2012 NHL Winter Classic

1 2 3 Total New York Rangers 0 1 2 3 Philadelphia Flyers 0 2 0 2
Date	January 2, 2012
Venue	Citizens Bank Park
City	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Attendance	46,967
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The2012 NHL Winter Classic (known via corporate sponsorship as theBridgestone NHL Winter Classic) was anoutdoorice hockey game played in theNational Hockey League (NHL) on January 2, 2012, atCitizens Bank Park inPhiladelphia,Pennsylvania.^[1] The fifth edition of theWinter Classic, it matched theNew York Rangers against thePhiladelphia Flyers, twoAtlantic Division rivals;^[1] the Rangers won by a score of 3–2.^[2] The original plan was to have the contest at thePhiladelphia Eagles' home,Lincoln Financial Field; however, the Eagles played there the day before, and the NHL needed at least a week of preparation time to build the ice rink onto the field. The game was broadcast byNBC in the United States and byCBC andRDS in Canada. NBC's announcers wereMike Emrick andEddie Olczyk, withPierre McGuire handling sideline duties andBob Costas as the studio host.

The game returned to its originaldaytime time slot, with the Rangers-Flyers game beginning at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (two hours behind its originally scheduled start time of 1:00 p.m.).^[1] This marked the first time the Winter Classic was not played onNew Year's Day; to follow the precedent ofbowl games—which do not play on January 1 if it falls on a Sunday out of respect for theNational Football League, and the observed New Year's Day holiday being legally floated to Monday in these scenarios, the game was instead played on January 2.^[3]

The game was delayed two hours from its originally scheduled start time due to the expectations of warm temperatures and sun glare. The 3:20 p.m. puck drop provided more ideal conditions, with a temperature around 45 °F (7 °C) and overcast skies. Rain fell for a short time during the second period. Ice conditions were mostly excellent with few delays to repair the playing surface, and they compared favorably to last year's game according toMichael Rupp, who played for the Penguins in the2011 NHL Winter Classic. The Rangers entered the game on top of the Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference with 50 points, with the Flyers trailing the Rangers by two points and having the chance to tie for first place with a win.

The first period was scoreless, with neither team sustaining much offensive pressure. The Flyers had the edge in play, and it was reflected on the scoreboard with their 12–9 lead in shots on goal. Each team was assessed a penalty late in period, resulting in short power plays for both. In the second, shadows were becoming prevalent on the rink as the sun set behind the stadium and the lights took full effect. Despite the ice conditions getting slightly worse, as well, the game became more fast-paced, and the Flyers scored two goals in less than two minutes in the second half of the period.Brayden Schenn's first career goal was scored following an offensive-zone face-off andClaude Giroux scored on an odd-man rush. On the Rangers' first shift following Giroux's goal, Rupp scored his second of the season on a wrist shot. The Flyers again outplayed the Rangers in this period and had a 14 to 8 edge in shots on goal.

The Rangers came out with more energy to start the third, and Rupp tied the game on his first shift of the period, beatingSergei Bobrovsky from a bad angle. Less than three minutes later,Brad Richards gave the Rangers a 3–2 lead when he hit an open side of the net following a rebound. The final period had the most end-to-end action of the game and sustained pressure, and it was played evenly by both teams. The Flyers had the only power play of the period, recording one shot. With Bobrovsky pulled from the net for an extra attacker, the Flyers and Rangers were assessed matching minors, so the Flyers had more room to skate with a five to four skater advantage rather than six to five. As they sustained more pressure and the puck was sliding through the crease, Rangers defensemanRyan McDonagh slid in an attempt to block the net but was called for covering the puck in the crease.Daniel Briere was chosen to take the ensuingpenalty shot, which was stopped byHenrik Lundqvist with 19.6 seconds remaining, sealing the win for the Rangers. With the loss the Flyers became the first team to lose in two Winter Classics. Prior to this game, the Flyers had a record of 18–0–1 when leading after two periods. The win moved the Rangers into first overall in the league standings.^[4]

