The SBP Archives - Your less than frequent dose of SBP!

Perhaps it cannot be labeled "ultimate," but it's pretty darn close. Starting on Saturday, there are many sporting events taking place that will be enjoyed by SBP and I'm looking forward to it. The sweet thing is, the timing on all these events are perfect so it's likely I won't miss anything. Here's the rundown:

- Leave for Montreal @ 10am to go to the Bell Centre. Start by enjoying Baton Rouge for lunch then watch the Habs play the Islanders (okay, the Islanders aren't exactly setting the world on fire, but it's Montreal, the crowd will be great)

- Return to Ottawa approx 7:00pm, to take in the Battle of Ontario, the Ottawa Senators vs Toronto Maple Leafs

- 10pm rolls around, and you got the Ultimate Fighting Championship debut of former WWE star Brock Lesnar against former UFC heaveyweight champ Frank Mir. Lesnar is the underdog, and many say he will get killed getting exposed to "real" fighting. Let me tell you something about Lesnar: he's a former NCAA champion and all-American in amateur wrestling. He's got Royce Gracie training him (HGH and all) and he's just an imposing, massive figure. Now Mir has the experience and that's why he'll be the favourite, but I suspect we'll at least get a good show.

- Of course, Sunday is the Superbowl. Friends, cards, chili, 360, wobbly pops...it's all good!

Homer Simpson said it best: "Sports sports sports sports sports sports sports sports....!"

Wouldn't it be nice to talk about how Daniel Alfredsson was named player of the week and set a franchise record by collecting 7 points in one game against Tampa Bay? That many media circles peg him as a Hart trophy candidate? Or how he probably added a little fuel to the Battle of Ontario fire by acknowledging during the all-star break he'd love to have Mats Sundin join the Senators and that it's even been discussed in the locker room (which also tells you just how much the Sens players think Toronto's chances are of making the playoffs)?

Nope. Instead, Ray Emery is the centre of attention in Ottawa for all the wrong reasons. And after his fight against Brian McGrattan during practice many said that could be the final straw, now it's pretty much all but certain Emery will find a new NHL team by the trade deadline or perhaps even a demotion to Binghamton for failing, again, to show up for practice on time after returning from Las Vegas yesterday.

It was announced that GM Bryan Murray is going to fine Emery for this latest mishap, for which he could probably be forgiven for if it was his first offence. Unfortunately, it's one of many, his reputation is in the toilet and he's acting like he wants to play for someone else. Maybe he didn't like fighting for the #1 spot after taking Ottawa to the Stanley Cup finals at the start of the year, but this is pro sports and at the end of the day it's always asked, "What have you done for me lately?" Martin Gerber, despite that I'm not convinced he can carry the Sens to a Cup run, at least works hard and has a good reputation amongst his teammates for someone who gives it his all. Emery is a team cancer now and the players likely wouldn't play hard for him for all his on and off ice antics.

Remember when Emery was the toast of the town? When it was declared Ottawa no longer had goaltending worries and even a song and video was made for him? That was just 7 months ago. Now, everyone wants him shipped out. Ray, I won't forget how hard you played during the 2007 playoffs and despite what many say, I thought you were solid and did a commendable job in the post-season and helped the team get further than they every have in their short history. But now, you've shot yourself in the foot, your new contract has gone to your head, and everyone thinks you were a one trick pony.

No one to blame but yourself.

Yup, I did what no man or woman should do. I forked over $9.99 to see the latest action extravaganza offered by 61 year-old Sylvester Stallone, Rambo. The not-so-eagerly awaited fourth installment of the franchise that many thought was dead in 1988 when the third installment was released. (God bless the producers who, at the end of the credits, dedicated that movie to all the "gallant people of Afghanistan." My how times have changed.).

Now I read a recent interview with Sylvester Stallone that gave me a small glimmer of hope (emphasis on the word small) that this movie might have some actual meaning in it. Here's a quote when asked about his general opinion on war:

"It's not your country you're killing for. It's for a few old men up top who want war. Old men start it. Young men fight it. Nobody wins. Everybody in the middle dies."

Very profound. It might sound simplistic, but I tend to agree with him. But Rambo is all sauce and no steak, with the sauce in this case being gallons upon gallons of blood. No limb is spared or head still attached after Rambo is done. The movie clocks in at a quick 85 minutes, and really it should be kept that short since it's not trying to do anything but depict as much violence as possible: Death by machine guns, knives, grenades, arrows, machetes, rockets, anti-aircraft guns and bare hands are depicted in graphic detail. There is no message in this movie, except to say that it's not recommended to visit a place that has about 60 years of civil war still going on without any backup.

