NHL Winter Classic

[buckeyehoppy]

Amidst the football orgy that NYD usually is was a breath of fresh air at Ralph Wilson Stadium with Sabres and Pens in the outdoor Winter Hockey Classic.

A great and classic matchup and it lived up to the billing with a SO win by the Pens and Sid The Kid pumping the game winner past Ryan Miller.

The conditions were all over the place and the ice was smoothed between periods (as usual) and halfway through as well and ends were switched halfway through the period in each period, so it was an interesting (and necessary) way to govern the game.

All in all, I hope the NHL will do outdoor hockey at least once every year going forward. Buffalo did a great job hosting the game and the matchup was a winning combination of two up and coming teams.

[Guest]

I am not a hockey fan by any means but I tuned in for a little.
Pretty good idea.

[Joens]

is was great watching it in the snow.

[fundamentals]

I am not a hockey fan but that was an exceptional event to watch for bits and pieces yesterday. Crosby is a great player.

[Spin]

I wound up watching more of this game than the college games. If the football games weren't so close, I would have stayed with the hockey.

It's too bad they didn't do this during the bye week between the conference championships and the Super Blow.

Still a good move. I might track down some more hockey games on the redneck elk hunting channel and watch them now. First time in 5+ years.

[Steve Buffum]

Naive question: when did Pittsburgh turn into the Houston Oilers? Have they been wearing those unis all year?

(They were pretty nice, but ... it was Pittsburgh. Isn't their whole gimmick that all their teams have the same colors?)

[fundamentals]

I was thinking the same thing. I thought it was UCLA or the Chargers on ice. Are those alternate unis?

[skatingtripods]

Throwbacks to the 70s. Same as what Buffalo wore.

As for the game, it was great for a while, but then it just got annoying for me because Buffalo's my favorite team. I wanted them to just get the two points as the game went on, especially with how they dominated the second period.

I hate shootouts as well. It's not an accurate gage of determining a winner. If you're going to give a point for an OTL, might as well just bring back the tie.

[buckeyehoppy]

Naive question: when did Pittsburgh turn into the Houston Oilers? Have they been wearing those unis all year?

(They were pretty nice, but ... it was Pittsburgh. Isn't their whole gimmick that all their teams have the same colors?)

The baby blue, white and black was the original color scheme from the team's first season in 1967.

The Penguins changed colors in 1979 to coincide with the Steelers and Pirates who had primary colors of black and gold.

Since then, the Pirates have reintroduced red from some of their color schemes a while back while the Pens have gone with a truer gold in their present colors instead of the more yellowish gold of the Pirates and Steelers. While the colors for all three teams in Pittsburgh are relatively the same, over the years they have managed to create subtle differences which make each team distinct at present.

[buckeyehoppy]

Throwbacks to the 70s. Same as what Buffalo wore.

As for the game, it was great for a while, but then it just got annoying for me because Buffalo's my favorite team. I wanted them to just get the two points as the game went on, especially with how they dominated the second period.

I hate shootouts as well. It's not an accurate gage of determining a winner. If you're going to give a point for an OTL, might as well just bring back the tie.

I don't have a real favorite among NHL teams, but I do spend a fair lot of time watching both Buffalo and Pittsburgh on Centre Ice.

Conklin has had two dynamite games in a row against Buffalo and hasn't looked this good since he was in Edmonton.

Crosby is someone who bears watching. He is already at an elite level and will still improve as he moves into his prime. He may well match or eclipse all of Lemieux's accomplishments if he remains in Pittsburgh his entire career.

I do expect Pittsburgh and Buffalo to be around for the playoffs this year. I figured Buffalo would be much tougher down the stretch that at the outset. I also figured they would need time to build chemistry after losing Drury and Briere. They seem to be rounding into form and are starting to get some good minutes out of Campbell and Connelly.

Pittsburgh may well round into form, but there are question marks in goal and with Crosby not really having a legit first-line winger to work with. He works as well as can be expected with Armstrong and Malone, but neither of those two are really more than second-liners.

NHL overtime would work so much better if they did the following:

1) Have two five-minute four-on-four periods instead of one.
2) Have shootouts be best 3-of-5 instead of best 2-of-3.
3a) Only guarantee the point to the loser if they lose in the shootout. Either that or,
3b) Award three points for a regulation win and two for an OT or SO win

I don't mind the SO, but best 2-of-3 isn't enough. If you shoot first and score, then stop the other team and score with your next shooter, you win if you stop only one more. That doesn't seem right after playing for 65 minutes.

Also, if you had two 5-minute 4-on-4 OTs I'd bet that you would have fewer SOs because the 4-on-4 format would force teams to have lines specifically geared toward shorthanded scenarios and would force defensemen to be geared more for the defense than trying to always be more of a blue-line forward. It is also much more wide open and would allow for a more offensively oriented game at that point.

Not that being an offensively minded D is necessarily bad, but I don't see as many Ds in the NHL really steeling themselves as much as they should for that role. The D in the NHL is looked to more often as it should as an all-purpose role instead of letting the wings and centers do the bulk of the scoring.