2016 NHL Winter Classic

The 2016 NHL Winter Classic (officially the 2016 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic)^[1] was an outdoor ice hockey game played in the National Hockey League (NHL) on January 1, 2016, at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. The eighth edition of the Winter Classic, it matched the Montreal Canadiens against the Boston Bruins; the Canadiens won, 5–1, a significant event in one of the NHL's best-known rivalries. A Bruins and Canadiens alumni game was also played on December 31, 2015.^[2] The Boston Pride women's professional hockey team played before the alumni game against Les Canadiennes of the Canadian Women's Hockey League to a 1–1 tie in the first ever 2016 Outdoor Women's Classic (officially the Outdoor Women's Classic presented by Scotiabank).^[3]

2016 NHL Winter Classic

1 2 3 Total Montreal Canadiens 1 2 2 5 Boston Bruins 0 0 1 1
Date	January 1, 2016
Venue	Gillette Stadium
City	Foxborough, Massachusetts
Attendance	67,246
← 2015 2017 →

Teams

The Bruins made their second appearance in the Winter Classic, as they played against the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2010 NHL Winter Classic held in Boston's Fenway Park; Massachusetts became the first market to serve as repeat host of the Winter Classic. Early reports dating back to December 2014 by TSN's Bob McKenzie indicated that Boston was the league's first choice in hosting the game.^[4]

To accommodate the event, Gillette Stadium's primary tenant, the New England Patriots, played the last two games of their 2015 season on the road. The Bruins introduced a new third jersey for the game and it featured the team's original logo, as virtually a re-creation of their inaugural 1924–25 NHL season brown/gold sweaters worn while playing their home games in Matthews Arena, which opened in 1910, now on the campus of Northeastern University. (Matthews also was the first arena for the Boston Celtics and the WHA New England Whalers, who are now the Carolina Hurricanes.)

This was the first Winter Classic appearance and third outdoor game for the Canadiens; the team previously played 2003 NHL Heritage Classic against the hosting Edmonton Oilers and the 2011 NHL Heritage Classic against the hosting Calgary Flames.^[5][6] The team also played in a new third jersey and used a logo from the 1920s.

The two teams are long-time rivals. As of the end of the 2014–15 NHL season, the two teams have played each other 729 times during the regular season, 177 times during the playoffs, including nine game sevens. The two teams also held a special alumni game between the two teams, on December 31 at Gillette Stadium.^[7]

Game summary

January 1, 2016

Montreal Canadiens

5–1

Boston Bruins

Gillette Stadium

Recap

In the most lopsided score in the Winter Classic, four Montreal players combined to score five goals en route to a 5–1 victory against Boston. In his first game since suffering a hand injury on November 22, Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher recorded a goal and an assist. Goalie Mike Condon made 27 saves for Montreal. Adam McQuaid scored the Bruins' only goal; this goal was originally credited to Matt Beleskey, but would be changed days later after official review by the NHL.^[8]

Scoring summary
Period	Team	Goal	Assist(s)	Time	Score
1st	MTL	David Desharnais (8)	Dale Weise (9) and Alexei Emelin (3)	01:14	1–0 MTL
2nd	MTL	Paul Byron (6)	Brian Flynn (6) and Mark Barberio (1)	02:00	2–0 MTL
	MTL	Brendan Gallagher (10)	Max Pacioretty (15) and Tomáš Plekanec (21)	17:20	3–0 MTL
3rd	BOS	Adam McQuaid (1)	Ryan Spooner (17) and Jimmy Hayes (11)	03:56	3–1 MTL
	MTL	Max Pacioretty (16)	Brendan Gallagher (11) and Tomáš Plekanec (22)	08:49	4–1 MTL
	MTL	Paul Byron (7)	P. K. Subban (26) and Nathan Beaulieu (10)	18:28	5–1 MTL

Number in parentheses represents the player's total in goals or assists to that point of the season

Penalty summary
Period	Team	Player	Penalty	Time	PIM
1st	BOS	Max Talbot	Hi-sticking	05:20	2:00
	MTL	David Desharnais	Roughing (double minor)	08:42	4:00
	BOS	Torey Krug	Roughing (double minor)	08:42	4:00
	BOS	Adam McQuaid	Delay of game	18:27	2:00
2nd	BOS	Kevan Miller	Cross-checking	02:51	2:00
	MTL	Lars Eller	Hooking	06:43	2:00
	MTL	Nathan Beaulieu	Holding	10:41	2:00
	MTL	Tomáš Plekanec	Delay of game	19:30	2:00
3rd	BOS	Max Talbot	Holding	09:24	2:00
	MTL	Lars Eller	Roughing (double minor)	18:18	4:00
	BOS	Jimmy Hayes	Roughing (double minor)	18:18	2:00

Shots by period Team 1 2 3 Total Montreal 14 11 5 30 Boston 3 14 11 28

Power play opportunities Team Goals/Opportunities Montreal 0/4 Boston 0/3

Three star selections
	Team	Player	Statistics
1st	MTL	Brendan Gallagher	1 Goal, 1 Assist
2nd	MTL	Mike Condon	27 Saves
3rd	BOS	Matt Beleskey	5 Hits, +1

