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The Winter Classic - How to build a hockey rink
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if you played hockey at some time in your life whether ice, roller or even foot, then you at some point thought about how cool it'd be to have your own rink in the backyard. Earlier this season during an FSN broadcast of a Pens game, we were privy to a documentary provided by the staff on the backyard rink Erik Christensen's father built and maintained for his son during the early years of his career. Now I can't confirm that Mr. Christensen was among the staff of workers operating around the clock at Ralph Wilson Stadium in preparation for the Winter Classic. What I can say though is it sure as hell took more than one guy.
Similar to the construction cam on the Pens' site, the Sabres have provided a similar view of Ralph Wilson. The only difference is, the Sabres' camera actually looks like it's being productive. (Ok I admit, I'm just anxious for the arena.) I know Rome wasn't built in a day, but according to this video the Ice Bowl was built in a little under a minute.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4feSZDQhcE
As of this moment (2:45 a.m.) the outside weather for Tuesday's game in Buffalo is expected to be 33 degrees with an 80% chance of snow. There's an article http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news;_ylt=AsEADmcOP80khyr6wVaCbcp7vLYF?slug=rm-winterclassic123007&prov=yhoo&type=lgn on yahoo that talks about the NHL's attempt to look past ratings against college bowls and go straight to beating Mother Nature. In accordance with absolutely no rule in any aspect of the NHL handbook, the third period will be split into two 10-minute periods so as to give each team a fair chance on both sides of the ice against the weather. No word as to whether a hooking call will have the repercussions of the death penalty or not.
Yahoo has a decent collection of pics to look at as well.
Ty Conklin will be the go-to-guy for the Pens Tuesday. Not much of a surprise there. The guy's 4-0.
I think Georges Laraque said it best with regards to the WC.
“It’s different. It brings back old memories. It’s a neat change. For the outdoor game, I don’t think there’s a better place to do it,” Penguins winger Georges Laraque said. “This game is great. It reminds you of how you started to learn to play hockey outside.”
On that note, it's just another game of pond hockey. Only the tickets sold out in 40 minutes and the game is going to broadcast on national television.
No pressure.
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