I never would have thought that I would spend the early part of New Year’s Day watching a hockey game instead of college football. But that’s how riveting the Winter Classic was in Buffalo, where the Sabres hosted the Pittsburgh Penguins outdoors before 73,000 in the snow and cold. The Penguins won, 2-1, in an overtime shootout on a shot by superstud Sydney Crosby. The atmosphere was awesome, the visuals were terrific and it’s a shame more hockey games can’t be played under such circumstances.
The NHL is practically invisible on the U.S. sports scene and this was a great promotion that should become an annual event. The players loved it and it was great to see them interviewed on-ice with snow swirling around them. It brought back memories for me playing hockey on frozen ponds in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. And I loved the powder blue “throwback uniforms” worn by the Penguins. —Jim Buzinski
I never would have thought that I would spend the early part of New Year’s Day watching a hockey game instead of college football. But that’s how riveting the Winter Classic was in Buffalo, where the Sabres hosted the Pittsburgh Penguins outdoors before 73,000 in the snow and cold. The Penguins won, 2-1, in an overtime shootout on a shot by superstud Sydney Crosby. The atmosphere was awesome, the visuals were terrific and it’s a shame more hockey games can’t be played under such circumstances.
The NHL is practically invisible on the U.S. sports scene and this was a great promotion that should become an annual event. The players loved it and it was great to see them interviewed on-ice with snow swirling around them. It brought back memories for me playing hockey on frozen ponds in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. And I loved the powder blue “throwback uniforms” worn by the Penguins. —Jim Buzinski