Anyway, I knew all this already, you knew this already, I got what I deserved and let's hope Sly doesn't decide to do another one because I might be baited by certain work colleagues into going again.

I was going to do a post about the Academy Award nominations, but news released on the same day detailing the death of Australian actor Heath Ledger, 28 years old, just shocked me and no one was talking about the Oscars after that. I mean, this guy had the world in the palm in his hand. More than just a GQ face, Ledger had talent as demonstrated with his Academy Award nominated role in Brokeback Mountain. And perhaps the most anticipated movie this summer, The Dark Knight, has him co-starring as the Joker that had many in the industry buzzing on how good he portrayed Batman's most hated villain. If no one knew who he was before, that movie was about to change that and propel him to superstardom.

Unfortunately, he was found dead with sleeping pills and the initial reports indicated it was either an overdose or suicide (no note found). And you may have heard he was found in Mary-Kate Olsen's apartment but that ended up being false as he was found in his own flat.

Notice a trend lately with young actors dying or perhaps on the road to death with their behaviour? Ledger is a different case somewhat, as he never had a reputation of being a "bad boy" or being a drug abuser or whatever to my knowledge. But if you think of the recent death of Brad Renfro at age 25, the rehab visits by Lindsay Lohan and Brittany Spears, Owen Wilson thinking of killing himself...what's going on? I thought we would have learned something from the cocaine-filled 80s that left many behind in their grave with their lives of excess. But these stars seem to hate themselves or something; I'm not sure exactly what it is but it's pretty depressing. Don't we all want to be rich and famous and not have a care in the world to think about?

I thought we did.

- My novel idea has moved forward. Plan B, it will NOT involve my great Uncle's WW I diary, however, if this current idea does get completed I definitely would like you to do the artwork for the book cover. In addition, I'm excited about this project because I'm going to be teaming up with a guy from my work who actually has an agent trying to sell one of his manuscripts. When I told him about my idea, he loved it and so it looks like we'll work on it together. We'll see how it goes, so far I've written up the synopsis and we'll look at it tomorrow

- I watched some football yesterday. And I was actually interested in the results! Because everyone LOVES the New England Patriots I was rooting for the underdog San Diego Chargers and of course, the Patriots still won. Most of the day was spent playing NHL Hockey and Rainbow Six: Vegas on the 360, but still, it might be the start of me following the NFL on a regular basis. Must get a Ben Patrick Arizona Cardinals jersey at some point in the future! (Don't worry Bandit, it's still Steelers all the way baby!)

- Funny how one week can change everything: My Sens were the toast of the town last week with their 3-2 win over the NHL's best Detroit Red Wings, now everyone wants to drive Ottawa out of town. I'll just say this: Saturday's contest with I attended in person against Tampa Bay was one of the worst games I've ever been to. And not just because they lost, but in the manner in which they did. Just so very boring. But I'm confident with Alfie back in the lineup tomorrow, they'll be fine.

- The WWE have found a way to get me to tune in again. I haven't watched an episode in what seems like forever, but they're debuting tonight in HD so we'll see if they put in an extra effort tonight.

- And finally, let's talk about my Ultimate team, called "Are you Going to Eat that?" Most of the time, I play on a losing team. But this year: we're first in the league! We've only had one loss and we're the team to beat! It's great! I don't mind losing, but a lot of times last year it was blowout after blowout, and it was hard to stay motivated to play. It's nice to pick up some wins, you know?

Not even the most optimistic Leafs fan can look at the sorry state of their team and think the Toronto Maple Leafs are going to turn things around and become a contender. Since the lockout, there have been bad trades, bad signings and bad management brought on board that still finds a way to be the most profitable team in the league.

Everyone has already discussed to death what the Leafs need to do to end the misery and turn things around, so let's recap:

1. Fire JFJ. He stinks.
2. Richard Peddie needs to bring in an experienced GM, like Scotty Bowman (too late) or even Pat Quinn, give him full autonomy to rebuild and realize it'll take 2-3 seasons before they're remotely competitive. Don't try to squeak into 8th place only to be knocked out in 10 days post-season. Rebuild from scratch.
3. Trade Sundin and get the most you can for him. By all means re-sign him during the summer to help groom the new prospects in the Marlies system if he wants to come back.
4. Find a way, somehow, to dump the contracts of Pavel Kubina, Bryan McCabe, Andrew Raycroft, Darcy Tucker and Robert Blake. They all stink.

