The 2012 NHL Winter Classic known via corporate sponsorship as the NHL Winter Classic was an regular season NHL game, part of the series, played on January 2, 2012, at in ,. The game, the League's fifth Winter Classic, matched the against the , two ; the Rangers won by a score of 3—2. The original plan was to have the contest at the ' home, ; 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 by in the United States and by and in Canada. NBC's announcers were and , with handling sideline duties and as the studio host. Eastern Standard Time two hours behind its originally scheduled start time of 1:00 p. This marked the first time the Winter Classic was not played on ; to follow the precedent of —which do not play on January 1 if it falls on a Sunday out of respect for the , and the observed New Year's Day holiday being legally floated to Monday in these scenarios, the game was instead played on January 2. The opening ceremony of the 2012 NHL Winter Classic at Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, PA. The game was delayed two hours from its originally scheduled start time due to the expectations of warm temperatures and sun glare. 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 to , who played for the Penguins in the. 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. 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, beating from a bad angle. Less than three minutes later, 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 defenseman slid in an attempt to block the net but was called for covering the puck in the crease. 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. Scoring summary Period Team Goal Assist s Time Score 1st No scoring 2nd PHI 1 17 12:26 1—0 PHI PHI 18 7 , 18 14:21 2—0 PHI NYR 2 7 , 6 14:51 2—1 PHI 3rd NYR Michael Rupp 3 Brandon Prust 8 , John Mitchell 7 2:41 2—2 NYR 14 15 , 16 5:21 3—2 NYR Number in parenthesis represents the player's total in goals or assists to that point of the season Penalty summary Period Team Player Time PIM 1st PHI 16:58 2:00 NYR 17:47 2:00 2nd No penalties 3rd NYR 14:48 2:00 PHI Interference 18:54 2:00 NYR 18:54 2:00 NYR Ryan McDonagh Covering Puck in Crease 19:40 PHI 20:00 2:00 PHI Scott Hartnell 20:00 10:00 New York Rangers Player Position 4 D 5 D 8 LW 10 RW 17 LW 18 A D 19 A RW 21 LW 22 C 24 C RW 26 LW 27 D 30 G 32 D 34 RW 41 D 42 C 43 G 62 C 71 C Head coach: Philadelphia Flyers Player Position 5 D 6 D 10 C 14 C 17 RW 19 LW 21 LW 24 LW 25 D 27 RW 28 A C 29 RW 30 G 35 G 41 D 43 D 44 A D 48 A C 68 RW 93 LW Head coach: Martin Biron and Ilya Bryzgalov dressed as the back-up goaltenders. Neither entered the game. The first episode aired on Wednesday, December 14, 2011 at 10 p. ET, 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 of and , the odd and comical personality of , 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. In Philadelphia, the game had a rating of 11. The other highest rated markets were Buffalo 7. New York's home market finished with a 4. The Flyers and Rangers alumni gathered for a combined team picture after the game. An alumni game between former Flyers and Rangers players was played on December 31. The game was broadcast live by , , and , with a tape-delay broadcast on. 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 was participating in the game at the age of 66. Parent decided to participate despite his age due to requests by fans. The return of also grabbed headlines. Lindros was a very popular and successful player for the Flyers, but left the franchise amidst controversy and bad blood. Bernie Parent's return to the ice after 33 years for the 2012 Winter Classic Alumni Game. The game began with a ceremonial faceoff between Flyer captain Bob Clarke and Ranger captain Mark Messier, dropped by Flyers chairman , member of the Hockey Hall of Fame as a builder, and a recent inductee in the. The game started with a total of seven members of the one the ice: Clarke, Parent, Messier, , , and. Parent started the game and earned ovations by several saves, most notably one on a breakaway by , but was replaced with by his request five minutes into the game. Early in the game, committed a rare alumni game hit on. The first goal of the game was scored by John LeClair on a pass by Eric Lindros, showing shades of the. Mikael Renberg, the third member of the Legion, was invited to the game but was unable to participate due to prior commitments. Instead, Lindros and LeClair were joined by , who retired less than 6 months earlier after with the at the age of 43. Recchi played with Lindros early in Lindros' career, forming the with before being traded for LeClair and , who also participated in the game. Shortly after Lindros scored, 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 for. Kypreos' attempt was however stopped by LaForest. Rangers goaltender was replaced by 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 by. Flyers goalie LaForest was replaced by halfway through the game without surrendering a goal. Little gave up a goal to a deflection by 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 inductee 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. Afterwords, team photographs were taken, one of each team individually, and one with both teams together. The game was officiated by retired NHL referee and his son, current AHL referee Ryan Fraser. Former NHL referee Harry Dumas, who is also Kerry Fraser's son-in-law, with retired NHL linesmen , who is currently and 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 by Flyers and Rangers who had also faced each other in the won by Keenan's Rangers over Quinn's in seven games Collins was one of the linesmen in the game the Rangers clinched the title. Both had also previously coached the Flyers to three appearances in Stanley Cup finals in Quinn , , and both Keenan. New York Rangers Coaches: , , and Ambassadors: , , , and Player Position 36 RW 31 G 37 RW 10 C 22 LW 22 RW 9 LW 4 D 6 D 19 LW 19 LW 2 D 15 LW 2 D 26 LW 32 LW 11 C 19 RW 21 D 8 C 34 G Philadelphia Flyers Coaches: , , and. Ambassadors: , , and. Player Position 7 LW 29 D 16 C 37 D 34 C 5 D 2 D 15 C 2 D 9 LW 26 C 33 G 10 RW 27 LW 88 C 13 C 35 G 8 D 1 G 25 LW 20 C 26 LW 8 RW 97 C 28 D 6 D 22 RW 20 D 14 D As the final event of the Winter Classic, the AHL played an outdoor game at Citizens Bank Park on January 6 featuring the , the Flyers' AHL affiliate which was , and the. 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 at. Collegiate Games On January 4, 2012, and met during the Icers' final year as an , prior to moving to the NCAA. Neumann won 6—3 in front of a crowd of 6,800. A second game was held on Thursday, January 5 between ACHA Division I rivals, and. Drexel won the game 7—3. Retrieved September 26, 2011. Retrieved January 9, 2012. Retrieved July 31, 2012. Retrieved November 28, 2011. Retrieved December 24, 2011. Retrieved December 31, 2011. Retrieved December 31, 2011. Retrieved December 31, 2011. Retrieved September 26, 2011. Retrieved March 6, 2012.
