ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs will began 2013 by renewing their rivalry at one of North America’s most iconic stadiums.

The two Original Six foes will play in the Winter Classic on Jan. 1 at Michigan Stadium, part of an outdoor showcase that will also include minor league and college hockey games at Detroit’s Comerica Park.

Toronto will become the first Canadian team to play in the Winter Classic when the Maple Leafs and Red Wings face off in Ann Arbor, about 45 miles west of Detroit.

“It’s Hockeytown versus the center of the hockey universe,” Toronto general manager Brian Burke said.

The NHL announced its plan at a news conference Thursday at Comerica, the home of the Detroit Tigers. Later, there was an additional event for media on the field at Michigan Stadium, the football venue that also hosted a college hockey game in 2010 between Michigan and Michigan State. That game set a Guinness World Record for most fans at a hockey game with 104,173.

The league is already talking about setting a new mark when the pros take the ice.

“Even with 115,000 or more tickets available, we still won’t have enough to satisfy the demand,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said.

The Detroit-Toronto rivalry dates to 1927. Although they’re in different conferences right now, the franchises have played 117 playoff games against each other, second only to the 170 meetings between Boston and Montreal.

Buffalo, Chicago, Boston, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia have all hosted the Winter Classic. With the Detroit area hosting next year, Bettman felt the time was right to include a team from Canada.

There have been two outdoor Heritage Classics north of the border: Montreal at Edmonton in 2003, and Montreal at Calgary last year. The game at Edmonton was the league’s first outdoor regular-season game.