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The NHL announced Thursday that the 2013 Winter Classic will be held at the Big House, Michigan Stadium, between the Red Wings and Maple Leafs. Other events, including an AHL game, two OHL games and a college tournament, will be held at Detroit's Comerica Park.
University of Michigan officials are looking to the State House of Representatives this week to approve legislation that would make it legal to serve alcohol at Michigan Stadium for the 2013 NHL Winter Classic. The House Regulatory Reform Committee will reportedly hold a hearing Wednesday to discuss the legislation. The school needs a temporary liquor license large enough to accommodate the 109,000-plus Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs fans that could pack the stadium on Jan. 1.
The university does not allow any alcohol to be served at campus sporting events. However, one of the NHL's stipulations in their agreement to rent the stadium was that the ban be lifted. The approved license would be good for 30 days, long enough to cover all festivities leading up to the game itself.
The Michigan athletic department will take a healthy payday from the Winter Classic. After expenses, the school expects to net a $3 million profit.
For more on the 2013 Winter Classic, check in with Red Wings blog Winging It In Motown,Maple Leafs blog Pension Plan Puppets, SB Nation Detroit, and our SBNation.com StoryStream.
"HBO 24/7" will return for a third season, this time to cover the Detroit Red Wings and the Toronto Maple Leafs in the lead up to the 2013 NHL Winter Classic to be held at Michigan Stadium on Jan. 1 next season. NHL COO John Collins confirmed the news Tuesday, saying that the third iteration of the series will feature a few changes.
"We're going to work a little more closely with HBO on production," Collins said. "We've been in partnership with them, but now that we have an original productions group here, we're going to work a little more closely with them on the production side."
The NHL will also partner with a Canadian network to take the series north of the border.
The series almost didn't get off the ground for a third season after HBO Sports management found itself in flux. Former president Ross Greenberg left the network to start up his own own production company providing similar reality programming to NBC Sports Network and the NHL Network. Thankfully, last year's 24/7 series covering the New York Rangers and the Philadelphia Flyers drew in enough viewers to greenlight another year of programming.
For more on the 2013 Winter Classic, check in with Red Wings blog Winging It In Motown, Maple Leafs blog Pension Plan Puppets, SB Nation Detroit, and our SBNation.com StoryStream.
HBO Sports' 24/7: Road To The Winter Classic series has been wildly popular since its inception two years ago, and it's at the point where the series actually might be more of a spectacle than the actual game itself. I know that I've enjoyed the four-episode series more than I've enjoyed the two Winter Classic games that accompanied it, and I attended one of those games.
When the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs face off in the 2013 Winter Classic on January 1, they'll do so at the Big House, Michigan Stadium, on the Ann Arbor campus of the University of Michigan.
You might be surprised to hear that this won't be the first time the two squads have faced off against each other on that campus, but back in 1986, the Leafs and Wings tied a 4-4 preseason game at Yost Ice Arena, home of the Michigan ice hockey team.
2013 Winter Classic tickets are likely going to be hard to come by, but playing the game at the largest stadium in North America isn't a bad way to ensure as many people get to see the game live as possible.
At the press conference announcing the details of the 2013 Winter Classic at the Big House, Michigan Stadium, Gary Bettman promised that the event would shatter the record for attendance at a hockey game.
"Even with 115,000 or more tickets available, we still won't have enough to satisfy the demand," Bettman said while lauding the 110,000 seat capacity of Michigan Stadium. "A capacity we expect to challenge and surpass when the Maple Leafs and Red Wings resume their historic rivalry."
At the 2012 Winter Classic in Philadelphia, a very limited public sale of tickets -- brokered through an online lottery -- was made available following distribution to Flyers season ticket holders, New York Rangers ticket holders and league sponsors. The same was the case in Pittsburgh back in 2011, but the massive capacity of the venue in 2013 should make purchasing tickets at least slightly easier.
The only way to truly guarantee tickets is by purchasing Leafs or Red Wings season tickets, but otherwise, the NHL has set up a pre-sale website following Thursday's announcement. It crashed almost immediately due to a heavy traffic load.
