Winter Classic in review

Where do we go from here? The Winter Classic was an unqualified success. The City of Chicago, despite the political issues in the state, looked great. That alone was quite a feat for winter around here. And the game was great, except for the win by Detroit.

I would have liked to see the venue, which will be used through the weekend by neighbors, used for a college or junior event. I think it is too much to wish the AHL were able to use the venue too this weekend. A match in Wrigley between the Chicago Wolves and the Chicago Blackhawks affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs, with the IceHogs the home team in Wrigley, would be amazing and give a boost to the minor league teams in this area.

The University of Notre Dame or one of the great schools in Michigan that produce great hockey players could have used the venue this weekend. The Chicago Steel, our junior team based in Bensenville. The list goes on.

The Chicago Blackhawks, under Bill Wirtz, almost killed hockey in this town. Less than 15 months after Bill Wirtz's death and the vitality of the franchise and the sport are renewed. This is an exciting hockey town again, with a Calder Cup champion playing in Rosemont and an NHL team finally in the hunt.

And that hunt made the game itself interesting. This wasn't a throw-away match. The two points were important to the Chicago Blackhawks.

I also loved the detail that the game was part of a home and home series. What is clear, however, is that the players need to be here for several days before the game is played. The media needs the players for stories. As a blogger, we had to work around that. We assumed we wouldn't have access and worked to find stories that were not in control of the NHL and the Blackhawks.

The venue itself only sat 41,000 or so people. Was that a bad thing? The fans were close to the action. They were letting go with the roar that once rocked the Chicago Stadium. The only thing missing was a light snow, make a note to mother nature that she gets an A- due to no snow falling.

The size of the venue isn't important if the story, the romance, is there. Jane would say I'm talking about the cheese. And cheese sells.

For Chicago, and for this region, this was a great moment. Although I sat at home watching, the work done before the game, the three articles in our special report and Jane Rickard's photography will always remain with me. I learned more about concussions, rooftops and the Bears than I think I had in total prior to this event. Still, it would have been nice for the team to recognize bloggers with a special event for them.

I expect this event will park Chicago in an enviable position versus the competing cities for the Olympic bid. The city, in the midst of a storm and the holidays, looked great. I've always told potential visitors to stay away in the winter. This winter event proved me wrong.

So, what next for the Winter Classic? Fenway or a New York venue? Like many others, I think the WC will not be held in Canada, perhaps excepting Toronto or Montreal, but not anywhere else for the moment. By which I mean for many years. A decade? This event is the primo NHL event of the season until the playoffs. The TV audience hasn't been announced, but it has to be huge. It needs to go somewhere like Wrigley or Rich Stadium again. It needs romance, good fortune, cheese and a great game.

For the last two seasons it has had that going for it. So, romantic venue, two teams that are struggling against each other and have a history, the cooperation of mother nature... Your guess of what is next is as good as mine. But I look forward to next New Year's Day.

Winter Classic 19; final Hawks 4, Wings 6 update

This should be the final entry of the game. If you've been reading, thanks and Happy New Year. There are less than two minutes remaining in the game now.

Now 1:30 remaining. No OT this year. Wings in some confusion in front of their net. But Conklin stops it again. Now less than a minute remaining. Looking at this game I have to think that the way to see this game would be from the rooftops. it would be slightly more expensive, at $300.oo USD each. But, you are warmer or at least can stay warm.

A last moment goal by the Hawks. Keith pots one into the twine after getting fed from the faceoff. Anyway that was a great game to watch.

The players are doing a playoff lineup, saluting the fans. Very nice. Gotta give my MVP to Havlat. I'll update in a few minutes as I listen in on the final interviews with the players and coaches.

Well, not much to say from the ending interviews. Just the road to the Stanley runs through Detroit. I guess that is another hockey cliche we'll have to live with.

Winter Classic 18 update

Well, those two goals have driven Huet from the pipes. The Hawks have brought in Khabibulen.

That's gotta hurt the Hawks in the head if nothing else. Their talking about the shadows on the field. I can't see any on the TV and the outside is still pretty cloudy.

