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Winter Classic 2008 Primer!

The NHL’s Winter Classic 2008 is finally upon us, and we have compiled the following information as a primer to get you Amped up for the event!

Background:

In the 90-year history of the NHL, only 1 regular season game has ever been played outdoors.   That game, dubbed the Heritage Classic, was played in Edmonton on November 23rd, 2003, and featured a north of the border matchup between the Montreal Canadiens and the Edmonton Oilers.  It commemorated the 25th anniversary of the Edmonton Oilers joining the NHL in 1979.  The Heritage Classic was inspired by a 2001 outdoor game between two college rivals, Michigan State and the University of Michigan, that became dubbed the “Cold War”.  The Cold War was such a success that 74,554 spectators crammed into Michigan State’s Spartan Stadium and smashed the world attendance record for hockey.  Just 2 years later, the Heritage Classic was played in Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium in a bitingly cold -18ºF with an attendance of 57,167, the largest number of people to ever watch a live NHL game.  The Canadiens ended up winning the game by a score of 4-3 .   While the Heritage Classic was the first NHL regular season game to be played outdoors, it wasn’t the first NHL game to be played outdoors.  That honor belongs to an exhibition game in 1991 between the Los Angeles Kings and the New York Rangers that was played outside of Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

With the groundwork laid by the Cold War and the Heritage Classic, the NHL decided in the summer of 2007 to stage the 2nd outdoor regular season game on New Year’s Day, and dubbed it the Winter Classic 2008.  They selected two fast skating, talented young teams for the matchup, the Buffalo Sabres and the Pittsburgh Penguins.  Buffalo’s Ralph Wilson Stadium was selected as the Venue for the event, marking the NHL’s first outdoor regular season game to be played in the United States.  Buffalo’s proximity to the Canadian border only increased its appeal to the NHL.  With over 70,000 fans expected, it could come close to the world hockey attendance record set by the Cold War event.

The Weather:

The weather promises to cooperate and will make this event interesting.  Monday’s overnight forecast calls for a 90% chance of precipitation, starting out as light rain and changing over to all snow by late morning on New Year’s Day.  Temperatures overnight will fall to 31º, and will peak at 36º on New Year’s day.  Winds flowing ENE will eventually shift to NNW and increase to 20-30 mph with occassional gusts of 40 mph.  Snow accumulations of 2-4 inches are expected.  Dan Craig, the NHL’s Facility Operations Manager, indicates that the winds aren’t really going to affect the rink because they put cable up on the tall glass to hold everything in place securely.  As for the snow, the NHL will use Zambonis and shovels to keep the ice surface clean prior to the game, and will monitor conditions within the periods and act accordingly.   

Unique Rules:

Being a regular season NHL game, all of the normal NHL rules will apply.  However, to ensure that neither team is aided or adversely affected by the variabilities introduced by playing outdoors, some unique and noticeable changes will be incorporated.  First, to equalize number of minutes each team has attacking or defending each goal, the 3rd period will be broken into two 10-minute segments.  At the end of the first 10-minute segment, the teams will switch ends as if it were a period break.  The whistle will be blown and the play stopped at the 10-minute mark of the 3rd, regardless of any on-going play on the ice.  Second, and along the same lines, if a 5-minute overtime period is required, it will also be divided in half with the teams switching ends after 2:30 of play.  Lastly, should the game go all the way to a shootout, each goaltender will be given the option of determining which goal to defend, making it possible for both teams to shoot at the same goal.  Another potential change that would be decided in real time could be the length of intermissions between periods, or timeouts within periods.  This will be dictated by weather and ice conditions, as determined by the NHL. 

The Teams:

The Pittsburgh Penguins (20-16-2) come into the game playing very well, having gone 12-5-0 in their last 17-games after a slow season start.  Coming off a win against the Sabres in Pittsburgh on Saturday night, the Penguins currently hold 7th place in the Eastern Conference with 42-points.  The Penguins will be without the services of forward Gary Roberts (broken leg), forward Max Talbot (ankle), defenseman Marc Eaton (torn ACL), and starting goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury (ankle).  While the Penguins have been struggling with lineup injuries through much of December, this will be the first game they play without veteran leader Gary Roberts, who broke his leg in Saturday’s tilt against Buffalo.  Petr Sykora, who was out sick on Saturday, is expected to return, along with Ryan Malone who played his first game on Saturday after missing 5 with a leg infection.  Third string goaltender Ty Conklin is expected to get rewarded with the start in net for the Penguins after posting a shutout against the Sabres on Saturday night.  Conklin is 4-0 in his brief stint with the Penguins.     

The Buffalo Sabres (19-16-2) have gone 6-3-1 in their last 10-games, including Saturday night’s loss to the Penguins.  Currently in 8th place in the Eastern Conference standings with 40-points, the Sabres have a game in hand against the Penguins.  The Sabres will be without the services of forward Drew Stafford who is day-to-day with a concussion.  Other than that, the Sabres appear to be very healthy. 

Going head to head, these teams are pretty evenly matched.  They both favor a fast, open, offensive style of play as was witnessed on Saturday night.  The Sabres have the advantage in goals per game at 3.1 versus 2.7 for the Penguins.  The teams are nearly equivalent in goals given up per game, with 2.8 for the Sabres versus 2.9 for the Pens.  On the power play, the teams are in a statistical lock with the Penguins at 18.9 percent effectiveness versus 18.8 for the Sabres.  The Sabres have the advantage on the penalty kill with an 83.6 percent effectiveness versus the Penguins 80.0.

