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Winter Classic: More Than Just a Money Maker

Posted on February 17, 2012 by andrew.capitelli

The scene of the 2011 Winter Classic in Pittsburgh between the Penguins and Capitals.

The NHL announced on Thursday that the 6th installment of their annual Winter Classic would take place on New Years Day of next year in Detroit, Michigan. Detroit’s own Red Wings are slated to take on their Original Six rivals, the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Why Outdoors?

The Winter Classic has been everything the league could have imagined since it’s inaugural game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Buffalo Sabres at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Buffalo in 2008. That game produced a shootout, and fans were left with the image of Penguins star leaping through the snow after scoring the game winner.

The game was seen as an opportunity for the NHL to retain some of the popularity it had lost since the league locked out for the 2004-2005 season, and indeed it’s worked. Records have been broken for viewership of a regular season NHL game each season. But for most of the players, playing outside in an NHL game has brought their careers full circle. Many of the league’s players are either Canadian or American, and a large portion of them started skating on outdoor rinks and ponds in their hometowns as young boys.

On Long Island there is a shortage of outdoor rinks and children are relegated to playing inline hockey at facilities like SkateSafe. Photo: Andrew Capitelli

What it Means for the Players

During pre-game interviews for the event, players can be heard describing their fondest memories playing on backyard rinks. The fun they discovered with their friends, as they played until their toes went numb, shows a love for the game unseen in any modern day sport.

This is hockey in it’s most pure form, and although the league may capitalize on the event commercially, the game lets players get back to their roots and, above all, is a celebration of the game fans and players fell in love with.

For those who cannot experience the thrill of outdoor ice hockey, there are training balls that imitate the feeling of stick handling with a puck. Photo: Andrew Capitelli




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NHL Faces Harsh Reality

Posted on February 3, 2012 by andrew.capitelli

A typical hockey helmet. Photo: Andrew Capitelli

As much as this NHL season has presented an array of surprises, there is one horrifying constant: concussions. As of the All-Star break, the league had already diagnosed 71 player concussions.

Many argue the figure is inflated because of the NHL’s strict, yet attentive treatment and diagnosis protocols training staffs are ordered to abide by once a player is dealt a blow to the head. The protocol was new for this season. In the past, players would get hit in the head, feel dizzy and head back on the ice when ordered. But the recent deaths of former players, Derek Boogard and Wade Belak, due to depression issues, have forced the league into mandating the new procedures.

But is it enough?

Following Boogard’s death, neurologists studied his brain and determined he was already showing signs of early dementia at 28 years old. Boogard was an enforcer. Due to limited playing skill, fighting was his only way to crack the NHL. After thousands of fights, his brain tapped out.

St. Louis' T.J. Oshie takes an elbow to the head thanks to Anaheim's George Parros. Photo: Andrew Capitelli

But the most alarming concern is that fighters aren’t the only ones at risk.  The Penguin’s Sidney Crosby, arguably the league’s best player, and Marc Savard of the Bruins, have only played a handful of games in the past year due to battles with post-concussion syndrome.

What else can be done?

Former Flyers legend Eric Lindros, who was forced to retire after eight serious concussions during his career, has become an outspoken leader against concussions in the league. He’s suggested that the game has become too fast and cites the removal of the two-line pass rule as a major problem, claiming due to its absence players are moving too quickly through the neutral zone, endangering themselves and their opponents.

This style elbow pad, with soft padding, is what many in the league are calling for.

Equipment is another talking point. Many, including the retired New York Rangers forward Mark Messier, are calling for helmets that protect players better from concussions. Others believe the size and material of the player’s shoulder pads should be minimized and changed to decrease the impact of shoulder shots to the head.

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