[Winter Classic Game Thread] Wings vs. Blackhawks

The Winter Classic is at 1pm EST on New Year's and will feature two of the league's best teams in what should be an exciting game outdoors. The weather looks like it's going to cooperate - just below freezing with a chance of snow later in the game.

After a 4-0 loss to Detroit on Tuesday, the Blackhawks will certainly be coming out hard to try to win in front of the home crowd. This season, the Wings have certainly seemed to step up in these big games (6-0 win over the Sharks and then Tuesday's win over the Hawks) so let's hope that continues with a great win over Chicago in front of a national audience!

After a strong performance in Tuesday's game, Ty Conklin has been awarded the slot as starting goaltender for Detroit. He is the only player to suit up for all three outdoor NHL games. In other news, captain Nicklas Lidstrom is planning on playing. The only catch is that the Wings have to mess with his skate so that it will fit his swollen ankle. If they can do that, he's expected to play. Forward Mikael Samuelsson missed Tuesday's game with the flu, but will play in the WC assuming he is feeling better.

Below is a flash feed to my Twitter account. Joe and I will be posting comments and photos to the account as the game progresses. If the flash isn't working for you, you can read my account at Twitter.

Below is the Twitter feed for #wc09, which is what people are tagging their tweets about the big game. This is what everyone on Twitter is saying about the big game!

As we mentioned in an earlier post, we encourage you to leave your thoughts on this great game in the comment thread. You can also post your own photos if you are lucky enough to be at the game in our FanShot section.

I hope everyone enjoys the game and Go Wings!!