For more on the 2013 Winter Classic, check in with Red Wings blog Winging It In Motown, Maple Leafs blog Pension Plan Puppets, SB Nation Detroit, and our SBNation.com StoryStream.
There are 41 miles between the Big House, Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, and Comerica Park, home of the Detroit Tigers downtown in the state's largest city. Fans, players and media alike will get used to that trek at New Year's 2013, as the NHL announced Thursday morning that Winter Classic festivities will be held at two separate sites for the first time in the history of the event.
The 2013 Winter Classic will be held at the Big House in Ann Arbor on Tuesday, January 1 between the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs. It's the largest stadium in North America and it'll certainly be the largest outdoor game in NHL history when it comes down to the sheer numbers.
But that's the only event that'll be held outside of Detroit. The rest of the Winter Classic festivities will be located in Detroit, primarily at Comerica Park, and the official NHL hotels will be located downtown. Here's a full (as of now) list of games scheduled to be played at the ballpark during Winter Classic week:
- An Alumni Game between Leafs and Wings alumni.
- An AHL game between the Toronto Marlies and Grand Rapids Griffins. This'll be the second year an AHL game is played as part of the Winter Classic, but it's the first in which the two affiliates of each NHL participant will face off against each other.
- Two Ontario Hockey League games: London Knights will face the Plymouth Whalers and the Windsor Spitfires will face the Saginaw Spirit. Both games feature Ontario teams and Michigan teams, and it's the first year junior hockey will play a part in the Winter Classic.
- The Great Lakes Invitational, a four-team NCAA Div. 1 mens hockey tournament typically held at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, will be played at Comerica Park.
Teams from outside of Michigan typically take part in the event, but it'll be a different story this time around as Michigan, Michigan State, Michigan Tech and Western Michigan will be the four participants. While a Michigan team has won the event each of the last six years, it hasn't been an all-intrastate affair since 1998.
That's all we know for now, but more events will almost certainly be announced in the coming months. This really will be the biggest Winter Classic we've seen to date.
The NHL hasn't been especially prompt when it comes to announcing the details relating to the Winter Classic ever since the annual outdoor game's inception. That's apparently changing, however, as there are plans to officially announce the 2013 Winter Classic on Thursday.
The Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs will play at Michigan Stadium, the site that the Michigan Wolverines play their football games on Saturdays. That isn't exactly breaking news, but it's better that the NHL is planning to announce the game nearly two years in advance instead of waiting until the last minute.
The details of the announcement were reported by MLive's Ansar Khan:
Next season's Winter Classic between the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs at Michigan Stadium will be officially announced on Thursday, an NHL source told MLive.com.
News conferences have been scheduled for Michigan Stadium, which will host the game in front of an anticipated NHL-record crowd of more than 110,000, and Comerica Park, which will host several events leading up to the Classic, including AHL, OHL and college games.
It will be the second hockey game hosted at Michigan Stadium after the first -- a 2010 contest between Michigan and Michigan State -- brought in 113, 411 fans to watch the outdoor game.
For more news surrounding the 2013 Winter Classic, stick with our StoryStream.
There's been a lot of scuttlebutt surrounding the potential of the 2013 Winter Classic coming to the Big House at the University of Michigan, hosted by the Detroit Red Wings. There's been even more regarding the potential of the Toronto Maple Leafs playing in the game as the visitor, despite the fact that they're in a Canadian market and thus essentially useless to the American television interests that control the NHL's marquee event.
But as reports have surfaced and those rumors have grown stronger, it's seemed less and less like the NHL and NBC care about the downsides of having Toronto play in the 2013 game. According to TSN's Bob McKenzie, speaking on television Thursday evening, it's almost a done deal that this will be the matchup come New Year's Day next year.
Extremely high. I can in fact confirm those reports that the NHL's desire is that the Toronto Maple Leafs play the Detroit Red Wings at the Big House, the University of Michigan football field. It'll be configured for 115,000 in terms of attendance. It's not finalized yet, but by the end of the month there's expected to be a formal announcement. The NHL is well down the road.
