Friday Morning Three-Peat

Here are the top 3 stories from around the NHL Thursday

1. Worst Kept Secret Revealed – The NHL finally confirmed the 2013 Winter Classic will feature the Detroit Red Wings hosting the Toronto Maple Leafs at Michigan Stadium on Jan 1st.  It is expected that the game will be the highest-attended hockey game ever, with the “Big House” expecting to be able to hold 115,000 fans. As if we don’t see and hear enough out of Brian Burke and Ron Wilson already.   That is, if the CBA can be settled before than and there is actually a hockey season.

2.  Gomez Scores? – Montreal Canadiens forward and $7M man Scott Gomez finally scored.  His goal in last night’s 4-2 win over the New York Islanders was his first in over a year (369 days to be exact).  Much mailgned for his lack of production given his paycheque, it had to be a huge relief for Gomez and for Habs fans.  Chris Phillips has double the goals Gomez does this season.

3.  Jets, Byfuglien Ics Caps – Winnipeg Jets‘ defenseman Dustin Byfuglien‘s shot from centre ice beat Tomas Vokoun for the game-tying goal with just over 2 minutes left to send the game to extra time.  Winnipeg ended up winning the game in the shootout.  All goals were scored in the third period, with Washington taking a 2-0 lead with 7:30 left,  but Evander Kane and Byfuglien took the victory away and as a result Washington dropped from 3rd to 9th in the East, with Florida‘s win over LA.