The Punch-up in Piestany - The 1987 World Junior Championships

In anticipation of tonight's 2015 World Junior Championship Gold Medal Game between host Canada and Russia, the 8th Gold Medal Final between the two nations since the adaptation of the playoff format in 1996, we take a look back at perhaps the most famous, and notorious, moment in World Juniors history, for on this date in 1987, "The Punch-up in Piestany" took place.

The scene was the final game of the 1987 World Junior Tournament in Piestany, Czechoslovakia. At the time the tournament used a simple round-robin format, with the final standings determining the medalists, unlike today's knockout playoff system.

Canada brought a 4-1-1 record into the final game, while their arch-rivals the Soviet Union were out of medal contention at 2-3-1 and could only hope to spoil Canada's chance at the title.

To capture the gold over Finland, the Canadians needed to beat the Soviets by five goals to equal Finland's record of 5-1-1 and surpass them on the goal differential first tie-breaker. Had Canada won by less than five, silver would have been theirs and even a loss would have seen them still take home bronze.

Going into the game, the Canadians were worried about the choice of the inexperienced Hans Ronning as the referee, and sought to have the assignment changed due to an earlier incident in the tournament which involved a pre-game fight between the Canadians and Americans, in which Canadian team captain Steve Chaisson was ejected by Ronning, despite Ronning not even present on the ice at the time. Thanks to his ejection, Chaisson was not only disqualified from the game versus the United States, but their following game against Sweden as well.

The opening faceoff of the game between Canada and the Soviets was met with elbows and a retaliatory cross-check, neither of which were penalized and set the tone for the escalation of hostilities that were to follow.

Five minutes into the game, Theo Fleury scored for Canada and celebrated by sliding across center ice on his knees, using his stick as a machine gun, "firing" at the Soviet bench. The first period would conclude with Canada ahead 3-1, with slashes going uncalled and tempers on both sides getting short.

By the halfway point of the second period each team had another goal, making the score 4-2 in favor of Canada. With two players in the penalty box for each team following a scuffle, Canadian Everett Sanipass and Sergei Shesterikov of the Soviet Union collided after a faceoff, and a fight broke out between the two of them. Things got worse when Pavel Kostichkin hit Fleury with a two-handed slash, which lead to a second fight breaking out. The situation then escalated to the point that all the players on the ice were brawling before the situation spiraled completely out of control when Evgeny Davydov left the Soviet bench to come to the aid of a teammate.

This opened the floodgates, as nearly all the players from both benches spilled onto the ice, and a dozen separate fights broke out. Greg Hagwood's nose was broken by a head-butt and Stephane Roy was beaten by two Soviet players. This was in part due to two Canadians, Jimmy Waite and Pierre Turgeon remaining on the bench, resulting in a numbers advantage for the Soviets on the ice.

Overmatched and unable to control the situation, Ronning and his linesmen then shockingly left the ice and tournament officials famously turned off the arena lights in a desperate attempt to end the brawl!

Eventually the combatants tired themselves out and the fighting ceased, but by that time the IIHF ordered the game suspended and then held an emergency meeting, with the nine delegates voting 8-1 to expel both teams from the tournament, costing Canada a medal of any sort.

With the expulsion of Canada and the Soviet Union, Finland took home the gold, with Czechoslovakia and Sweden being awarded the silver and bronze.

The Canadians were extended an invitation to join the tournament banquet and medal ceremony, but stated they were not interested. Officials responded by ordering Canada out of the arena within a half-hour and they were subsequently escorted out of Czechoslovakia by armed soldiers!

Charges flew in the aftermath, as Alan Eagleson claimed the voting would have been different if the Soviets were in line for a medal as well, while Don Cherry suggested the brawl was a deliberate Soviet conspiracy to get Canada disqualified.

The event spawned our all-time favorite hockey quote ever:

"You don't like to see 20 kids punching 20 other kids.

It's not a disgrace. It's hockey." - Michael Farber

The events of that day have been chronicled in the book, When the Lights Went Out: How One Brawl Ended Hockey's Cold War and Changed the Game.

Today's featured jersey is a 1990-91 Soviet Red Army Pavel Kostichkin jersey from his days in the Soviet Hockey League. Kostichkin was eventually drafted in the tenth round by the Winnipeg Jets in 1988, but spent his career in Europe outside of a season with the Moncton Hawks of the AHL. He would eventually play in leagues in Russia, Denmark, Finland and Belarus before retiring in 2005.

