The 2013 Winter Classic is officially headed to Michigan. The event will feature the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, as announced by the NHL in Detroit on Thursday morning. The announcement ended months of speculation surrounding the event and made it clear that the league has all its sights set on breaking the hockey attendance record with this game.
Although the game itself will take place at the Big House in Ann Arbor, the focus of the first announcement of the day was on the city of Detroit. There has been some criticism over the fact that Detroit won't get to host the game, but there will be a Hockeytown Winter Festival with several games featuring college, AHL, OHL and youth teams at Comerica Park in December.
As for the main event, the game between the Red Wings and Maple Leafs at Michigan Stadium will take place on Jan. 1, 2013. More information, such as when tickets will go on sale, will be available at a later date.
Although New Year's Day 2013 is quite a ways away, already there is a lot of excitement and hype surrounding this event. Not only is it poised to break a record, but the fact that the Red Wings and Maple Leafs will renew their rivalry outdoors is very exciting. Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke promised that a lot of blue will be in the crowd, and you can bet there will also be a lot of red as two of the NHL's Original Six teams get together for the 2013 Winter Classic.
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.