Team rosters

Montreal Canadiens # Player Position 11   Brendan Gallagher RW 14   Tomáš Plekanec (A) C 15   Tomáš Fleischmann LW 17   Torrey Mitchell C 22   Dale Weise RW 26   Jeff Petry D 27   Alex Galchenyuk C 28   Nathan Beaulieu D 32   Brian Flynn C 39   Mike Condon G 40   Ben Scrivens^[1] G 41   Paul Byron LW 43   Daniel Carr LW 45   Mark Barberio D 51   David Desharnais C 67   Max Pacioretty (C) LW 74   Alexei Emelin D 76   P.K. Subban (A) D 79   Andrei Markov D 81   Lars Eller C Head coach:   Michel Therrien

Boston Bruins # Player Position 11   Jimmy Hayes RW 14   Brett Connolly RW 21   Loui Eriksson (A) LW 25   Maxime Talbot C 29   Landon Ferraro C 33   Zdeno Chára (C) D 36   Zac Rinaldo C 37   Patrice Bergeron (A) C 39   Matt Beleskey LW 40   Tuukka Rask G 44   Dennis Seidenberg D 45   Joe Morrow D 47   Torey Krug D 50   Jonas Gustavsson^[2] G 51   Ryan Spooner C 53   Seth Griffith C 54   Adam McQuaid D 72   Frank Vatrano C 76   Alexander Khokhlachev C 86   Kevan Miller D Head coach:   Claude Julien

^ Ben Scrivens and Jonas Gustavsson dressed as the back-up goaltenders. Neither entered the game.

Scratches

• Montreal Canadiens: Greg Pateryn, Devante Smith-Pelly, Jarred Tinordi
• Boston Bruins: Zach Trotman, Brad Marchand, Tyler Randell

Alumni Game

 

Stadium during Alumni Game

In the Alumni Game on New Year's Eve, the Bruins defeated the Canadiens 5–4 in a shootout. The Canadiens alumni included Guy Carbonneau, Larry Robinson and Jose Theodore with the coaches including Guy Lafleur and Jacques Demers, while the Bruins alumni included Cam Neely, Terry O'Reilly, Mark Recchi and Ray Bourque with the coaches including Derek Sanderson, Lyndon Byers, Mike Milbury and Don "Grapes" Cherry.

Bruins' former anthem singer Rene Rancourt performed O Canada and The Star-Spangled Banner at the alumni game.

Television

The game was televised in the United States on NBC, with commentators Mike Emrick, Eddie Olczyk, and Pierre McGuire.^[9]

In Canada, it was the second consecutive Winter Classic to be televised under the Rogers Media contract, but for the first time the English-language broadcast was shown on Sportsnet instead of on CBC Television and the Hockey Night in Canada banner.^[10] Commentary was provided by Jim Hughson, Craig Simpson, and Glenn Healy.^[11] For the second consecutive time, the game was broadcast in French on TVA Sports (with commentators Félix Séguin and Patrick Lalime, and reporter Renaud Lavoie) as part of TVA's sub-licensing agreement with Rogers.

Television ratings

The 2016 NHL Winter Classic had the lowest ratings of any Winter Classic in the United States to date, with an average of less than 3 million American viewers watching the game.^[12]

Pregame/Anthems/Entertainment

Prior to the game American Authors performed

The Boston Pops performed Duel Of The Fates during the team introductions

The national anthems were performed by Simple Plan (O Canada) and The Voice season 9 winner Jordan Smith accompanied by the Boston Pops (The Star-Spangled Banner)

Nate Ruess performed during the first intermission while Simple Plan performed during the second intermission

References

1. NHL Public Relations. "Bridgestone returns as title sponsor of NHL Winter Classic in five-year partnership renewal with NHL" (Press release). NHL. Retrieved July 29, 2015.
2. "Bruins, Canadiens alumni rosters revealed for 2016 NHL Winter Classic Alumni Game". The Boston Globe. November 24, 2015. Retrieved December 21, 2015.
3. "NHL to host first-ever Outdoor Women's Classic presented by Scotiabank". NHL. December 28, 2015. Retrieved December 28, 2015.
4. "Boston Bruins Schedule Standings Stats Video Odds Fantasy Bruins Reportedly Front-Runners To Host 2016 NHL Winter Classic". New England Sports Network. December 12, 2014. Retrieved January 2, 2016.
5. "Source: Bruins to host '16 Classic". ESPN.
6. "2016 Winter Classic will feature Bruins vs. Canadiens at Gillette Stadium (Report)". Yahoo! Sports. January 19, 2015.
7. "Bruins-Canadiens rivalry takes centerstage at 2016 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic at Gillette Stadium". NHL. July 29, 2015. Retrieved July 29, 2015.
8. "Canadiens overwhelm Bruins to win Winter Classic". NHL.com. January 1, 2016. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
9. "NBC Sports Presents 2016 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic" (Press release). NBC Sports. December 28, 2015. Retrieved January 2, 2015.
10. "Sportsnet unveils 2015–16 NHL Broadcast Schedule". Sportsnet.ca. Rogers Media. June 25, 2015. Retrieved July 30, 2015.
11. . sportscastermagazine.ca. December 31, 2015. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved January 2, 2015.
12. Wyshynski, Greg (January 5, 2016). "NHL Winter Classic earns lowest rating in game's history | Puck Daddy". Yahoo Sports. Retrieved January 3, 2017.