With it's bright colors, hammer and sickle logos and name on the back in Cyrillic, it's a prime example of what a hockey jersey should look like and represents the most powerful club in hockey outside of North America.

Bonus Jersey: Todays bonus jersey is a 1996 Canada National Team Theo Fleury jersey as worn during the 1996 World Cup of Hockey. Fleury played internationally for Canada on eight occasions, the first being the notorious 1987 World Juniors. He skated in a second World Juniors in 1988, winning a  gold medal. He made his World Championship debut in 1990 and took home a silver on his second try in 1991, the same year he won a gold medal at the 1991 Canada Cup later in the year.

He was a member of the inaugural Canadian World Cup of Hockey roster in 1996 and then made his Olympic debut in 1998, the first year the NHL took a mid-season break to allow it's players the chance to participate. He concluded his international career on a high note, winning a gold medal at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City.

photo courtesy of Classic Auctions

Extra bonus jersey: Today's extra bonus jersey is a 1987 Canada National Team World Juniors jersey of the same style worn by Canada during the "Punch-up in Piestany". The junior teams wore the  "three maple leaf and hockey stick" crest during this era rather than the "leaf within a leaf" crest worn by the senior team. There was no player assigned #28 for the 1987 World Juniors, so this jersey was either worn by an unknown player during exhibition games or simply an extra jersey on hand in case of a later roster addition or other need for an emergency spare.

photo courtesy of Classic Auctions

Our video selection today features footage of the brawl between Canada and the Soviet Union, followed by Cherry's postgame comments and then the debate between Cherry and Farber which spawned our favorite quote.

1989 Czechoslovakia National Team Jerguš Bača Jersey

Get your passports ready, as today we take a journey through the world of hockey with Jerguš Bača, a Czechoslovakian defenseman who was born on this date in 1965.

Bača began his career with HC Kosice in 1987-88 in the Czechoslovak hockey league, after which Kosice won the league championship and he was named the Rookie of the Year.

After his second season with Kosice, he made his international debut at the 1989 World Championships skating for Czechoslovakia. After his third season with Kosice, during which he scored more points than his previous two seasons combined when he netted 9 goals and 15 assists for 24 points after seasons of 10 and 13 points, he returned to the World Championships for a second consecutive season.

He impressed the scouts with his solid defensive play and increased offensive output so much that he was drafted 141st overall by the Hartford Whalers, 15 spots ahead of his HC Kosice teammate Peter Bondra.

He was assigned to the Springfield Indians for the 1990-91 season to acclimate to North America and it's style of hockey. He would play 57 games for the Indians, scoring 6 goals and 23 assists. Additionally, Bača was recalled by the parent club, the Whalers along the way, where he competed in 9 games, scoring a pair of assists. By the end of the season he was jergus bacback in Springfield, where he was a solid contributor to the Indians playoff drive, scoring 3 goals and 16 points in 18 games, good for fifth on the team as Springfield would win the Calder Cup as champions of the American Hockey League.

Bača while with the Hartford Whalers

Bača would return to the international stage when he suited up for Czechoslovakia at the 1991 Canada Cup tournament, scoring 3 points in 5 games.

Bača wearing the red of Czechoslovakia

The vast majority of his 1991-92 season was again spent with Springfield, with a virtually identical 6 goals and 26 points. He would play a lone game with the Whalers in the NHL, but was again back with the Indians come playoff time.

Bača played a single game with Hartford in 1991-92

For 1992-93 Bača moved to the Milwaukee Admirals of the International Hockey League, where he had his finest two offensive seasons of his career, scoring 9 goals and 38 points during his first year and followed that with a 35 point campaign in 1993-94.

During early 1994, Bača made his Olympic debut, only now skating for Slovakia, as the Velvet Divorce had occurred in Czechoslovakia at the end of 1992 while Bača was playing his first season in Milwaukee. He played in 8 games, scoring a goal and 2 assists in Lillehammer, Norway.

It was back across the Atlantic Ocean for the 1994-95 season, as Bača signed with Leksands IF in Sweden. For 1995-96, he returned to North America for a second stint with Milwaukee, playing in 74 games while scoring 15 points and setting a career high with 130 penalty minutes.

Slovakia called upon him once again, this time at the 1996 World Cup of Hockey, where he contributed a goal in three games played.

It was back to Europe once more for the 1996-97 season when he joined HC Olomouc in the Czech Republic for one season. He rejoined his original club, HC Kosice in neighboring Slovakia for that year's playoffs.

