Bruins Is the Winter Classic losing its luster? Not for the Bruins – and 39,000 fans at Fenway Park. The Bruins’ thrilling comeback win over Pittsburgh on Monday shows that the NHL’s signature outdoor event still hasn’t lost its fastball. Bruins fans react at the NHL’s 2023 Winter Classic at Fenway Park. AP
COMMENTARY
The small Swedish town of Lugnvik sits more than 3,600 miles east of Fenway Park.
Unlike products of the Commonwealth like Matt Grzelcyk and Charlie Coyle — who routinely watched the local ballclub from those cramped grandstand seats at Fenway Park— Linus Ullmark didn’t have nearly the same exposure to the Red Sox, or baseball as a whole, during his upbringing in Scandinavia.
“None,” Ullmark declared with a smirk when asked about his connections to baseball — an ironic juxtaposition for a netminder who fielded questions on Monday night dressed in a ‘30s-era Red Sox jersey, a catcher’s mask, and weathered cleats from the days of Ted Williams and Jackie Jensen.
“I like to dress up for these special occasions.” Linus Ullmark, who has absolutely no connection to baseball whatsoever, as he revealed his cleats from the 1950s.” pic.twitter.com/hzamP3u4EA — Matt Dolloff (@mattdolloff) January 2, 2023
Still, while Ullmark’s ties to the Bruins’ outdoor venue for the 2023 Winter Classic were not as rooted as many other regulars in Boston’s dressing room — the pomp and circumstance surrounding the annual outdoor showcase have always caught the attention of Boston’s goalie, especially during those early days growing up in Sweden.
LINUS ULLMARK SHUTS THE DOOR AND THE BOSTON BRUINS WIN 2-1 AT FENWAY PARK pic.twitter.com/pfaeWMAleU — Spoked Z (@SpokedZ) January 2, 2023
“This is something that I’ve dreamt about for like 14 years,” Ullmark said. “Since I saw the first one at home in Sweden, I always dreamt about it. I was always very jealous of the people that had played before me and had the opportunity. And now we had an opportunity.”
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Of course, given that Monday stood as Ullmark’s first Winter Classic, it shouldn’t have come as much of a surprise that the enthusiastic goaltender was going to soak up all of the revelries that come with the NHL’s annual regular-season showcase — be it the Bruins’ Sox-centric pregame attire, the added crowds, the national showcase, or the appearances by legends like Bobby Orr, Johnny Bucyk and Zdeno Chara.
But Ullmark’s gracious sentiment surrounding the Winter Classic isn’t lost on the elder statesmen in Boston’s dressing room — even those who skated on the frozen ice at Fenway more than a decade earlier.
At this stage of his career, Patrice Bergeron’s resume is about as inundated with text as the scribbled underside of a seat on the Red Line.
Along with his lofty individual accolades, a Stanley Cup title, two Olympic gold medals and a World Junior championship, Bergeron has now played in five different outdoor contests during his time in Boston — taking him from local spots at Fenway and Foxborough to South Bend and even a remote rink just off the shores of Lake Tahoe.
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If there was ever a grouping whose patience would be tested when it came to the Winter Classic, it would be the likes of Bergeron, Brad Marchand, David Krejci and others.
But just minutes after saluting close to 40,000 fans at Fenway following a 2-1 comeback win over the Penguins, Bergeron once again expressed appreciation for the opportunity to skate outside of a traditional NHL barn.
“The second time around is no different,” Bergeron said of playing back at Fenway. “It’s special, a lot of history here at Fenway. … “I think it’s one of those where you take a few breaths and you’re trying to take it all in, look at the crowd and how special it is to be in the middle of Fenway Park, in a packed stadium.
“Also I think we say many times, ‘It’s special,’ so I think we have to be in the moment, enjoy that as a team. It was great to be able to take that extra minute to really enjoy it and as I said before, it’s a lot better when you win, when you come out on top.”
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In some respects, the heavy crowds that pack into these ballparks and collegiate stadiums and routinely embrace the bitter outdoor conditions resonate with a Bruins team that seems to thrive off of the immense pressure they’ve cultivated for themselves.
“It’s a great fan base to play in front of because they expect a lot,” Charlie Coyle said. “They put the pressure on. That’s where you want to play. You want to embrace that pressure and give these fans what they deserve. And they deserve our best every night. And it’s not always going to be perfect, but we got it done.”
Monday’s matchup at Fenway might have featured mild temps in the low 50s, but many in the Fenway seats offered icy retorts to the local hockey team following a listless 40 minutes of play — with Boston struggling to generate sustained offensive-zone pressure against the Penguins all night.
But with the opportunity presented by Monday’s outdoor event fresh on his mind, Nick Foligno harped on that same message during his address to his teammates in the second period — with Boston snatching another two points by way of a two-goal salvo from Jake DeBrusk in the final frame of regulation.
“He just kind of got everybody in and just talked about our team throughout the year and what we’ve been able to do,” DeBrusk said of Foligno’s address during the second intermission. “And obviously how we’ve been able to do it and this is an event, like Linus said, it’s a dream come true. And you don’t want to waste it.
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“You don’t want to come in after a game like tonight and think that you could have done more or wish you had done something. You never know, it’s very rare to get another chance to do it. So I think it was more so just the message of just, ‘We know what we can do together as a group. We’re the best third-period team in the league and let’s go prove it.’”
Of course, it’s one thing for the players on the ice to still relish the unique atmosphere brewed up during these unique regular-season tilts.
But for hockey fans who have seen the NHL orchestrate close to 40 outdoor games (Winter Classic, Heritage Classic, Stadium Series and NHL Outdoors series) over the last two decades, it can be a bit of a tougher sell at times.
Let’s face it, it’s easy to be cynical about the Winter Classic, especially a 2023 showcase that was returning to a venue that already hosted the game 13 years earlier — when Marco Sturm launched a chilly Fenway crowd into hysterics in overtime.
At this stage, we’ve seemingly seen it all in terms of the initial appeal of such a game, along with the different stadiums and parks that the league can cram a 200-foot sheet of ice into.
In some ways, the Winter Classic is a bit like taking in a full Fenway crowd singing ‘Sweet Caroline’ in the middle of October.
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Yes, we’ve seen it again and again… and again.
Sure, the pure concept of the exercise might elicit some eye rolls from a few of the more hardened sports fans in this town.
But in the right setting, such an event shouldn’t be taken for granted — be it 39,000 Red Sox fans signing in unison amid a fruitful Fall Classic campaign, or 39,000 Bruins fans taking in their beloved team under rose-tinted skies at the same cherished ballpark.
“We’ve got something special going on here,” Foligno noted. “And it was a special night.”