Cool NHL Videos: 

• VIDEO:  Building the Rink  
• VIDEO:  Winter Classic Preview Show
• VIDEO:  Today’s Press Conference - Practice Skate
• VIDEO:  NBC Promo Ad

Final Notes: 

Both teams practiced on the outdoor rink today, and from all accounts the rink got a big thumbs up.  The Penguins didn’t hit the ice until 3PM after traveling up from Pittsburgh this morning.  Coach Therrien gave the Penguins a day off on Sunday so that they could get some rest before the game. 

Both teams will be wearing retro-looking uniforms for the game.  The Sabres will sport uniforms similar to the ones they wore in the 1980s.  The Penguins will be wearing the original powder blue, navy blue and white color scheme the team first used when it entered the NHL 40-years ago in 1967. 

Coverage starts on NHL.com at 11AM with live coverage starting at 1PM on NBC and CBC on New Year’s Day.  Both the American and Canadian National Anthems will be sung prior to the start of the game.  Irish tenor Ronan Tynan will perform “God Bless America” and Sabres singer Doug Allen will sing the Canadian National Anthem.  Weather permitting, there will also be a flyover. 

Penguins January 08 Preview

I noted in my December Preview that if the Penguins could successfully build confidence off from the Thanksgiving Day win over the Ottawa Senators, that they could hit their stride and have the potential of picking up 18 of 28 possible points in December.  With their win over Buffalo on Saturday night, the Pittsburgh Penguins finished December with a 9-5-0 record, picking up….18 points.  This was a huge turnaround for a team that went 4-7-1 in November and picked up just 9 of 24 possible points. 

Of course, it wasn’t all roses for the Penguins as they lost several key players to extended injuries in December.  First, they lost starting goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury for 6-8 weeks to a high-ankle sprain on December 6th.  Then, a couple of days later, fiesty forward Maxime Talbot got put back on the injured list for a few weeks for the same high-ankle sprain and has not yet returned.  The Penguins then lost 1st line forward Ryan Malone for 5-games to a leg infection.  Malone returned to the lineup against Buffalo on Saturday night.  On December 23rd the Penguins lost one of their best defensemen for the remainder of the season when Marc Eaton left the game against Boston with a torn ACL.  Lastly, the team lost veteran leader Gary Roberts for a lengthy, yet undetermined period of time after breaking his fibula in the 2-0 win over the Buffalo Sabres on December 29th.  Yet, despite the adversity, the team came away with a 64% winning percentage in December.  Perhaps the biggest surprise boost has come from 3rd string goaltender Ty Conklin who has won 4-straight starts, including a shutout against the Sabres.  His ability to handle the puck has really helped the team defensively. 

So what lies ahead for the Penguins in January?  The Penguins will play 13-games for a possible 26-points.  A majority of the games (8) will be played on the road, with just 5 being played on home ice.  Of the 13-games, the Penguins play just 3-games against Division rivals in January when they face off against the Rangers at home, and then the Flyers and Devils on the road.  They will play the Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning and Atlanta Thrashers twice each, all teams that are currently below them in the standings.  In fact, of the 13-games in January, only 2 are against teams that are currently above them in the Eastern Conference standings (Canadiens and Devils), although it is a very tight race in  the East. 

As far as the road ahead in January, here is the layout for the Penguins (20-16-2), and my best case projections:

• 1 Jan:  @ Buffalo Sabres (19-16-2) – projected Win
• 3 Jan:  Toronto Maple Leafs (15-16-8) – projected Win
• 5 Jan:  Florida Panthers (18-17-3) – projected Win
• 8 Jan:  @ Florida Panthers  (18-17-3) – projected OTL
• 10 Jan:  @ Tampa Bay Lightning (15-21-3) – projected Win
• 12 Jan:  @ at Atlanta Thrashers (19-19-1) – projected Win
• 14 Jan:  New York Rangers (19-15-4) – projected Loss
• 18 Jan:  Tampa Bay Lightning (15-21-3) – projected Win
• 19 Jan:  @ Montreal Canadiens (19-13-6) – projected Loss
• 21 Jan:  Washington Capitals (15-19-5) – projected Win
• 24 Jan:  @ Philadelphia Flyers (18-4-4) – projected OTL
• 29 Jan:  @ New Jersey Devils (21-14-3) – projected Loss
• 30 Jan:  @ Atlanta Thrashers (19-19-1) – projected Win

January starts with 4 of the first 6 games on the road, including the momentous Winter Classic game in Buffalo on New Year’s Day.  Aside from the fact that the majority of the games come on the road, the schedule is more forgiving than it was in December with only 2-games falling back-to-back on subsequent nights (January 29-30 against the Devils and Thrashers, respectively).   

Last season, the Penguins came into their own in January going 8-2-2, and then kept rolling by going 9-3-1 in February, 12-3-2 in March, and 2-1-0 in April.  I think it is unlikely that the Penguins will be able to maintain the similar level of success in the latter half of this season, given more parity in the league and the increase that the Penguins have seen in injuries.  However, I hope to be proven wrong.  There is certainly an ample amount of talent on the team if they can play to their full potential. 

I think that the Penguins will have a very strong January, with the potential to go 8-3-2 and pick up 18 of 26 available points on the month.  This will require continued offensive output outside of Gonchar, Sykora, Crosby and Malkin, and continued good play in net by Conklin and Sabourin.  A confident Penguins team will be a dangerous team, as was evidenced in the second half of last year.  Let’s hope that the Penguins can build on the confidence they have developed in December. 

Lets Go Pens!

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