turcotte and John Vanbiesbrouck. Mike Keenan, Emile Francis and Colin Campbell will be behind the bench.

The home team will counter with Bill Barber, Terry Carkner, Bob Clarke, Eric Desjardins, Jim Dowd, Larry Goodenough, Derian Hatcher, Al Hill, Mark Howe, Bob Kelly, Orest Kindrachuk, Mark LaForest, John LeClair, Reggie Leach, Eric Lindros, Ken Linseman, Neil Little, Brad Marsh, Shjon Podein, Dave Poulin, Brian Propp, Mark Recchi, Jeremy Roenick, Kjell Samuelsson, Chris Therien, Rick Tocchet and Joe Watson. The Flyers will be coached by Pat Quinn, Mike Nykoluk and Keith Primeau.

PHILADELPHIA -- While the weather at Citizens Bank Park is beautiful on Friday afternoon, and it's expected to be the same over the next few days, there's one weather problem that's wreaking havoc on the ice that's down on the field.

The sun.

As a result of direct sunlight, events are being pushed back at the ballpark Friday, and there's a chance the sun could impact Alumni Game festivities on Saturday, too.

It's just a dose of bad luck that from about 11 a.m. to about 2 p.m, the sun comes in direct contact with the ice rink that's positioned across the center of the baseball diamond. As the sun moves from the East to the West, it swings parallel to the ice, making direct contact for several hours.

Here's an image of the field at just around 11:20 a.m. Friday. You'll notice the blankets over the logos to protect them from the sunlight. There are some shadows on the rink, but there's also plenty of sunlight, and it only gets worse as the middle of the day progresses.

That's awful for the quality of the ice, as you can imagine. It can be a freezing cold day, but a direct hit from the sun will still warm the ice considerably. Couple that with the fact that temperatures are expected to be in the high 40s to mid-50s without much cloud cover over the next few days, and the NHL has a serious problem on their hands.

As a result of the sun contact, a media game originally scheduled for 12 p.m. Friday has been pushed back to 3 p.m., and a media skate scheduled for 1 p.m. was pushed back to 2 p.m. The sun will, hopefully, be mostly off the ice by then, eliminating the problems.

An NHL spokesman said that there are preliminary discussions ongoing about the possibility to moving the Alumni Game from a 1 p.m. start time on Saturday. After all, with the weather forecast virtually the same for Saturday as it is Friday, those same issues with the sun will still exist. But there's nothing official on that. If there's a change, we'd expect an announcement from the NHL on Friday evening.

For more on this year's Winter Classic, head over to SB Nation's Rangers blog Blueshirt Banterand Flyers blog Broad Street Hockey. For everything Winter Classic in the build-up to the game, head over to our NHL Winter Classic StoryStream.

Adam Graves has been humbled many times before in his career. He's won the Stanley Cup twice and his number hangs in the rafters at Madison Square Garden, but when he laces up the skates on New Year's Eve to play in the 2012 Winter Classic Alumni Game at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, it'll be another great moment.

Graves spoke with Rangers blog Blueshirt Banter in the build-up to the game.

"I think for me to describe it in one word it would be humbling," he said. "I think most of my experiences as a Ranger has been humbling. To be able to play behind arguably one of the top four or five guys to ever play the game in Mark Messier, to be able to play on the Garden's ice and to winning a Stanley Cup in New York and playing for an original six team is a privilege. And every time you wear that jersey that's exactly what you're feeling and December 31st will be no different."

Check the full interview over at Blueshirt Banter.

For more on the Alumni Game and everything else surrounding the 2012 Winter Classic between the Flyers and Rangers, check in with our StoryStream.

For the first time in the history of the NHL Winter Classic, the alumni game held every year before the main event will be televised. Fans will get to watch former greats of the New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers face off at 1:00 p.m. ET on Dec. 31 on the Versus Network in the United States, CBC in Canada, and Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia for those in the Philly area. The MSG Network will show the game on tape delay at 4:00 p.m. in the New York area.

Announcing the game will be a collaborative effort, with CSN Philadelphia's Jim Jackson doing play-by-play, CBC and NHL Network contributor Kevin Weekes providing analysis, MSG's Al Trautwig covering the Rangers bench and CSN Philadelphia's Steve Coates covering the Flyers.

This year's lineups include Bob Clarke, Eric Lindros and Jeremy Roenick for the Flyers, and Mark Messier, Brian Leetch and Mike Gartner for the Rangers. Legends Pat Quinn and Mike Keenan will be roaming the benches for the Flyers and Rangers, respectively.

For more on this year's game, head over to SB Nation's Rangers blog, Blueshirt Banter, and Flyers blog, Broad Street Hockey.

Bernie Parent will be playing for the Philadelphia Flyers in the Winter Classic Alumni Game, if only for a few minutes, and in that time, he will indeed wear a mask on his face, as is common practice for men getting pucks thrown at them. But the question at this point is exactly what that mask will look like.

Parent never wore a modern-style mask during his Hall of Fame career, so he would look really strange in a modern looking mask. Parent wrote on his blog a week back that he'd be wearing his 1974 style mask.

