Well how was your first day of 2010? For me, I woke up on my cousin Jen's sofa at 10:50am, reached for the remote and turned on the NHL's Winter Classic game in Boston at the legendary Fenway Park. It was only mid first period, but I was disappointed I missed the pre-game chat, and the hockey pomp and ceremony that goes along with these special outdoor hockey events. This seems to happen to me every year since they started this New Year's Day tradition. If they could just start it a tad later, like 11am or 11:30am PST that would be so" Hockey politically correct!"
It was soooo easy to cheer for the Boston Bruins (and not because they were playing the Philadelphia Flyers). It just seems natural that you want the home team to win in an outdoor game spectacle. You want to see the home team fans revel in a win, too. Plus I know how my friend, and Pens writer, Jan Snyder feels about the Flyers at times ;o)
Although hockey fans in Canada wonder when another outdoor game will be staged here, I do believe the NHL should continue with a two US based team game every New Year's Day: it's good for the game. Plus, we have our Hockey Day in Canada coming up on January 30th, 2010, and that's one serious day of hockey celebration that our American hockey friends would kill to have down there. Maybe the Winter Classic could morph into a Hockey Day in the USA celebration somehow...it's just a thought.
Like most everyone else watching earlier today, I really didn't jump off the couch until the Bruins Mark Recchi tied up the game with less than three minutes left in the third. Having an overtime period is just what the die hard hockey fans in the stands deserved. I was almost expecting a shoot out until Marco Sturm scored the game winner for the Boston Bruins.
Now the talk is about where and who will be playing in the next Winter Classic. And if the NHL did want to appease Canadian hockey fans, then a double header Winter Classic (early game in the USA, late game in Canada) would be the obvious solution.
