Showing posts with label 2011 NHL Winter Classic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2011 NHL Winter Classic. Show all posts
Monday, January 10, 2011
24/7: Road to the Winter Classic, Episode 4
The 24 greatest things about ‘HBO 24/7 Penguins/Capitals'
By Greg Wyshynski
http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy
January 9, 2011
The four-episode epic that was "HBO 24/7 Penguins/Capitals: The Road To The NHL Winter Classic" is over; but as Bruce Boudreau might say, "The [expletive] memories [expletive] remain, you [expletive]."
Here are Puck Daddy's 24 greatest things about "HBO 24/7 Penguins/Capitals," a television program that showed us the Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals, referees, potty mouths and eye injuries in an entirely new light.
Read it all by clicking on the link below:
http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/The-24-greatest-things-about-HBO-24-7-Penguins-;_ylt=AqFqgIp94UZe1_UZUzf51TB7vLYF?urn=nhl-305206
Tuesday, January 04, 2011
Time to retire the Winter Classic
By Dan Shaughnessy
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/hockey/nhl/
January 3, 2011
Sorry, but the expiration date on the Winter Classic has come and gone.
Time to retire the outdoor hockey game.
It was great in Buffalo. It was great at Wrigley Field. And since I'm a shameless Boston honk, of course I will tell you that one of the best days in the significant history of Fenway Park was January 1, 2010, when the Boston Bruins beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 2-1, in overtime inside the ballpark made famous by Babe Ruth, Ted Williams and Carl Yastrzemski. I won't soon forget watching a full period of hockey alongside Bobby Orr upstairs in box L-1 behind home plate. Seeing players skate ferociously in cold temperatures under clear skies, Orr talked about how much it reminded him of his youth.
"This is hockey,'' Orr said. "We'd go outdoors in the morning and skate in Georgian Bay or on the Sequin River. All of our skating was outdoors.''
It just wasn't the same last Saturday night as I watched the Penguins and Capitals slushing around on soft, watery ice at night in the middle of Heinz Field.
The Caps beat the Penguins, 3-1, but this was not what the league had in mind. A crowd of 68,111 watched, but they didn't get the atmosphere that made this game so compelling in Buffalo, Chicago and Boston (and let's not forget the Heritage Classic -- hockey's equal of the Ice Bowl, played between the Oilers and Canadiens in sub-zero Edmonton in 2003).
This time, the weather simply did not cooperate. You can usually expect frigid temperatures in Pittsburgh in January, but it was in the 50s late in the week and the 1 p.m. starting time had to be switched to 8 p.m. because of soft ice.
It was playable, but barely. Watching on television, you could see puddling and water splashing in the trail of the puck sliding across the ice. One side of the surface was worse than the other, so the teams changed ends halfway through the third period.
"It was the same conditions for both teams,'' said NHL commissioner Gary Bettman. "In every stoppage, we were in communication with both teams. And while not perfect, the puck was moving pretty well out there.''
PITTSBURGH, PA - JANUARY 01: Members of the ice crew maintain the ice during the 2011 NHL Bridgestone Winter Classic between the Washington Capitals and the Pittsburgh Penguins at Heinz Field on January 1, 2011 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
Warm weather is nobody's fault. But there were other things about the Pittsburgh Classic which gave hints that this event might have outlived its usefulness.
Let's start with the host city. OK, professional hockey was born in Pittsburgh 100 years ago, but it's simply not a metropolis we associate with hockey. Buffalo is not an original six town, but there's no disputing its qualification as a winter sports mecca. Chicago and Boston are part of NHL genesis. Nuff said.
The venue is another problem. Fenway and Wrigley are obvious palaces of worship. For any sport. Buffalo's Ralph Wilson Stadium worked because it's in Buffalo and got the requisite snow flurries to made for spectacular television. Heinz Field, on the other hand, is a new facility singularly associated with football and the Steelers. It's not old-timey like Fenway or Wrigley. It's simply a football field. Nothing more.
If it's cold enough, I would be OK with any outdoor game in Detroit, Montreal or Toronto. Yankee Stadium might even work. But Heinz Field? Sorry. Steelers only.
The Winter Classic will always be a gamble because winter weather is so unpredictable. Sightlines are going to be brutal because reconfigured ballparks don't offer a lot of primo seats for hockey. If the event is going to work it's got to be really good television and Pittsburgh didn't have the Currier & Ives snowfall, mittened fans, or players spewing hot air into the cold night.
If you freeze it, they will come. That's been the theme in Buffalo, Chicago, Boston, and Pittsburgh. But it's a tough sell in a modern football facility with raindrops falling in 50 degree temperatures.
Last year I believed that hockey was taking over New Year's Day the way baseball owns Fourth of July and football has appropriated Thanksgiving. Now I'm not so sure. I tried watching the Winter Classic Saturday night and it didn't work. The snow globe effect was gone.
It was just a bunch of Penguins and Capitals trying to avoid injury as they skated on ice that was unacceptable for a weeknight over-40 league.
"In the third period, weather became a problem,'' Washington superstar Alex Ovechkin admitted after the victory.
He was being polite. It was more than a problem. The show went on because the show must go on for television, but professional hockey was not meant to be playing in warm weather during a rainstorm.
Outdoors is good. Cold is good. Snow flurries make it even better.
But rain just doesn't work and television won't wait.
Time for the NHL to come back inside to play.
Dan Shaughnessy is a columnist for The Boston Globe.
Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/dan_shaughnessy/01/03/winter.classic/index.html#ixzz1A4bb3HmO
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/hockey/nhl/
January 3, 2011
Sorry, but the expiration date on the Winter Classic has come and gone.
Time to retire the outdoor hockey game.
It was great in Buffalo. It was great at Wrigley Field. And since I'm a shameless Boston honk, of course I will tell you that one of the best days in the significant history of Fenway Park was January 1, 2010, when the Boston Bruins beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 2-1, in overtime inside the ballpark made famous by Babe Ruth, Ted Williams and Carl Yastrzemski. I won't soon forget watching a full period of hockey alongside Bobby Orr upstairs in box L-1 behind home plate. Seeing players skate ferociously in cold temperatures under clear skies, Orr talked about how much it reminded him of his youth.
"This is hockey,'' Orr said. "We'd go outdoors in the morning and skate in Georgian Bay or on the Sequin River. All of our skating was outdoors.''
It just wasn't the same last Saturday night as I watched the Penguins and Capitals slushing around on soft, watery ice at night in the middle of Heinz Field.
The Caps beat the Penguins, 3-1, but this was not what the league had in mind. A crowd of 68,111 watched, but they didn't get the atmosphere that made this game so compelling in Buffalo, Chicago and Boston (and let's not forget the Heritage Classic -- hockey's equal of the Ice Bowl, played between the Oilers and Canadiens in sub-zero Edmonton in 2003).
This time, the weather simply did not cooperate. You can usually expect frigid temperatures in Pittsburgh in January, but it was in the 50s late in the week and the 1 p.m. starting time had to be switched to 8 p.m. because of soft ice.
It was playable, but barely. Watching on television, you could see puddling and water splashing in the trail of the puck sliding across the ice. One side of the surface was worse than the other, so the teams changed ends halfway through the third period.
"It was the same conditions for both teams,'' said NHL commissioner Gary Bettman. "In every stoppage, we were in communication with both teams. And while not perfect, the puck was moving pretty well out there.''
PITTSBURGH, PA - JANUARY 01: Members of the ice crew maintain the ice during the 2011 NHL Bridgestone Winter Classic between the Washington Capitals and the Pittsburgh Penguins at Heinz Field on January 1, 2011 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)Warm weather is nobody's fault. But there were other things about the Pittsburgh Classic which gave hints that this event might have outlived its usefulness.
Let's start with the host city. OK, professional hockey was born in Pittsburgh 100 years ago, but it's simply not a metropolis we associate with hockey. Buffalo is not an original six town, but there's no disputing its qualification as a winter sports mecca. Chicago and Boston are part of NHL genesis. Nuff said.
The venue is another problem. Fenway and Wrigley are obvious palaces of worship. For any sport. Buffalo's Ralph Wilson Stadium worked because it's in Buffalo and got the requisite snow flurries to made for spectacular television. Heinz Field, on the other hand, is a new facility singularly associated with football and the Steelers. It's not old-timey like Fenway or Wrigley. It's simply a football field. Nothing more.
If it's cold enough, I would be OK with any outdoor game in Detroit, Montreal or Toronto. Yankee Stadium might even work. But Heinz Field? Sorry. Steelers only.
The Winter Classic will always be a gamble because winter weather is so unpredictable. Sightlines are going to be brutal because reconfigured ballparks don't offer a lot of primo seats for hockey. If the event is going to work it's got to be really good television and Pittsburgh didn't have the Currier & Ives snowfall, mittened fans, or players spewing hot air into the cold night.
If you freeze it, they will come. That's been the theme in Buffalo, Chicago, Boston, and Pittsburgh. But it's a tough sell in a modern football facility with raindrops falling in 50 degree temperatures.
Last year I believed that hockey was taking over New Year's Day the way baseball owns Fourth of July and football has appropriated Thanksgiving. Now I'm not so sure. I tried watching the Winter Classic Saturday night and it didn't work. The snow globe effect was gone.
It was just a bunch of Penguins and Capitals trying to avoid injury as they skated on ice that was unacceptable for a weeknight over-40 league.
"In the third period, weather became a problem,'' Washington superstar Alex Ovechkin admitted after the victory.
He was being polite. It was more than a problem. The show went on because the show must go on for television, but professional hockey was not meant to be playing in warm weather during a rainstorm.
Outdoors is good. Cold is good. Snow flurries make it even better.
But rain just doesn't work and television won't wait.
Time for the NHL to come back inside to play.
Dan Shaughnessy is a columnist for The Boston Globe.
Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/dan_shaughnessy/01/03/winter.classic/index.html#ixzz1A4bb3HmO
Sunday, January 02, 2011
Classic, HBO breathe life into NHL
By Joe Starkey, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Evgeni Malkin works in the corner against Washington Capitals' Mike Knuble in the first period of the NHL Winter Classic outdoor hockey game in Pittsburgh, Saturday, Jan. 1, 2011. (AP)
Scenically speaking, Saturday night’s Winter Classic was the most spectacular sporting event I have witnessed in nearly a quarter century of witnessing sporting events for a living.
And I’m just talking about the pre-game.
The change in starting time, from 1 to 8 p.m., was a blessing, because an outdoor event always feels bigger at night. The skyline lit up in all its glory, providing a magnificent backdrop for Heinz Field, which exploded in cheers as the Penguins and hated Washington Capitals walked side-by-side down the runway.
"That was kind of awkward," admitted Penguins forward Mike Rupp.
It was impossible to tell what there were more of — flash bulbs, Terrible Towels or goose bumps.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman will never admit as much, but this game has become bigger than the Stanley Cup Final. That is not an insult. It’s a compliment. The Classic has carved a serious niche on a day traditionally reserved for college football. It has breathed new life into the sport and captured new audiences in a way that, say, Vancouver-San Jose at 10 p.m. on Versus never could.
Capitals owner Ted Leonsis compared the ambiance to a Monday Night Football game. From this vantage point, the lead-up felt more like a Super Bowl. The result — a 3-1 Penguins loss — was largely incidental, as was the rain that sometimes made play sloppy.
This was an event, not a game, and here’s the best part: It will be that much more riveting when it’s run through HBO’s magic machine Wednesday night on the final installment of "HBO 24/7 Penguins/Capitals: Road To The NHL Winter Classic."
The NHL finally is figuring out what the NFL learned decades ago: Neither being at the game nor watching it on TV is enough. People want more. They want to hear the game. They want to know what players and coaches are saying on the bench and in the locker rooms.
They want an all-access pass.
They want humanity.
And they cannot get enough.
That is how NFL Films became so critical in fueling the NFL’s rise to supremacy in American sport. Hockey never had anything like it. The NHL was the sporting equivalent of a silent movie.
Recent advances in the televised product sparked a change. HBO might be sparking a revolution.
PITTSBURGH, PA - JANUARY 01: Fans cheer after Evgeni Malkin scores against the Washington Capitals during the second period of the 2011 NHL Bridgestone Winter Classic at Heinz Field on January 1, 2011 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
Dave Harmon, producer of the HBO series, told me yesterday that an average of 2.8 million viewers tuned in for the first three episodes of 24/7 and that he planned to attack the Classic even harder than he did last week’s Pens-Caps matchup in Washington.
HBO’s treatment of that game was ground-breaking, particularly in the way it displayed Sidney Crosby’s competitive ferocity. This wasn’t the polished Crosby we see in interviews, or even the one we marvel at — without sound — during games.
Instead, we were transported inside the glass and exposed to a raw Crosby raining F-bombs on a referee. It was beautiful. And contrary to what one might think, Crosby had no problem with the scene.
“I’ve heard he was really happy with it,” Harmon said, “because it showed he’s just another player with emotions and intensity, just like everyone else.”
Harmon said HBO’s game plan last night included microphones on five players from each team, plus coaches Dan Bylsma and Bruce Boudreau and the referees. One camera was placed in the replay booth, six others elsewhere.
Among the best stuff from the first three shows:
• Boudreau telling his players in a pregame meeting that Evgeni Malkin was prone to retaliatory penalties — and then seeing Malkin take one in the third period.
• Boudreau ripping his team during a bad loss, dropping expletives at a rate that would make Rex Ryan blush.
Harmon: “When we got that on video, we said, ‘We have to show this. This is fantastic stuff.'"
• Marc-Andre Fleury and his accomplices rearranging the hotel-room furniture of teammates Ben Lovejoy and Mark Letestu. "Fleury is much more of a practical joker and character than we thought." Harmon said.
"We knew he was a good guy, but I’m not sure many people knew that side of him."
• Capitals star Alex Ovechkin eating a home-cooked meal prepared by his mother.
I asked Harmon if HBO tried to get home footage of Crosby or Mario Lemieux. "Well, we asked," he said. "But when they say they want their privacy, we have to respect that."
Harmon said nobody from either team has requested that footage be withheld. One of the keys to the show’s success is an experienced crew that has made the players comfortable. Letestu acknowledged as much, saying the crew had practically become part of the team.
"We might have some separation anxiety when they leave," he said.
Harmon grew up around hockey. His father worked for NHL Productions in the 1970’s. But, like his viewers, his eyes have been opened wide by the series.
"What I learned," he said, "is that no amount of time watching the game from the stands will ever teach you what they say in the locker rooms, what they say during fights, what the referees are saying to the guys. Things like that."
As good as it was live, the Classic will be even better Wednesday night.
Related:
Congenial spirit pervades the crowd at Winter Classic -
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/penguins/s_716322.html
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Evgeni Malkin works in the corner against Washington Capitals' Mike Knuble in the first period of the NHL Winter Classic outdoor hockey game in Pittsburgh, Saturday, Jan. 1, 2011. (AP)Scenically speaking, Saturday night’s Winter Classic was the most spectacular sporting event I have witnessed in nearly a quarter century of witnessing sporting events for a living.
And I’m just talking about the pre-game.
The change in starting time, from 1 to 8 p.m., was a blessing, because an outdoor event always feels bigger at night. The skyline lit up in all its glory, providing a magnificent backdrop for Heinz Field, which exploded in cheers as the Penguins and hated Washington Capitals walked side-by-side down the runway.
"That was kind of awkward," admitted Penguins forward Mike Rupp.