Following the season Bača made his debut at the 1997 World Championships for Slovakia, who by now had reached the "A" Pool after having to start life as an independent nation at the bottom of the IIHF ladder system while the Czech Republic was allowed to retain Czechoslovakia's place at the top level.

He would remain with HC Kosice for the 1997-98 season, which included making it to the Slovak Extraliga playoff final, a hard fought series which included three overtime games out of the five game series, including the decisive Game 5. Bača again skated for Slovakia at the 1998 World Championships after the conclusion of the playoffs.

Bača played for Slovakia following the breakup of Czechoslovakia

Another season with Kosice paid off for Bača as the team again returned to the league playoff final. After a second consecutive second place regular season finish behind HC Slovan Bratislava, the two teams would meet again in the finals, only this time Kosice would turn the tables and prevail as league champions by winning the final three games after dropping Game 1 to upset the high powered Slovan club, who had 245 regular season goals on their way to outscoring their opposition by a margin of 143 goals, versus Kosice's 135 goals and +17 goal difference.

A new season found Bača in yet another new country, as he joined Frankfurt Lions of the German DEL for the next three seasons, highlighted with 10 goals in 1999-00, his only double digit goal total in any league at any level.

Following his final season with the Lions in 2001-02, Bača made the final international appearance of his career when he played in 9 games of the 2002 World Championships as Slovakia made it through to the Final Round knockout playoffs and first defeated Canada 3-2 before ousting Sweden by the same score before sending the entire nation into rapture when they defeated Russia 4-3 to win the gold medal as world champions.

Slovakia celebrates it's World Championship in 2002

Bača would return to Slovakia to close out his career, playing first for MHK 32 Liptovsky Mikulas for 46 games before moving to Dukla Trencin for the final 6 games of the regular season before a few rounds of the playoffs.

For 2003-04, he returned to MHK 32 Liptovsky Mikulas and played two final seasons before retiring as an active player.

While his NHL career consisted of just ten games, Bača played for 18 seasons in six different countries and won a Calder Cup, a Slovak league championship and a dramatic and memorable World Championship gold medal to end his international career with an exclamation point.

Today's featured jersey is a 1989 Czechoslovakia National Team Jerguš Bača jersey as worn during the 1989 season during which he would make his international debut.

This style was only used for one season with the heraldic lion crest before a change to a vertical Czechoslovakian flag in 1990 and finally a Czech and Slovak Hockey Federation logo for the 1992 World Championships before the end of Czechoslovakia.

Bonus jersey: Today's bonus jersey is a 1996 Slovakia National Team Jerguš Bača jersey as worn during the 1996 World Cup of Hockey. This was the first of the Nike jerseys worn by the Slovaks after their initial jerseys worn following their independence were made by Tackla from 1993 through 1995, with the last two years branded as Reebok.

The jerseys were initially crested with "Slovakia" on the front, which was then somewhat crudely covered by a white patch (instead of blue) with "Slovensko" screened on it. This style was used by Slovakia at the 1996 World Championships in the spring, the 1996 World Cup that fall and through the 1997 Worlds until replaced by a new style for the 1998 season.

photos courtesy of Classic Auctions

In today's video section, highlights of Slovakia winning the 2002 World Championship.

Next, Bača is stopped on a great save while he was playing for the Springfield Indians during the 1991 Calder Cup Finals.

Here is Bača, now an assistant coach with Slovakia, being interviewed at the 2012 World Championships after Slovakia's 5-4 win over France to secure their place in the Playoff Round.

Finally, Bonda and Ziggy Palffy discuss Bača in 2002, which includes some brief footage of him in action for Slovakia.

1979-80 Philadelphia Flyers Rick MacLeish Jersey

After leading the Peterborough Petes in scoring for three consecutive seasons, left winter Rick MacLeish, born on this date in 1950, was destined for the NHL. After MacLeish led the Petes in scoring with 49 points in 1967-68, his goals scored the following season surpassed his point total from the year before with 50 goals. In addition, he was credited with 42 assists for a total of 92 points in 1968-69, which he topped in 1970 with 101 points from 45 goals and 56 assists.

He was drafted #4 overall by the Boston Bruins in the 1970 Amateur Draft and was assigned to Oklahoma City of the Central Hockey League for the 970-71 season. After 46 games with the Blazers, MacLeish was involved in a complex three team trade which sent himself, two other players and a first round draft pick to the Philadelphia Flyers, Bernie Parent and a second round pick to the Toronto Maple Leafs and Mike Walton to the Bruins.

