Winter Classic

[chseagle]

Originally Posted by Welpe

My guess is one of them was starting early when he went to drop the puck. Usually after a couple of times of this, the linesman or referee will dismiss the player that keeps going early and have another come and take the faceoff.

That's what I saw on the replay

Originally Posted by Welpe

I thought it was an excellent game except for the shootout. I wished the game had ended in a tie after regulation instead of that ugly performance (Datsyuk's goal not withstanding).

The players were trying too hard in that to handle the puck like it was an indoor game.

The OT period's non-standard half-time took away a really promising scoring chance from Detroit. I'm not a huge fan of the way soccer games are timed but that is one case where they get it right, IMO.

All in all an excellent game between two of the original clubs.

I also liked that they had a handshake line at the end and that the announcers chose not to talk over it. I loved what he said just before he quit talking "Sometimes to dramatize is to trivialize." Let the moment stand on its own, I loved that.

The idea behind switching ends was to make it more equal to both teams so both teams face the similar conditions. They did the same thing in the 3rd period at the 10:00 mark.

I think that's a problem with sports nowadays is the lack of sportsmanship, so the handshake/"Good Game" line was great to see.