It was impossible to tell what there were more of — flash bulbs, Terrible Towels or goose bumps.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman will never admit as much, but this game has become bigger than the Stanley Cup Final. That is not an insult. It’s a compliment. The Classic has carved a serious niche on a day traditionally reserved for college football. It has breathed new life into the sport and captured new audiences in a way that, say, Vancouver-San Jose at 10 p.m. on Versus never could.
Capitals owner Ted Leonsis compared the ambiance to a Monday Night Football game. From this vantage point, the lead-up felt more like a Super Bowl. The result — a 3-1 Penguins loss — was largely incidental, as was the rain that sometimes made play sloppy.
This was an event, not a game, and here’s the best part: It will be that much more riveting when it’s run through HBO’s magic machine Wednesday night on the final installment of "HBO 24/7 Penguins/Capitals: Road To The NHL Winter Classic."
The NHL finally is figuring out what the NFL learned decades ago: Neither being at the game nor watching it on TV is enough. People want more. They want to hear the game. They want to know what players and coaches are saying on the bench and in the locker rooms.
They want an all-access pass.
They want humanity.
And they cannot get enough.
That is how NFL Films became so critical in fueling the NFL’s rise to supremacy in American sport. Hockey never had anything like it. The NHL was the sporting equivalent of a silent movie.
Recent advances in the televised product sparked a change. HBO might be sparking a revolution.
PITTSBURGH, PA - JANUARY 01: Fans cheer after Evgeni Malkin scores against the Washington Capitals during the second period of the 2011 NHL Bridgestone Winter Classic at Heinz Field on January 1, 2011 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)Dave Harmon, producer of the HBO series, told me yesterday that an average of 2.8 million viewers tuned in for the first three episodes of 24/7 and that he planned to attack the Classic even harder than he did last week’s Pens-Caps matchup in Washington.
HBO’s treatment of that game was ground-breaking, particularly in the way it displayed Sidney Crosby’s competitive ferocity. This wasn’t the polished Crosby we see in interviews, or even the one we marvel at — without sound — during games.
Instead, we were transported inside the glass and exposed to a raw Crosby raining F-bombs on a referee. It was beautiful. And contrary to what one might think, Crosby had no problem with the scene.
“I’ve heard he was really happy with it,” Harmon said, “because it showed he’s just another player with emotions and intensity, just like everyone else.”
Harmon said HBO’s game plan last night included microphones on five players from each team, plus coaches Dan Bylsma and Bruce Boudreau and the referees. One camera was placed in the replay booth, six others elsewhere.
Among the best stuff from the first three shows:
• Boudreau telling his players in a pregame meeting that Evgeni Malkin was prone to retaliatory penalties — and then seeing Malkin take one in the third period.
• Boudreau ripping his team during a bad loss, dropping expletives at a rate that would make Rex Ryan blush.
Harmon: “When we got that on video, we said, ‘We have to show this. This is fantastic stuff.'"
• Marc-Andre Fleury and his accomplices rearranging the hotel-room furniture of teammates Ben Lovejoy and Mark Letestu. "Fleury is much more of a practical joker and character than we thought." Harmon said.
"We knew he was a good guy, but I’m not sure many people knew that side of him."
• Capitals star Alex Ovechkin eating a home-cooked meal prepared by his mother.
I asked Harmon if HBO tried to get home footage of Crosby or Mario Lemieux. "Well, we asked," he said. "But when they say they want their privacy, we have to respect that."
Harmon said nobody from either team has requested that footage be withheld. One of the keys to the show’s success is an experienced crew that has made the players comfortable. Letestu acknowledged as much, saying the crew had practically become part of the team.
"We might have some separation anxiety when they leave," he said.
Harmon grew up around hockey. His father worked for NHL Productions in the 1970’s. But, like his viewers, his eyes have been opened wide by the series.
"What I learned," he said, "is that no amount of time watching the game from the stands will ever teach you what they say in the locker rooms, what they say during fights, what the referees are saying to the guys. Things like that."
As good as it was live, the Classic will be even better Wednesday night.
Related:
Congenial spirit pervades the crowd at Winter Classic -
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/penguins/s_716322.html
Inside and out, matchup a Classic
Sunday, January 02, 2011
By Gene Collier, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/
Sidney Crosby is held by Washington Capitals' Mike Green in the first period of the NHL Winter Classic outdoor hockey game in Pittsburgh, Saturday, Jan. 1, 2011.(AP)
Blessedly at 8:12 p.m. Saturday, the weeks-long Pittsburgh Meteorological Festival was interrupted by an actual hockey game, saving National Hockey League officials and their broadcasting cohorts from the inconvenience of having to build an ark and sail off toward some semblance of winter.
Instead, Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin shook hands in front of celebrity puck-droppers Mario Lemieux, Franco Harris, Jerome Bettis, U.S. Army Sergeant First Class Bradley T. Tinstman and 68,111 hyper-paying customers.
Wait, could I get a little more build-up?
No, the Winter Classic was finally overtaken by the Penguins and the Washington Capitals, whose difficult interpersonal politics can pull together a pretty decent hockey game just about anywhere, anytime, even here in the tropics of a Pittsburgh's January.
For the entirety of the first period, it was easy to see why the Capitals had allowed only 12 goals in their previous seven games, why they hadn't lost in two weeks, why, for all their woe-is-us character development in the HBO "24/7" docudrama in which Bruce Boudreau attempted unsuccessfully to break the f-bomb record set by New York Jets big-mouth Rex Ryan in the latest "Hard Knocks" caper, they're never to be underestimated.
Thus Crosby managed but one shot in the first 20 minutes, Evgeni Malkin no more than that, and in the second period the Capitals screwed things down even tighter, allowing only eight Penguins shots in the entire session.
Somehow that didn't keep Malkin from making history at 2:13 of the second, flashing behind Capitals defenseman John Erskine and burying the biscuit for a 1-0 Penguins lead. So the city that played host to the first World Series night game a mere 39 years ago has now hosted the first Winter Classic night game, with Malkin scoring the successful venture's first after-dark goal.
If the 8 p.m. starting time winds up bringing NBC a healthy rating, don't be surprised if the Winter Classic never sees daylight again.
"That's something we'll have to discuss with our network broadcast partner," said NHL commissioner Gary Bettman 15 minutes after this slop-fest ended without apparent injuries. "Best answer to that question will be an analysis of the ratings when they come in."
Translation: It's all but predestined.
PITTSBURGH, PA - JANUARY 01: John Erskine #4 of the Washington Capitals and Michael Rupp #17 of the Pittsburgh Penguins fight during the 2011 NHL Bridgestone Winter Classic at Heinz Field on January 1, 2011 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)
In the future, incidentally, all sporting events will start at 8 p.m. or after, or risk irrelevance. I mean if it hasn't happened on prime-time television, has it really happened?
What happened in this one was a pretty fair representation of what the NHL game is all about -- which is the oft-stated mission of the Winter Classic -- to present the game in all its traditional winter majesty to the uninitiated, so that they might appreciate the game's noble heritage and flowing beauty.
Cut to Mike Rupp pummeling Erskine earnestly about the face and head, and Erskine responding enthusiastically with one haymaker after another to lowlight that first period. That's called five for fighting.
But Malkin's marker didn't hold up for even five minutes of game clock against Boudreau's boys, whose manic net-crashing tied the score when Mike Knuble scored with help from Mike Green and Nicklas Backstrom to make it 1-1.
No one watching in Heinz Field or anywhere else could have missed the significance of Eric Fehr's goal late in the same period, which was more than merely the act that pushed Washington into the lead; it sent the Penguins to the locker room trailing after two periods, a situation in which they were a perfectly dismal 0-7-1 for the season.
Fehr's huge shot was purely the fault of Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who was inexplicably fiddling with the puck at the rear boards behind the goal he was "tending," when the disc flipped free to Fehr in the right circle and was in the net one blink later.
Fleury immediately tried to break his stick over the crossbar in abject frustration, but that, too, was unsuccessful.
Had the Penguins any solution to this late-night predicament, it was the unheralded Fehr who made it doubly difficult late in the third when he broke in on Fleury and whistled home his second goal of the game (representing a mere 40 percent of his goal production in the club's first 39 games).
A third Capitals goal these days is another harbinger, it so happens. Washington is 22-0-2 in games when it scores at least thrice.
The 3-1 loss no doubt stung the Penguins personally, as it was likely the most conspicuous hockey game they will play until April, but just because they weren't great in this Winter Classic doesn't mean they weren't in the previous one.
No, not the inaugural version in Orchard Park, N.Y., against the Buffalo Sabres three years ago, the one in Washington Dec. 23, the one that went into overtime and into seven rounds of shootout before Pascal Dupuis ended it for the season's most memorable delivery of two points.
Now that was classic.
Not only was it classic, it was indoors.
Isn't that a good idea?
Gene Collier: gcollier@post-gazette.com.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11002/1115111-150.stm#ixzz19tC8Umla
Related:
Winter Classic: Penguins fall, but scene 'amazing'-
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11002/1115106-61.stm
By Gene Collier, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/
Sidney Crosby is held by Washington Capitals' Mike Green in the first period of the NHL Winter Classic outdoor hockey game in Pittsburgh, Saturday, Jan. 1, 2011.(AP)Blessedly at 8:12 p.m. Saturday, the weeks-long Pittsburgh Meteorological Festival was interrupted by an actual hockey game, saving National Hockey League officials and their broadcasting cohorts from the inconvenience of having to build an ark and sail off toward some semblance of winter.
Instead, Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin shook hands in front of celebrity puck-droppers Mario Lemieux, Franco Harris, Jerome Bettis, U.S. Army Sergeant First Class Bradley T. Tinstman and 68,111 hyper-paying customers.
Wait, could I get a little more build-up?
No, the Winter Classic was finally overtaken by the Penguins and the Washington Capitals, whose difficult interpersonal politics can pull together a pretty decent hockey game just about anywhere, anytime, even here in the tropics of a Pittsburgh's January.
For the entirety of the first period, it was easy to see why the Capitals had allowed only 12 goals in their previous seven games, why they hadn't lost in two weeks, why, for all their woe-is-us character development in the HBO "24/7" docudrama in which Bruce Boudreau attempted unsuccessfully to break the f-bomb record set by New York Jets big-mouth Rex Ryan in the latest "Hard Knocks" caper, they're never to be underestimated.
Thus Crosby managed but one shot in the first 20 minutes, Evgeni Malkin no more than that, and in the second period the Capitals screwed things down even tighter, allowing only eight Penguins shots in the entire session.
Somehow that didn't keep Malkin from making history at 2:13 of the second, flashing behind Capitals defenseman John Erskine and burying the biscuit for a 1-0 Penguins lead. So the city that played host to the first World Series night game a mere 39 years ago has now hosted the first Winter Classic night game, with Malkin scoring the successful venture's first after-dark goal.
If the 8 p.m. starting time winds up bringing NBC a healthy rating, don't be surprised if the Winter Classic never sees daylight again.
"That's something we'll have to discuss with our network broadcast partner," said NHL commissioner Gary Bettman 15 minutes after this slop-fest ended without apparent injuries. "Best answer to that question will be an analysis of the ratings when they come in."
Translation: It's all but predestined.
PITTSBURGH, PA - JANUARY 01: John Erskine #4 of the Washington Capitals and Michael Rupp #17 of the Pittsburgh Penguins fight during the 2011 NHL Bridgestone Winter Classic at Heinz Field on January 1, 2011 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)In the future, incidentally, all sporting events will start at 8 p.m. or after, or risk irrelevance. I mean if it hasn't happened on prime-time television, has it really happened?
What happened in this one was a pretty fair representation of what the NHL game is all about -- which is the oft-stated mission of the Winter Classic -- to present the game in all its traditional winter majesty to the uninitiated, so that they might appreciate the game's noble heritage and flowing beauty.
Cut to Mike Rupp pummeling Erskine earnestly about the face and head, and Erskine responding enthusiastically with one haymaker after another to lowlight that first period. That's called five for fighting.
But Malkin's marker didn't hold up for even five minutes of game clock against Boudreau's boys, whose manic net-crashing tied the score when Mike Knuble scored with help from Mike Green and Nicklas Backstrom to make it 1-1.
No one watching in Heinz Field or anywhere else could have missed the significance of Eric Fehr's goal late in the same period, which was more than merely the act that pushed Washington into the lead; it sent the Penguins to the locker room trailing after two periods, a situation in which they were a perfectly dismal 0-7-1 for the season.
Fehr's huge shot was purely the fault of Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who was inexplicably fiddling with the puck at the rear boards behind the goal he was "tending," when the disc flipped free to Fehr in the right circle and was in the net one blink later.
Fleury immediately tried to break his stick over the crossbar in abject frustration, but that, too, was unsuccessful.
Had the Penguins any solution to this late-night predicament, it was the unheralded Fehr who made it doubly difficult late in the third when he broke in on Fleury and whistled home his second goal of the game (representing a mere 40 percent of his goal production in the club's first 39 games).
A third Capitals goal these days is another harbinger, it so happens. Washington is 22-0-2 in games when it scores at least thrice.
The 3-1 loss no doubt stung the Penguins personally, as it was likely the most conspicuous hockey game they will play until April, but just because they weren't great in this Winter Classic doesn't mean they weren't in the previous one.
No, not the inaugural version in Orchard Park, N.Y., against the Buffalo Sabres three years ago, the one in Washington Dec. 23, the one that went into overtime and into seven rounds of shootout before Pascal Dupuis ended it for the season's most memorable delivery of two points.
Now that was classic.
Not only was it classic, it was indoors.
Isn't that a good idea?
Gene Collier: gcollier@post-gazette.com.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11002/1115111-150.stm#ixzz19tC8Umla
Related:
Winter Classic: Penguins fall, but scene 'amazing'-
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11002/1115106-61.stm
Capitals proud of Classic finish
By Nicholas J. Cotsonika, Yahoo! Sports
http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl
January 2, 2011
PITTSBURGH, PA - JANUARY 01: Marc-Andre Fleury of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Semyon Varlamov of the Washington Capitals walk to the ice prior to the start of the 2011 NHL Bridgestone Winter Classic at Heinz Field on January 1, 2011 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH – Alex Ovechkin found owner Ted Leonsis in the dressing room late Saturday night. He gave him a hug. They smiled.
“Good for you, man,” Leonsis said.
Alex Ovechkin didn't score a goal, but he was all smiles as the Caps picked up the important win.
Ovechkin hadn’t recorded a point. He had registered a minus-1 rating. But the Washington Capitals had won 3-1. They had beaten Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Winter Classic, the NHL’s annual outdoor showcase, in front of 68,111 fans at Heinz Field and a U.S. national television audience. They had gone from losing eight straight to winning five of six, all while being tailed by TV cameras.
Technically, this victory meant only two points in the standings. Emotionally, it meant so much more. It was the culmination of a crazy month that the Capitals hope will help prepare them for playoff success.
“This is, like, as close to the Stanley Cup as we’ve gotten,” Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau said.
Rewind four weeks. HBO embedded cameras for its four-part all-access reality series “24/7 Penguins/Capitals: The Road to the NHL Winter Classic.”
It was unnerving enough. The teams felt naked – not just literally, because the cameras were catching the players changing in the dressing room, but figuratively, because the cameras were catching everything else, too.
“The first time, you felt like you were standing in front of a group and stripping down to your underwear,” Capitals forward Mike Knuble said. “They were filming strategy and the way we talk about the team. … You’re just not used to being exposed like that.”
And for the Capitals, the timing seemed terrible. While Crosby and the Pens were hot, Ovechkin and the Caps were cold.
The first episode seemed to confirm every criticism of the Caps, who won the Presidents’ Trophy last season as the NHL’s top regular-season team, only to lose in the first round of the playoffs. They had skill but lacked defensive discipline and mental toughness – the kind of character you need to win in the playoffs.