Philadelphia immediately inserted MacLeish into it's lineup, but the transition to the NHL was not a smooth one to begin with, as he managed just 2 goals and 6 points in 26 games.

For the 1971-72 season he again failed to impress with just 3 points and a single goal in 17 games and ended up spending the majority of the season with the Richmond Robins of the American Hockey League, where he regained his scoring touch with 24 goals in 24 games.

A clean-cut MacLeish on his rookie card

Going into the 1972-73 season with 3 goals in 43 NHL games, no one saw what came next, as MacLeish shocked the league by becoming the first Flyer to ever score 50 goals in a season, and combined with his 50 assists, his 100 points saw him finish fourth in the league scoring race that season. The Flyers were also improving as a team at the time, and qualified for the postseason, with MacLeish adding another 7 points in 10 playoff games, earning valuable experience for what was to come next.

While he came back down to Earth with 32 goals and 77 points, the Flyers battled their way through the playoffs, with MacLeish leading all Flyers scorers with 13 goals and 22 points in 17 games as Philadelphia became the first of the 1967 expansion clubs to win the Stanley Cup.

MacLeish posing with the Stanley Cup

After he scored a similar 38 goals and 79 points in 1974-75, the Flyers repeated as Stanley Cup champions as MacLeish again led the team in scoring during their run to the title with 11 goals and 20 points in 17 games. Of note, the 1975 Flyers were the last team to ever win the Stanley Cup with a roster made entirely of Canadian-born players.

The Flyers management planned on celebrating their championship with

a commemorative Stanley Cup patch, only the players did not want

the other teams to use it as motivation against them,
so it was never worn during a regular season game

His 1975-76 season was cut short my injury, which limited him to 51 games with 45 points scored, but he rebounded with a 79 game campaign in 1976-77 to lead the team with 97 points (the second highest of his NHL career), narrowly missing a second 50 goal season with 49.

MacLeish would play four more solid seasons with the Flyers, but with a change in focus to a two-way player with less emphasis on scoring. This era of his career was highlighted by the Flyers 35 game unbeaten streak in 1979-80, a trip to the Stanley Cup Final later that same season and a 38 goal, 74 point season in 1980-81, his last in Philadelphia.

It was during this period that he would also suffer a frightening incident when he slid into the skate of the Los Angeles Kings Marcel Dionne, which resulted in a cut to his neck which required 80 stitches. He returned to the ice several days later with his sense of humor intact, claiming that he smoked a cigarette in the locker room afterwards and that smoke came out of his neck!

During the summer of 1981, MacLeish was traded by the Flyers to the Hartford Whalers, where he would play 34 games in just three months before another trade in late December/

MacLeish during his brief time in Hartford

That trade sent him back to Pennsylvania, only this time to the Pittsburgh Penguins for the remainder of the 1981-82 season, where he would total 13 goals in 40 games.

His 1982-83 season was limited to just 6 games with the Penguins and, unusually, a single game with EHC Kloten of the Swiss National League!

MacLeish while with the Penguins

He would return to the NHL in 1983-84, singing with Philadelphia as a free agent, but after scoring 22 points in 29 games, MacLeish was traded to the Detroit Red Wings for the final 25 games of his career.

His final NHL totals were 846 games played, 349 goals and 410 assists for 759 points. He also played in the 1976, 1977 and 1980 NHL All-Star Games and won two Stanley Cups.

Today's featured jersey is a 1979-80 Philadelphia Flyers Rick MacLeish jersey as worn the season the Flyers went on their 35 game unbeaten rampage through the NHL. The Flyers inaugural 1967-68 jerseys only had one color numbers and very small sleeve numbers. The back numbers were given black outlines in 1970. Names arrived on the home jerseys in 1972 and on the roads in 1977.

For 1978-79, the profile of the coloring that ran down the length of the arms was widened so the sleeve numbers now fit entirely within the arm striping, where previously it overlapped into the main body color areas.

photo courtesy of Classic Auctions

Bonus jersey: Today's bonus jersey is a 1982-83 Pittsburgh Penguins Rick MacLeish jersey. This gold jersey was worn by Pittsburgh for 1981-82 and 1982-83. The team then shelved their white home jerseys for a season, wearing the gold jerseys exclusively for home games in 1983-84. The final appearances for the gold jerseys were the preseason of 1984-85, but they were never worn again once the regular season started.

