Fenway Park dressed for Winter Classic look

Article posted by Coliseum, January 6^th, 2023

Image: NHL

The stage was set for what was the coolest pond hockey game ever between the National Hockey League (NHL) teams Boston Bruins and the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts (US) on January 2^nd. The Boston Bruins rallied with two third-period goals to defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins 2-1 in the 2023 Winter Classic.

The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. They play in the 19,580-capacity TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts.

The Pittsburgh Penguins are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, US. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, and have played their home games at the 19,758-capacity PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, originally known as the Consol Energy Center, since 2010.

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The 37,731-capacity Fenway Park is a baseball stadium located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, near Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home of the Boston Red Sox, the city’s American League baseball team, and since 1953, its only Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise.

New York City (US)-based the National Hockey League (NHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams – 25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ice hockey league in the world, and is one of the four major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada.

The NHL Winter Classic is an annual outdoor ice hockey game played during the National Hockey League’s (NHL’s) regular season on or around New Year’s Day. It is generally held in a football or baseball stadium in an area with a resident NHL team.

‘nbcboston.com’ stated that earlier, crews were still putting the finishing touches on the setup on the morning of January 2^nd, including covering up the ice to keep it from melting.

It’s pretty amazing how Fenway Park has been transformed. The regulation size rink looks almost small in the shadow of the Green Monster.

The Green Monster is a popular nickname for the 37-foot-2-inch-high (11.33 m) left field wall at the Fenway Park.

‘nbcboston.com’ further stated that behind that – in a nod to the historic ballpark – there’s an ice diamond with above-ground dugouts, where youth hockey teams will be facing off on the pitcher’s mound, there will be baseball activities throughout the game and appearances by some Boston sports stars.

There were also two stages in the outfield that hosted musical performances throughout the game.

This is the fourth Winter Classic appearance for the Bruins – they last played in the outdoor game in 2019.

It’s the third time the Penguins have been a part of the annual tradition.

This is the first time that the NHL returned to a venue for the Winter Classic – Fenway hosted the outdoor game back in 2010. The game that Bruins won in overtime. But that was a much colder game and they had to shovel snow off the ice.

And this time, instead of using snow machines, they stuck with white felt to create the Winter Classic look.

The game was sold out, but resale tickets were found ranging from $386 to $10,000 on Ticketmaster, in case one really wanted to splurge.

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