Boudreau dropped F-bomb after F-bomb. The Caps lost game after game.
“I’ve owned the team for 12 years, and there were things that I saw watching that I didn’t know about,” Leonsis said. “I didn’t experience a lot of those things. I think you’re seeing this unvarnished, inside view that’s really once-in-a-lifetime. I’m proud of the organization for – good times and bad times – saying, ‘Come on in.’ We didn’t try to hide anything.”
PITTSBURGH, PA - JANUARY 01: Alex Ovechkin #8 of the Washington Capitals shoots against Marc-Andre Fleury #29 of the Pittsburgh Penguins during the 2011 NHL Bridgestone Winter Classic at Heinz Field on January 1, 2011 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)
After a series of dramatic dressing-room speeches, the Capitals snapped their losing streak in the second episode. They lost to the Penguins in the third episode, but it was a thrilling 3-2 shootout game. And that only set the stage for the finale.
The Capitals cruised last season. They were so good offensively that they didn’t have to bear down defensively. So when they got to the playoffs, when the going got tough, they didn’t know how to react.
“Last year, we had the wind at our back through the whole regular season and nothing bothered us,” Capitals forward Brooks Laich said. “This year, it’s been the opposite. The wind’s been in our face.”
The wind literally was in their face Saturday night, along with the rain. The ice was awful most of the game thanks to warm, wet weather that pushed the start time back by seven hours, from 1 p.m. ET to 8 p.m. The Capitals couldn’t rely on their skill. They had to play a simple game – a playoff-style game. This time they seemed prepared.
“We knew the fancy tic-tac-toe stuff wasn’t going to work,” Boudreau said. “So we knew we had to dump it in, and we had to win the game below the circles.”
Mental toughness? After the Penguins took a 1-0 lead – Evgeni Malkin racing down the right wing and scoring, pumping his fist and jumping into his teammates, making the Pittsburgh fans twirl their Terrible Towels – the Capitals responded with a gritty goal. Knuble jammed in the puck in front.
Defensive discipline? Ovechkin didn’t score – Eric Fehr netted the next two goals, not the superstar – but he bought into what the Capitals had been preaching: Get the puck deep. Take fewer risks. Play the system. Be smart.
“He wants to do better, and you watch later on in the game, he was doing whatever it took to win as a team,” Boudreau said. “I mean, long ago – and last summer – he said he didn’t care about numbers, what he cares about is winning. I truly believe that, and he’ll be just as happy if he gets 45 goals or 40 goals and he wins something in April, May and June as if he got 70 goals and had any individual award.”
In some ways, in this pseudo-Super Bowl atmosphere, it felt like an ending. The final HBO episode will air at 10 p.m. ET Wednesday, but the narrative was written Saturday night. The way things worked out, the Capitals are glad the cameras recorded everything.
“It was good for our season,” Knuble said. “It was good TV, too.”
Said Leonsis: “It isn’t a made-for-TV drama, but I guess it has a good arc, right? You’re lost, and then you’re found. And so I think the fourth episode will treat us better than the first episode did.”
But the Capitals understand this must be a beginning, the birth of a better team that will win a big game that – technically and emotionally – is worth more than two points in the standings. They don’t want this to be as close as they come to the Stanley Cup.
“We learned last year that points in the regular season don’t matter,” Leonsis said. “It’s what happens when you get to crunch time. There’s so much time left to go.”
Nicholas J. Cotsonika is a hockey writer for Yahoo! Sports.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl
January 2, 2011
PITTSBURGH, PA - JANUARY 01: Marc-Andre Fleury of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Semyon Varlamov of the Washington Capitals walk to the ice prior to the start of the 2011 NHL Bridgestone Winter Classic at Heinz Field on January 1, 2011 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)PITTSBURGH – Alex Ovechkin found owner Ted Leonsis in the dressing room late Saturday night. He gave him a hug. They smiled.
“Good for you, man,” Leonsis said.
Alex Ovechkin didn't score a goal, but he was all smiles as the Caps picked up the important win.
Ovechkin hadn’t recorded a point. He had registered a minus-1 rating. But the Washington Capitals had won 3-1. They had beaten Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Winter Classic, the NHL’s annual outdoor showcase, in front of 68,111 fans at Heinz Field and a U.S. national television audience. They had gone from losing eight straight to winning five of six, all while being tailed by TV cameras.
Technically, this victory meant only two points in the standings. Emotionally, it meant so much more. It was the culmination of a crazy month that the Capitals hope will help prepare them for playoff success.
“This is, like, as close to the Stanley Cup as we’ve gotten,” Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau said.
Rewind four weeks. HBO embedded cameras for its four-part all-access reality series “24/7 Penguins/Capitals: The Road to the NHL Winter Classic.”
It was unnerving enough. The teams felt naked – not just literally, because the cameras were catching the players changing in the dressing room, but figuratively, because the cameras were catching everything else, too.
“The first time, you felt like you were standing in front of a group and stripping down to your underwear,” Capitals forward Mike Knuble said. “They were filming strategy and the way we talk about the team. … You’re just not used to being exposed like that.”
And for the Capitals, the timing seemed terrible. While Crosby and the Pens were hot, Ovechkin and the Caps were cold.
The first episode seemed to confirm every criticism of the Caps, who won the Presidents’ Trophy last season as the NHL’s top regular-season team, only to lose in the first round of the playoffs. They had skill but lacked defensive discipline and mental toughness – the kind of character you need to win in the playoffs.
Boudreau dropped F-bomb after F-bomb. The Caps lost game after game.
“I’ve owned the team for 12 years, and there were things that I saw watching that I didn’t know about,” Leonsis said. “I didn’t experience a lot of those things. I think you’re seeing this unvarnished, inside view that’s really once-in-a-lifetime. I’m proud of the organization for – good times and bad times – saying, ‘Come on in.’ We didn’t try to hide anything.”
PITTSBURGH, PA - JANUARY 01: Alex Ovechkin #8 of the Washington Capitals shoots against Marc-Andre Fleury #29 of the Pittsburgh Penguins during the 2011 NHL Bridgestone Winter Classic at Heinz Field on January 1, 2011 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)After a series of dramatic dressing-room speeches, the Capitals snapped their losing streak in the second episode. They lost to the Penguins in the third episode, but it was a thrilling 3-2 shootout game. And that only set the stage for the finale.
The Capitals cruised last season. They were so good offensively that they didn’t have to bear down defensively. So when they got to the playoffs, when the going got tough, they didn’t know how to react.
“Last year, we had the wind at our back through the whole regular season and nothing bothered us,” Capitals forward Brooks Laich said. “This year, it’s been the opposite. The wind’s been in our face.”
The wind literally was in their face Saturday night, along with the rain. The ice was awful most of the game thanks to warm, wet weather that pushed the start time back by seven hours, from 1 p.m. ET to 8 p.m. The Capitals couldn’t rely on their skill. They had to play a simple game – a playoff-style game. This time they seemed prepared.
“We knew the fancy tic-tac-toe stuff wasn’t going to work,” Boudreau said. “So we knew we had to dump it in, and we had to win the game below the circles.”
Mental toughness? After the Penguins took a 1-0 lead – Evgeni Malkin racing down the right wing and scoring, pumping his fist and jumping into his teammates, making the Pittsburgh fans twirl their Terrible Towels – the Capitals responded with a gritty goal. Knuble jammed in the puck in front.
Defensive discipline? Ovechkin didn’t score – Eric Fehr netted the next two goals, not the superstar – but he bought into what the Capitals had been preaching: Get the puck deep. Take fewer risks. Play the system. Be smart.
“He wants to do better, and you watch later on in the game, he was doing whatever it took to win as a team,” Boudreau said. “I mean, long ago – and last summer – he said he didn’t care about numbers, what he cares about is winning. I truly believe that, and he’ll be just as happy if he gets 45 goals or 40 goals and he wins something in April, May and June as if he got 70 goals and had any individual award.”
In some ways, in this pseudo-Super Bowl atmosphere, it felt like an ending. The final HBO episode will air at 10 p.m. ET Wednesday, but the narrative was written Saturday night. The way things worked out, the Capitals are glad the cameras recorded everything.
“It was good for our season,” Knuble said. “It was good TV, too.”
Said Leonsis: “It isn’t a made-for-TV drama, but I guess it has a good arc, right? You’re lost, and then you’re found. And so I think the fourth episode will treat us better than the first episode did.”
But the Capitals understand this must be a beginning, the birth of a better team that will win a big game that – technically and emotionally – is worth more than two points in the standings. They don’t want this to be as close as they come to the Stanley Cup.
“We learned last year that points in the regular season don’t matter,” Leonsis said. “It’s what happens when you get to crunch time. There’s so much time left to go.”
Nicholas J. Cotsonika is a hockey writer for Yahoo! Sports.
A little rain won't derail Winter Classic
By Scott Burnside
http://espn.go.com/nhl/
January 2, 2011
NHL great and owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins Mario Lemieux (2nd from L), former Pittsburgh Steelers Hall-of-Famer Franco Harris, Bradley T. Tinstman and Pittsburgh Steelers great Jerome Bettis (R) drop the ceremonial first puck as captains Alex Ovechkin (L) of the Washington Capitals and Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins wait before the start of the NHL's Winter Classic hockey game at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania January 1, 2011. (Reuters)
PITTSBURGH -- As the rain teemed down in the third period of the NHL's fourth Winter Classic on Saturday night and the puck bounced around the rink plunked down in the middle of Heinz Field like a tennis ball on steroids, we were reminded that sometimes you have to choose between the spectacle and the game.
And if spectacle is OK, then the Winter Classic is once again a winner, even if the unusually heavy rain first pushed the start time back seven hours and then stripped the game of any flow or finesse.
"What a wonderful hockey experience," a beaming Washington GM George McPhee told ESPN.com after his Caps had vanquished the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-1.
"Coming down the tunnel [onto the field], it's a pretty amazing feeling," Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby added. "And playing hockey in front of that many people, it's something that probably none of us ever dreamed of doing. Would have been nice to be on the other side of things, but it's still a privilege to be part of that."
But if you believe the integrity of the game should never be compromised regardless of how many additional eyes were on this game and the league, then Saturday's waterlogged Washington victory is a debacle.
The conditions witnessed by an announced crowd of 68,111 so adversely affected the way the game was played, the Penguins will not even rate their players as they normally do after every game.
"It's hard to evaluate your guys, so we'll take the experience," Pittsburgh GM Ray Shero told ESPN.com. "It's great to be part of it."
But know this: In both locker rooms, not a discouraging word was heard about how this event unfolded, even in the Pittsburgh room, where they dropped two points to one of their biggest rivals.
The Penguins have played in two of the four Winter Classics, and there were parallels to the first one they took part in four years ago in Buffalo. That night in 2008, increasingly heavy snow prompted numerous interruptions of the third period for additional cleaning of the ice, and by the time Crosby scored in a shootout, you could barely see the puck.
Despite the disappointing outcome Saturday night, both on the scoreboard and in terms of the conditions, Shero remains a Winter Classic fan.
"As long as the safety of the players is not compromised, it could be rain, snow, sleet, doesn't matter, it's fantastic to be part of it," he said. "We're so fortunate to be part of two. It's a great event."
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said he was in constant contact with ice guru Dan Craig and the league's hockey operations department throughout the game and there were no complaints from either team. "I think we were fine, just fine," Bettman said.
The commissioner noted he has heard many complaints over the years about the ice conditions in indoor rinks, so people shouldn't be too critical of Saturday's conditions.
"This is reality hockey when you take it outdoors. It becomes a little unpredictable," Bettman said. "It may be, just like the game in Buffalo, the elements had an influence, and when you look back on this event, it will have its own legend, its own storyline because of what we saw tonight."
Surprisingly, none of the Penguins (at least publicly) had any issue with the game being played. Not one suggested the league should have delayed the game or done anything other than play.
"I definitely think the ice was playable. We could definitely play on it," Pittsburgh forward Mike Rupp said. "I don't think there should have been any more of a delay of any sort to wait for better time. I think that those guys did a heck of a job getting the ice ready and it was as good as it could be."
PITTSBURGH, PA - JANUARY 01: Water collects on the ice from the rain at the feet of goalie Marc-Andre Fleury #29 of the Pittsburgh Penguins during the 2011 NHL Bridgestone Winter Classic between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals at Heinz Field on January 1, 2011 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Washington won 3-1. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
In the end, the question the league has to ask is whether it was worth it. The players seemed to agree unequivocally that it is.
"I think so. Look at the stage we were on. It's good for hockey," Pittsburgh forward Max Talbot said. "You want to sell the game, you want to sell the market in the United States. I don't know the ratings, but I'm sure it was great, and I'm sure that the fans enjoyed the game, so, yes, it's worth it, and for us players, it's fun too."
So, now what?
A little drizzle sure isn't going to derail the Winter Classic machine, that much is certain. And with four of these under its belt, the league is entering an interesting phase in the event's evolution. The naturals have all been done -- the trips to Wrigley Field and Fenway Park, the Ovechkin-Crosby matchup. These games have provided a solid foundation moving forward, but now is when things get trickier. The league must balance introducing new blood into the mix while not endangering the foundation put in place by the first four efforts.
We've already seen the Penguins twice in four years. Guess what? We have no problem with that. If Crosby et al take part in the Classic every third or fourth year, there will be no shortage of rivals itching to get on the bill with them and the ratings will still be through the roof.
The Washington Capitals are expected to host a Winter Classic in the next two or three years, presumably at FedEx Field, and if they wanted to throw the Pens and Caps together for Sid and Ovi Outside, Part Deux, we would have no problem with that either.
"The answer is yes. I can't wait to do it," Caps owner Ted Leonsis told a small group of reporters in a jubilant Caps dressing room Saturday when asked about hosting the event. "But just watching and looking at the all the logistics involved, it's pretty daunting. Pittsburgh was fantastic, fantastic hosts. The highlight for me was two sections filled with Caps fans and Pens fans and they looked at each other and they started chanting, 'Flyers suck.' It's like they bonded around something."
As our colleague Pierre LeBrun reported Friday, Philadelphia is an early front-runner to host the 2012 Winter Classic at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. If that's the case, look for the New York Rangers, the only American-based Original Six franchise yet to take part in the Classic, to be the opposition. NBC has long loved that matchup and the two teams are great Atlantic Division rivals.
Yes, the Flyers were in the 2009 Winter Classic as visitors in Boston. So what? Along with the Flyers, Chicago, Detroit and Boston can all count on being regular participants in the Classic.
"I think there is an ongoing debate, which you're very familiar with, about how do you keep it special and then how do you really meet the fan demand, the city demand, the business partner demand for more of these games," NHL COO John Collins said this week. "How do you not go back to Chicago and Boston in the next 15 years? It seems like you'd want to be able to do that."
He's right.
Why not have the Blackhawks at Soldier Field?
The challenge for the NHL is in opening the door to other teams, other venues. It must remain a cruelly selective process, though. Many have suggested Minnesota would be a natural to host a Winter Classic. Not a chance. Not with the team defined only by its mediocrity. This isn't a knock on the good fans in Minnesota, but simply having a lot of snow shouldn't be a ticket to getting a Winter Classic.
We think Denver and the Avs remain an intriguing possibility. The Avs are a young and dynamic team. What about a game in Detroit at the University of Michigan's Big House featuring the Wings and the Avs in the next couple of years? Then, if the Avs continue to evolve and become a Cup contender, go to Denver for a Winter Classic.
