Hockey Ping!
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The games at Yankee Stadium should be interesting weather-wise, what with winter storms coming through every couple of days.
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I think it will be in the 50s after sunset. Chilly for us (unused to cold) but I am so excited! And other hockey loving freepers going tonight??
This is the FIRST outdoor pro hockey game west of the Rockies. Gonna be a fun experience.
By a strange stroke of good fortune (or bad luck, LOL), I’ll be sitting at Yankee Stadium tomorrow watching my Devils take on their cross-river rivals in New York. The temperature at opening faceoff is supposed to be 14 degrees, but at least there’s no snow in the forecast for tomorrow!
I love the winter classic, but adding 5 more out door games doesn’t make it 5 times as awesome.
The setup of the hockey rink at dodger stadium is odd. It looks like most fans will be at the ends of the rink. All of this got me curious at to how thick is the ice on a hockey rink surface and it appears the answer is 3/4 inch. I would have thought it would be more than that especially if there is some melting.
77 degrees in Los Angeles at 1:30pm. It should plunge to 70 degrees by the end of the first period. Interesting conditions for maintaining the ice. The air is pretty dry so evaporation should prevent too much standing water.
For you folks in SoCal, starting time is 6:30.
I watching Kings vs Ducks
It was weird
Having NHL game in middle of Dodger stadium
Today's game at Yankee Stadium was absolutely awesome, except for Devils' fans who weren't happy with the final result. Any hockey fan should do something like that at least once -- preferably in a cold venue where the hockey seems to fit right in.
Just a few quick notes while they're fresh in my mind:
1. The game was supposed to start at 12:30 PM Eastern Time, but it was delayed for a while because of safety concerns with the bright glare of the sun. By the time they started it had clouded over a bit, which made it easier for the players to see on the ice.
2. There are no "good seats" at one of these stadium hockey games. The stadium is way too big for this type of event, so the ice is too far away to see much ... but if you have a chance to go to one of these games make sure you get seats upstairs. It gives at least an unobstructed view of the ice surface.
3. The quality of the ice seemed to be a problem for much of the game. There were a few spots where the facility crew would come out after every few whistles and patch something up.
4. Related to the last point ... The game was noticeably slower than usual, due to (I think) a combination of the ice conditions and the heavy clothing the players needed to wear to keep warm. But, hey -- this is the way hockey should be played, right?
5. Lord, it was cold. My friend and I were dressed from head to toe as if we were on an Arctic expedition, and there were lots of stares and snickers from other fans as we entered the stadium. By the end of the first period we had lots of fans coming up to us in the corridors under the stands, marveling at how warm and comfortable we looked and asking where they could buy the kind of gear we were wearing. LOL.
6. It seemed like a lot of fans sacrificed warmth and comfort just to wear the colors of their favorite team. Leave the jerseys at home, folks. They don't make you any warmer, and if you wear them over your winter gear they just make it more difficult to move around.
7. It was a very well-behaved crowd! Considering how much larger the New York fan base is, and considering that the game was at Yankee Stadium in New York City, I was surprised to see how many New Jersey fans were there. The stadium looked like it was about a 50%-50% split between blue (Rangers) and red (Devils) colors, but that's probably a biased estimate because the red gear was more prominent in a large stadium. I believe the closest "official" estimate I saw from the NHL indicated about a 60%-40% NY-NJ fan split.
I hope the NHL continues this series, but they shouldn't overdo it by scheduling them in places that aren't well suited to winter hockey. I'd be curious to get some input from any Freepers who might have attended the game out in Los Angeles last night!
NHL Stadium Classic ping!