I can't begin to tell you how overwhelming the response to yesterdays announcement that I will be playing in the Winter Classic Alumni game on December 31, 2011. There have been a lot of e mails sent asking all kind of questions the most being what mask I will be wearing. Well the answer is my 1974 Fibro.

Ah, perfect. He'll wear the mask he made famous. Or maybe he won't. Via CSN Philly's Sarah Baicker:

For those curious: Bernie Parent WILL have a custom painted goalie mask for the Winter Classic alumni game.

Who knows? Maybe it's going to be a hybrid of the two. Maybe the report is wrong and Bernie is right on his site. Maybe he changed his mind after that initial blog post. We'll find out for sure on December 30 when the Flyers alumni hold a full practice for the first (and only) time.

To fans of the Philadelphia Flyers, the Winter Classic Alumni Game might just be more exciting to them than the actual NHL regular season game that'll take place outdoors on January 2. For fans of their opponent, the New York Rangers, the excitement for the old-timers game might not bring the same level of excitement.

The two teams announced their rosters for the outdoor Alumni Game, which will be held at 4 p.m. ET on December 31, two days before the Winter Classic at Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Park. A complete list:

Philadelphia Flyers

Forwards: Bill Barber, Bob Clarke, Jim Dowd, Orest Kindrachuk, Eric Lindros, Ken Linseman, Dave Poulin, Jeremy Roenick, Al Hill, Bob Kelly, John LeClair, Shjon Podein, Brian Propp, Reggie Leach, Mark Recchi, Rick Tocchet

Defensemen: Terry Carkner, Eric Desjardins, Larry Goodenough, Derian Hatcher, Mark Howe, Brad Marsh, Kjell Samuelsson, Chris Therien, Joe Watson

Goaltenders: Mark LaForest and Neil Little

Coaches: Pat Quinn (head coach), Mike Nykoluk and Keith Primeau (assistant coaches)

Ambassadors: Gary Dornhoefer, Bernie Parent, Dave Schultz

New York Rangers

Goalies: Dan Blackburn, John Vanbiesbrouck

Defensemen: Ron Greschner, Darius Kasparaitis, Tom Laidlaw, Brian Leetch, Dave Maloney, Dale Purinton, Mathieu Schneider

Forwards: Glenn Anderson, Paul Broten, Ron Duguay, Nick Fotiu, Mike Gartner, Adam Graves, Pat Hickey, Kris King, Nick Kypreos, Darren Langdon, Stephane Matteau, Brian Mullen, Darren Turcotte

Coaches: Mike Keenan, Emile Francis, Colin Campbell

Ambassadors: Rod Gilbert, Ed Giacomin, Harry Howell

The Flyers roster consists of a ton of team legends. Both of the organization's Stanley Cup teams are well represented, three Hall of Famers, a few potential future Hall of Famers, and several former team captains. One of the most famous lines in team history -- the LCB line of Bob Clarke, Reggie Leach and Bill Barber -- will be reunited on the ice, as will two-thirds of the Legion of Doom line that dominated teams for years in the 1990s.

The only underwhelming thing from the Flyers perspective is the goaltenders, which is kind of fitting given that this is Philadelphia we're talking about here. Mark LaForest played just 38 regular season games for the club, and while Neil Little spent almost his entire professional career in Philly, he did it across the parking lot with the AHL's Phantoms. Little only played two games for the NHL club in his career.

As for the Rangers, there's the excitement of Brian Leetch and Adam Graves, but without Mike Richter, Mark Messier and Wayne Gretzky, the New York side of things doesn't carry the same luster as the Philly side. Messier still hopes to play, but that depends on recovery from an upcoming shoulder surgery. Gretzky will not play.

Of course, this all means that the Rangers will probably blow the Flyers out of the water. But that'll be seen on New Year's Eve. The best news of all, perhaps, is that the game will be broadcast live on television this year. Versus will pick up the full broadcast. In previous years, NHL Network televised a recap with expanded highlights and there was a live feed on the Internet, but there was no live coverage on television.

Eric Lindros has long had a shaky relationship with the Philadelphia Flyers organization, but it appears as though bygones will be made bygones at the end of December when Lindros returns to the ice in Philly as part of the Winter Classic.

He confirmed to FAN590 in Toronto on Wednesday morning that he'll indeed play. Cue the excitement. You can listen to the interview here, or just read the important parts here:

Paul Holmgren gave me a shout about a month and a half ago and we talked back and forth a little bit, and I was real happy to hear his voice and get the invitation. I told him a while back that I would fly down and have some fun.

I hadn't seen Johnny [LeClair] in a while. I know they're trying to get in touch with Mikael [Renberg]. I've been trying myself, if for some reason you're listening. I think you might be sleeping.

The old Legion of Doom line could be reunited, and the Flyers are also planning on reuniting the old LCB line of Bobby Clarke, Reggie Leach and Bill Barber according to a report from Pierre LeBrun. The New York Rangers can counter with the likes of Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Adam Graves and Brian Leetch, among others.

This could be the best alumni game yet.