The Winter Classic...So What!?

Every New Year since 2008, the NHL holds the NHL Winter Classic and as each year passes, I find myself caring less and less. There are many reasons for my apathy and well..here they are.

The first and biggest reason I don't really care about the Winter Classic is because I have very little interest in watching teams on the east coast getting the game nearly every year. I love hockey and watching hockey but being a fan of a western team (The Avs obviously) I could care less if the Flyers play the Rangers, or the Penguins play the Capitals. There is no reason the Winter Classic cannot be played in cities like Minneapolis/St.Paul or here in Denver. Minneapolis/St.Paul is the biggest no-brainer. Outdoor hockey is part of the culture in the land of 10,000 lakes and could take place in a couple of place. They could play teams like Phoenix, LA, San Jose, Anaheim, or Dallas. Have the Dallas Stars come back to Minnesota and play the Wild. It will be great. As for Denver, it can be sunny and kind or warm during the day around the New Year, but you could easily have the game start at 5:00pm or 6:00pm MST and it would be dark and cold enough to play hockey at Sports Authority Field or even Coors Field since Coors isn't used during the winter. Hell, even Folsom Field in Boulder, Colorado could work although it isn't in downtown Denver. Again have the Avs play a Pacific division team like LA or San Jose so they can be involved as well. I guess you can say Detroit, but in my eyes that rivalry is dead. At least the player rivalry is. Lets share the Winter Classic love and get every fan base involved.

Another problem with the game is the play in the actual game. The ice is awful, the puck is bouncy and the players have a harder time skating. This turns what would normally be a skilled battle between the Penguins and Capitals into a sloppy and ugly game. This is obviously something the NHL couldn't do much about. They cannot control the weather. Instead of an outdoor game, do what the NHL already did this year. This past Thanksgiving the NHL had a game between the Detroit Red Wings and Boston Bruins. Nearly everyone had the day off and were home sitting on their couches. I was much more excited during the affair because these two teams put on an amazing display of skill and the game had an up-tempo pace. This game felt special NOT because it was held in an outdoor stadium in front of 100,000 fans but because it was a great game, plain and simple. I know that cancelling the game isn't really a solution, but if there was a way to make it so they can make the play on the ice better and not just relying on the outdoors to make your game "special" then the game would be much better. If that means moving the game indoors and making the playing surface and as a result the play on the ice much better, I would be all for that.

While there are a lot of negatives to the Winter Classic one positive that trumps all the negatives is the 24/7 series on HBO. In my honest opinion, this is the only reason that I am excited for this years Winter Classic. HBO's 24/7 series has been a huge hit for boxing and now hockey. It give you the opportunity to see an NHL team uncensored as they make their way to the big event. You get to see the teams ups and downs, all the behind the scenes locker room conversations, practices, and you get to see hockey players and coaches in a new light. You gain a new respect for these guys and what they do, something you might not gain if it weren't for this series. Coming into this year 24/7 we get to see a ton of interesting hockey personalities such as John Tortorella, Sean Avery, Chris Pronger, and many more. I cannot wait 'till this starts up soon

The Winter Classic is still in it's infancy and will get better with time, these are just some things I feel that can be addressed to make the experience more entertaining and fun to watch for everyone.

-Colorado Cross Checker.

Top 5 Best and Worst Current NHL Jerseys.

These picks are in no specific order and include current 3rd jerseys as well.

Top 5 Best Jerseys:

1) Buffalo Sabres (Home)

I absolutely love these jerseys. This is the only jersey on this list that if I had the money, I would buy one right now. Love the colors, love the logo, love the stripes. If there was one thing I could take off the jersey, it would be the piping on the side of the body. Other than that they are beautiful.

2) Montreal Canadiens (Home)

If it 'aint broke, don't fix it. These jerseys have been used for a while and I love them. I love the color scheme as well as the white-on-blue-on-white stripe through the center of the chest with the Canadiens "C-H" in between. I am a sucker for a classic jersey look and this fits the bill.

3) Calgary Flames (Third)

Even though I do not like the Calgary Flames, this jersey which they wore during the Heritage Classic last winter against the Montreal Canadiens is very clean and is very simple. The red, yellow, and white, play well together and the Flames logo looks good as Always.

4) Minnesota Wild (Third)

Another team I don't like but these jerseys are absolutely beautiful. They have a very classic look. I love the shade of green they used in these jerseys, as well as the "Minnesota Wild" diagonally across the chest. If there is something you will see with me it is that I love simple jerseys such as this one. Now only if they could do something with their weird away jersey (I will get to these later).

