24/7 Red Wings/Maple Leafs: Road to the NHL Winter Classic

Head coaches Mike Babcock of the Red Wings and Randy Carlyle of the Maple Leafs, along with a host of key players, are in the spotlight as the two clubs battle through busy December schedules.

Toronto savours a win over the reigning NHL Champion Chicago Blackhawks as the competition between Maple Leafs goalies Jonathan Bernier and James Reimer heats up. Detroit heads to Tampa, where Red Wings legend Steve Yzerman is now general manager of the Lightning. Both teams are challenged by a busy mid-December schedule that features four games in six days.

Detroit heads to Toronto for the teams only head-to-head competition prior to their much-anticipated Jan. 1 outdoor showdown.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- A lot of winter. Very little classic hockey. Light snow swirled down in the Big House, making it tough to push the puck through piles of the white stuff on a sheet of ice where football is usually played. Teeth-chattering temperatures and a brisk wind were factors, too, that made the NHL's Winter Classic much more of an event than a game. Tyler Bozak scored the winning shootout goal and Jonathan Bernier made two saves in the heart-pounding final moments, lifting Toronto to a 3-2 victory over Detroit on Wednesday in front of 105,491 fans -- the largest crowd to watch a hockey game.

The 2014 NHL Winter Classic featured a world record crowd to watch the Detroit Red Wings and the Toronto Maple Leafs play at Michigan Stadium. Snow and freezing cold weather are staples of any NHL Winter Classic and this game did not disappoint on the weather front. After a scoreless first period, Daniel Alfredsson and James van Reimsdyk traded second-period goals, while Tyler Bozak and Justin Abdelkader exchanged third period goals. Overtime solved nothing so the game went to a shootout where Tyler Bozak scored the game-winner in the third round of the shootout. Jonathan Bernier stopped 41 of 43 shots in regulation and overtime and stopped two of three in the shootout to pick up the win. Final score: Leafs 3, Red Wings 2 in a shootout.

Workers apply the finishing touches to transform a football stadium into an outdoor hockey rink; the Maple Leafs arrive in Detroit for their day on the ice against the Red Wings.