S03 E05
Jan 2, 2014Road to the NHL Winter Classic
Red Wings/Maple Leafs: The Game
Release Date: Jan 2, 2014ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The Big House was a sea of blue and red. Snow fell throughout the afternoon. There were coaches in fedoras, goalies wearing retro-looking pads and toques, and kids playing shinny on a small rink that could have been mistaken for a pond. The images of the 2014 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic on Wednesday were as intoxicating as the conditions were frigid. The temperature was 13 degrees Fahrenheit at the start of the game. The wind chill sent it below zero as the game progressed. The announced crowd of 105,491 teeth-chattering fans jammed into the 96 rows of bleacher seats at Michigan Stadium took it all in; their senses no doubt overwhelmed."It was a home run for hockey," said Detroit coach Mike Babcock.Roughly half of the fans crossed the border into Canada happy after the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Detroit Red Wings 3-2 in a shootout to win what, at the end of the day, was a regular-season game between Atlantic Division rivals who entered the afternoon with 45 points each through 41 games.