Winter Classic
 

Wondering what everyone thought of this year's NHL Winter Classic.

I thought it was great. I watch only a handful of hockey games throughout the year and pretty much every Winter Classic and I thought this one was the best in a while. I'll watch anything Doc announces and also watch the HBO 24/7 show that follows the involved teams. The ice was a problem the last two years cuz of outside temperatures but that wasn't a problem this year. The snow seemed to annoy the players when trying to stickhandle and when the snow stopped in the 2nd period the game was much more fun to watch.

Question for hockey refs: there was a faceoff with 2:02 left in the 2nd period where the guy who drops the puck (referee or linesman?) spent about 20 seconds talking to the players as he faked dropping the puck several times. He looked like he was lecturing one of the guys. What happens in these exchanges?

The face off I saw where there was an exchange was where the linesman had players switch out due to not following instructions/crossing into the restricted zone before the puck drop was at 1:22 left in the 2nd. Right after the goal became dislodged.

The exchange varies depending on the players & the game situation.

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.

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 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.

That's what I saw on the replay

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.

I fully understand why they did it, it is just disappointing that it happened when it did.

It is done after special games like this and at the end of a playoff series.

I do agree, as Detroit had a good scoring chance & the play should have been allowed to finish. The Referee could of used a delayed signal so the play could develop/finish.

It really needs to be done after every game, no matter what.

I did notice that players did switch out, as they were early into the zone. It also looks like there was some chirping happening that needed to cease as well.

They should of gone back to the old rule set of a Continuous OT.

The play-by-play said several times that the snow on the ice changed the puck dynamics/handling. It just seems that the players forgot during line changes how the surface conditions were & systematically went with what was natural to them.

The NHL has never used continuous OT in the regular season. Its only used in the playoffs.

Shows you I still have studying to do concerning rule sets.

S'okay. Most people don't bother studying the rules at all...