There are other issues that must be resolved, including the Heritage Classic being jammed into this year's schedule in Calgary next month.
If you scrap it, there will be complaints from the six Canadian franchises who will say they are being frozen out of the NHL's signature regular-season event. To that we say, too bad. This is an event designed to capture the imagination of Americans; that mandate remains, regardless of any carping from north of the border.
Scott Burnside covers the NHL for ESPN.com.
http://espn.go.com/nhl/
January 2, 2011
NHL great and owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins Mario Lemieux (2nd from L), former Pittsburgh Steelers Hall-of-Famer Franco Harris, Bradley T. Tinstman and Pittsburgh Steelers great Jerome Bettis (R) drop the ceremonial first puck as captains Alex Ovechkin (L) of the Washington Capitals and Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins wait before the start of the NHL's Winter Classic hockey game at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania January 1, 2011. (Reuters)PITTSBURGH -- As the rain teemed down in the third period of the NHL's fourth Winter Classic on Saturday night and the puck bounced around the rink plunked down in the middle of Heinz Field like a tennis ball on steroids, we were reminded that sometimes you have to choose between the spectacle and the game.
And if spectacle is OK, then the Winter Classic is once again a winner, even if the unusually heavy rain first pushed the start time back seven hours and then stripped the game of any flow or finesse.
"What a wonderful hockey experience," a beaming Washington GM George McPhee told ESPN.com after his Caps had vanquished the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-1.
"Coming down the tunnel [onto the field], it's a pretty amazing feeling," Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby added. "And playing hockey in front of that many people, it's something that probably none of us ever dreamed of doing. Would have been nice to be on the other side of things, but it's still a privilege to be part of that."
But if you believe the integrity of the game should never be compromised regardless of how many additional eyes were on this game and the league, then Saturday's waterlogged Washington victory is a debacle.
The conditions witnessed by an announced crowd of 68,111 so adversely affected the way the game was played, the Penguins will not even rate their players as they normally do after every game.
"It's hard to evaluate your guys, so we'll take the experience," Pittsburgh GM Ray Shero told ESPN.com. "It's great to be part of it."
But know this: In both locker rooms, not a discouraging word was heard about how this event unfolded, even in the Pittsburgh room, where they dropped two points to one of their biggest rivals.
The Penguins have played in two of the four Winter Classics, and there were parallels to the first one they took part in four years ago in Buffalo. That night in 2008, increasingly heavy snow prompted numerous interruptions of the third period for additional cleaning of the ice, and by the time Crosby scored in a shootout, you could barely see the puck.
Despite the disappointing outcome Saturday night, both on the scoreboard and in terms of the conditions, Shero remains a Winter Classic fan.
"As long as the safety of the players is not compromised, it could be rain, snow, sleet, doesn't matter, it's fantastic to be part of it," he said. "We're so fortunate to be part of two. It's a great event."
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said he was in constant contact with ice guru Dan Craig and the league's hockey operations department throughout the game and there were no complaints from either team. "I think we were fine, just fine," Bettman said.
The commissioner noted he has heard many complaints over the years about the ice conditions in indoor rinks, so people shouldn't be too critical of Saturday's conditions.
"This is reality hockey when you take it outdoors. It becomes a little unpredictable," Bettman said. "It may be, just like the game in Buffalo, the elements had an influence, and when you look back on this event, it will have its own legend, its own storyline because of what we saw tonight."
Surprisingly, none of the Penguins (at least publicly) had any issue with the game being played. Not one suggested the league should have delayed the game or done anything other than play.
"I definitely think the ice was playable. We could definitely play on it," Pittsburgh forward Mike Rupp said. "I don't think there should have been any more of a delay of any sort to wait for better time. I think that those guys did a heck of a job getting the ice ready and it was as good as it could be."
PITTSBURGH, PA - JANUARY 01: Water collects on the ice from the rain at the feet of goalie Marc-Andre Fleury #29 of the Pittsburgh Penguins during the 2011 NHL Bridgestone Winter Classic between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals at Heinz Field on January 1, 2011 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Washington won 3-1. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)In the end, the question the league has to ask is whether it was worth it. The players seemed to agree unequivocally that it is.
"I think so. Look at the stage we were on. It's good for hockey," Pittsburgh forward Max Talbot said. "You want to sell the game, you want to sell the market in the United States. I don't know the ratings, but I'm sure it was great, and I'm sure that the fans enjoyed the game, so, yes, it's worth it, and for us players, it's fun too."
So, now what?
A little drizzle sure isn't going to derail the Winter Classic machine, that much is certain. And with four of these under its belt, the league is entering an interesting phase in the event's evolution. The naturals have all been done -- the trips to Wrigley Field and Fenway Park, the Ovechkin-Crosby matchup. These games have provided a solid foundation moving forward, but now is when things get trickier. The league must balance introducing new blood into the mix while not endangering the foundation put in place by the first four efforts.
We've already seen the Penguins twice in four years. Guess what? We have no problem with that. If Crosby et al take part in the Classic every third or fourth year, there will be no shortage of rivals itching to get on the bill with them and the ratings will still be through the roof.
The Washington Capitals are expected to host a Winter Classic in the next two or three years, presumably at FedEx Field, and if they wanted to throw the Pens and Caps together for Sid and Ovi Outside, Part Deux, we would have no problem with that either.
"The answer is yes. I can't wait to do it," Caps owner Ted Leonsis told a small group of reporters in a jubilant Caps dressing room Saturday when asked about hosting the event. "But just watching and looking at the all the logistics involved, it's pretty daunting. Pittsburgh was fantastic, fantastic hosts. The highlight for me was two sections filled with Caps fans and Pens fans and they looked at each other and they started chanting, 'Flyers suck.' It's like they bonded around something."
As our colleague Pierre LeBrun reported Friday, Philadelphia is an early front-runner to host the 2012 Winter Classic at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. If that's the case, look for the New York Rangers, the only American-based Original Six franchise yet to take part in the Classic, to be the opposition. NBC has long loved that matchup and the two teams are great Atlantic Division rivals.
Yes, the Flyers were in the 2009 Winter Classic as visitors in Boston. So what? Along with the Flyers, Chicago, Detroit and Boston can all count on being regular participants in the Classic.
"I think there is an ongoing debate, which you're very familiar with, about how do you keep it special and then how do you really meet the fan demand, the city demand, the business partner demand for more of these games," NHL COO John Collins said this week. "How do you not go back to Chicago and Boston in the next 15 years? It seems like you'd want to be able to do that."
He's right.
Why not have the Blackhawks at Soldier Field?
The challenge for the NHL is in opening the door to other teams, other venues. It must remain a cruelly selective process, though. Many have suggested Minnesota would be a natural to host a Winter Classic. Not a chance. Not with the team defined only by its mediocrity. This isn't a knock on the good fans in Minnesota, but simply having a lot of snow shouldn't be a ticket to getting a Winter Classic.
We think Denver and the Avs remain an intriguing possibility. The Avs are a young and dynamic team. What about a game in Detroit at the University of Michigan's Big House featuring the Wings and the Avs in the next couple of years? Then, if the Avs continue to evolve and become a Cup contender, go to Denver for a Winter Classic.
There are other issues that must be resolved, including the Heritage Classic being jammed into this year's schedule in Calgary next month.
If you scrap it, there will be complaints from the six Canadian franchises who will say they are being frozen out of the NHL's signature regular-season event. To that we say, too bad. This is an event designed to capture the imagination of Americans; that mandate remains, regardless of any carping from north of the border.
Scott Burnside covers the NHL for ESPN.com.
Winter Classic turned into a showcase on slush
By Tracee Hamilton
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, January 2, 2011; 12:11 AM
http://www.washingtonpost.com
PITTSBURGH, PA - JANUARY 01: A general view is seen as the Pittsburgh Penguins take on the Washington Capitals during the 2011 NHL Bridgestone Winter Classic at Heinz Field on January 1, 2011 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH - Like many a good party, the NHL's Winter Classic here Saturday night was marred a bit by the lack of one simple yet crucial ingredient: ice.
Both teams slogged through some Slushie-like conditions on the temporary rink at Heinz Field before the Capitals came away with a 3-1 victory over the Penguins.
Afterward, owner Ted Leonsis, wearing a bright red sweater and an ear-to-ear grin, was the only member of Washington's entourage who was happy with the ice. The result might have had something to do with that.
"It was the greatest [ice] I've ever experienced," Leonsis said.
Would he like to hold this event in Washington? "Let's go back out and play another one now!"
That's an attitude Gary Bettman will love. The commissioner said after the game that the league office closely monitored conditions. "This is reality hockey when you take it outdoors," he said. "It becomes a little unpredictable."
It's unfair to expect Bettman to be Mr. Freeze, but if the league is going to bill the Winter Classic as its Super Bowl, it's going to need to handle the event with care. The weather was not a deciding factor; no one was injured as a result of soft ice. But the league may have missed a chance to bring some non-hockey fans into the fold - and if you think that's not part of the purpose of this game, then think again.
Despite the switch in start times from day to night, the event itself was a lot of fun - 68,111 fans of both teams thought so - and it wasn't a boring game by any means. But it rained during the morning, the temperature was 59 degrees around 3 p.m. and had only fallen to 52 when the puck dropped. Then came the third period, half of which was played in a heavy rain that caused the puck to shoot up plumes of water as it slid across the ice. Still, players agreed that the ice hardened as the game went on.
"The first period was soft," defenseman Scott Hannan said. "The second and third were better. It's good to get that game finished."
"It got better as the game went on," defenseman John Carlson said. "The ice was bumpy, no potholes, no bad bounces."
Granted, it's unfair to complain about the weather for a hockey game after flooding in California, tornadoes in the Midwest and blizzards in the Northeast. But if you're going to stage an outdoor hockey game you'd better hold it somewhere with some guaranteed ice and snow, like Manhattan, or the Metrodome.
PITTSBURGH, PA - JANUARY 01: Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury #29 of the Pittsburgh Penguins looks on from the net in the rain during the 2011 NHL Bridgestone Winter Classic against the Washington Capitals at Heinz Field on January 1, 2011 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Washington won 3-1. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
The NHL did yeoman's work in producing a playable surface at all, but players sometimes seemed to be skating through water - as indeed they were. Alex Ovechkin had a slip and fall in the first period. On the Caps' first goal, in the second period, Mike Green took a shot on goal, fell in the crease and Mike Knuble just kept chipping away, literally, until the puck finally got by Marc-Andre Fleury.
"We were hoping they'd call it on account of rain in the third," Coach Bruce Boudreau said.
That was a definite possibility, and the NHL had detailed plans in place for such an occurrence. The Winter Classic may be a return to hockey's roots, but Saturday's game featured two of the most skilled teams in the NHL. No one wants to watch Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby slog around the ice like, well, farm kids on a frozen pond. They entered the game dead even in career points (571), and what started as playful jockeying has turned into a real rivalry in the Bird-Magic mold.
And it's not just the star players. Overall, as Keith Jackson would say, these two teams plain don't like each other. The Caps have played the Penguins more than any other team in the league, and the series stands at a taut 84-86-16-5. The Caps are 8-0-2 in their past 10 meetings and are 4-0-0 on New Year's Day against Pittsburgh.
It's the kind of rivalry the NHL needs to showcase on a holiday Saturday night on prime time television, and it's the kind of opportunity to grow its fan base that the NHL doesn't want to miss, or waste. Bettman said the prime time factor was not a consideration in moving the start time but admitted, "That's something we'll have to discuss with our network broadcast partners, obviously. . . . I can't tell you how good or bad this was. My guess is it was good until we ultimately see the ratings."
The idea of an outdoor game is a grand and noble one, and the league should stick with it. It honors the sport's traditions in a way that throwback jerseys and "The Hockey Song" just can't, despite a loss of intimacy with the fans seated far from the glass. It exposes non-hockey fans to the game, on a holiday, as an alternative to 12 hours of football.
But if the NHL hopes to keep the Classic from turning into a gimmick, it needs to make sure fans and potential fans alike see the sport at its very best.
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, January 2, 2011; 12:11 AM
http://www.washingtonpost.com
PITTSBURGH, PA - JANUARY 01: A general view is seen as the Pittsburgh Penguins take on the Washington Capitals during the 2011 NHL Bridgestone Winter Classic at Heinz Field on January 1, 2011 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)PITTSBURGH - Like many a good party, the NHL's Winter Classic here Saturday night was marred a bit by the lack of one simple yet crucial ingredient: ice.
Both teams slogged through some Slushie-like conditions on the temporary rink at Heinz Field before the Capitals came away with a 3-1 victory over the Penguins.
Afterward, owner Ted Leonsis, wearing a bright red sweater and an ear-to-ear grin, was the only member of Washington's entourage who was happy with the ice. The result might have had something to do with that.
"It was the greatest [ice] I've ever experienced," Leonsis said.
Would he like to hold this event in Washington? "Let's go back out and play another one now!"
That's an attitude Gary Bettman will love. The commissioner said after the game that the league office closely monitored conditions. "This is reality hockey when you take it outdoors," he said. "It becomes a little unpredictable."
It's unfair to expect Bettman to be Mr. Freeze, but if the league is going to bill the Winter Classic as its Super Bowl, it's going to need to handle the event with care. The weather was not a deciding factor; no one was injured as a result of soft ice. But the league may have missed a chance to bring some non-hockey fans into the fold - and if you think that's not part of the purpose of this game, then think again.
Despite the switch in start times from day to night, the event itself was a lot of fun - 68,111 fans of both teams thought so - and it wasn't a boring game by any means. But it rained during the morning, the temperature was 59 degrees around 3 p.m. and had only fallen to 52 when the puck dropped. Then came the third period, half of which was played in a heavy rain that caused the puck to shoot up plumes of water as it slid across the ice. Still, players agreed that the ice hardened as the game went on.
"The first period was soft," defenseman Scott Hannan said. "The second and third were better. It's good to get that game finished."
"It got better as the game went on," defenseman John Carlson said. "The ice was bumpy, no potholes, no bad bounces."
Granted, it's unfair to complain about the weather for a hockey game after flooding in California, tornadoes in the Midwest and blizzards in the Northeast. But if you're going to stage an outdoor hockey game you'd better hold it somewhere with some guaranteed ice and snow, like Manhattan, or the Metrodome.
PITTSBURGH, PA - JANUARY 01: Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury #29 of the Pittsburgh Penguins looks on from the net in the rain during the 2011 NHL Bridgestone Winter Classic against the Washington Capitals at Heinz Field on January 1, 2011 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Washington won 3-1. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)The NHL did yeoman's work in producing a playable surface at all, but players sometimes seemed to be skating through water - as indeed they were. Alex Ovechkin had a slip and fall in the first period. On the Caps' first goal, in the second period, Mike Green took a shot on goal, fell in the crease and Mike Knuble just kept chipping away, literally, until the puck finally got by Marc-Andre Fleury.
"We were hoping they'd call it on account of rain in the third," Coach Bruce Boudreau said.
That was a definite possibility, and the NHL had detailed plans in place for such an occurrence. The Winter Classic may be a return to hockey's roots, but Saturday's game featured two of the most skilled teams in the NHL. No one wants to watch Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby slog around the ice like, well, farm kids on a frozen pond. They entered the game dead even in career points (571), and what started as playful jockeying has turned into a real rivalry in the Bird-Magic mold.
And it's not just the star players. Overall, as Keith Jackson would say, these two teams plain don't like each other. The Caps have played the Penguins more than any other team in the league, and the series stands at a taut 84-86-16-5. The Caps are 8-0-2 in their past 10 meetings and are 4-0-0 on New Year's Day against Pittsburgh.