Extra bonus jersey: Today's extra bonus jersey is a 1980 NHL All-Star Game Rick MacLeish jersey as worn during the final of his three All-Star Game appearances. This style was first worn in 1973, lasting through 1981, except for 1979 when the Challenge Cup vs. the Soviet Union took the place of the traditional All-Star Game.

photo courtesy of Classic Auctions

While MacLeish was not known as one of the Flyers tough guys, he could take care of business when called upon.

In the Flyers notorious game against the Soviet Red Army in 1976, MacLeish scores a pretty goal against Vladislav Tretiak.

Finally, MacLeish scores the cup winning goal in the 1974 Stanley Cup Final to give the Flyers their first championship.

2015 World Juniors Update

Preliminary Round play at the 2015 World Junior Championships concluded on Wednesday, and with some dramatic results.

Group A, played at the Bell Centre in Montreal saw Canada win the group with a perfect 4-0 record as they cruised through their schedule undefeated. They shellacked Slovakia 8-0 on opening day before shutting out Germany 4-0. They finally gave up a goal at 18:26 of the second period of their 4-1 win over Finland prior to their toughest challenge, a New Year's Eve matchup with the United States, where they prevailed 5-3 thanks to two late, empty net goals.

Canada took first place in Group A over the US

Second in Group A were the Americans, who needed a shootout to overcome the defending champions from Finland. They set up their winner-take-all meeting with the Canadians by taking their turn to shut out both Germany (6-0) and Slovakia (3-0) before dropping their game against Canada, their sixth consecutive New Year's Eve loss to the Canadians.

While many expected the Finns to challenge the two North American squads, it was Slovakia who came through in third place in the group despite their opening night thrashing by Canada 8-0. The key to their Preliminary Round was a 2-1 regulation win for the full three points over Finland. Following their 3-0 loss to the US, they took care of business and secured their spot in the Quarterfinals with a 5-2  win over Germany on December 30, taking the pressure off while the final day's games played out, knowing their spot was secure with only their opponent to be determined.

Perhaps the best dressed game of the tournament, Slovakia faced

the USA, who wore their 1960 throwbacks

Germany simply didn't have the offense to compete this year, scoring only two goals while giving up 17. Due to Finland's struggles against the US, Canada and Slovakia, Germany had a chance on paper to advance on the final day, but Finland did what they needed with a 2-0 win to send the Germans to the Relegation Round.

Over in Group B at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Sweden powered their way to first place in the group with a strong 5-2 win over the Czech Republic, maintained focus with a 5-1 win over Denmark, came from behind in the third period to take the full three points with a regulation win over Russia and put a lock on first place with a 5-1 defeat of Switzerland.

Sweden was the class of Group B

While Sweden took the shortest route through the group, the Czech Republic made their trip an arduous ordeal. After getting no points in the standings thanks to their 5-2 loss to Sweden, they then suffered another 5-2 loss, this time at the hands of Switzerland. While everyone expected them to get healthy against Denmark, the Danes gave them all they could handle and then more, as regulation ended tied at 3-3. The Czechs did prevail in overtime, but at the loss of yet another point in the standings, leaving them with just 2 from a possible 9 after three games and sitting dead last going into the final day, where they faced a must-win situation against no less than Russia.

Playing the game they desperately needed to have, the Czechs dominated the Russians, and not only crafted a sublime 4-1 win, they amazingly vaulted over three teams to take second place in the group when the Relegation Round looked like a very real possibility!

The Big Red Machine turned out to be the Czechs on New Year's Eve

Russia needed overtime to defeat Denmark 3-2 on opening day, but looked to regain their form with a 7-0 pasting of Switzerland in a game many thought would be closer. They dropped a 3-2 decision to Sweden, but sill had sights on second in the group until failing to answer the bell in their 4-1 loss to the desperate Czechs. Their two outright losses, plus dropping a point to Denmark, left the Russians with a mere 5 points, which dropped them to third in the final Group B standings.

The final two places - a spot in the Quarterfinals and another in the Relegation Round came down to Switzerland and Denmark. The Danes opened with a surprising, if not shocking effort, taking the Russians to overtime before losing in a shootout. Still, it was an unexpected and welcome point in the standings. Their next game saw them crash back to reality with a 5-1 loss to Sweden, but the feisty Danes took another point off the Czech Republic in a 4-3 overtime defeat. Their final game saw then matched with the Swiss, and may have been the most entertaining game of the Preliminary Round, saw the Swiss take a 2-0 lead only to have Denmark come back to tie the game at 2-2. The Swiss scored again to regain the lead, but the Danes answered before the second period ended. The third period and overtime passed scoreless before Denmark won the game in a shootout to win their first ever game at the top level of the World Juniors and add two more vital points to their total, which now stood at 4.