The Hawks are finally putting some people in Conklin's face. But, it's no good, he's stopping everything. I don't know how they'll handle this change in nets that is coming up in about three minutes. A time out?

The stands look full again. Shot clock is greatly in the Wings favor, according to the announcer. I guess the score shows that too. And there is the ten minute mark. I guess they're waiting for a break in play and they'll switch sides.

Khabibulen way out of the net, almost on the blue line, playing the puck. The goalies have been playing the puck to cut the angle in this game. There haven't been as many funny bounces as there was in the game last year. The temperature here in Chicago is about right for outdoor games and the ice and the air are both at about the right temperature.

This is a long time without a whistle. Now going on more than two minutes. And there is the whistle. Some of the old hawks are singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame..." Mikita, Hull, Savard and some others.

TMI, the TV tells us that Conklin took a "potty break" during the commercial. Oh god, shut up and sit down already.

The game is going back and forth again. Remember that the Hawks are now down wind. Lot's of stuff written on the wind at Wrigley. I'm not sure what direction it is coming from, I assume from the Northwest? If it was coming off the lake we'd see some lake effect snow, yep, northwest. The wind can be variable around here, even just two miles away. (Did I say a mile earlier?)

Winter Classic 17; Wings 6, yes 6, Hawks 3

Third period. Detroit in the lead by one goal. The teams will be trading sides after ten minutes, so the Hawks have ten minutes to catch the lead and hold it or the game is probably over.

Puck drop.

Wisniewski has been called for holding. Wings on the advantage. Five hole goal. Rafalski from the circle and in traffic. I'm still writing and they get another. NO wait, it's been called off. Let me see what the heck happened here...

I can't see what happened. They had Huet dead to rights. It bumped the cross bar, it didn't cross the goal line, wait the review is showing the net was struck. They're sending it to review but it should count...

It might be... It could be... It is a GOAL. 17 seconds between those goals. The second by Lebda.

Winter Classic 16; end of 2, Detroit 4, Chicago 3

It looks like the wind did have an effect on the game as most of the goals have the wind behind them. Now the announcer is saying the same thing. That could be bad for the Wings in the final period of play. Minute remaining in second frame. And, that's another 20 in the record book.

Winter Classic 15; Wings take lead 4-3

WOW. Datsyuk drives in from the center ice, eludes two Hawks, fooled Huet and GOAL. Fabulous. About three minutes left in the period.

Winter Classic 14; Game tied at 3 each

Brower checks Hossa into Huet, then seconds into the Hawk Power Play Toews gets called for a high sticking. Lots of open and slow ice. Flow of the game is still back and forth.

End of the 4:4 and the short advantage. Lebda fires into Huet, Huet loses sight of it but saves it anyway. According to the TV, the Wings have discovered some type of blindness on the part of Huet.

Campbell trips Hudeler on a drive to the net. He knocks the net off and there is another Detroit advantage.

Lots of people in front of Huet but the Hawks clear it down ice. About 35 seconds left and the Hawks have cleared it again. Datsyuk finally gets a shot on goal with a few seconds remaining. Still lots of red in front of that net. One, two, three attempts and GOAL for Hudler as he hammers it home. Huet out of position again. Just too much red out there and not enough black.

Winter Classic 13; Hawks 3, Wings 2

Interperiod piece on the team's trip to the Tallon family funeral. Bob Costas points out that the last time a game between Detroit and Chicago was so important was the last baseball World Series played by the Cubs, against the Detroit Tigers during World War 2. Very nice and shows why Costas is such a good announcer or at least shows he's got good research.

Cantore appears again. He's now on a rooftop and has his head painted. Ummm... I just don't know what to say about that. The fans are pretty empty. I'm sure the fans are hiding in whatever shelter is available at the field. The teams are coming back and we're about to go back to the game.

The wind is now blowing into the face of Huet. We'll see if the wind is the reason for the Hawk lead. Hossa gets a feed from behind the net. He takes a quick shot from about 20 feet in front of the net. The rebound is picked up by Hudler, he has an open net as Huet is out of position. GOAL

Just not enough defense out there. Nice moves and a good bounce for Detroit. Nice goal.