Simple right? Now go do it.

Atlanta Thrashers' GM Don Wadell says he wants to keep Marian Hossa and sign him to a new contract, but the word is Hossa will be looking at unrestricted free agency. No team wants to see one of their players walk away for nothing, so there is an excellent chance Hossa will be traded. And I relish the thought of the Ottawa Senators acquiring Hossa for a Stanley Cup run this spring.

A lot of people say, "He doesn't it bring it in the playoffs." Hmmm. Well, stats don't tell the whole story, but they are a pretty good indicator. When he started off in Ottawa, the first three NHL playoffs he was a part of were pretty abysmal: 14 games and only 4 points. But, things got better: three more seasons with Ottawa and he racked up 30 points in 37 games. Not too shabby. I think the problem is a lot of the people are clouded by the horrible Toronto-Ottawa series of the past and can't think beyond them. Yes, there was actually a time when Ottawa DIDN'T play the Leafs before the lockout year in the playoffs and had some success.

Is he the kind of player you want to build your team around? No. I don't think he can carry the load on his own, but with Ottawa he wouldn't have to. I'd rank him 4th behind Alfredsson, Heatley, Spezza on the ice. And that's the idea: he'd be a perfect addition to the 2nd line. If he played with Alfie with Fisher as centre on the second line, I don't think most teams would like to figure out how to contain Spezza & Heatley then Alfie & Hossa on the same night.

It could just be a lot of nostalgia for me clouding my judgment as well, envisioning Hossa don #18 again in the red sweater. But Ottawa won't be the only team interested, and the price may be too high for a player that's just a rental. But GM Bryan Murray would be stupid not to look into it, and I'm sure he will.

You may now notice a slight change in my blog title...the word "Daily" being replaced with "frequent."

It's going to be hard, but I'm going to try: The time spent I would have posting a blog entry, I will instead work on a book. It's something that I've tried before and given up, mainly because I'm my own worst critic. I start off with a great idea, then go back to reread it and think that it's garbage and quit. And frequently, I got writer's block. But I'm going to try. I may not finish it...again. But I'm going to try...again. Can't hurt to give it a go.

So there may be days that I'll do both, maybe some days I'll blog and not bother with my novel and vice-versa. But I still intend to commit to writing something each day.

We'll see how it goes.

Yeah, another video game post, and I know many of you have given up on video game consoles once you hit 17 but just hear me out. I'm playing this game, called The Darkness. It's a first person shooter (so many games on the Xbox 360 are a FPS it may start to get repetitive) and it got good reviews so I picked it up for $20 during a boxing day sale and just started playing it now. This one scene in the game gives you an idea of how far games have come.

You're this 21 year old guy who works as a contract killer for the mob. You have a girlfriend, Jenny, who doesn't know this about you. Your character, Jackie, visits her apartment for his birthday. After choosing whether or not you want to tell her the truth about your profession, she invites you to watch TV. If you choose to sit down, she talks to you for awhile before using the remote. As a sidebar, the game gives you the option to leave at any time but I wanted to see where this was headed. Soon enough, your character gets a first person perspective smooch on the lips that gives you 10 "gaming" points for being romantic but that's not what impressed me. A movie on the TV is playing, To Kill a Mockingbird. Jenny falls asleep and the movie keeps running. Now you have the option of leaving but I wanted to see if anything would happen. THE MOVIE KEEPS GOING! 15 minutes later the movie is still on and sure enough, a Google search reveals your character can sit down and watch the entire film. In addition, I also found out that another movie, Frank Sinatra's The Man with the Golden Arm, is also in the game and you can watch it from start to finish on a different level.

Now the "TV" in the game itself takes up maybe 10% of your screen, but still, the way video game developers aim for realism and deliver is truly impressive. I wonder what an Xbox...uh...720 in the future will look like?

Had a fantastic time last night at the Sens outing, the first time in a while where it didn't feel like another regular season game. Both teams had a lot of pride coming in and wanted to show who was really the best in the NHL. We won't know until June of course but this was a pretty sweet contest to hold us over, and of course being a Sens fan couldn't have asked for a better result. Also having Steve Yzerman on hand to drop the ceremonial puck before the game got started capped a perfect evening. Frank, Nino, Rob...hope we can do this again soon!