Number in parentheses represents the player's total in goals or assists to that point of the season

New York Rangers # Player Position 4 Michael Del Zotto D 5 Daniel Girardi D 8 Brandon Prust LW 10 Marian Gaborik RW 17 Brandon Dubinsky LW 18 Marc Staal (A) D 19 Brad Richards (A) RW 21 Derek Stepan LW 22 Brian Boyle C 24 Ryan Callahan (C) RW 26 Ruslan Fedotenko LW 27 Ryan McDonagh D 30 Henrik Lundqvist G 32 Anton Stralman D 34 John Mitchell RW 41 Stu Bickel D 42 Artem Anisimov C 43 Martin Biron[1] G 62 Carl Hagelin C 71 Michael Rupp C Head coach:John Tortorella

Philadelphia Flyers # Player Position 5 Braydon Coburn D 6 Andreas Lilja D 10 Brayden Schenn C 14 Sean Couturier C 17 Wayne Simmonds RW 19 Scott Hartnell LW 21 James van Riemsdyk LW 24 Matt Read LW 25 Matt Carle D 27 Maxime Talbot RW 28 Claude Giroux (A) C 29 Harry Zolnierczyk RW 30 Ilya Bryzgalov[2] G 35 Sergei Bobrovsky G 41 Andrej Meszaros D 43 Marc-Andre Bourdon D 44 Kimmo Timonen (A) D 48 Daniel Briere (A) C 68 Jaromir Jagr RW 93 Jakub Voracek LW Head coach:Peter Laviolette

^ Martin Biron and Ilya Bryzgalov dressed as the back-up goaltenders. Neither entered the game.

• New York Rangers:Jeff Woywitka,Erik Christensen
• Philadelphia Flyers:Matt Walker,Zac Rinaldo,Jody Shelley

• Referees —Ian Walsh,Dennis LaRue
• Linesmen —Jean Morin,Pierre Racicot

The game was telecasted onNBC in the United States,CBC (English) andRDS (Français) in Canada.^[5][6]

HBO aired a four-part documentary chronicling the preparation of the two teams for the game as part of its award-winning sports series24/7. The first episode aired on Wednesday, December 14, 2011, at 10 p.m. ET,^[7] with three additional episodes following each subsequent Wednesday. The series chronicled each team's seasons leading up to the Winter Classic, and emphasized the physical nature and intensity of the Rangers–Flyers rivalry. The episodes focused notably on the fiery coaching approaches ofJohn Tortorella andPeter Laviolette, the odd and comical personality ofIlya Bryzgalov, and the ups and downs that each team underwent before the Winter Classic.

The 2012 Winter Classic had relatively low ratings compared to the previous four events. The game earned a 2.4 rating and 3.74 million viewers; it is the first Winter Classic to fall short of the benchmark set byWayne Gretzky's final game in 1999 (2.5 rating/6 share)^[8] that had stood as the most-watched post-1975 NHL regular season game prior to the Winter Classic. In Philadelphia, the game had a rating of 11.9. The other highest rated markets were Buffalo (7.8), Boston (5.1), and Pittsburgh (4.4). New York's home market finished with a 4.3 rating, the first time that the host markets did not finish both first and second in the individual market ratings. Some critics'^[who?] reasons as to why the ratings were low were due to the fact that the game was moved back two hours from 1pm EST to 3pm EST; the game was played a day later than normally (January 2 opposed to January 1) because of the NFL last regular season games; it was played during the daytime on a day not universally recognized as a holiday (thus more people would have been at work and missed the game); the fact it had to compete with two college bowl games (Outback Bowl and Rose Bowl, although previous Winter Classics also had to compete with bowl games); and overexposure of the New York-Philly matchup.