Denmark was thrilled to hear their anthem following

their historic first win at the World Juniors

Switzerland got a fantastic result in the form of their 5-2 win over the Czech Republic to open their tournament, but were then throttled by the Russians 7-0. The painful loss to Denmark followed, but the point in the standings helped ease the pain, as they were tied with Denmark at 4, ahead of the decidedly off-form Czechs with 2. Any point from their game against Sweden to close out their Preliminary Round schedule would have ensured their safety, but an on-form Sweden was having none of that, taking an easy 5-1 win. Still, there was hope as the Czechs were facing Russia in a must-win game and they held the head-to-head tie breaker even if the Czechs should win in overtime. That was not to be however, as the Czechs won easily, leaping over not only Switzerland and Denmark, but also the Russians.

Switzerland's first outing in their new red jerseys

did not go as well as they hoped

This left Switzerland and Denmark tied at 4 points each, but Denmark took the final playoff spot in Group B thanks to their shootout win over the Swiss, who must now hope to defeat Germany in the best-of-three Relegation Round games, which begin today in Toronto. Game 2 is Saturday and, if necessary, the deciding Game 3 will be on Monday, with the winner remaining in the Top Division for 2016 and the loser dropping down to Division 1 Group A next year.

The four Quarterfinal matches will all be played today beginning at 1 PM Eastern time when second place in Group A, the United States draws a difficult challenge in Russia, third place in Group B, in the opening game in Montreal. Two hours later, action in Toronto kicks off with nordic rivals Sweden drawing Finland, who will be looking to hit the reset button after their disappointing Preliminary Round, and nothing would give them greater satisfaction by knocking out Group B winners Sweden.

The second game in Montreal is another rivalry matchup, this one neighbors the Czech Republic squaring off with Slovakia at 5 PM. Host Canada makes their first appearance in Toronto as they draw the decided underdogs Denmark. Can the Danes possibly hope to repeat their effort against Russia on Canadian ice vs. the home team? It could be a long game for the Danes, but no one expected them to get this far in the first place.

The winners of today's game will meet in the Semifinals on Sunday, with the Bronze Medal and Gold Medal Games following on Monday, with all four of those taking place in Toronto.

While all eyes were on Connor McDavid heading into the tournament, Canada's  Sam Reinhart leads all scorers with 8 points in 4 games, with the United States Dylan Larkin next at 7 while leading all goal scorers with 5. Max Domi (Canada), Oskar Lindblom and William Nylander (both Sweden), David Pastrnak (Czech Republic) and Canadian Nic Petan are all also equal with Larkin at 7 points.

Today's featured jersey is a 2015 Canada National Team Sam Reinhart jersey. Canada introduced new jerseys with a throwback feel for 2015 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of their governing body, Hockey Canada. The jerseys are loosely based on those worn by Team Canada at the lesser known 1974 Summit Series of 40 years ago, where the stars of the WHA took on the Soviet Union following the success of the 1972 Summit Series.

Legends Gordie Howe and Bobby Hull during the 1974 Summit Series

Perhaps the nicest part of the package is the attractive 100th Anniversary logo patch, which features a large maple leaf similar to the one worn back in 1924 as well as the enduring red and black Hockey Canada logo surrounded by the dates 1914 and 2014.

The Canadian appetite for hockey sees the Canadians introducing new jerseys more frequently than most countries and special one off jerseys on occasion, many of which are auctioned off, as is the case with this jersey.

The History of the NHL Winter Classic

The NHL's 7th Winter Classic takes place today, Thursday, January 1st, at Nationals Park, home of the Washington Nationals of Major League Baseball.

The original inspiration for the Winter Classic must be given to The Cold War, an outdoor game held at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Michigan when Michigan State University and the University of Michigan, then of the CCHA, battled to a 3-3 tie in front of 74,544 fans, an attendance figure which no doubt raised eyebrows with the powers that be across the NHL.

The Cold War

The first to to embrace the concept in the NHL was the Edmonton Oilers, who hosted the Montreal Canadiens on November 22, 2003 in what was dubbed The Heritage Classic at Commonwealth Stadium, home of the CFL's Edmonton Eskimos.

