NHL Unveils Fredo Corleone Classic This Weekend
Thanks to the delayed start of the NHL season, the league had to scrap its Winter Classic plans in Minneapolis and give the Wild a rain check on hosting the annual event (they were scheduled to play the Blues). But credit to the NHL for once again getting creative and coming up with a pretty sweet marquee event this weekend.
The first-ever NHL Outdoors at Lake Tahoe will feature contenders going head-to-head on Saturday and Sunday afternoon from a rink adjacent to the legendary body of water that also serves as the final resting place for Fredo Corleone.
In the first game, the Vegas Golden Knights take on the Colorado Avalanche at 3PM in a West Division showdown then on Sunday, the Philadelphia Flyers and Boston Bruins lock horns at 2PM in an East beef. Mike Tirico has been fantastic thus far on his NHL calls and Edzo/Bouch are easy choices for commentary/analysis. Given the lack of restraints of a stadium and a wide open airspace above, these could be two of the best-looking games the league ever televises.
I don't think anybody would be surprised if this streak continued this season either...
I know the Flyers are having COVID issues but you can't count them out when this guy is in the pipes...
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Here's a few other shots from Tahoe...
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*There have been some outstanding regular season games so far and Tuesday's clash between Washington and Pittsburgh was one of the latest. The pace and intensity were at or near playoff level and both squads were going balls out. The best sequence of the night happened when Alexander Ovechkin missed a between-the-legs shot from in close down one end then busted ass to get back into the play down the other and broke up a golden scoring chance for the Pens. The backcheck not only snuffed out an opponent's chance, it birthed one for his own team and led to a huge goal.
One shot of hockey porn please, barkeep.
*Kudos to the fine folks at Bauer for honoring Willie O'Ree with these sweet pair of blades. Several NHLers have worn them this month to pay tribute to O'Ree.
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*And here's a nice piece with Wayne Simmonds discussing the impact that O'Ree had on him...
*Connor McDavid reached the 500 point plateau in his 369th game when he assisted on Jesse Puljujarvi's 1st period goal, becoming the 8th fastest to hit that number. Sidney Crosby also got his 500th point in his 369th game. McDavid, Crosby and Ovechkin are the only active players to get to 500 in fewer than 400 GP.
*This one's for Sally Tessio. For old times' sake...