Pregame: Winter Classic 2014 – Maple Leafs @ Red Wings

270

Kicking this off now so I don’t have to worry about it in the morning. Let’s get the lineup stuff out of the way first…

Tomas Jurco has been sent back to the Grand Rapids Griffins, making him the unlucky one who plays in neither of the organization’s outdoor games this season as he was in Nashville with the Red Wings on Monday while Grand Rapids played the Toronto Marlies at Comerica Park.

On the flip side, Luke Glendening will get to play in both games, having been sent down to the Griffins in time for Monday’s game and called back to appear in the Winter Classic. And we’re told he will play. I’m sure one of the beat writers being shuffled back and forth between Ann Arbor and Detroit saw the actual practice lines but I’m out of the loop, having been at Comerica Park for the Alumni Showdown all day, so I’m assuming Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg will be put on the same line so the Wings needed an extra center. Or maybe they just want that option.

Daniel Alfredsson could miss the game. He’ll make the decision himself in the morning.

Jimmy Howard will get the start in goal even after his awful outing in Nashville. With Jonas Gustavsson hurt, you knew the team wouldn’t go with Petr Mrazek so that’s no surprise.

Here’s some super-sized stupid stats to go with the super-sized venue…

  • The Red Wings are unbeaten all-time in outdoor games. (Their only outdoor game being a win in the 2009 Winter Classic.)
  • The Red Wings organization has never won an outdoor game it hosted. (Griffins lost to the Marlies on Monday.)
  • No team in the Red Wings organization has ever hosted an outdoor game in their actual host city. (Grand Rapids hosted a game in Detroit, Detroit will host a game in Ann Arbor.)
  • The home team has never lost in regulation in any high-level outdoor hockey game in Michigan. (MSU tied U-M in the Cold War, U-M beat MSU in the Big Chill, Griffins lost in a shootout on Monday.)
  • The Red Wings are 1-2 all-time in “home” games played outside their normal home arena. (Lost to Washington in Milwaukee, 3/16/1993. Beat Hartford in Cleveland, 2/24/1994. Lost to St. Louis in Stockholm, 10/2/2009.)
  • The Red Wings are 11-4-3 all-time when playing in an arena other than the home team’s normal home arena.

Game time is 1:00 PM on NBC.

http://www.detroithockey.net

Clark founded the site that would become DetroitHockey.Net in September of 1996 with no idea what it would lead to. He continues to write for the site and executes the site's design and development.

Comments are closed.

Shares