Georges (not a typo) St. Pierre. Who is he? Well, he's Canada's next big thing. The Ultimate Fighting Championship, the most violent sanctioned contact sport on the planet, was on the brink of bankruptcy and was all set to be sent out to pasture. When they were bought out in 2001 by boxing promoter Dana White and casino executives Frank & Lorenzo Fertitta, the UFC was on its way to the mainstream. No one talks about boxing anymore, and UFC has taken over. They have outsold many boxing and WWE pay-per-views and there is no sign of them slowing down. They now receive mainstream press coverage and continue to expand their operations worldwide.

Canada has perhaps one of the best UFC fighters, at least in the Welterweight division, in Georges St. Pierre. Even if you don't like UFC, I pretty much guarantee you will hear his name a lot more in 2008 once a card comes to Canada. From Montreal, aside from being a skilled competitor he is a true class act. He has charisma, confidence, and a certain charm (a lot of c's!) that fans are drawn to. He came down to Ottawa today (well, technically yesterday as I write this) for a meet n' greet session at Local Heroes. The lineup to see him was long (two hours plus), and they didn't bother to tell us an addition $30 would be charged for a photo-op. You did get a signed 8x10 with your $20 ticket, but not too many people knew about the extra $30 charge. Seeing it was for CHEO, I forked over the dough and chatted with Georges a little. I asked him if UFC was coming to Montreal, he told me "I pray for it!" and "It hadn't be signed." I'm sure he was asked that about 100 times today, but, he was a good sport about it.

Thanks to Neil and Cindy for the invite. And as I like to say, "Good times!"

There will likely never be a format war again. Two companies (primarily) squared off in the next-generation format of home video with Toshiba backing HD-DVD and Sony backing up Blu-Ray technology. It was a ridiculous proposition to begin with, with some movie studios releasing only their movies on one format and not the other. Ridiculous especially for consumers who likely aren't aware of all the facts such as that and may not realize the likelihood of one format dying is too great. Some may think it might be like a video game console war a la Xbox 360 vs Playstation 3 and "there's room in the market for everyone" and both formats would thrive. Naive perhaps, but not crazy.

So Warner Brothers, where I read sells about 18% of the movies out there, announced they are backing only Blu-Ray and abandoning HD-DVD by the Spring. For this reason, others are expected to follow.

The movie studios should have decided on a format before entering this "war" to begin with. There was no clear indication at the start which format would win, and each studio & electronics manufacturer must have realized at one point they will have to go to one or the other, hence pretty much a coin flip on if you guessed right and invested your money properly. The exclusivity deals Toshiba and Sony made studios sign just made the market stall on which format would prevail and I think hurt initial sales (aside from the terribly high price tags).

Anyway, I remember a Best Buy boxing day deal where a $399.99 HD-DVD player was selling for $99.99. Boxing day deals are good, but this good? Toshiba knew perhaps, so started dumping them. Consumers won't know the difference, they just think it's one of many post-Christmas specials. They may not even know that their recently bought HD-DVD player is now a paperweight.

Maybe if Bill Gates wasn't greedy and had an HD-DVD player built in to the Xbox 360 instead of charging an extra $200 for it while Playstation 3 had the Blu-Ray player included in their price, maybe it'd still have a fighting chance.

Can you deal with not one...not two...but THREE 80s bands playing at the SAME show!?!?

You get not just STYX:



Not just R.E.O. SPEEDWAGON:



But also the band of all bands, DEF LEPPARD!!!!



They're coming to Ottawa on April 12th. We are in mullet heaven baby!!!

- I just got back from playing my first indoor Ultimate game since a two-week break for the holidays. This is the only drawback to playing; some games end late and this means I'll likely not fall asleep until 1am or so. Can't exactly show up to work late tomorrow after just coming back from all those holidays!

- SBP screwjob: I signed up for indoor hockey and they told me there wasn't enough "individual" sign-ups to put together another team. They pointed out since I was one of the last people to sign up, I was cut. Who cares? I met the registration deadline. Nowhere did it say preference is given to those who sign up back in early December. The only reason for the delay was the 1% savings in GST! Boo.