It's the kind of rivalry the NHL needs to showcase on a holiday Saturday night on prime time television, and it's the kind of opportunity to grow its fan base that the NHL doesn't want to miss, or waste. Bettman said the prime time factor was not a consideration in moving the start time but admitted, "That's something we'll have to discuss with our network broadcast partners, obviously. . . . I can't tell you how good or bad this was. My guess is it was good until we ultimately see the ratings."
The idea of an outdoor game is a grand and noble one, and the league should stick with it. It honors the sport's traditions in a way that throwback jerseys and "The Hockey Song" just can't, despite a loss of intimacy with the fans seated far from the glass. It exposes non-hockey fans to the game, on a holiday, as an alternative to 12 hours of football.
But if the NHL hopes to keep the Classic from turning into a gimmick, it needs to make sure fans and potential fans alike see the sport at its very best.
Saturday, January 01, 2011
In Classic Matchup, the Penguins’ Star Shines the Brightest
By JEFF Z. KLEIN
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com
December 31, 2010
The stars align at Heinz Field: Alex Ovechkin, left, will lead the Capitals against Sidney Crosby and the Penguins in a night game outdoors.(Jamie Squire/Getty Images, left; Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH — Each N.H.L. Winter Classic has had a theme. The first, amid the fat snowflakes of suburban Buffalo in 2008, was about playing outdoors to celebrate the origins of hockey. The next two were about playing at two iconic baseball stadiums, Chicago’s Wrigley Field and Boston’s Fenway Park.
This year’s game, to be played at Heinz Field on Saturday, between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals, is mainly about Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin.
The latest Crosby-Ovechkin showdown will occur under the stars after the N.H.L. announced Friday that the game’s start time would be moved to 8 p.m. from 1 p.m. because of a forecast for rain Saturday afternoon. The move to the evening adds a new dimension to the Classic, and to the personal rivalry between Crosby and Ovechkin, which fans have been getting an intimate look at through HBO’s “24/7” series.
But the Penguins’ Crosby said he did not see the outdoor game as being particularly meaningful when it came to the competition between the two stars and their teams.
“I think it’s like that every game we play, whether it’s this situation, a regular-season game in Washington or here,” Crosby said Friday. “That’s always going to be there. We both understand that. But we both want to win at the end of the day. We both bring the best out in each other, and that’s been the case for a number of years.”
The Eastern Conference-leading Penguins (25-11-3) have been on a tear over the last six weeks, winning 16 of 20 games as Crosby produced a 25-game point streak, the longest in the N.H.L. since 1992-93. The streak ended Wednesday in a 2-1 shootout loss to the Islanders at Nassau Coliseum.
Crosby leads the league with 32 goals and 65 points, and his defensive play has also excelled — his plus-20 differential is No. 2 in the league.
The Capitals (22-12-5) have been better lately, with four victories in their last five games. But before that they lost eight in a row, and HBO viewers were treated to Coach Bruce Boudreau’s profanity-ridden pleas to his team to stop seeming so depressed.
Ovechkin, meanwhile, has 14 goals in 39 games, putting him on track for his worst N.H.L. season. That figure includes goals in his last two games, but before that he had scored only twice in 19 games.
Given the contrast between their performances and those of their teams, it is hardly surprising that the Crosby that HBO viewers have seen is outgoing, polite and always with a ready smile. The Ovechkin they have seen has sometimes seemed quiet, even sullen.
Reporters know that Crosby is like that all the time, at least in public settings. But while Ovechkin can be monosyllabic and is sometimes grudging in giving interviews, he has never seemed quite as downcast as he has this season.
It is probably a simple matter of how badly things have gone for Ovechkin since the Vancouver Olympics last February. The Russians were eliminated in the quarterfinals by Canada, which went on to win the gold medal on Crosby’s overtime goal. Then the Capitals were eliminated by the Montreal Canadiens in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
That early exit at least enabled Ovechkin to join the Russian team playing at the I.I.H.F. World Championship tournament in Switzerland. But Russia lost in the final to the Czech Republic, a fitting capper to an annus horribilis for Ovechkin.
After the events of last season, the Capitals’ occasional struggles this season and the unflinching eye of the HBO series, Ovechkin’s aura seems diminished.
This week, for example, an ESPN poll of N.H.L. players asking which player they thought was better gave a unanimous result in favor of Crosby. A larger Sports Illustrated poll taken last season resulted in a 50-50 split.
Crosby got a vote of confidence from Mario Lemieux, the former Penguins great and current team owner in whose home Crosby lived until last summer. Lemieux had not spoken publicly in a formal setting since the 2009 playoffs, so his words carried extra weight.
“I think so,” said Lemieux, when asked if he thought Crosby dominates the game to the same level Lemieux once did. “It’s much tougher now to dominate, the way the league is set up. For him to go out there and do the things he does every night, every shift, is incredible.”
Lemieux, who had just come off the ice after recording two assists in the Penguins-Capitals alumni game, added: “His talent is unbelievable, his strength and his skating ability and his shooting ability has gotten better over the last couple years. His work ethic is the best in the world, and that’s why he is the best in the world.”
It is hard to argue with Lemieux, but he is probably inclined to back Crosby. In the larger scheme of things, it is hard to choose between Crosby and Ovechkin.
Crosby has one Hart Trophy as the league’s most valuable player; Ovechkin has two. But Crosby has a Stanley Cup title and an Olympic gold medal, and Ovechkin has neither.
In 20 head-to-head regular-season matchups, Crosby has 13 goals and 21 assists for 34 points to Ovechkin’s 17 goals and 13 assists for 30.
In their one playoff matchup, the memorable 2009 quarterfinal won by Pittsburgh in seven games, Crosby had 8 goals and 5 assists for 13 points to Ovechkin’s 8 goals and 6 assists for 14.
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com
December 31, 2010
The stars align at Heinz Field: Alex Ovechkin, left, will lead the Capitals against Sidney Crosby and the Penguins in a night game outdoors.(Jamie Squire/Getty Images, left; Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)PITTSBURGH — Each N.H.L. Winter Classic has had a theme. The first, amid the fat snowflakes of suburban Buffalo in 2008, was about playing outdoors to celebrate the origins of hockey. The next two were about playing at two iconic baseball stadiums, Chicago’s Wrigley Field and Boston’s Fenway Park.
This year’s game, to be played at Heinz Field on Saturday, between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals, is mainly about Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin.
The latest Crosby-Ovechkin showdown will occur under the stars after the N.H.L. announced Friday that the game’s start time would be moved to 8 p.m. from 1 p.m. because of a forecast for rain Saturday afternoon. The move to the evening adds a new dimension to the Classic, and to the personal rivalry between Crosby and Ovechkin, which fans have been getting an intimate look at through HBO’s “24/7” series.
But the Penguins’ Crosby said he did not see the outdoor game as being particularly meaningful when it came to the competition between the two stars and their teams.
“I think it’s like that every game we play, whether it’s this situation, a regular-season game in Washington or here,” Crosby said Friday. “That’s always going to be there. We both understand that. But we both want to win at the end of the day. We both bring the best out in each other, and that’s been the case for a number of years.”
The Eastern Conference-leading Penguins (25-11-3) have been on a tear over the last six weeks, winning 16 of 20 games as Crosby produced a 25-game point streak, the longest in the N.H.L. since 1992-93. The streak ended Wednesday in a 2-1 shootout loss to the Islanders at Nassau Coliseum.Crosby leads the league with 32 goals and 65 points, and his defensive play has also excelled — his plus-20 differential is No. 2 in the league.
The Capitals (22-12-5) have been better lately, with four victories in their last five games. But before that they lost eight in a row, and HBO viewers were treated to Coach Bruce Boudreau’s profanity-ridden pleas to his team to stop seeming so depressed.
Ovechkin, meanwhile, has 14 goals in 39 games, putting him on track for his worst N.H.L. season. That figure includes goals in his last two games, but before that he had scored only twice in 19 games.
Given the contrast between their performances and those of their teams, it is hardly surprising that the Crosby that HBO viewers have seen is outgoing, polite and always with a ready smile. The Ovechkin they have seen has sometimes seemed quiet, even sullen.
Reporters know that Crosby is like that all the time, at least in public settings. But while Ovechkin can be monosyllabic and is sometimes grudging in giving interviews, he has never seemed quite as downcast as he has this season.
It is probably a simple matter of how badly things have gone for Ovechkin since the Vancouver Olympics last February. The Russians were eliminated in the quarterfinals by Canada, which went on to win the gold medal on Crosby’s overtime goal. Then the Capitals were eliminated by the Montreal Canadiens in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
That early exit at least enabled Ovechkin to join the Russian team playing at the I.I.H.F. World Championship tournament in Switzerland. But Russia lost in the final to the Czech Republic, a fitting capper to an annus horribilis for Ovechkin.
After the events of last season, the Capitals’ occasional struggles this season and the unflinching eye of the HBO series, Ovechkin’s aura seems diminished.
This week, for example, an ESPN poll of N.H.L. players asking which player they thought was better gave a unanimous result in favor of Crosby. A larger Sports Illustrated poll taken last season resulted in a 50-50 split.
Crosby got a vote of confidence from Mario Lemieux, the former Penguins great and current team owner in whose home Crosby lived until last summer. Lemieux had not spoken publicly in a formal setting since the 2009 playoffs, so his words carried extra weight.“I think so,” said Lemieux, when asked if he thought Crosby dominates the game to the same level Lemieux once did. “It’s much tougher now to dominate, the way the league is set up. For him to go out there and do the things he does every night, every shift, is incredible.”
Lemieux, who had just come off the ice after recording two assists in the Penguins-Capitals alumni game, added: “His talent is unbelievable, his strength and his skating ability and his shooting ability has gotten better over the last couple years. His work ethic is the best in the world, and that’s why he is the best in the world.”
It is hard to argue with Lemieux, but he is probably inclined to back Crosby. In the larger scheme of things, it is hard to choose between Crosby and Ovechkin.
Crosby has one Hart Trophy as the league’s most valuable player; Ovechkin has two. But Crosby has a Stanley Cup title and an Olympic gold medal, and Ovechkin has neither.
In 20 head-to-head regular-season matchups, Crosby has 13 goals and 21 assists for 34 points to Ovechkin’s 17 goals and 13 assists for 30.
In their one playoff matchup, the memorable 2009 quarterfinal won by Pittsburgh in seven games, Crosby had 8 goals and 5 assists for 13 points to Ovechkin’s 8 goals and 6 assists for 14.
Capitals' Ovechkin not doing his part
Saturday, January 01, 2011
By Gene Collier, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/
Matt Freed/Post-Gazette
Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin makes use of his bubble gum Friday during a team photo at Heinz Field.
No one can pretend to know exactly when they'll finally drop the puck for tonight/tomorrow's Winter Classic, but, when they do, I'm fairly confident it will be on TV.
For this is, first and foremost, fivemost and sixmost, essentially a TV show, even if it is a show that currently seems doomed to chase the Buffalo Ideal that accompanied its birth four years ago.
Buffalo never looked so good as it did on NBC Jan. 1, 2008, with its Orchard Park wonderland playing snow globe to Penguins-Sabres in a stunningly picturesque three hours that turned hockey's wintry heritage into an Andrew Wyeth hologram.
Or something.
The Pittsburgh aesthetics, a paler shade of white, will have achieved reasonably success merely by preventing SlushFest 2011.
But, for all of NBC's support, and for all of HBO's consistent documentary excellence in the month-long ramp-up, this show can still be called The O.C.
That's Ovechkin vs. Crosby, which remains a raw and pure hockey topic at the dawn of 2011, as genuine today as when their head-to-head meetings and earnest NHL comparisons began in 2006.
In his white Capitals hoodie and red sweatpants, Alexander Ovechkin was found purchasing sportswear Friday at a merchandize table inside Heinz Field. He wanted four extra large somethings and three large something elses, and the Penscentric home audience Saturday surely hopes he wasn't ordering goals and assists for the weekend.
"A lot of the success he's had against us has been on the rush, coming down the wing, dancing on a defenseman and getting off that shot," Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said when asked to describe the coaching antidote to all that. "The best thing is for our tracking forwards to come back, to establish a gap and snuff that kind of situation before it forms. It's a tall order, and not something one guy can do or even a shutdown pair can do.
"On the power play, it's a whole other issue because we've seen him work behind the net and we've seen him out front in the one-time position."
The one thing the Penguins haven't seen so much from Ovechkin this winter is the same thing the rest of the league has witnessed with dramatically less frequency --Ovechkin with his arms pumping, celebrating a goal.
In 39 games, Ovechkin has sent the puck across a goal line just once in the first period, twice on the power play, four times on the road, 14 times in all, a flaccid fraction of the muscled Muscovite's typical thumping production.
No one has more NHL goals (283) than Ovechkin since the moment he pulled on a Capitals sweater, but that typical 54-goal season appears to have been swiped from his repertoire. He is projecting for this 2010-11 season at 29.
Frankly, as we reach the point where we can see the other side of this mountain of hype, the point where we only need a coroner to declare officially that we've talked the Winter Classic to death, I'm left wishing that Ovechkin were having a better year.
Yeah, it's great that the NHL's showcase event matches two of its top four or five or six teams, and it's great that the Penguins and Capitals continue to just utterly despise each other, but wouldn't it be tastier to many NHL palates if Sidney Crosby had 32 goals and Ovechkin had 31, or 33? If instead of trailing Sid, 65 points to 42, Ovechkin were the league's second-leading scorer instead of No. 8?
No. 8 at No. 8? That eighnt right.
"The reason is all about me," Ovechkin told a late afternoon news conference Friday. "I've had chances to score goals and I haven't, so now people will say, you know, 'he's no good anymore,' and then I'll have a 10-, 15-game scoring streak, and that will all go away again.
"I'm not worried about it."
That would be the official organ-I-zational position as well, underlined by the supportable position that Ovechkin has not gotten gobs of help this season (Nicklas Backstrom has 11 goals and Alexander Semin, despite a team-high 18, has just one in the past 12 games).
"I think his scoring touch will come when our power play starts to click the way it's supposed to," said Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau. "This time last year, we had about 25 power-play goals, and he must have had about 12 of those. Now, he has two. As that unit improves, his numbers will come right back up to what he's used to."
More urgently perhaps, the mere visage of the Penguins' logo generally brings us the best of Ovechkin, his plus-15 against Pittsburgh representing his best such figure against anyone.
So there's that, and the tidy fact that Crosby has spent the past month underlining the timely fact that he is the best player on the globe.
Thus, it's still quite delicious, this holiday collision.
It all happens tonight on the O.C.
Gene Collier: gcollier@post-gazette.com.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11001/1114831-61.stm#ixzz19nUFrLEE
By Gene Collier, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/
Matt Freed/Post-GazetteCapitals captain Alex Ovechkin makes use of his bubble gum Friday during a team photo at Heinz Field.
No one can pretend to know exactly when they'll finally drop the puck for tonight/tomorrow's Winter Classic, but, when they do, I'm fairly confident it will be on TV.
For this is, first and foremost, fivemost and sixmost, essentially a TV show, even if it is a show that currently seems doomed to chase the Buffalo Ideal that accompanied its birth four years ago.
Buffalo never looked so good as it did on NBC Jan. 1, 2008, with its Orchard Park wonderland playing snow globe to Penguins-Sabres in a stunningly picturesque three hours that turned hockey's wintry heritage into an Andrew Wyeth hologram.
Or something.
The Pittsburgh aesthetics, a paler shade of white, will have achieved reasonably success merely by preventing SlushFest 2011.