Winter Classic 12; Hawks 3, WIngs 1 at end of 1

Hawks are now in power play again after a retalitory hit by Lilja. THere are about 6:40 left in the period. Boy, the shots of the Detroit goal, with the Wrigley score baord in the background, are fantastic. A lot of attacks on the Wings, Wings clear it down, behind the WIngs net. Keith taking a shot, pad stop then the puck is cleared down ice again.

Wings break away on a rush, have a 3:2, shot, trailing Wing gets a shot, and the power play expires. About two minutes left in the period. Nice save by Conklin as the possession is going back and forth. Things seems pretty evenly matched at the moment. Walker takes a shot and there is just a minute left in the period Eager shoots, can't score, then behind the net. He's fighting for it with Lilja. Eager wraps around on the right side, but Conklin goes left! SCORE!

Winter Classic 11 Hawks 2, Wings 1

The Hawks have a Power Play. Brett Lebda for delay of game. Wings clear it from offensive zone, about 1:10 left. Versteeg sets up Havlat from behind the net and Havlat pops it into the corner. Goal and assist to Versteeg.

Winter Classic 10

Some good hits in the moments after the score, about five minutes have passed, a shot on Christobal Huet that goes into the net. Some back and forth as the puck is going back and forth up and down the rink. More pressure being put on the Huet than on Conklin. The Hawk goal is counted as a power play with the assists going to Havlat and Brent.

Scoring chance by Havlat, now the pressure is on the Wings.There's a dance on the ice as Bfuglien drives the net. Power play to the Wings as a result with Bfuglien in sin bin. Seabrook is able to clear the puck after a few seconds. The Wings are parking guys, Holstrom in particular, right in front of the net.

The ice gets its first obvious ice repair. The Wings are still on the advantage. The Hawks have cleared the puck again, about 45 seconds remaining in the Power Play. WIngs, looking for an open lane to fire on and Samuelson ties the game. Huet looks like he is suffering a bit from the wind chill. The puck looks like it hit the back of Huet's skates. Action behind the net, a feed to the front, Eddie Olyczck is saying that Huet went down a bit fast. The open ice makes the ice slower than usual.

Winter Classic 9; Chicago 1, Detroit 0

Real puck drop, the wind is blowing in toward the Detroit goal. A minor penalty, Hawk Power Play. Brent Seabrook benches Dan Cleary into the Hawk bench. The Wings put to many on the ice and the Hawks get a 5:3 for about 90 seconds.

A shot, but blocked and the advantage is now 5:4. Wings bring it down to the Hawks end. Versteeg scores the first goal of the game as Seabrook. Bfuglien went to the net, but it was Versteeg that connected. He was behind Bfuglien and driving to the net too.

Winter Classic 8

Okay, we have potential Wings fans here. Ron and Kim showed up with two ferrets. As many of you don't know and probably don't want to know, when Jane watches a sports game, and a goal is scored, she'll grab her cats, have them dance while she starts singing the Buffalo Bills song, "oh the Bills make me want to sing and dance..." So, while Kim and Ron are here, the ferrets can be the Wings fans and the cats can cheer for the Hawks.

Jane says the Canadian singer did a good job on the Canadian Anthem, but the cold made the singer for the US Anthem choke. More info momentarily. It looks like they had a few planes flying overhead during the anthem, missed that here at home.

Yep, it was the Blackhawks home game singer. Too much and not nearly as good as Wayne Messmer or the other great anthem singers. Ouch! yeah, the planes came in at an angle that didn't bring them near the house.

The Chicago All-stars is being shared by a number of people, Olympians? Anyone? I guess amateurs don't mean anything. Disappointing. Lot's of people dressed as seats.

Bobby Hull drops the ceremonial puck. He puts his foot in front of Nicklas Lidstrom, which would have prevented Lidstrom from playing a dropped puck. Nice.