- I got several emails from friends today telling me about the shenanigans at Sens practice where Ray Emery and Brian McGrattan got into fight. I've been sticking up for Ray while everyone has been throwing him under the bus, giving him the benefit of the doubt and trusting he's smart enough to stop his crap and get back to business. It's getting harder and harder for me to stick up for him lately, and this is one instance where I can't do it anymore. What's heartbreaking to is that I have no confidence in Martin Gerber to bring them the Cup. Ray is a competitor, he knows what it takes to get there and he was the one who tried to rally the team to come back from being down three games to one in the Cup final and believed they could do it. It's like he wants to be traded. And McGrattan should know better than to fight his own goalie. It's bad enough to fight your own teammate, but this is much, much worse.

- UFC fighter George St Pierre is coming to Local Heroes on Bank St and I'm hoping to meet him. I'm only a casual fan, but St Pierre is definitely someone Canada can be proud of and a rumoured UFC event heading to Montreal would blow the roof off the building, period.

- Oh, and I had to put this pic up of Alfie for losing his World Juniors bet with Eugene Melnyk. Alfredsson is practically Canadian anyway, and has said he's making Ottawa his permanent home after he retires:

While Canada was up 2-0, firmly in control of the game, I commented to Alex, "Sweden should score once to make it more interesting." No less than 30 seconds later, the Swedes made it 2-1. Be careful what you wish for! When the goalie was pulled and Sweden managed to tie it with less than a minute left, you had to think that maybe Canada was going to let this one slip away. But, in one of the shorter overtimes in recent memory, Canada bounced back and won the game and the gold medal. It was nice to see the players storm the ice in complete elation, no one is holding out for a bigger contract, a trade or coasting because they just signed an extension. Their motivation was to win, and nothing else.

So now after not achieving first place in seven years, Canada has since won four gold medals in a row. Seems like they've won it a lot more than that, doesn't it? Like I've said before, I think we've gotten a little spoiled with all this success. After Team Canada won the Olympic gold in 2002, Canada won the World Cup in 2004 and not too many people talk about that tournament today. In some ways, Canada losing in horrid fashion @ the 2006 Olympics might help us enjoy a win in 2010 a lot more.

It's a pretty nice spot to be in...winning so much that it's almost a formality. But the Juniors will hopefully make it five gold medals in a row next year in Ottawa. There's a party that'd be fun to be a part of.

For some reason, when a team has been outplayed, outworked, and in some cases, just outright dominated but still manage to eek out a victory, the announcers and journalists very rarely have the nerve to come out and say, "Boy, they really had no business winning tonight. They sucked harder than that typhoon that ran over the South Pacific last year." They try instead to come up with any excuse to reflect the result rather than the means on how they got there. Oddly enough, when a team does lose and puts out a mediocre effort, no one has any problems throwing them under the bus and criticizing them so it's not a question of wanting to be "nice." Here are some of my favourite clichés that capture the moment perfectly:

"They found a way to win"

"It was a grinding win"

"Good teams win games like this"

" (insert player's name) stole the game for them tonight!"

"They showed a lot of resilience!"

"They kept their calm!"

"They were patient!"

"They weathered the storm!"

"It wasn't pretty but you occasionally win games like that!"

"Their opponent didn't know how to finish"

"The only statistic that matters is getting those two points!"

- I watched my first full World Junior Hockey Championships game today, with Canada decisively coming out on top with a 4-1 victory over the United States. The first period of hockey was some of the fastest, most exciting hockey I've seen this season. Then Canada reminded themselves they're Canada and dominated the rest of the way.

- I bought a pair of 36 size jeans yesterday. This is significant because I've been buying size 38 for about 3-4 years now

- I also picked up a new Xbox 360 controller. They really take it home to you with a $60.00 price tag (I remember when extra controllers were around $20) but it is wireless and it included a limited edition Spartan figurine. NICE!

- Two week of holidays have passed, and I have to go back to work Monday. My fiber optic Christmas tree and wreath won't be taken down until that time

- I'm caving again and ordering the Sens PPV tonight. Hopefully, they'll be a technical difficulty somewhere along the way which will justify getting the entire charge removed from my cable bill like the Penguins game earlier this year

- Resumed selling items on Ebay again, getting rid of items that I just don't pay too much attention to

- Signed up for co-ed floor hockey on Wednesday nights until April. Hopefully it'll be fun.