But, for all of NBC's support, and for all of HBO's consistent documentary excellence in the month-long ramp-up, this show can still be called The O.C.
That's Ovechkin vs. Crosby, which remains a raw and pure hockey topic at the dawn of 2011, as genuine today as when their head-to-head meetings and earnest NHL comparisons began in 2006.
In his white Capitals hoodie and red sweatpants, Alexander Ovechkin was found purchasing sportswear Friday at a merchandize table inside Heinz Field. He wanted four extra large somethings and three large something elses, and the Penscentric home audience Saturday surely hopes he wasn't ordering goals and assists for the weekend.
"A lot of the success he's had against us has been on the rush, coming down the wing, dancing on a defenseman and getting off that shot," Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said when asked to describe the coaching antidote to all that. "The best thing is for our tracking forwards to come back, to establish a gap and snuff that kind of situation before it forms. It's a tall order, and not something one guy can do or even a shutdown pair can do.
"On the power play, it's a whole other issue because we've seen him work behind the net and we've seen him out front in the one-time position."
The one thing the Penguins haven't seen so much from Ovechkin this winter is the same thing the rest of the league has witnessed with dramatically less frequency --Ovechkin with his arms pumping, celebrating a goal.
In 39 games, Ovechkin has sent the puck across a goal line just once in the first period, twice on the power play, four times on the road, 14 times in all, a flaccid fraction of the muscled Muscovite's typical thumping production.
No one has more NHL goals (283) than Ovechkin since the moment he pulled on a Capitals sweater, but that typical 54-goal season appears to have been swiped from his repertoire. He is projecting for this 2010-11 season at 29.
Frankly, as we reach the point where we can see the other side of this mountain of hype, the point where we only need a coroner to declare officially that we've talked the Winter Classic to death, I'm left wishing that Ovechkin were having a better year.
Yeah, it's great that the NHL's showcase event matches two of its top four or five or six teams, and it's great that the Penguins and Capitals continue to just utterly despise each other, but wouldn't it be tastier to many NHL palates if Sidney Crosby had 32 goals and Ovechkin had 31, or 33? If instead of trailing Sid, 65 points to 42, Ovechkin were the league's second-leading scorer instead of No. 8?
No. 8 at No. 8? That eighnt right.
"The reason is all about me," Ovechkin told a late afternoon news conference Friday. "I've had chances to score goals and I haven't, so now people will say, you know, 'he's no good anymore,' and then I'll have a 10-, 15-game scoring streak, and that will all go away again.
"I'm not worried about it."
That would be the official organ-I-zational position as well, underlined by the supportable position that Ovechkin has not gotten gobs of help this season (Nicklas Backstrom has 11 goals and Alexander Semin, despite a team-high 18, has just one in the past 12 games).
"I think his scoring touch will come when our power play starts to click the way it's supposed to," said Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau. "This time last year, we had about 25 power-play goals, and he must have had about 12 of those. Now, he has two. As that unit improves, his numbers will come right back up to what he's used to."
More urgently perhaps, the mere visage of the Penguins' logo generally brings us the best of Ovechkin, his plus-15 against Pittsburgh representing his best such figure against anyone.
So there's that, and the tidy fact that Crosby has spent the past month underlining the timely fact that he is the best player on the globe.
Thus, it's still quite delicious, this holiday collision.
It all happens tonight on the O.C.
Gene Collier: gcollier@post-gazette.com.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11001/1114831-61.stm#ixzz19nUFrLEE
Penguins already Winter Classic winners
By Kevin Gorman, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/
Saturday, January 1, 2011
A penguin ice sculpture frames downtown Pittsburgh, Friday, Dec. 31, 2010. (AP)
Before Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin skate onto the ice today at Heinz Field, one forecast is crystal clear.
The Winter Classic has been a smashing success for the City of Pittsburgh and, especially, the partnership between the Penguins and Steelers to turn it from the NHL's signature game into an outstanding event.
Only the magic touch of Mario Lemieux could have created an atmosphere where Pittsburghers spent the final week of the NFL regular season — Steelers-Browns with the AFC North title and No. 2 seed in the playoffs on the line, no less — captivated by hockey instead of football.
"It's exciting for the franchise, for the players and, of course, the fans supporting us throughout my career since I've been here," Lemieux said. "Anytime you can host a Winter Classic in your own city is very special."
No matter what happens today against the Washington Capitals, the Penguins already are winners for how they have handled the Winter Classic and HBO's "24/7" series by portraying Pittsburgh in such a positive light and bringing the region what Penguins CEO and president David Morehouse predicted would be a "dramatic economic impact."
"Huge winners," said Morehouse, a Beechview native. "Pittsburgh's just a great sports town, and Pittsburghers recognize hosting an event of this magnitude is a special thing.
"It's not something we often get to do ... so it's been embraced by Pittsburgh sports fans and it's been good for hockey in the region."
The only thing that could screw it up is the NHL.
The league did, of course, by capping ticket sales for the Penguins-Capitals alumni game at 10,000 when it could have sold out the 70,000-seat stadium for what was a pseudo-reunion of the 1991 and '92 Stanley Cup champions.
And, likely, Lemieux's last game in a Penguins uniform.
Not only that, but the league left those in attendance disappointed by not allowing the 5-5 tie to be settled by shootout. Instead of watching Lemieux and four other Hall of Famers shine in the spotlight one last time, the NHL insisted on sticking to its schedule, entertainment be damned.
PITTSBURGH, PA - DECEMBER 31: Pascal Dupuis #9 of the Pittsburgh Penguins wears a Pittsburgh Steelers helmet during practice for the 2011 NHL Winter Classic between the Penguins and the Washington Capitals on December 31, 2010 at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
"The biggest problem we've had is we haven't been able to let as many people who have wanted to participate in as possible," Morehouse said. "It's a good problem to have. We're disappointed we couldn't open the game up to more. I actually think we could have sold this out - there were 14,000 that showed up to see Wilkes-Barre (play Hershey on Thursday at Consol Energy Center) - so I think we could have easily had 60,000 here.
"Unfortunately, the magnitude of the event - it's like hosting a Super Bowl - to have an event the day before, the league didn't think they could change the stadium over in time for the Winter Classic. But we gave it a shot ..."
Shame on the NHL for not taking advantage of the fan interest, even if the alumni game was Lemieux's late-developing idea added to the Winter Classic weekend. The league owed it to Lemieux, who saved hockey here in the mid-1980s and again earlier this decade, to have his moment almost 10 years to the day he returned from retirement.
"The thing I like about Mario isn't just that he was a great hockey player, but that he stuck with Pittsburgh," said Paul Coffey, the Hall of Fame defenseman who played on the Pens' first Cup champions. "When they had financial problems here, he could have left and gotten $10 million or $15 million a year to play in Montreal. That, to me, is his defining moment."
Maybe as a player but, as an owner, this Winter Classic is only adding to Lemieux's legacy of being a powerful presence that moved mountains to keep the Penguins in Pittsburgh, help get a new arena (Consol Energy Center) and form a partnership with the Rooney family and Steelers to bring such a major sporting event to the city.
After crowning it the City of Champions with a Super Bowl and Stanley Cup in 2009, this winter showcase has proven this to be a two-team sports town. It's no longer the Steelers and everyone else. Today, the Penguins and Steelers don't just rub shoulders.
They stand side by side.
And that's classic.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/
Saturday, January 1, 2011
A penguin ice sculpture frames downtown Pittsburgh, Friday, Dec. 31, 2010. (AP)Before Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin skate onto the ice today at Heinz Field, one forecast is crystal clear.
The Winter Classic has been a smashing success for the City of Pittsburgh and, especially, the partnership between the Penguins and Steelers to turn it from the NHL's signature game into an outstanding event.
Only the magic touch of Mario Lemieux could have created an atmosphere where Pittsburghers spent the final week of the NFL regular season — Steelers-Browns with the AFC North title and No. 2 seed in the playoffs on the line, no less — captivated by hockey instead of football.
"It's exciting for the franchise, for the players and, of course, the fans supporting us throughout my career since I've been here," Lemieux said. "Anytime you can host a Winter Classic in your own city is very special."
No matter what happens today against the Washington Capitals, the Penguins already are winners for how they have handled the Winter Classic and HBO's "24/7" series by portraying Pittsburgh in such a positive light and bringing the region what Penguins CEO and president David Morehouse predicted would be a "dramatic economic impact."
"Huge winners," said Morehouse, a Beechview native. "Pittsburgh's just a great sports town, and Pittsburghers recognize hosting an event of this magnitude is a special thing.
"It's not something we often get to do ... so it's been embraced by Pittsburgh sports fans and it's been good for hockey in the region."
The only thing that could screw it up is the NHL.
The league did, of course, by capping ticket sales for the Penguins-Capitals alumni game at 10,000 when it could have sold out the 70,000-seat stadium for what was a pseudo-reunion of the 1991 and '92 Stanley Cup champions.
And, likely, Lemieux's last game in a Penguins uniform.
Not only that, but the league left those in attendance disappointed by not allowing the 5-5 tie to be settled by shootout. Instead of watching Lemieux and four other Hall of Famers shine in the spotlight one last time, the NHL insisted on sticking to its schedule, entertainment be damned.
PITTSBURGH, PA - DECEMBER 31: Pascal Dupuis #9 of the Pittsburgh Penguins wears a Pittsburgh Steelers helmet during practice for the 2011 NHL Winter Classic between the Penguins and the Washington Capitals on December 31, 2010 at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)"The biggest problem we've had is we haven't been able to let as many people who have wanted to participate in as possible," Morehouse said. "It's a good problem to have. We're disappointed we couldn't open the game up to more. I actually think we could have sold this out - there were 14,000 that showed up to see Wilkes-Barre (play Hershey on Thursday at Consol Energy Center) - so I think we could have easily had 60,000 here.
"Unfortunately, the magnitude of the event - it's like hosting a Super Bowl - to have an event the day before, the league didn't think they could change the stadium over in time for the Winter Classic. But we gave it a shot ..."
Shame on the NHL for not taking advantage of the fan interest, even if the alumni game was Lemieux's late-developing idea added to the Winter Classic weekend. The league owed it to Lemieux, who saved hockey here in the mid-1980s and again earlier this decade, to have his moment almost 10 years to the day he returned from retirement.
"The thing I like about Mario isn't just that he was a great hockey player, but that he stuck with Pittsburgh," said Paul Coffey, the Hall of Fame defenseman who played on the Pens' first Cup champions. "When they had financial problems here, he could have left and gotten $10 million or $15 million a year to play in Montreal. That, to me, is his defining moment."
Maybe as a player but, as an owner, this Winter Classic is only adding to Lemieux's legacy of being a powerful presence that moved mountains to keep the Penguins in Pittsburgh, help get a new arena (Consol Energy Center) and form a partnership with the Rooney family and Steelers to bring such a major sporting event to the city.
After crowning it the City of Champions with a Super Bowl and Stanley Cup in 2009, this winter showcase has proven this to be a two-team sports town. It's no longer the Steelers and everyone else. Today, the Penguins and Steelers don't just rub shoulders.
They stand side by side.
And that's classic.
Lemieux displays scoring touch in alumni game
By Josh Yohe, MCKEESPORT DAILY NEWS
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/
Saturday, January 1, 2011
PITTSBURGH, PA - DECEMBER 31: Mario Lemieux #66 of the Pittsburgh Penguins carries the puck against the Washington Capitals during the 2011 NHL Winter Classic Alumni Game on December 31, 2010 at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)
They could have played this game in the middle of Siberia, and plenty of Pittsburghers would have attended. When Mario Lemieux laces up the skates, it's a big deal.
Before there was a Winter Classic, there was Lemieux. The icon took the ice, perhaps for the final time, contributing two assists and looking typically dominant as the Penguins alumni team tied the Capitals, 5-5, at Heinz Field on Friday morning.
"Just to be out there with Mario," former teammates Phil Bourque said, "was a special thing."
As always, Lemieux was the final player to exit the locker room before the puck dropped. A soothing voice from the Penguins' past made the moment even more special. The voice of John Barbero -- the former Penguins' PA announcer who passed away last summer -- boomed over the Heinz Field speakers, introducing Lemieux.
Missing this game wasn't an option for those who were invited.
"Not too many guys passed up the opportunity to play knowing that Mario was playing," said Gary Roberts, who never played with Lemieux.
In typical fashion, Lemieux was the dominant player on the ice, effortlessly weaving around Washington players and dishing passes with precision. He didn't score a goal, though it was pretty evident he could have at any time. On this day, he was a facilitator.
"He should have shot a couple more times," said Eddie Johnson, who coached the alumni team almost 27 years after drafting Lemieux. "He was wide open and passed it over. But that's Mario. He was always happy with an assist."
Everyone was happy to see Lemieux on the ice.
"It was a lot of fun out there," Lemieux said.
The crowd roared every time the puck touched his blade, and along with putting on his customary show, Lemieux took care of some unfinished business.
He and Rob Brown played on the same line during the 1989-90 season. Brown finished with 49 goals that year.
Early in the first period, Lemieux swooped behind the net and set up Brown for the game's first tally.
"It took 23 years, but he finally got me my 50th," Brown said.
PITTSBURGH, PA - DECEMBER 31: Mario Lemieux, Kevin Stevens and Ron Francis watch from the bench during the 2011 NHL Winter Classic Alumni Game against the Washington Capitals on December 31, 2010 at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
All of the alumni players, even Lemieux, looked noticeably slower than during their playing days. But on certain occasions, especially late in the game, Lemieux showed flashes of his old form.
On a late power play, Lemieux danced around two Washington players before setting up Larry Murphy for a goal that was disallowed because Kevin Stevens essentially assaulted Washington goalie Don Beaupre in the crease.
The goal being disallowed was irrelevant.
Seeing Lemieux turn back the clock, if even for a moment, left his old teammates in awe.
"It was awesome to see the stuff he was doing," Bourque said. "You could see it on the power play. The hockey sense never goes away."
Neither does the magic.
It seemed as though Lemieux could still dominate, and still be the center of attention, regardless of his age. Even at 45 and maybe beyond, he was still a second ahead of the play. And, for one morning, the game -- and the city -- still revolved around him.
"A lot of great players play this game," said Paul Coffey, who played with Wayne Gretzky but admitted that Lemieux is the most talented player he ever teamed with. "But only a certain amount think the game as well as play it."
Certainly no athlete in Pittsburgh history can produce magical moments quite like Lemieux.
"It was great to see him out there again," Coffey said.
Lemieux lauds Crosby ... and Ovechkin
Penguins majority co-owner Mario Lemieux, also a Hockey Hall of Famer and the best player in franchise history, spoke at length Friday morning after the Winter Classic alumni game at Heinz Field. Highlights from his comments yesterday:
• On Sidney Crosby's 25-game scoring streak:
"It was just a matter of time. He's got the ability to do pretty much whatever he wants out there when he puts his mind to it. I'm not surprised that he's had the success he has this year."
"What he did this year with the 25 games with points, it's pretty hard to do in this day and age. It's not the same as it was 20 years ago -- you have good goalies, good defensemen that can skate, and defensive schemes are very good compared with 20 years ago.
"It's pretty impressive what he's been able to do. Just his work ethic is the best in the world, that's why he is the best in the world."
• On Crosby's big lead in the NHL scoring race:
"I think it's much tougher now to dominate the way the league is set up. For him to go out there and do the things he does every night, every shift, is incredible. His talent is unbelievable -- his strength, skating abilities, his shoot(ing) ability has gotten better the last couple years. What he's doing now is much more impressive than what I did years ago."
