2013 Winter Classic – Toronto and Detroit

With the speculation now all but confirmed, the 2013 NHL Winter Classic and Detroit Red Wings will host the Toronto Maple Leafs at the University of Michigan next year. This would be the sixth year of the Winter Classic, with Detroit now participating for the second time. Toronto has never played in the Winter Classic before.  

The addition of the Maple Leafs to the Winter Classic would be significant for several reasons. A Canadian team has never participated in the Winter Classic (although the Montreal Canadiens, Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames have all played in the Heritage Classic, an outdoor game that actually predates the Winter Classic by five years). Toronto's inclusion in the Winter Classic would also put the NHL's most popular market in the limelight, where the Leafs haven't found themselves in years.

The proposed site for the event, Michigan Stadium, would bring in a crowd that would easily surpass the attendance figures of past venues used for the game. Ralph Wilson Stadium, the venue for the 2008 Winter Classic, was able to accommodate just over 71,000 spectators. Aside from Ralph Wilson Stadium and Pittsburgh's Heinz Field in 2011, the NHL has used baseball parks to host the game. This is certainly a possibility for 2013, as Red Wings owner Mike Ilitch is also the owner of the Detroit Tigers, who play at Comerica Park in the heart of the Motor City. Comerica Park may be in a better location than the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, but "The Big House" can seat more than 110,000 fans – roughly double the capacity of Tigers' ball yard. One would think that the NHL would be more interested in setting attendance records for their annual winter spectacle than placating to the owner of one of the game's participants.

However, it is likely Comerica Park will host ancillary events, such as the Great Lakes Invitational NCAA tournament, and a possible NHL alumni game that week.

For many fans, the HBO series 24/7 is a bigger draw for the Winter Classic than the game itself. While Detroit and Toronto cannot lay claim to an eccentric goalie (Ilya Bryzgalov) or the best player in the World (when healthy, unquestionably Sidney Crosby), both teams feature solid players with very contrasting styles and personalities. The Maple Leafs are the league's youngest team, and their two best players are about as opposite as one could imagine. Dion Phaneuf's glare says more than Phil Kessel's soft spoken ways ever could. Toronto's Captain is one of the most polarizing figures in the league, and the vitriol directed towards him by many of his peers would only increase with every new episode of the series.

Where Toronto is young, inexperienced and brash, the Red Wings are the elder group – full of aging stars and a winning tradition. Detroit has been a perennial contender for nearly two decades, while the Maple Leafs have found themselves in the backwoods of the NHL since the end of the lockout in 2005.

Perhaps the most intriguing element of both teams would be the difference in personality between Toronto's management group and that of Detroit. Assuming Ron Wilson is back behind the bench for Toronto (which assumes a great deal should the Leafs find themselves out of the playoffs for a seventh consecutive season), Toronto's GM Brian Burke and his sarcastic coach would offer far more one liners than Detroit's combination of GM Ken Holland and Head Coach Mike Babcock. It wouldn't be surprising in the least if Burke and Wilson emerge as the main stars of the series in much the same way that former Washington Capitals Head Coach Bruce Boudreau did in 2010 when the Caps played the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Original Six match-up and the largest crowd ever to see an NHL game will surely stand to invigorate an event that on its own is no longer a spectacle.