- Because I'm not too bright, I dropped $160+ on 1st level Sens-Red Wings tickets for next Saturday. I DIDN'T PAY FOR A LOSS OTTAWA!!!

- Finally, happy birthday to my man Rob! See you tomorrow buddy.

I've put in many an hour over the holidays on the Xbox 360 (back to work on Monday; how will I do it?!) and enjoyed the fun storylines and great visuals on my 56" TV and thought about how much video games have evolved. Not just technically speaking, but with the violence it portrays: hard to say if it's a step forward or backward depending on your point of view.

Now I'm not one who thinks video games makes teenagers violent nor do I advocate censorship, but at the same time when does simple good taste enter the foray?

I played a game called Bioshock which is extremely creative and has a good story. The thing is, after a while it started to get a little depressing to play. Aside from the fact the setting is at night and everyone is out to kill your character, I got a little tired of seeing all the blood and gore depicted. I'm not going to sicken you with graphic descriptions, but let's just say surgical tools come into play. The story could have just as likely moved along without them, but there they are.

When playing Quake 4, I had Rob over and he hasn't really played the latest generation of console gaming, so it never occurred to me to tell him that the opening cut scene involves a dismembered body going through space, no guts and blood spared and that took him a little off guard. I didn't even think of mentioning it because stuff like that appears in games all the time. And when the characters talk to each other, the four letter words aren't spared either. I mean, it doesn't offend me, but it's too noticeable, like the writers couldn't think of anything else to put down.

The best of the games I've played is Halo 3, and while it is a shooting game, no one is swearing and the blood is pretty much kept to a minimum...at least compared to the other games I played. The game play and story are enough to keep you interested, and no one complained Halo 3 needs more swearing to be entertaining.

Perhaps it's just me getting older, but maybe the video game developers needs to realize less is more, and blood for the sake of blood and cursing for the sake of cursing doesn't really add anything to the product.

Coincidentally enough when I was thinking about how fast Jason Spezza has been tearing up the leader board since returning from his groin injury, the NHL announced Spezza was the best player for the month of December, racking up 25 points in 14 games, of which only one did he fail to register a point. That's a terrific pace that could easily put him in Art Ross consideration. I'd like everyone who wanted Spezza traded to raise their hand. You were backing him all along? Perfect.

I remember someone telling me they had CFRA on and Lowell Green was all mad after the Sens lost game 5 of the Stanley Cup final. His remedy to bring Ottawa the Cup next year? Trade Ray Emery and Jason Spezza. I have no idea how these idiots though the Sens managed to get to the Stanley Cup final in the first place. With all due respect to Mike Fisher, Antoine Vermette and Dean McAmmond, the main reason Ottawa got there was Daniel Alfredsson, Dany Heatley and of course, Mr. Jason Spezza.

Ottawa signed him to a new contract this year and what's scary is he hasn't even reached his prime yet. The turnovers he's been known for have come by less & less, and the coach isn't afraid to try him out on the penalty kill or the dying minutes of a game when a lead has to be protected.

Nice job, fancy pants! SBP's support has never wavered on you.

The NHL needs to do things that people like, and stop doing things people don't like. Easy, right? No one wants teams in Phoenix and Nashville. People want teams in Winnipeg and Quebec City. There is an appetite for pro hockey in Europe that should be explored. I would have no idea how the logistics would work, but there seems to be a strong fanbase in certain European countries such as Sweden and the Czech Republic so making an effort to play some games there or create a division of some kind might be a good option. Why there's more of a likelihood to see a team in Las Vegas or Kansas City it a question only Gary Bettman can answer.

So today, the NHL winter classic was played between the Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins in front of 71,000+ fans in the same stadium occupied by the Buffalo Bills. Tickets were sold at a rapid pace and, much like the Heritage Classic hosted by Edmonton when they played the Montreal Canadiens, it was an astounding success.

I only caught the latter part of the third period onward but it looked like it was a lot of fun and the atmosphere electric. Some on-ice repairs had to take place during the game, but this is beyond anyone's control and it's certainly better than not having a game at all. It was pretty neat to see the players skating while it snowed down, many of the cameras having droplets of water on the lenses which added to the effect. So why not make this an annual event? Hands down every Canadian team would love to host a game. And you can pick one of many northern American cities, like Detroit or New York, who might be able to host an outdoor game as well. Events like these make the game better.

This is what the NHL needs to do. Just give what the fans want, and quit trying to cram hockey in places where there's just no interest.