• On Crosby's approach:
"He thinks about hockey 24 hours a day, even in his sleep it seems like. His work ethic, preparing himself and doing the same thing every day, I don't think what the opposition does really bothers him. He goes on the ice, knows what he has to do and tries to do it every shift."
• On Crosby and Alex Ovechkin being compared to him and Wayne Gretzky:
"They have two different styles from Gretzky and myself. Of course, Ovechkin is very physical, and he's got a great shot. Sid is more about controlling the play and using his strength."
"I think these two, Ovechkin and Sid, do everything they can to promote the game. I think they're doing a great job."
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/
Saturday, January 1, 2011
PITTSBURGH, PA - DECEMBER 31: Mario Lemieux #66 of the Pittsburgh Penguins carries the puck against the Washington Capitals during the 2011 NHL Winter Classic Alumni Game on December 31, 2010 at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)They could have played this game in the middle of Siberia, and plenty of Pittsburghers would have attended. When Mario Lemieux laces up the skates, it's a big deal.
Before there was a Winter Classic, there was Lemieux. The icon took the ice, perhaps for the final time, contributing two assists and looking typically dominant as the Penguins alumni team tied the Capitals, 5-5, at Heinz Field on Friday morning.
"Just to be out there with Mario," former teammates Phil Bourque said, "was a special thing."
As always, Lemieux was the final player to exit the locker room before the puck dropped. A soothing voice from the Penguins' past made the moment even more special. The voice of John Barbero -- the former Penguins' PA announcer who passed away last summer -- boomed over the Heinz Field speakers, introducing Lemieux.
Missing this game wasn't an option for those who were invited.
"Not too many guys passed up the opportunity to play knowing that Mario was playing," said Gary Roberts, who never played with Lemieux.
In typical fashion, Lemieux was the dominant player on the ice, effortlessly weaving around Washington players and dishing passes with precision. He didn't score a goal, though it was pretty evident he could have at any time. On this day, he was a facilitator.
"He should have shot a couple more times," said Eddie Johnson, who coached the alumni team almost 27 years after drafting Lemieux. "He was wide open and passed it over. But that's Mario. He was always happy with an assist."
Everyone was happy to see Lemieux on the ice.
"It was a lot of fun out there," Lemieux said.
The crowd roared every time the puck touched his blade, and along with putting on his customary show, Lemieux took care of some unfinished business.
He and Rob Brown played on the same line during the 1989-90 season. Brown finished with 49 goals that year.
Early in the first period, Lemieux swooped behind the net and set up Brown for the game's first tally.
"It took 23 years, but he finally got me my 50th," Brown said.
PITTSBURGH, PA - DECEMBER 31: Mario Lemieux, Kevin Stevens and Ron Francis watch from the bench during the 2011 NHL Winter Classic Alumni Game against the Washington Capitals on December 31, 2010 at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)All of the alumni players, even Lemieux, looked noticeably slower than during their playing days. But on certain occasions, especially late in the game, Lemieux showed flashes of his old form.
On a late power play, Lemieux danced around two Washington players before setting up Larry Murphy for a goal that was disallowed because Kevin Stevens essentially assaulted Washington goalie Don Beaupre in the crease.
The goal being disallowed was irrelevant.
Seeing Lemieux turn back the clock, if even for a moment, left his old teammates in awe.
"It was awesome to see the stuff he was doing," Bourque said. "You could see it on the power play. The hockey sense never goes away."
Neither does the magic.
It seemed as though Lemieux could still dominate, and still be the center of attention, regardless of his age. Even at 45 and maybe beyond, he was still a second ahead of the play. And, for one morning, the game -- and the city -- still revolved around him.
"A lot of great players play this game," said Paul Coffey, who played with Wayne Gretzky but admitted that Lemieux is the most talented player he ever teamed with. "But only a certain amount think the game as well as play it."
Certainly no athlete in Pittsburgh history can produce magical moments quite like Lemieux.
"It was great to see him out there again," Coffey said.
Lemieux lauds Crosby ... and OvechkinPenguins majority co-owner Mario Lemieux, also a Hockey Hall of Famer and the best player in franchise history, spoke at length Friday morning after the Winter Classic alumni game at Heinz Field. Highlights from his comments yesterday:
• On Sidney Crosby's 25-game scoring streak:
"It was just a matter of time. He's got the ability to do pretty much whatever he wants out there when he puts his mind to it. I'm not surprised that he's had the success he has this year."
"What he did this year with the 25 games with points, it's pretty hard to do in this day and age. It's not the same as it was 20 years ago -- you have good goalies, good defensemen that can skate, and defensive schemes are very good compared with 20 years ago.
"It's pretty impressive what he's been able to do. Just his work ethic is the best in the world, that's why he is the best in the world."
• On Crosby's big lead in the NHL scoring race:
"I think it's much tougher now to dominate the way the league is set up. For him to go out there and do the things he does every night, every shift, is incredible. His talent is unbelievable -- his strength, skating abilities, his shoot(ing) ability has gotten better the last couple years. What he's doing now is much more impressive than what I did years ago."
• On Crosby's approach:
"He thinks about hockey 24 hours a day, even in his sleep it seems like. His work ethic, preparing himself and doing the same thing every day, I don't think what the opposition does really bothers him. He goes on the ice, knows what he has to do and tries to do it every shift."
• On Crosby and Alex Ovechkin being compared to him and Wayne Gretzky:
"They have two different styles from Gretzky and myself. Of course, Ovechkin is very physical, and he's got a great shot. Sid is more about controlling the play and using his strength."
"I think these two, Ovechkin and Sid, do everything they can to promote the game. I think they're doing a great job."
Friday, December 31, 2010
NHL Winter Classic puts hockey rivalry at center stage
Friday, December 31, 2010
By Dave Molinari, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/
Pam Panchak / Post-Gazette
Patti Koerbel from Gibsonia (with sign) and Dan Zadach from Jefferson Hills (full Pens garb) were among the fans who thronged Market Square for the Penguins rally Thursday ahead of the Winter Classic against the Washington Capitals on Saturday.
That first-round playoff meeting in 1992? The one in which the Penguins spotted Washington a 3-1 lead before running off three consecutive victories en route to their second Stanley Cup?
Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik doesn't know a thing about it.
Same with Round 1 in 1995, when the Penguins again rebounded from a 3-1 deficit to end the Capitals' season.
Likewise, the opening-round matchup in 1994, when Washington won its only playoff series against the Penguins in eight tries.
All are part of franchise history; all are news to Mr. Orpik.
"Besides the one I played in, I don't know any of the other ones, to be honest," he said.
Happily for him, that second-round series in 2009 -- when the Penguins lost Game 6 in overtime at home, then blew out Washington in Game 7 at the Verizon Center -- is one he isn't likely to forget anytime soon.
It took a rivalry that had existed, and been fairly heated, for years and elevated it into one of the most intense this side of cobra-mongoose.
And while neither team is a clear choice as the other's most despised rival, neither is far from it, either.
"They have to be right there, with Philadelphia," Penguins center Sidney Crosby said. "If not right there, a really close second. Personally, I would put those two teams right together."
Alex Ovechkin, Mr. Crosby's counterpart as Washington's captain and franchise cornerstone, sees the Penguins pretty much the same way.
"They're top two, I think," he said. "Philly, New York [Rangers] and Pittsburgh are our [rivals], especially for the fans."
The Penguins-Capitals rivalry is, in some ways, almost a subplot to the Crosby-Ovechkin story line that dominates conversations anytime these clubs collide. Guys like Kris Letang and Nicklas Backstrom, Evgeni Malkin and Mike Green, are top-shelf talents, but the spotlight rarely drifts from Mr. Crosby and Mr. Ovechkin.
"Ovie and Sid really heat up the rivalry," Washington forward Jason Chimera said. "Anytime those two guys get together, it's a good event."
Although Mr. Crosby is widely regarded as the finest player in the world at the moment, it hasn't always been that way. In fact, Mr. Ovechkin has won two league MVP awards, Mr. Crosby just one.
"They have maybe either the first- or second-best player in the league, depending on who you ask," Penguins winger Pascal Dupuis said. "And that makes for a good rivalry."
While Mr. Crosby and Mr. Ovechkin recognize, and perhaps even appreciate, each other's skills and intangibles, their relationship is every bit as prickly as would be expected from two ultra-intense competitors. On those occasions when they've been obliged to pose together for a photo, the smiles couldn't have looked more forced.
Predictably, their individual battle has been a major element in the buildup to the Winter Classic game between the Penguins and Capitals, set for 1:08 p.m. Saturday at Heinz Field. This will be the first time the teams have met outdoors, but that's nothing more than a footnote.
Fact is, the setting couldn't be any less significant. Put these teams on a miniature golf course or behind debate podiums or on a tennis court, and the competition likely would be as ferocious as it is on the ice.
They are "fun games against them," Mr. Backstrom said. "A lot of emotion."
Ah, the sweetness of undiluted hatred.
Capitals winger Mike Knuble knows a bit about the passion certain opponents coax out of a team. After all, he broke into the NHL with Detroit when the Red Wings' blood feud with Colorado was at its most fierce.
He also played in Philadelphia before joining the Capitals, and volunteered that "Philly-Pittsburgh was a real good rivalry, too."
Of course, it stands to reason that those two clubs would despise each other. Both entered the league in the 1967 expansion. They share a state. And a division.
None of that is true of the Penguins and Capitals. Doesn't seem to matter.
"I think Philly will always be No. 1," Mr. Orpik said. "But just from the time I've been here, I would say probably Washington and Detroit [are next in line]."
The Penguins occupy a similar niche when the Capitals rate their rivals.
"They probably rank pretty high," Mr. Backstrom said. "Probably, the biggest."
For more on the Penguins, read the Pens Plus blog with Dave Molinari and Shelly Anderson at www.post-gazette.com/plus. Dave Molinari: dmolinari@post-gazette.com.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10365/1114542-61.stm#ixzz19i02PO7d
By Dave Molinari, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/
Pam Panchak / Post-GazettePatti Koerbel from Gibsonia (with sign) and Dan Zadach from Jefferson Hills (full Pens garb) were among the fans who thronged Market Square for the Penguins rally Thursday ahead of the Winter Classic against the Washington Capitals on Saturday.
That first-round playoff meeting in 1992? The one in which the Penguins spotted Washington a 3-1 lead before running off three consecutive victories en route to their second Stanley Cup?
Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik doesn't know a thing about it.
Same with Round 1 in 1995, when the Penguins again rebounded from a 3-1 deficit to end the Capitals' season.
Likewise, the opening-round matchup in 1994, when Washington won its only playoff series against the Penguins in eight tries.
All are part of franchise history; all are news to Mr. Orpik.
"Besides the one I played in, I don't know any of the other ones, to be honest," he said.
Happily for him, that second-round series in 2009 -- when the Penguins lost Game 6 in overtime at home, then blew out Washington in Game 7 at the Verizon Center -- is one he isn't likely to forget anytime soon.
It took a rivalry that had existed, and been fairly heated, for years and elevated it into one of the most intense this side of cobra-mongoose.
And while neither team is a clear choice as the other's most despised rival, neither is far from it, either.
"They have to be right there, with Philadelphia," Penguins center Sidney Crosby said. "If not right there, a really close second. Personally, I would put those two teams right together."
Alex Ovechkin, Mr. Crosby's counterpart as Washington's captain and franchise cornerstone, sees the Penguins pretty much the same way.
"They're top two, I think," he said. "Philly, New York [Rangers] and Pittsburgh are our [rivals], especially for the fans."
The Penguins-Capitals rivalry is, in some ways, almost a subplot to the Crosby-Ovechkin story line that dominates conversations anytime these clubs collide. Guys like Kris Letang and Nicklas Backstrom, Evgeni Malkin and Mike Green, are top-shelf talents, but the spotlight rarely drifts from Mr. Crosby and Mr. Ovechkin.
"Ovie and Sid really heat up the rivalry," Washington forward Jason Chimera said. "Anytime those two guys get together, it's a good event."
Although Mr. Crosby is widely regarded as the finest player in the world at the moment, it hasn't always been that way. In fact, Mr. Ovechkin has won two league MVP awards, Mr. Crosby just one.
"They have maybe either the first- or second-best player in the league, depending on who you ask," Penguins winger Pascal Dupuis said. "And that makes for a good rivalry."
While Mr. Crosby and Mr. Ovechkin recognize, and perhaps even appreciate, each other's skills and intangibles, their relationship is every bit as prickly as would be expected from two ultra-intense competitors. On those occasions when they've been obliged to pose together for a photo, the smiles couldn't have looked more forced.
Predictably, their individual battle has been a major element in the buildup to the Winter Classic game between the Penguins and Capitals, set for 1:08 p.m. Saturday at Heinz Field. This will be the first time the teams have met outdoors, but that's nothing more than a footnote.
Fact is, the setting couldn't be any less significant. Put these teams on a miniature golf course or behind debate podiums or on a tennis court, and the competition likely would be as ferocious as it is on the ice.
They are "fun games against them," Mr. Backstrom said. "A lot of emotion."
Ah, the sweetness of undiluted hatred.
Capitals winger Mike Knuble knows a bit about the passion certain opponents coax out of a team. After all, he broke into the NHL with Detroit when the Red Wings' blood feud with Colorado was at its most fierce.
He also played in Philadelphia before joining the Capitals, and volunteered that "Philly-Pittsburgh was a real good rivalry, too."
Of course, it stands to reason that those two clubs would despise each other. Both entered the league in the 1967 expansion. They share a state. And a division.
None of that is true of the Penguins and Capitals. Doesn't seem to matter.
"I think Philly will always be No. 1," Mr. Orpik said. "But just from the time I've been here, I would say probably Washington and Detroit [are next in line]."
The Penguins occupy a similar niche when the Capitals rate their rivals.
"They probably rank pretty high," Mr. Backstrom said. "Probably, the biggest."
For more on the Penguins, read the Pens Plus blog with Dave Molinari and Shelly Anderson at www.post-gazette.com/plus. Dave Molinari: dmolinari@post-gazette.com.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10365/1114542-61.stm#ixzz19i02PO7d
Monday, December 27, 2010
Puck Daddy chats with Penguins' Evgeni Malkin about Ovechkin hit, HBO '24/7', the Winter Classic and the holidays
By Dmitry Chesnokov
http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/
Fri Dec 24 12:02pm EST
Evgeni Malkin is playing his best hockey of the season for the Pittsburgh Penguins, with 10 points in his last five games. He had an assist and nearly scored on a penalty shot last night against the Washington Capitals.
That's on the ice. Off the ice, fans are seeing a different side of Geno via HBO's "24/7" series, including how his teammates interact with him (like Pascal Dupuis' profane greeting to him in the first episode).
I spoke with Geno Thursday night about the HBO series, the rivalry with the Capitals, his health, the Winter Classic, the holidays and Sidney Crosby's season.
Q. There is always a lot of hype surrounding games between the Washington Capitals and the Pittsburgh Penguins. But I can't remember one game between the teams that actually disappointed.
Yes, you're right. Our games are always interesting and this one wasn't an exception. I am sure fans loved this one. It was very intense. Although there were a lot of penalties; the Capitals had a couple of 5-on-3 chances, but we had a lot of opportunities at even strength. Both goaltenders played really well and didn't disappoint. The overtime, the shootout - fans must have loved this game!
In the very beginning of the game Alex Ovechkin put a hit on you. Just like good old times when you were feuding.
[Smiling] I was lucky that it was only my shoulder. I couldn't see Alex coming because I was battling against another player, trying to get away from him. I was just coming from around the net and Alex came down hard on me. Once again, lucky for me it was just my shoulder.
