2016 NHL Winter Classic

The Bruins made their second appearance in the Winter Classic, as they played against the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2010 NHL Winter Classic held in Boston's Fenway Park; Massachusetts became the first market to serve as repeat host of the Winter Classic. Early reports dating back to December 2014 by TSN's Bob McKenzie indicated that Boston was the league's first choice in hosting the game.[4]

To accommodate the event, Gillette Stadium's primary tenant, the New England Patriots, played the last two games of their 2015 season on the road. The Bruins introduced a new third jersey for the game and it featured the team's original logo, as virtually a re-creation of their inaugural 1924–25 NHL season brown/gold sweaters worn while playing their home games in Matthews Arena, which opened in 1910, now on the campus of Northeastern University. (Matthews also was the first arena for the Boston Celtics and the WHA New England Whalers, who are now the Carolina Hurricanes.)

This was the first Winter Classic appearance and third outdoor game for the Canadiens; the team previously played 2003 NHL Heritage Classic against the hosting Edmonton Oilers and the 2011 NHL Heritage Classic against the hosting Calgary Flames.[5][6] The team also played in a new third jersey and used a logo from the 1920s.

The two teams are long-time rivals. As of the end of the 2014–15 NHL season, the two teams have played each other 729 times during the regular season, 177 times during the playoffs, including nine game sevens. The two teams also held a special alumni game between the two teams, on December 31 at Gillette Stadium.[7]

In the most lopsided score in the Winter Classic, four Montreal players combined to score five goals en route to a 5–1 victory against Boston. In his first game since suffering a hand injury on November 22, Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher recorded a goal and an assist. Goalie Mike Condon made 27 saves for Montreal. Adam McQuaid scored the Bruins' only goal; this goal was originally credited to Matt Beleskey, but would be changed days later after official review by the NHL.[8]

Number in parentheses represents the player's total in goals or assists to that point of the season

Montreal Canadiens # Player Position 11 Brendan Gallagher RW 14 Tomáš Plekanec (A) C 15 Tomáš Fleischmann LW 17 Torrey Mitchell C 22 Dale Weise RW 26 Jeff Petry D 27 Alex Galchenyuk C 28 Nathan Beaulieu D 32 Brian Flynn C 39 Mike Condon G 40 Ben Scrivens G 41 Paul Byron LW 43 Daniel Carr LW 45 Mark Barberio D 51 David Desharnais C 67 Max Pacioretty (C) LW 74 Alexei Emelin D 76 P.K. Subban (A) D 79 Andrei Markov D 81 Lars Eller C Head coach: Michel Therrien

Boston Bruins # Player Position 11 Jimmy Hayes RW 14 Brett Connolly RW 21 Loui Eriksson (A) LW 25 Maxime Talbot C 29 Landon Ferraro C 33 Zdeno Chára (C) D 36 Zac Rinaldo C 37 Patrice Bergeron (A) C 39 Matt Beleskey LW 40 Tuukka Rask G 44 Dennis Seidenberg D 45 Joe Morrow D 47 Torey Krug D 50 Jonas Gustavsson G 51 Ryan Spooner C 53 Seth Griffith C 54 Adam McQuaid D 72 Frank Vatrano C 76 Alexander Khokhlachev C 86 Kevan Miller D Head coach: Claude Julien

^ Ben Scrivens and Jonas Gustavsson dressed as the back-up goaltenders. Neither entered the game.

Stadium during Alumni Game

In the Alumni Game on New Year's Eve, the Bruins defeated the Canadiens 5–4 in a shootout. The Canadiens alumni included Guy Carbonneau, Larry Robinson and Jose Theodore with the coaches including Guy Lafleur and Jacques Demers, while the Bruins alumni included Cam Neely, Terry O'Reilly, Mark Recchi and Ray Bourque with the coaches including Derek Sanderson, Lyndon Byers, Mike Milbury and Don "Grapes" Cherry.

Bruins' former anthem singer Rene Rancourt performed O Canada and The Star-Spangled Banner at the alumni game.

The game was televised in the United States on NBC, with commentators Mike Emrick, Eddie Olczyk, and Pierre McGuire.[9]

In Canada, it was the second consecutive Winter Classic to be televised under the Rogers Media contract, but for the first time the English-language broadcast was shown on Sportsnet instead of on CBC Television and the Hockey Night in Canada banner.[10] Commentary was provided by Jim Hughson, Craig Simpson, and Glenn Healy.[11] For the second consecutive time, the game was broadcast in French on TVA Sports (with commentators Félix Séguin and Patrick Lalime, and reporter Renaud Lavoie) as part of TVA's sub-licensing agreement with Rogers.

The 2016 NHL Winter Classic had the lowest ratings of any Winter Classic in the United States to date, with an average of less than 3 million American viewers watching the game.[12]