Monday, December 23, 2024
Sports

Winter Classic at Fenway: Sights and action from Penguins-Bruins

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The NHL Winter Classic on Monday featured the Pittsburgh Penguins against the Boston Bruins at Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox.

The hometown team came out on top 2-1 courtesy of two late-game goals from Jake DeBrusk.

It was the NHL’s second time playing in front of the Green Monster, the first coming in 2010. Since the Winter Classic began in 2008, the game has been played at a baseball stadium six times.

However, for the 110-year-old Fenway Park, this has been an active period for sports other than baseball. On Dec. 17, the stadium hosted the Wasabi Fenway Bowl between the Louisville Cardinals and Cincinnati Bearcats. Here’s what the baseball stadium, which has hosted 11 World Series, looked like as a football stadium and hockey rink.

Fenway Park was full of scenic views on Monday. Here are the best sights from the 2023 Winter Classic.

Hockey atop the Green Monster

One major change between the 2010 Classic, the third edition of the NHL’s outdoor game, and today: The rink for this year’s edition ran parallel to the Green Monster in left field. Which meant that Fenway Park’s most unique seats were also arguably the best seats in the house for the NHL outdoor game, with glorious center ice views.

Tickets to watch the Winter Classic from atop the Green Monster had a face value of $400, according to a seating chart sent to season-ticket holders. Some of the fans we spoke to who got them early said they paid less. Green Monster tickets were selling for well over $2,000 on game day.

Bruins fan Tommy Driscoll paid $350 for standing room only tickets on the Monster a few months ago. He and a friend posted up on the wall at around 12:30 p.m. for the 2:33 p.m. puck drop. To maintain their spot, they took turns going to the concession stand and the restroom.

Driscoll said this game had “a better view, for sure” than the 2010 version, where he had seats behind one of the dugouts.

“The ice was in a different position. You can see how far the Winter Classic’s come,” he said. — Greg Wyshynski

Boston royalty

Two great Boston athletes — Bruins great Bobby Orr and former Red Sox captain Jason Varitek — handled the ceremonial puck drop/”first pitch.”

Michelangelo’s David (Pastrnak Pasta Sculpture)

At the Winter Classic fan fest near Fenway Park, one assumes they’ll find puck-shooting competitions, hockey swag and copious amounts of pregame beverages. One does not assume there will be modern art … like a statue of Boston Bruins winger David Pastrnak made of spaghetti and tomato sauce.

The sculpture was called “David Pastrnak, In Pasta” — with “Pasta” being the nickname of the Bruins’ leading goal scorer. The 24-inch statue was created using a special pasta and resin concoction by artist Adam Parker Smith, who had previous transformed Grecian amphoras using the same pasta process.

“Pasta in Pasta is meant to capture the full persona of the Bruins star,” read a description on the display.

The Pastrnak statue isn’t meant to just enrich one artistically but also financially bolster a local charity.

The Pasta statue will be auctioned off, with the proceeds donated to the Keith Garman Memorial Hockey Fund, which supports the hockey program and players at Greater Johnstown High School. It’s a fund named for the late Keith Garman, a former team chef for the Bruins, who died in 2022 at age 33. — Greg Wyshynski

Drone’s eye view

Pregame fashion

While playing at a baseball stadium, the Penguins are fitting into the surroundings. Jake Guentzel, Jan Rutta, Bryan Rust, Jason Zucker and other members of the team dressed in vintage Pittsburgh Pirates uniforms before the game. Goalie Casey DeSmith even put on the catcher’s gear.

The 1925 Pirates defeated the Washington Senators to win the franchise’s second World Series title.

The Bruins arrived at the stadium in vintage Red Sox uniforms.

“It’s a 1937, so I guess that’s kind of what we’re reenacting with the whole outfit,” Bruins forward Charlie Coyle told ESPN.

As he did an interview with a local sports network, Coyle smashed his hand into his baseball glove.

“I think some guys broke theirs in. I can barely [move my hand],” he said, laughing. “It’s pretty cool. You can’t believe guys wore something like this. It’s pretty different now.”

Pastrnak’s Fenway stick

Over the weekend Boston Bruins star David Pastrnak revealed his specially designed Green Monster of a stick and skates for the outdoor game.

Both have green that mimics the iconic left-field wall at Fenway and stitching reminiscent of a baseball. They include the Winter Classic logo and a mockup of the scoreboard at Fenway.

The Bruins winger has his personal logo on the skates and stick, both created by Bauer Hockey.

One of the more unusual touches: the logo of Red Sox legend David Ortiz on the shaft of the stick and on the side of the skate. — Greg Wyshynski


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