The NHL is currently finalizing details for next season’s Winter Classic, eyeing the University of Michigans “Big House” as the priority setting. (more)

Sharks veteran Joe Thornton notched a pair of goals in the first 10 minutes of play, but the Detroit Red Wings rallied back with four unanswered to steal the 4-2 W Tuesday at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, CA. Daniel Cleary and Henrik Zetterberg were able to tie it up in a span of five minutes towards the end of the initial block. Following a scoreless second period, the Red Wings took over again with Derek Meech and Patrick Eaves scoring to overcome the first place Sharks. San Jose has ranked high in the NHL standings all season long. The Red Wings are currently fighting for a playoff spot, but its evident the defending Western Conference champs can still handle any team in the league. “You always like to measure yourself up to the best,” said Meech. “That’s the position we’ve been in the past couple of years. These guys are at the top of the league. Every team is ready to play these guys all the time. We just have to make sure now that we’re ready to play every team that we come across.” The Sharks will next matchup against the St Louis Blues on Thursday. Detroit is scheduled for a game against the Anaheim Ducks tonight at 10:00 PM.

Daniel Cleary notched the go-ahead goal with two minutes remaining before Kris Draper scored on empty net for the Detroit Red Wings to win over the New York Rangers 3-1 last night at Madison Square Garden. The Rangers came up with the initial goal of the contest 15:56 into the first period through Brian Boyle assisted by Christopher Higgins. Pavel Datsyuk evened the score for Detroit with the only goal in the second. Rookie goalie Jimmy Howard made 28 saves including a stopped penalty-shot and a denied breakaway opportunity. Howard has been proving himself lately to be #1 over future hall of famer Chris Osgood. “Howie was good,” said Red Wings coach Mike Babcock. “He mentally battled and he hung in and he is going to start next game against St. Louis.” On Wednesday while the Red Wings and Blues meet up the Rangers will be set to face off against the Chicago Blackhawks.

Alex Auld came up big with 31 saves for the Dallas Stars as they went on to battle their way past the Detroit Red Wings 3-1. Mike Ribeiro notched the first goal for Dallas on a power play 9:26 into the first period. Matt Kinskanen added to the lead early in the second before Henrik Zetterberg found the net for Detroit. From there the Stars defense was able to contain the high-power Red Wings offense, while Loui Eriksson tacked on the insurance with eight minutes to play. The game was even closer than the box score shows after a controversial Brad May shot attempt 6:24 into the third period. May put the puck just inches past the goal line, but officials waved it off because a whistle had blown seconds earlier. Detroit head coach Mike Babcock certainly wasn’t pleased with the way the situation was handled. “It wasn’t blown dead. It was a goal,” he said. “The guy never meant to blow the whistle. It was a shot.” Detroit can only look ahead to their next game against the Florida Panthers this Friday. The Stars will next welcome the Columbus Blue Jackets to Dallas tomorrow at 8:30 PM.

Henrik Zetterberg and Tomas Holmstrom scored the only two goals in the first period for the Detroit Red Wings to handle the Boston Bruins Tuesday at Joe Louis Arena. Goalie Chris Osgood denied 29 Boston shot attempts, marking his 50th shutout and 394th career victory. “I don’t put much merit in shutouts,” said Osgood. “The only thing they’re good for is that you know you have a great chance of winning the game. I grew up watching Grant Fuhr play and he was just about winning games, so that’s kind of my mentality.” The Bruins after struggling in their last two games can only look ahead to matching up against the Canadiens this Thursday in Boston. Coach Claude Julien is done with the excuses, saying “we’re going to have to decide that we’re tired of hearing we had a good effort without winning.” After battling Montreal, the TD Garden will then play host to the Buffalo Sabres. Great Boston Bruins ticket deals are located right here at AceTicket.com!

Despite losing team captain Sidney Crosby early in the second period, the Pittsburgh Penguins rallied to win game 7 of the Stanley Cup championship. Max Talbot provided all of the Pens offense, scoring goals at the start and middle of the second period.  “Max came up with some big goals there,” Crosby said. “We don’t get to this point without everyone contributing. I knew the guys were going to find a way to pull it off.” With Talbot’s goals and Marc-Andre Fleury’s dramatic last-second diving save on a Nicklas Lidstrom shot, propelled Pittsburgh to win the rematch of last year’s championship series. “I knew there wasn’t much time left,” Fleury said. “The rebound was wide. I just decided to get my body out there and it hit me in the ribs so it was good.” The championship is the team’s third, the first since two in a row from 1990-1992. Sign up to be notified as soon as 2009-2010 Pittsburgh Penguins tickets are available!

For the first time since 1983/1984, the Stanley Cup Championship will be a rematch of the previous year’s. In the 2007-2008 finals, the Red Wings won the series four games to two and sent the pride of the NHL, Sidney Crosby, home without any hardware. Detroit has a chance to extend their dynasty further if they can repeat.  Detroit has won four of the last 11 championships, and has made the playoffs every year since 1990. The Pittsburgh Penguins dominated the NHL in the 1990′s as well, winning two consecutive Cups and qualifying for the playoffs each season for the entire decade. It would take Sidney Crosby’s debut in 2005, as well as Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal joining the team the next year to help the Penguins gain a playoff berth. The series starts on Saturday night. 2009 Stanley Cup Finals tickets are available now!

The Pittsburgh Penguins and the Detroit Red Wings may be on a Stanley Cup finals collision course again. Both teams won the first games of their respective Conference Championship series’, and seem to have the edge in making it to the finals. The Pittsburgh Penguins held off the Carolina Hurricanes’ late charge on Monday to secure win number one. Pens defenseman Phillippe Boucher notched an assist, and his first playoff goal since 2004. Boucher sat for much of the regular season with a foot injury, and only dressed for four of Pittsburgh’s playoff games so far. Boucher made his presence felt in Monday’s game though. “He’s been ready, he stayed ready and worked hard,” Pens coach Dan Bylsma told the AP’s Alan Robinson. “He didn’t get a lot of minutes, but when he did he cashed in.” The Red Wings had an easier time than the Penguins, beating the Blackhawks 5-2 on Sunday night. Former Blackhawk Daniel Cleary victimized the team that drafted him, notching a goal at 8:23 to tie the game in the first period, as well as a late goal that put the nail in Chicago’s coffin.  “I wasn”t in Chicago very long, so no hard feelings,” Cleary said in a post-game press conference. Detroit’s defense was solid, and netminder Chris Osgood stopped 30 of 32 shots that made it to him. The Red Wings have won 4 of their last 5 games, and seem to have the momentum to carry them to the finals. Detroit Red Wings tickets and Pittsburgh Penguins tickets are available now.

On January 1st, 40,818 fans piled into Wrigley Field to watch the Blackhawks take on the Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings. Unlike last year’s bitterly cold and snowy affair, the skies were clear and the temperature was a relatively balmy 32 degrees.  The Blackhawks jumped out to the early lead, leading 3-1 after the first period. Jiri Hudler, who jump-started the Red Wings offense by scoring two of the three Detroit goals in the second period, was impressed by the atmosphere at Wrigley. “I kind of had my mouth open in the beginning,” Hudler told the AP’s Rick Gano. “We were all looking at each other during the anthem—‘Wow, this is awesome.” The Wings’ 6-4 win gives them an eight point lead over the Blackhawks in the Central division.

2009 Chicago Blackhawks Tickets are available now!

The official seating chart for the 2009 NHL Winter Classic has been released! The New Year’s Day matchup between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Detroit Red Wings at Wrigley Field is one of the most anticipated sporting events of the season. Tickets for the 2009 NHL Winter Classic are available now!