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The 2013 Winter Classic will be played in Ann Arbor, but there will also be quite a bit of hockey played in Detroit at Comerica Park next December.
During a Thursday morning press conference, several announcements related to the 2013 Winter Classic were made. For starters, it was confirmed that the game will take place at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor and feature the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs. That was only part of the news, though.
The other big announcement was that a Hockeytown Winter Festival will be held in the month of December in the lead-up to the Winter Classic. One of the concerns about having the game in Ann Arbor was that Detroit would be left out of the festivities, but that will not be the case. In fact, there will be quite a few hockey games played at Comerica Park in Downtown Detroit. Here are more details:
In addition to the Winter Classic Game between the Red Wings and Maple Leafs in Ann Arbor, a number of events are being planned for Comerica Park in downtown Detroit. Beginning in mid-December, this salute of hockey called "The Hockeytown Winter Festival" will include a two-week outdoor celebration for hockey fans of all ages and will be highlighted by a star-studded NHL Alumni game between the Red Wings and the Maple Leafs at Comerica Park – date and time TBD.
In addition to the Alumni Game, the Hockeytown Winter Festival will include the 2012 Great Lakes Invitational (featuring Michigan, Michigan State, Michigan Tech and Western Michigan), an AHL game featuring the Grand Rapids Griffins and Toronto Marlies (affiliates of the Red Wings and Maple Leafs), two OHL games (one featuring the Plymouth Whalers and London Knights and one featuring the Saginaw Spirit and Windsor Spitfires) and several other events (youth and high school hockey games, open skates, etc.).
Although the main event will be played in Ann Arbor, Detroit will play a big role in all of the festivities that surround this event.
For more on the Detroit Red Wings, check out Winging It In Motown. You can also head over to SB Nation's main NHL hub at SBNation.com/NHL.
Great Lakes Invitational 2012 To Be Held At Comerica Park, Feature All-Michigan Lineup
Rumors about the 2012 Great Lakes Invitational being moved outdoors to Comerica Park were confirmed at Thursday morning's press conference for the 2013 Winter Classic. The GLI is usually played at Joe Louis Arena, but with several events set to take place at Comerica Park as part of the Hockeytown Winter Festival, the decision was made to change the venue for the 2012 edition of the event.
The lineup for the 2012 GLI was also made official on Thursday morning. The tournament will feature Michigan, Michigan State, Michigan Tech and Western Michigan, meaning for the first time since 1999, the GLI will have four teams from Michigan competing in it. (That year the lineup was Michigan, Michigan State, Michigan Tech and Lake Superior State.)
The Wolverines have won the last two GLIs and four out of the previous five overall. They will go for a third straight championship in what will be their fourth and fifth outdoor games over the course of four seasons. Just last month Michigan beat Ohio State in the Frozen Diamond Faceoff at the Cleveland Indians' stadium, which followed up a win over Michigan State in The Big Chill at the Big House in December 2010. The season before that, Michigan lost to Wisconsin in the Camp Randall Classic. With Michigan guaranteed to play two games at the GLI at Comerica Park, the total number of outdoor games over four seasons will be increased to five.
The 2012 GLI will be held at Comerica Park on Dec. 28 and 29, which is a Friday and Saturday.
Feb 09 12:15p by Sean Yuille