Did you feel it was just a game moment? A lot of people, I am sure, will start saying that there must be some bad blood between you two again.
Yes, I think so. I think Alex tried to fire up the crowd. And the crowd got really lively right away. Maybe they were a bit sleepy before the hit. I think I should have expected something like that. Maybe I just forgot the kind of a "machine" he is and that his hits are an every shift occurrence.
I think both teams realized after that that it was time to score some goals after that. We, the Penguins, came here to win. So it was a wake-up call for us too that it was time to go ahead. It's great that it happened in the beginning of the game. And it's great, I think, that we were able to score first.
How have you been feeling lately? Have you fully recovered from your injury? The last few games showed you're back to what you do best.
Of course I feel better. I also feel a lot more confident skating now that my knee hasn't let me down. That injury came at a bad time. But I had some days off, there will be a couple of days off now ahead of us, which is good for me. I can't say that I feel 100 percent healthy, but I am at about 90percent now, which makes me really happy. I am very happy about my game tonight: I felt a lot more confident playing around the boards, some close battles. Of course, there is always something to work on. But I am quite happy now.
There have been some experiments with you playing center, then on the wing. What position are you more comfortable in?
Of course I am more comfortable as a center. And tonight we were shorthanded a lot, which gave a lot of playing time at center. I don't kill penalties, I just sit on the bench. And then Sid, who also doesn't kill penalties, and I come out together because Dupuis, who plays on the wing with Sid, gets tired after playing shorthanded, and I play on the wing.
You always say that you love playing with Sid on the same line. How easy is it to play with him?
Of course it's easy. We understand each other like no other. He can keep the puck so well, we pass to each other knowing where we are. Tonight we spent a lot of time on the power play in the Capitals' zone, because we ‘feel' each other, we open up and know how to keep the puck in certain moments. Max Talbot and [Matt] Cooke try to play a little simpler, but Sid is a lot more confident as a player. He can always give a great pass. Of course it's so easy to play with him.
The most common criticism about your play at center is that you can be a liability on face-offs.
Of course I heard, it was the case. But I work a lot on my face offs at practice and now I win a lot of them. We played against Phoenix not long ago and we even scored off of a face off. I work on it a lot. I think my stats are now a lot better than what they were last year. Sometimes, when it doesn't come out right, I switch places with Talbot who takes face offs. Unfortunately, [faceoffs] don't always come out right.
Sid and I work together at practices, we all learn a lot from him. You look at the way he works on his weaknesses, and everyone tries just as hard to work on theirs. I wouldn't say that I got 50 percent better at it than before, but maybe 10 percent or so. I will just keep working, keep improving. Sid helps a lot by giving me advice. It's always good because look at how difficult it is to play against him."
With HBO now around there was a lot of attention to this game against the Capitals.
Yes, I don't even understand it. Because it's just another regular season game and there is so much hype surrounding it. But it was great at the same time with a sold out arena and a play-off-like atmosphere. Everyone was wearing their red jerseys here. People are now very serious about supporting the Capitals. And it's a great thing.
Did you watch the first two episodes of HBO's Road to the Winter Classic?
I watched the first one, but I didn't have time to watch the second episode.
Great. Now tell me about something everyone wants to know. What was that Dupuis' 'F--k you, Geno' all about when he said ‘Hi, guys' to everyone else?
[Laughing] I don't know. Maybe I looked at him the wrong way before. Maybe something happened earlier...
I think you were peacefully eating or something...
I think I was changing. Or maybe I was eating. I just don't know why he said it. Maybe he just acted for the cameras? [smiling] I don't know.
Why didn't you say anything in reply?
I did! But for some reason it wasn't shown. In English. Those kind of words can be said in English.
New Year's Day, the biggest holiday in Russia, is just around the corner and it's Christmas Day tomorrow. Do you have a holiday story you could share with our readers?
To be honest, I don't have any holiday stories. All my holiday stories are World Junior Championships and such. They always take place around this time of the year. I spent some of those years playing in tournaments in Canada, USA. Unfortunately, I don't have anything to share. I am really looking forward to this year, though. This is the first time in a few years that I will spend the holidays at home with my friends who will come over. We'll sit down together and celebrate.
Can't celebrate too hard though because you have a game on the 1st of January.
Yeah, but I also heard that there's rain in the forecast. And I heard that if there's rain the game will be postponed [smiling]. And if it does rain and the game will indeed be postponed, then there will be a chance to really celebrate [the New Year's].
http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/
Fri Dec 24 12:02pm EST
Evgeni Malkin is playing his best hockey of the season for the Pittsburgh Penguins, with 10 points in his last five games. He had an assist and nearly scored on a penalty shot last night against the Washington Capitals.
That's on the ice. Off the ice, fans are seeing a different side of Geno via HBO's "24/7" series, including how his teammates interact with him (like Pascal Dupuis' profane greeting to him in the first episode).
I spoke with Geno Thursday night about the HBO series, the rivalry with the Capitals, his health, the Winter Classic, the holidays and Sidney Crosby's season.
Q. There is always a lot of hype surrounding games between the Washington Capitals and the Pittsburgh Penguins. But I can't remember one game between the teams that actually disappointed.
Yes, you're right. Our games are always interesting and this one wasn't an exception. I am sure fans loved this one. It was very intense. Although there were a lot of penalties; the Capitals had a couple of 5-on-3 chances, but we had a lot of opportunities at even strength. Both goaltenders played really well and didn't disappoint. The overtime, the shootout - fans must have loved this game!
In the very beginning of the game Alex Ovechkin put a hit on you. Just like good old times when you were feuding.
[Smiling] I was lucky that it was only my shoulder. I couldn't see Alex coming because I was battling against another player, trying to get away from him. I was just coming from around the net and Alex came down hard on me. Once again, lucky for me it was just my shoulder.
Did you feel it was just a game moment? A lot of people, I am sure, will start saying that there must be some bad blood between you two again.
Yes, I think so. I think Alex tried to fire up the crowd. And the crowd got really lively right away. Maybe they were a bit sleepy before the hit. I think I should have expected something like that. Maybe I just forgot the kind of a "machine" he is and that his hits are an every shift occurrence.
I think both teams realized after that that it was time to score some goals after that. We, the Penguins, came here to win. So it was a wake-up call for us too that it was time to go ahead. It's great that it happened in the beginning of the game. And it's great, I think, that we were able to score first.
How have you been feeling lately? Have you fully recovered from your injury? The last few games showed you're back to what you do best.
Of course I feel better. I also feel a lot more confident skating now that my knee hasn't let me down. That injury came at a bad time. But I had some days off, there will be a couple of days off now ahead of us, which is good for me. I can't say that I feel 100 percent healthy, but I am at about 90percent now, which makes me really happy. I am very happy about my game tonight: I felt a lot more confident playing around the boards, some close battles. Of course, there is always something to work on. But I am quite happy now.
There have been some experiments with you playing center, then on the wing. What position are you more comfortable in?
Of course I am more comfortable as a center. And tonight we were shorthanded a lot, which gave a lot of playing time at center. I don't kill penalties, I just sit on the bench. And then Sid, who also doesn't kill penalties, and I come out together because Dupuis, who plays on the wing with Sid, gets tired after playing shorthanded, and I play on the wing.
You always say that you love playing with Sid on the same line. How easy is it to play with him?
Of course it's easy. We understand each other like no other. He can keep the puck so well, we pass to each other knowing where we are. Tonight we spent a lot of time on the power play in the Capitals' zone, because we ‘feel' each other, we open up and know how to keep the puck in certain moments. Max Talbot and [Matt] Cooke try to play a little simpler, but Sid is a lot more confident as a player. He can always give a great pass. Of course it's so easy to play with him.
The most common criticism about your play at center is that you can be a liability on face-offs.
Of course I heard, it was the case. But I work a lot on my face offs at practice and now I win a lot of them. We played against Phoenix not long ago and we even scored off of a face off. I work on it a lot. I think my stats are now a lot better than what they were last year. Sometimes, when it doesn't come out right, I switch places with Talbot who takes face offs. Unfortunately, [faceoffs] don't always come out right.
Sid and I work together at practices, we all learn a lot from him. You look at the way he works on his weaknesses, and everyone tries just as hard to work on theirs. I wouldn't say that I got 50 percent better at it than before, but maybe 10 percent or so. I will just keep working, keep improving. Sid helps a lot by giving me advice. It's always good because look at how difficult it is to play against him."
With HBO now around there was a lot of attention to this game against the Capitals.Yes, I don't even understand it. Because it's just another regular season game and there is so much hype surrounding it. But it was great at the same time with a sold out arena and a play-off-like atmosphere. Everyone was wearing their red jerseys here. People are now very serious about supporting the Capitals. And it's a great thing.
Did you watch the first two episodes of HBO's Road to the Winter Classic?
I watched the first one, but I didn't have time to watch the second episode.
Great. Now tell me about something everyone wants to know. What was that Dupuis' 'F--k you, Geno' all about when he said ‘Hi, guys' to everyone else?
[Laughing] I don't know. Maybe I looked at him the wrong way before. Maybe something happened earlier...
I think you were peacefully eating or something...
I think I was changing. Or maybe I was eating. I just don't know why he said it. Maybe he just acted for the cameras? [smiling] I don't know.
Why didn't you say anything in reply?
I did! But for some reason it wasn't shown. In English. Those kind of words can be said in English.
New Year's Day, the biggest holiday in Russia, is just around the corner and it's Christmas Day tomorrow. Do you have a holiday story you could share with our readers?
To be honest, I don't have any holiday stories. All my holiday stories are World Junior Championships and such. They always take place around this time of the year. I spent some of those years playing in tournaments in Canada, USA. Unfortunately, I don't have anything to share. I am really looking forward to this year, though. This is the first time in a few years that I will spend the holidays at home with my friends who will come over. We'll sit down together and celebrate.
Can't celebrate too hard though because you have a game on the 1st of January.
Yeah, but I also heard that there's rain in the forecast. And I heard that if there's rain the game will be postponed [smiling]. And if it does rain and the game will indeed be postponed, then there will be a chance to really celebrate [the New Year's].
Friday, December 24, 2010
Pens' win over Caps builds anticipation
By Scott Burnside
Cross Checks Blog
http://espn.go.com/nhl/
December, 23, 2010 Dec 2311:16PM ET
Cross Checks Blog
http://espn.go.com/nhl/
December, 23, 2010 Dec 2311:16PM ET
Pittsburgh Penguins' Pascal Dupuis (9) scores the winning goal against Washington Capitals goalie Michal Neuvirth during a shootout of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Dec. 23, 2010, in Washington. The Penguins won 3-2 in a shootout. (AP)
We get that folks not connected to either the Pittsburgh Penguins or the Washington Capitals often grow tired of the bright light that shines on both these teams.
But for anyone who caught even five minutes of Thursday's terrific tilt between the Pens and Caps, the first of four meetings between the two post-lockout rivals and a nice lead-in to the Winter Classic (set for Jan. 1 in Pittsburgh), well, now you know why it is so.
Pascal Dupuis scored in the seventh round of the shootout to give the Penguins a 3-2 victory, but, and pardon the cliche here, it truly was hard to find any losers after this one.
Here are five things plus a bonus one that make us salivate a little at the prospect of next week's match at Heinz Field.
The Captains
Part 1
Sidney Crosby scored the game's opening goal, his league-leading 29th, and no, it's not too much of a stretch to ask out loud: 50 in 50? Crosby added an assist on the Pens' second goal, 17 seconds into the third period, with a great one-handed effort that led to Chris Kunitz's goal. Crosby, who now has points in 23 straight games, led all Penguin forwards with 24:54 in ice time. Only Nicklas Backstrom of the Caps had more among forwards (25:11).
Part 2
Alex Ovechkin was once again without a goal, his eighth straight outing without tickling the twine, but make no mistake, Ovechkin was a presence in this game. He leveled countryman Evgeni Malkin early and had five total shots on goal. He continues to get looks but seems to be simply on the wrong side of the luck coin right now. To whit, seven minutes into the third period with the Caps trailing by one, Ovechkin stepped into the clear, but just as he was about to make a move on Pittsburgh netminder Marc-Andre Fleury, the puck was dislodged from his stick by defenseman Brooks Orpik. Ovechkin did score in the shootout, but there is no question he needs to marry his effort with his customary production if the Caps are going to truly pull out of their recent funk.
The Mike Green Show
Yes, the Pens won for the 15th time in 17 games Thursday, but there wasn't a better skater on the ice on this night than the oft-criticized Washington defenseman. With Tom Poti sidelined after taking a high stick early in the first period, Green saw his ice time jump to a season-high 34:03. He scored for the first time in 15 games when he blasted a shot home at the end of a long 5-on-3 to tie the score at 1. He had not scored since Nov. 14. The two-time Norris Trophy nominee also looked to have scored in overtime, making a dandy move around Fleury, who somehow got his trapper on the puck before it crossed the line. Or at least Fleury managed to cover the puck so no one really knew whether it went over the line, but it's been that kind of season for Green. Still, on this night, Green had six shots on goal to lead the Caps and provided reason for optimism that maybe the worst is behind the smooth-skating defender.
WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 23: Mike Green #52 of the Washington Capitals battles for the puck against Evgeni Malkin #71 of the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Verizon Center on December 23, 2010 in Washington DC. (Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images)
Flower Power
Gee, it seems like a long time ago that Marc-Andre Fleury stunk, doesn't it? With Thursday's win, Fleury now has victories in 14 of his past 15 games. Not sure whether there's one stop that sticks out, but that's likely because there were so many of them. The Caps outshot the Pens 25-12 through the first two periods, and Fleury was solid in denying all the Caps' big guns, especially when the teams were playing at even strength. And this coming off a surprise appearance in Wednesday's 5-2 win over Florida in Pittsburgh when backup Brent Johnson was injured. Fleury's play Thursday reminded us of his play in Game 7 of the playoffs two seasons ago, when he stoned Ovechkin early on and the Pens went on to rout the Caps en route to a Stanley Cup championship.
The Other Guy
Speaking of goaltenders, Thursday was a bit of a litmus test for young Michal Neuvirth, the Caps' rookie netminder, who started the season on fire, went cold and now has reasserted himself as the No. 1 netminder in the nation's capital. After the Penguins took a 2-1 lead early in the third, Neuvirth was solid in holding the fort through a series of minor penalties by his teammates. The Pens outshot the Caps 11-5 in the final frame, and Neuvirth turned away the final 10 shots he faced in regulation along with four more in overtime and five of seven shootout attempts. He also denied Malkin on a penalty shot early in the second period. There was lots of buzz about the Caps being interested in Evgeni Nabokov now that the longtime San Jose netminder is a free agent, but Neuvirth's play of late should help calm the fretful waters for at least the time being.
The Weird and the Wacky
Kudos to the Caps' fans for creating a playoff-like atmosphere at Verizon Center, and credit both teams for providing lots of interesting moments to send us into the Christmas break.
Like Matt Cooke somehow managing to be whistled for a delay of game penalty for shooting the puck over the glass at the opposite end of the rink while killing a penalty. The miscue -- we defy anyone else to make that shot on purpose -- gave the Caps an extended 5-on-3 that led to their first goal of the game.
Then there was veteran forward Mike Knuble, so vocal during the second installment of HBO's "24/7" television series on the two teams, chugging down the ice while killing a penalty in the third period and somehow getting in the clear and then, in spite of being hooked by Alex Goligoski, tucking the puck between Fleury's pads for the tying goal. There is talking the talk, and then there is walking the walk.
All in all, this game was all about the walk regardless of the talk.
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