Winter Classic 7

The network is doing a retrospective of the history of Wrigley. Of course, Jane and I did that with yesterday's posts on the Chitowndailynews.

The game is important for the two teams. The Blackhawks have won 9 of the last ten games, losing a game against the Red Wings earlier this week. As a result, the Blackhawks are just six points behind the Wings. The Hawks have two games in hand. The Wings are the team to beat, they have been considered the best team in the sport for several seasons.

My first look at the Detroit sweater. White letters on a blood red background. The players have hit the ice now. Some of the guys are wearing toques and touching home plate as they pass. Very cool. Whoops some friends just showed up. Let's see how long until I can write again.

WInter Classic 6

Jane Rickard said the European feed isn't too good and that she's put news of this live blogging on-line. The situation here, about a mile from Wrigley Field, is there is a cloud cover, some wind and the weather is below freezing. There could be some flakes falling later today. Great day for a hockey game.

I've moved from the NHL Network to the NBC Network. Chris Chelios is on the bench for the Red Wings. I was hoping to catch him while he was on the ice for Grand Rapids Griffins. I doubt, due to the waiver rules, that he'll return to the AAA.

A rink is setup behind the main rink for children. It reminds me of playing outside at LaFollette Park on the West Side. Jim Cantore of the Weather Channel is being interviewed. He's on top of the scoreboard in Center Field. While the wind may not be blowing on the field, you can be sure the wind is blowing hard up there.

Winter Classic 5

Oh God! The Foley is on. Am I the only person watching Chicago hockey who dislikes this guy? There it is, another reference to loyal home fans. What a stiff.

Brett Lebda is skating around with shadow. Cool! Football players aren't the only ones to look tough with eye shadow. LOL

A piece on the old Chicago Stadium with an emphasis on the flight of stairs leading to the ice surface. The atmosphere of the old Stadium, with the roar, created an atmosphere that will never be duplicated. Wait, wait, a bit on the movement of the Detroit Red Wings to the rink. There is a set of steps here too. I have to admit, I've never been in that area of Wrigley Field. What an excellent behind the scenes look at the game.

Oh God, the skeleton is back. At least in the second interview, he didn't use any boilerplate. McDonough is back on. More than anyone, except Rocky Wirtz, he is probably responsible for the return of the Blackhawks. The biggest change I see in this team, they are talking about winning the Stanley Cup. In the past two decades the fans would be discussing getting into the playoffs.

Winter Classic 4

Whoops, "the Windy City" is used to describe the City. Must be an out-of-towner. Yes, the wind chill will be a factor, as we discussed in a previous blog entry.

Ty Conklin appears to be starting for the Red Wings. Unless I'm mistaken, he is the only player to have appeared in the three Winter Classic games since 2003, losing the first game 4-3 as the Montreal Canadiens took down the Edmonton Oilers in 2003 and protecting the net in the 2-1 shootout victory last year by the Pittsburgh Penguins over the Buffalo Sabres.

An ORGAN! Yes, of course the Chicago Cubs organist is Gary Pressy. The Blackhawks use Frank Pellico. I wonder if he plans to play Lady of Spain?

Winter Classic 2

Still a pre-game on the NHL Network. Stan Mikita is asked "what makes this city so great?" and almost gives the greatest fan in the world line. Instead he points at the crowd and says "this is what makes it so great."

Bob Verdi looks ridiculous in his hat, says Chicago has the most loyal fans, so forgiving. Umm Bob? Are you reading off of a teleprompter? Why are you hesitating? He sounds likes he's stoned or something. Get him off the air, please.

Live blogging the Winter Classic 1

Just for fun, I'm live blogging the Winter Classic today. My first job, identifying the first person to utter the "greatest fans in the world..." line.

The Foley is prattling on about how there was a turn around in Chicago. That's a story we are going to hear a lot today. John McDonough discusses his expectations, I'd agree the highlight of the game will be the national anthems prior to the game. Then we have a nice piece showing some college band members who got together. It was a nice piece that was a bit unusual. I also liked the way it showed off my city.