Winter Classic at Notre Dame Stadium, 2019

The 2019 NHL Winter Classic (officially the 2019

Bridgestone is a Japanese multinational tire manufacturer founded in 1931 by Shojiro Ishibashi (1889–1976) in the city of Kurume, Fukuoka, Japan. The name Bridgestone comes from a calque translation and transposition of , meaning 'stone bridge' in Japan ...

NHL Winter Classic) was an outdoor regular season National Hockey League (NHL) game, part of the Winter Classic series, that was played on January 1, 2019. The game featured the Chicago Blackhawks taking on the Boston Bruins at Notre Dame Stadium in

Notre Dame, Indiana Notre Dame is a census-designated place and unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend in St. Joseph County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. It includes the campuses of three colleges: the University of Notre Dame, Saint Mary's Coll ...

, home of the University of Notre Dame's Fighting Irish football team. This was the fourth Winter Classic for the Blackhawks (

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

, sixth outdoor appearance overall and fifth in six years) and the third for the Bruins (

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

). The game was the Bruins' first Winter Classic as the visiting team, and the first time the NHL hosted an outdoor game outside a team's immediate media market (Chicago, the host team, is in an adjacent media market to the South Bend market where Notre Dame is located).

Game summary

The Boston Bruins won 4–2 with Tuukka Rask in goal, making 36 saves. The game was Rask's 469th for the Bruins, making him the most prolific goaltender in Bruins history.

David Pastrňák David Pastrňák (; born 25 May 1996) is a Czech professional ice hockey right winger for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League. Nicknamed "Pasta", Pastrňák was selected by the Bruins in the first round, 25th overall, of the 2014 NHL ...

, Patrice Bergeron,

Sean Kuraly Sean Kuraly (born January 20, 1993) is an American professional ice hockey forward currently playing for the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected by the San Jose Sharks in the fifth round, 133rd overall, in t ...

and

Brad Marchand Brad Marchand ( ; born May 11, 1988) is a Canadian professional ice hockey Winger (ice hockey), left winger and alternate captain for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Bruins selected Marchand in the third round, 71st o ...

scored the goals for the Bruins.

Brendan Perlini Brendan Perlini (born April 27, 1996) is an English-born Canadian professional ice hockey left winger currently playing for the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League (AHL). He most recently played for the Bakersfield Condors of the America ...

and

Dominik Kahun Dominik Kahun (born 2 July 1995) is a Czech-born German professional ice hockey forward who is currently playing with SC Bern of the National League (NL). He previously has played for the Chicago Blackhawks, Pittsburgh Penguins, Buffalo Sabres ...

scored the goals for the Blackhawks. :''Number in parenthesis represents the player's total in goals or assists to that point of the season''

Officials

Referees: Eric Furlatt, Francis Charron Linesmen: Matt MacPherson, Bryan Pancich

Pregame/Anthem/Entertainment

A pre-game performance was conducted by ''the Jacks'', Weezer performed a three-song concert during the first intermission including their hit cover of " Africa" by

Toto Toto may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters Pets * Toto (Oz), Toto (''Oz''), a dog in the novel and film ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' * Toto, in Japanese ''The Cat Returns#Plot, The Cat Returns'' Characters of agency * a ...

, and

Judah & the Lion Judah & the Lion are an American Alternative rock and folk band from Nashville, Tennessee, formed in 2011. Currently the band consists only of Judah Akers (vocals, guitar) and Brian Macdonald (mandolin, vocals). History The original members of ...

performed a three-song concert during the second intermission. During the team introductions, the

South Bend Symphony Orchestra South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*su ...

performed the Notre Dame Fight Song The anthem was performed by the Blackhawks' anthem singer

Jim Cornelison James Cornelison (born June 20, 1964) is an American singer who sings "The Star-Spangled Banner" and "O Canada" at the beginning of home games for the Chicago Blackhawks, accompanied by organist Frank Pellico. Cornelison started singing the anthem ...

accompanied by the South Bend Symphony Orchestra A ceremonial puck drop was done by Notre Dame legend Tim Brown Prior to team introductions the Bruins' and Blackhawks' legends were introduced. For the Bruins,

Cam Neely Cameron Michael Neely (born June 6, 1965) is a Canadian professional ice hockey executive and former player. Neely played right wing for the Vancouver Canucks and Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1983 to 1996. Nicknamed "'Bam ...

Johnny Bucyk John Paul Bucyk (born May 12, 1935) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger and member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. Having played most of his career with the Boston Bruins, he has been associated in one capacity or another with the ...

, and Ray Bourque. For the Blackhawks, Denis Savard,

Tony Esposito Anthony James "Tony O" Esposito (April 23, 1943 – August 10, 2021) was a Canadian-American professional ice hockey goaltender, who played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL), 15 of those for the Chicago Black Hawks. He was one of t ...

, Jill Mikita, and Bobby Hull.

Broadcasting

NBC broadcast the game as it has done since the event's inception. Like the previous two Winter Classics,

Sportsnet Sportsnet is a Canadian English-language sports specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media. It was established in 1998 as CTV Sportsnet, a joint venture between CTV, Liberty Media, and Rogers Media. CTV parent Bell Globemedia then ...

simulcast the NBC feed in Canada, while TVA Sports used NBC's video to dub their French-language commentary. The game was simulcast on NBC Sports Radio; it was the last program carried on the network before it converted to a part-time syndication service that day.

Ratings

Viewership for the 2019 Winter Classic jumped 20% over the previous season, rising to a 1.94 overnight rating and 2.97 million overall viewers, recovering three years of viewership declines.

Game summary

Officials

Pregame/Anthem/Entertainment

Broadcasting

Ratings

References

Further reading