Jose Theodore famously wearing a toque during the Heritage Classic

In addition to the game itself, which counted in the NHL's regular season standings, the event drew a great deal of publicity for the MegaStars Game, an exhibition game between Oilers legends from their 1980's dynasty versus a team of Canadiens legends from their dynasty of the 1970's. To date, that event is the one and only time Wayne Gretzky has taken part in an NHL old-timers game of any kind, and something he has publicly stated will be the only time. Such was the importance of the event in Canada, that Mark Messier received special permission from the New York Rangers to take part in the game despite being the only player still active in the NHL.

Mark Messier congratulates Guy Lafleur following the MegaStars game

The Winter Classic began in 2008 when the Pittsburgh Penguins faced off against the host Buffalo Sabres at Ralph Wilson Stadium, primary home of the Buffalo Bills of the NFL. The game was a tremendous success on many levels, as 71,217 fans set an NHL attendance record, the weather cooperated with a picturesque snowfall during the game and the most visible player in the league, Sidney Crosby, scored the game winning goal in the shootout for Pittsburgh.

One other element of the game was an outstanding success - the use of throwback jerseys by both the Penguins and Sabres. The Penguins revived their powder blue road jerseys from the 1970-71 season while the Sabres opted for their original home white jerseys from the same 1970-71 season.

Crosby scores the game winning goal in his light blue throwback jersey

The Sabres jerseys were very well received as the club was presently wearing their controversial "Buffaslug" jerseys at the time as fans longed for a full-time return to the team's original look. An updated version of their classic blue jersey was the first result, being introduced the following season and became the team's primary jersey two seasons later.

The Penguins, fueled by the popularity of stars Evgeni Malkin, and especially that of Crosby, adopted the 2008 Winter Classic jersey as their alternate jersey the following season and sold them by the thousands.

The use of throwback and retro styled jerseys at the Winter Classic has remained, with the Chicago Blackhawks hybrid style of a 1935-36 jersey mated with a 1948 logo taking on the Detroit Red Wings, who employed the jerseys originally worn by the Detroit Cougars in the franchise's first season of 1926-27. The Blackhawks jerseys continued to live on, with the addition of a secondary logo on the shoulders as the club's third jersey for the next couple of seasons.

The 2009 Winter Classic at Wrigley Field

In 2010, the Philadelphia Flyers, whose jerseys haven't changed all that much since their inception, stripped away many of the modern additions to their jerseys and reverted to a simpler style based on their 1970's jerseys, including the revival of the contrasting color nameplate.

The contrasting nameplates had their origin in the 1970's when the Flyers only had one set of white nameplates made up in the days when teams had to add names to their jerseys for national TV games. The Flyers Winter Classic jersey was a white version of their current orange third jersey, and when it was promoted to the primary jersey for 2010, the white Winter Classic jersey was revived as the Flyers new road jersey and remains in use five seasons later.

The Boston Bruins also went the hybrid route in 2010 and created a striking jersey that used the 1958-59 jersey template done in the brown and gold colors the Bruins wore during their first decade mated with the crest from their first use of the famed spoked "B" logo in 1948. Additionally, the crest and numbers were done in a retro felt material, which only enhanced the retro effect that much more.

The 2010 Winter Classic held at Fenway Park

For 2011 at the Pittsburgh Steelers Heinz Field, both the host Penguins and the Washington Capitals produced special jerseys. The Penguins have gone back to their inaugural season for inspiration by using their first jersey's original template and unique number font, but with the navy and light blue colors reversed. They then decorated it with a an original and unused version of their skating penguin logo, a thinner penguin wearing a winter scarf. Again, this jersey lived on beyond the Winter Classic, being used as an alternate through the 2012-13 season.

The Capitals also returned to their roots, reviving their original star spangled red, white and blue jerseys used from 1974 until 1995. This jersey still remains in use as an alternate for Washington.

Aside from the jerseys, this game is best remembered for being postponed until the evening for more favorable weather conditions, only to have it plagued by rain which affected play more than any other game, and for the collision which left star Crosby concussed, an injury which was compounded by another hit shortly thereafter which caused him to miss months of action.

The 2012 Winter Classic was the second appearance for the Flyers, who hosted the New York Rangers at Citizens Bank Ballpark, home of the Philadelphia Phillies MLB team. With so few styles to choose from in their past, and still wearing their first Winter Classic jerseys, the Flyers created a brand new jersey with a retro feel. This jersey had simple, classic hockey styling, the use of a contrasting nameplate and was topped off with keystone shaped patches which housed the captain's "C" and assistant captain's "A's". A season and a half after the Winter Classic, the Flyers resurrected this style as their alternate jersey beginning with the 2014-15 season.