An alumni game between former Flyers and Rangers players was played on December 31.^[9] The game was broadcast live byVersus,CBC Television, andComcast SportsNet Philadelphia, with a tape-delay broadcast onMSG Network.^[10] The start time was rescheduled to 3:00 PM Eastern Standard Time from the original start time of 1:00 PM, due to weather concerns, but garnered a near sellout crowd nonetheless.

Two storylines built headlines in anticipation of alumni game. One wasBernie Parent participating in the game at the age of 66. Parent decided to participate despite his age due to requests by fans.^[11] The return ofEric Lindros also grabbed headlines.^[12] Lindros was a very popular and successful player for the Flyers, but left the franchise amidst controversy and bad blood. The Flyers players all wore a small number "10" on top of their shoulders in memory of former Flyers defensemanBrad McCrimmon, who died in the2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash earlier in the year.

The game began with a ceremonial faceoff between Flyer captain Bob Clarke and Ranger captain Mark Messier, dropped by Flyers chairmanEd Snider, member of the Hockey Hall of Fame as a builder, and a recent inductee in theUnited States Hockey Hall of Fame. The game started with a total of seven members of theHockey Hall of Fame on the ice: Clarke, Parent, Messier,Bill Barber,Mark Howe,Mike Gartner andBrian Leetch.Glenn Anderson, another Hall of Fame Member, also participated in the game. Parent started the game and earned ovations by several saves, most notably one on a breakaway byRon Duguay, but was replaced withMark LaForest by his request five minutes into the game. Early in the game,Jeremy Roenick committed a rare alumni game hit onDarren Turcotte.

The first goal of the game was scored by John LeClair on a pass by Eric Lindros, showing shades of theLegion of Doom. Mikael Renberg, the third member of the Legion, was invited to the game but was unable to participate due to prior commitments.^[13] Instead, Lindros and LeClair were joined byMark Recchi, who retired less than 6 months earlier afterwinning the Stanley Cup with theBoston Bruins at the age of 43. Recchi played with Lindros early in Lindros' career, forming theCrazy 8s line withBrent Fedyk before being traded for LeClair andEric Desjardins, who also participated in the game. Shortly after Lindros scored,Shjon Podein cleaned up a rebound to put the Flyers up 2–0. The first penalty was committed by Eric Lindros, resulting in a penalty shot (as did all penalties in the game) forNick Kypreos. Kypreos' attempt was however stopped by LaForest.

Rangers goaltenderJohn Vanbiesbrouck was replaced byDan Blackburn to start the second period. Blackburn would keep the net clean for the entire period, also stopping a penalty shot by Podein after Podein was slashed byNick Fotiu. Flyers goalie LaForest was replaced byNeil Little halfway through the game without surrendering a goal. Little gave up a goal to a deflection byGlenn Anderson late in the 2nd period, cutting the Flyers lead to 2–1. The goal was originally credited to Brian Leetch before being changed. After the first five minutes in the third period, recent Hall of Fame inducteeMark Howe extended the lead to 3-1 by converting a penalty shot against Blackburn. Neil Little stopped another penalty shot by Glenn Anderson after Anderson was slashed by Bob Clarke. With both goaltenders shutting the door for the rest of the game, the game ended in a 3–1 Flyers win. Following the game, the two teams took part in a traditional handshake line. Afterwards, team photographs were taken, one of each team individually, and one with both teams together.

The game was officiated by retired NHL refereeKerry Fraser and his son, AHL referee Ryan Fraser. Former NHL referee Harry Dumas, who is also Kerry Fraser's son-in-law, with retired NHL linesmenKevin Collins, who was NHL Supervisor of Officials, served as linesmen for the game. Bernie Parent had a special mask painted for the occasion to be auctioned off for charity, but in the game wore the familiar plain white shell mask with two Flyer logos that was his trademark during most of his playing career. The alumni teams were coached byPat Quinn (Flyers) andMike Keenan (Rangers) who had also faced each other in the1994 Stanley Cup Finals won by Keenan's Rangers over Quinn'sVancouver Canucks in seven games (Collins was one of the linesmen in the game the Rangers clinched theStanley Cup title). Both had also previously coached the Flyers to three appearances in Stanley Cup finals in1980 (Quinn),1985, and1987 (both Keenan).