Who knows? Maybe the announcement will even come at the All-Star Game in Ottawa in late January. The news is getting Leafs fans very, very excited, and our friends at Leafs blog Pension Plan Puppets are just downright giddy about the possibilities. Better start saving your Loonies and Toonies now, guys.
For more news surrounding the 2013 Winter Classic, stick with our StoryStream.
The NHL is inching closer to finalizing an agreement to play the 2013 Winter Classic at Michigan Stadium, according to a report on Wednesday. The Detroit Red Wings have been the front-runners to host the next Winter Classic, with Michigan Stadium the desired location.
The report comes from Puck Daddy's Jeff Arnold, citing multiple sources near the negotiations.
One source, who spoke on a condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak on the matter, said Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon wasn't initially sold on the idea of the NHL hosting an outdoor game at Michigan Stadium. But over a matter of a couple of weeks, the source said "something happened to make it go from looking like it could happen to [a point where] it probably will."
Should an agreement be reached, the Red Wings would likely play the Toronto Maple Leafs at the stadium affectionately known as The Big House. Michigan Stadium seats upwards of 114,000 fans for football games, making it a potentially lucrative investment for both the NHL and the Wolverines.
For more on the Detroit Red Wings, visit SB Nation's Redwings blog Winging It In Motown and SB Nation Detroit.
The 2012 NHL Winter Classic is only a few days old, but the speculation for where the 2013 game will be held has already started. The NHL just might already have it's destination in mind for the 2013 NHL Winter Classic. The current speculation is that the game will be held in Michigan at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor or at Comerica Park. Given the location, the signs point to the Detroit Red Wings as the hosting team for the game.
The NHL is in the early workings of setting up the game, but they have approached the University of Michigan about hosting the game. "We have been approached by the NHL about utilizing our facility for the 2013 Winter Classic," Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon said in a statement. "There are a lot of complex circumstances that need to be ironed out before anything moves forward. We will have more to say if/when something materializes."
For more on this year's Winter Classic, head over to SB Nation's build-up to the game, head over to our NHL Winter Classic StoryStream. For more on the Detroit Red Wings, visit SB Nation's Redwings blog Winging It In Motown and SB Nation Detroit.
The Winter Classic could be played in Washington, D.C. in the near future, but they're not going to host the next edition of the game. That's not a statement born out of pure speculation, but rather one that comes straight from the horse's mouth. Ted Leonsis, Chairman and CEO of Monumental Entertainment, which owns the Washington Capitals, posted on his blog that D.C. is not going to be hosting the 2013 edition of the game. He also added that he believes that D.C. will host the game sometime in the future.
Currently, the leader in the clubhouse to host the 2013 Winter Classic is the Detroit Red Wings. Various members of the Red Wings organization have said that they're hopeful that they can host the game in the near future. Many current members of the Wings squad played for the team in the 2009 Winter Classic, which was played against the Chicago Blackhawks at Wrigley Field. There's no word on whether the Wings would host the event at Comerica Park, the home of the Detroit Tigers, or the much larger Michigan Stadium.
Winter Classic 2013: Michigan House Votes To Allow Alcohol Sales; State Senate The Next Hurdle
The 2013 NHL Winter Classic will be held on New Year's Day at Michigan Stadium, the usual home of the Michigan Wolverines. The Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs will face off in the league's annual outdoor games. The city and state have to hold a special vote to decide the matter, but the good news is this: it looks as though there will be beer.
USA Today reports that the Michigan House has held a vote and will allow alcohol to be sold at the game, but state senate approval is needed before it become official.
Hockey fans planning on attending the game will certainly welcome another way to keep warm.
For more on the Detroit Red Wings, please visit Winging It In Motown or stop by SB Nation Detroit. For info on the Toronto Maple Leafs, head over to Pension Plan Puppets and be sure to stay tuned to this StoryStream for lots more on the 2013 Winter Classic.
May 24 4:42p by Bill Hanstock - 0 comments