The Rangers went the same route, creating a cream colored jersey with visual striping cues from their past topped off with an old version of their shield logo, which complimented the Flyers similar effort quite nicely.

One interesting story to arise out of the 2012 classic was the early guess work done by fans as to what the teams' jerseys would look like. Once such concept was a very professional effort in which the Flyers jerseys were based on the first NHL team to call Philadelphia home, the Quakers.

Created far enough in advance and with such a high degree of creativity and skill, counterfeit manufacturers overseas put the concept into production well in advance of the announcement of the Flyers actual jerseys, which ruined any chance the Quakers inspired design had of being put into production had Philadelphia actually been considering such an idea.

Originally scheduled for January 1, 2013, but not played due to the ongoing NHL lockout at the time, the 2014 Winter Classic set a world record for attendance at a hockey game with an official total of 105,491 at "The Big House" on the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor. The host Red Wings opted for the faux-back route, creating a new jersey with retro styling. Unique features of this style were the captain's "C" and "A's" being on the sleeves inside diamond shapes, as the franchise had used in the past, and the retro styled number font.

The main criticism of the Red Wings jerseys in the unnecessary use of "DETROIT" over the iconic winged wheel logo.

One new aspect of the 2014 game was the Red Wings opponent, the Toronto Maple Leafs, the first Canadian team to play in the Winter Classic, also wearing a colored jersey. This resulted in a color on color matchup, which looked great on TV against the white ice and through the falling snow.

While Toronto's jersey is an attractive one, it did disappoint somewhat, as the Maple Leafs had already worn a virtually identical style previously, that being the occasion of the 65th Anniversary of Maple Leaf Gardens in 1996-97 when a throwback dating from the arena's first season in 1931 was worn twice. The only difference between the two was the white shoulders.

Those jerseys were produced in a special edition, limited to just 1,931 jerseys and was one of the most desirable and collectable jerseys in the hobby, which we feel has had the luster taken off of it's limited nature now that it has been remade in large quantities, even if the new variation has differences such as white shoulders and collar with laces on the front.

Of note, there is often a legends game in conjunction with the Winter Classic, and in 2014 the Red Wings hosted two such games, and for the first time the teams used a different style for the legends game than for the regular season or the Winter Classic. For the first game the Alumni Showdown, players wore a revival of the white jerseys worn by Detroit for the 2009 Winter Classic, based on the 1927 Detroit Cougars sweaters, while Toronto's legends wore copies of their 1975-1992 jerseys.

For the second game, Toronto wore their same style, but Detroit's legends wore a red jersey, the reverse colors of the 2009 Winter Classic jerseys worn in the first legends game, a jersey which never existed in the 1920's since teams did not have separate "home" and "road" styles until the NHL expanded and team;s jersey colors began to be duplicated.

For a player to be on the roster for the second game for the Red Wings, a player needed to have won a Stanley Cup, and individual NHL award or have been enshrined into the Hockey Hall of Fame, making the red jersey truly a badge of honor for those fortunate enough to have worn one.

Today's host team, the Washington Capitals, are making their second Winter Classic appearance. Having not only worn their 1974-1995 jerseys during their previous appearance on New Year's Day, they are still wearing their 2011 Winter Classic throwback jerseys as an alternate, necessitating a new design for today's game.

Rather than reviving their 1995-2007 blue and black "screaming eagle" jerseys, the Capitals created a new faux-back look, using design elements from their own history, such as the use of stars and the word "Capitals" across the front. They also looked to the history of jerseys worn by previous teams based in Washington prior to the arrival of the NHL, such as the large "W" on the front and the stripes on the sleeves as seen in the 1930's, with the "W" having some modernization, such as making the peak in the center resemble the Washington Monument.

The Chicago Blackhawks had the opportunity to go with either the white or black version of their virtually unknown, gorgeous art deco jerseys from their early days, revive the 1930's to 1950's barberpole jerseys worn during the 1991-92 season or create a faux-bac of their own, but took a rather disappointing route by using the jerseys based on their 1957 jerseys, which is all too similar to their current white jerseys, with the main differences being the use of one color numbers, a lace-up collar and their crossed tomahawks secondary logos below the sleeve numbers over the arm stripes. In all, not enough of a difference from their current jerseys to feel like it was worth the trouble.

Even worse, a Chicago sports bar created a mockup of a Blackhawks Winter Classic jersey to promote a jersey giveaway before the official release, which was a much more exciting faux-back jersey than what Chicago actually went with.

Today's video section is a look at the history of the Winter Classic in advance of today's game in Washington D. C.