More Winter Classic coverage

Many players, fans, journalists, and bloggers raved about the second Winter Classic. Reviews have been mostly positive, and there are so many from which to chose, but this was one of my favorites.

Adam Proteau of The Hockey News:
By the time the first puck dropped – with an outdoor temperature of 31.9 degrees Fahrenheit – the fans’ pent-up energy was coursing through the stands like a virus everyone intended to contract.
And from there, the Wings and Blackhawks put on a fast-paced, spirited, wholly entertaining on-ice show that was at once markedly physical and yet thankfully not filled with over-the-top goon theatrics.
It was the best the NHL had to offer: two superbly skilled teams swept up by a playoff atmosphere and rivalry steeped in tradition and mutual loathing. It was a back-and-forth affair featuring all kinds of expected talent displays and even some unexpected ones (most notably a wraparound goal that, if only for a millisecond, made Hawks enforcer Ben Eager look like the second coming of Doug Gilmour).

The TV ratings for this year's outdoor contest between the Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Blackhawks increased 12 percent over last year's.
Jan. 2 (Bloomberg) -- The Detroit Red Wings’ 6-4 win over the Chicago Blackhawks yesterday at Wrigley Field topped last year’s National Hockey League outdoor game by 12 percent in preliminary television ratings.
Ratings points are the percentage of the estimated 111.3 million U.S. households with televisions that watched the broadcast. Preliminary local ratings were 11.8 in Chicago and 10.5 in Detroit, according to Nielsen data.

Also, to clear something up from yesterday's blog entry.
I wholeheartedly disagree with the announcer who said the wind pushed Pavel Datsyuk when he scored the goal.
To say he got a boost from the wind is hard to believe. Datsyuk has had similar goals scored where he's split the defense. It wasn't the wind. It was talent and athleticism.

Anyway I could go on forever about how cool, literally and figuratively, these outdoor games are. There's just gotta be one next year too, and I can't wait.
Oh well, I guess I will. Tomorrow my sports calender is full anyway: Hoosiers at Iowa, Sacramento at Pacers, Colts at San Diego, and Red Wings at Minnesota. Hey now, there's an outdoor match-up, Hockeytown vs. The State of Hockey!