B/R NHL Staff Picks Favorite Winter Classic Moments

It's one of the signature events on the NHL calendar: the Winter Classic.

The unique spectacle of playing hockey in the great outdoors separate the sport from all the others.

Here are our choices for best moments from Winter Classics of the past.

1st Classic Sets the Tone

The top moment remains Pittsburgh Penguins' captain Sidney Crosby's shootout goal in a 2-1 victory against the Buffalo Sabres in the inaugural Winter Classic on New Year's Day in 2008.

It's only fitting that the greatest player of his generation would score the winning goal in the first event.

What also made that game iconic was the huge crowd at Buffalo's Ralph Wilson Stadium (71,217), who were into the game from start to finish. The heavy snowfall throughout was a throwback to the game's 19th-century origins on frozen ponds and lakes.

You only get one chance to make a first impression. In this case, the NHL made the best one possible. The first Classic set a tone for unforgettable moments and memories that NHL fans would cherish.

— Lyle Richardson

Lundqvist's Penalty-Shot Save

Let's contextualize the 2012 Winter Classic.

The Rangers and Flyers were first and third in the Eastern Conference, respectively—two bona fide Stanley Cup contenders.

What's more, HBO's 24/7 Road to the Winter Classic chronicled the weeks building up to the event, increasing the hype and animosity between the two teams. In two prior matchups, both teams played incredibly brutal, physical hockey with four total fights and a whole lot of penalties.

The 2012 Winter Classic earned hype as more than two points in the standings. It was a release valve for weeks of tension between two heavyweight clubs.

The game itself was entertaining, with the Flyers taking a 2-0 lead before the Rangers scored three straight. With 19.6 seconds left on the clock and the Flyers desperate to level the score, Ryan McDonagh flopped onto a loose puck in the crease, saving a goal but handing the Flyers a penalty shot.

Months of tension built up to this moment. Flyers assistant captain Daniel Briere goes up against legendary goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. A goal sends the game to overtime., while a stop practically seals a Rangers victory.

Lundqvist, who made a career of stepping up in big moments, confidently stopped the crafty Briere's five-hole attempt. The Rangers killed the rest of the clock and won a Winter Classic that would foretell a tight first-round matchup between the two that the Rangers would also narrowly win.

The moment was so perfect that Rangers coach John Tortorella joked after the game that broadcaster NBC must have rigged it. The NHL didn't find it quite so funny and fined him for the comment.

— Adam Herman

The 'Real' First Outdoor NHL Extravaganzza

We're going to cheat for this next entry.

It was neither a Winter Classic nor part of the Stadium Series, but the Alberta partisans among us recall the NHL's initial trip into the elements occurred not at Wrigley or Fenway, but at Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium in 2003.

The Oilers hosted the Montreal Canadiens on a makeshift rink in the city's CFL stadium, and images from that freezing day in November 2003—including Guy Lafleur skating with Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier in an alumni game with more than 57,000 fans in the building—surely convinced Gary Bettman that the concept had legs.

Canadiens goalie Jose Theodore set the tone for the regulation game with a toque taped to the top of his mask, and once the stadium crew handled some predictable issues with the surface, the event became an ideal blueprint for the 40-plus that have followed.

And while 18 states, the District of Columbia and four Canadian provinces have presented subsequent games at football stadiums, baseball grounds and a mountainside golf resort, you never forget your first time outdoors.

— Lyle Fitzsimmons

Corey Perry's Walk of Shame

The Winter Classic doesn't always produce the cleanest hockey, the most iconic goals or skilled plays, but the vibes are immaculate and the league does a great job with the atmosphere.

It's always fun seeing what outfits the teams decide on, such as the Bruins' old-school Red Sox uniforms a few years back and the Kraken's fitting fishermen's garb. 

One iconic moment that always gives the true Winter Classic spirit is Corey Perry's ejection at the 2020 event.

Not even five minutes into the game, he was ejected for an elbow to the head of Ryan Ellis. If the immediate drama wasn't bad enough, the walk of shame from the ice to the locker room at AT&T Stadium lasted forever.

We can only hope Perry thought long and hard about what he did on the long walk back. An elbow to the head is no joke, but the quirks and logistics of outdoor games make for some unexpected memories. Perry's walk of shame takes the cake. 

— Sara Civian

Coldest Winter Classic in the State of Hockey

Minnesota in January with a hockey game outdoors. That is what you want for a true Winter Classic experience.

The puck-drop temperature of -7 degrees Fahrenheit set an NHL record as the coldest game on record in NHL history. It was so cold at Target Field that the NHL was forced to warm the ice to play the game.

Talk about an experience you'll never forget.

Sure, the fans in Miami this week will enjoy their time in the sun and it's great to see the league expand the Winter Classic to locations you wouldn't normally associate with hockey.

But there's something to be said about playing the game in the elements it was meant to be played in.

— Lucky Ngamwajasat