New York Rangers Coaches:Mike Keenan,Emile Francis,Colin Campbell andMike Richter Ambassadors:Rod Gilbert,Eddie Giacomin,Vic Hadfield, andHarry Howell # Player Position 36 Glenn Anderson RW 31 Dan Blackburn G 37 Paul Broten RW 10 Ron Duguay C 22 Nick Fotiu LW 22 Mike Gartner RW 9 Adam Graves LW 4 Ron Greschner D 6 Darius Kasparaitis D 19 Kris King LW 19 Nick Kypreos LW 2 Tom Laidlaw D 15 Darren Langdon LW 2 Brian Leetch D 26 Dave Maloney LW 32 Stephane Matteau LW 11 Mark Messier C 19 Brian Mullen RW 21 Mathieu Schneider D 8 Darren Turcotte C 34 John Vanbiesbrouck G

Philadelphia Flyers Coaches:Pat Quinn,Mike Nykoluk,Terry Crisp andKeith Primeau. Ambassadors:Gary Dornhoefer,Ron Hextall,Don Saleski andDave Schultz. # Player Position 7 Bill Barber LW 29 Terry Carkner D 16 Bobby Clarke C 37 Eric Desjardins D 34 Jim Dowd C 5 Larry Goodenough D 2 Derian Hatcher D 15 Al Hill C 2 Mark Howe D 9 Bob Kelly LW 26 Orest Kindrachuk C 33 Mark LaForest G 10 John LeClair RW 27 Reggie Leach LW 88 Eric Lindros C 13 Ken Linseman C 35 Neil Little G 8 Brad Marsh D 1 Bernie Parent G 25 Shjon Podein LW 20 Dave Poulin C 26 Brian Propp LW 8 Mark Recchi RW 97 Jeremy Roenick C 28 Kjell Samuelsson D 6 Chris Therien D 22 Rick Tocchet RW 20 Jim Watson D 14 Joe Watson D

As the final event of the Winter Classic, theAmerican Hockey League (AHL) played an outdoor game at Citizens Bank Park on January 6 featuring theAdirondack Phantoms, the Flyers' AHL affiliate which wasformerly based in Philadelphia, and theHershey Bears.^[14] The game, which drew an all time AHL record crowd of 45,653, was won by the Phantoms, 4–3, in overtime.

On December 30, 2011, the Philadelphia Police Department Ice Hockey Club hosted the Boston Police Emerald Society in a rematch from their January 6, 2010, game atFenway Park.

On January 4, 2012,Neumann University Knights (Division III) andPenn State met during the Icers' final year as anACHA D1 program, prior to moving to the NCAA. Neumann won 6–3 in front of a crowd of 6,800.^[15] A second game was held on Thursday, January 5 between ACHA Division I rivals,Drexel University andVillanova University. Drexel won the game 7–3.

The anthems were performed byMelanie Fiona (O Canada) and Philadelphia nativePatti LaBelle (The Star-Spangled Banner)

During the first intermission the Flyers' anthem singerLauren Hart performedGod Bless America (and also at the Alumni Game)

During intermission, Philadelphia-based hip-hop bandThe Roots performed "The Fire", but replaced the word "Flyers" instead of "Fire" just for the occasion of supporting the team during the game.

• 2011–12 New York Rangers season
• 2011–12 Philadelphia Flyers season
• AHL Outdoor Classic
• List of outdoor ice hockey games
• List of ice hockey games with highest attendance

• Game Boxscore

• NHL Winter Classic
• 2011–12 NHL season
• 2012 in sports in Pennsylvania
• Ice hockey competitions in Philadelphia
• New York Rangers games
• Philadelphia Flyers games
• 2012 in Philadelphia
• January 2012 sports events in the United States

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