5) Boston Bruins (Third)

Last, but certainly not least, the defending Stanley Cup champs, the Boston Bruins. Again simplicity can make the best jerseys. No frills just the logo and the yellow-on-white-on-yellow arm stripes. While I do like the Bruins regular home jerseys, I like their thirds more just because I like this logo.

Top 5 Worst Jerseys:

1) L.A. Kings (Home)

There is one thing that a jersey should not be, and that is boring. The color scheme of black, white, and silver does nothing for me, very "meh." Another thing is the piping in the back and on the front, it needs to go. If there is one thing I like about the jersey it is that the logo is pretty nice and the font isn't too bad either.

2) Nashville Predators (Home)

The complete opposite of the Kings jerseys, these do way too much. These feel like jerseys a roller hockey team would wear. I don't like the shade of yellow they picked (although better than the mustard yellow on their past third jerseys). I like to see jerseys have some nods towards the city they play in but with the piano on the neck (which you wouldn't see during the game anyway) and the guitar strings on the numbers, this jersey does too much in my opinion. Plus they have piping. I do like the guitar pick shoulder patch though.

3) Minnesota Wild (Away)

The reason these are on here is simple. They don't fit with the Wild's other jerseys. I love both their home and third jerseys but this one isn't like either of them it is weird to see a team have 2 completely different jerseys for home and away. I just don't get it. They look OK but I cannot get past the fact that they are so different from their home jerseys.

4) Anaheim Ducks (Home)

These jerseys are just plain ugly. The color scheme looks gross. It is just a boring jersey. I don't like how the "D" on the ducks looks and these just seem ugly, uninspired and boring. Although I like the font on the back...I guess.

5) New York Islanders (Third)

I'm not sure what was going on in the mind of the man or woman that designed this. The color scheme looks great when it is just the white, orange, and blue but once you put the black on it, it just looks....weird. I also don't like the shoulders and how it has the white up there. Not a very good look for this team. Should have stuck with their normal and nice looking jerseys.

There is my list and if there was one thing that was hard was find 5 current jerseys I "hate." I like pretty much every jersey in the league, minus these 5 mentioned of course. As an Avs fan I was thinking of putting a Red Wings jersey as the one of the 5 worst for laughs, but couldn't because they don't really look that bad.

If there are any jerseys you love or hate let me know in the comments!

-Colorado Cross Checker.

An Avalanche of a Conundrum.

What is up with the Avs? What is it that is keeping the Avs from reaching their potential and keeping them from playoff contention? Is it coaching? Goaltending? Leadership? Management? In this post, I will address what I see is going on with the Avs. These will be semi-short and to the point as I could probably write pages on some of these subjects.

Coaching: Coach Sacco needs to go. It's always sad to see someone lose their job, but he just isn't getting it done. Seemingly every game for the past couple of weeks I see coach Sacco get constantly out coached. The biggest example of this was the 6-3 loss against the Pittsburgh Penguins. After the first period in which the Avs played well and staked themselves to a 3-1 lead, they held on in the second then got dismantlement by the Penguins and let in four third period goals. Although the Penguins are a much better team on paper than the Avs, it is inexcusable to have a two goal lead and lose it in the final period. Dan Bylsma, the head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins recognized what the Avs were doing and made his adjustments. I am not sure who the Avs could get to replace Sacco, so that is the hardest thing about this. Do you guys have any ideas?

Goaltending: First I must say that I am in no way a goaltending expert. I am not a hockey expert for that matter, but the Avs gave up A LOT to get goaltender Semyon Varlamov and while he started the season off well, he has fallen off a little bit. I feel that the Avs made a smart move is getting Jean-Sebastien Giguere to help mentor young Varlamov. I feel that "Varly" needs not only a mentor in Giguere but also a FULL TIME goalie coach that he can work with to get his form and confidence back up. I think that Avs fans should not panic with Varly's play because he is a young man getting used to playing big minutes with an NHL club. The Avs need a goalie that can steal them games and give their forwards and defense confidence and I feel that Varlamov is that guy.

Leadership: I feel that the Avs are good on this front. I think Milan Hejduk is a good choice for now until he retires and will do a good job at showing the youngsters how to play good hockey. After Hejduk the Avs have players such as Erik Johnson, Paul Statsny, Ryan O'Reilly, Matt Duchene, Gabriel Landeskog, and also Shane O'Brien has emerged as a viable choice of captain. This team will have a host of players leading the charge for years to come and I have no doubt these players listed will be first into battle.

Management/Ownership: This is also one place that I think needs to change. The management and ownership seem very transparent. An example of what I mean is there is no indication that the management and ownership want to make this team a legitimate contender. In Buffalo, their new owner, Terry Pegula, came out in a press conference stating his intentions, he wanted to win no matter what the cost. He was willing to spend money on the players that management felt would get the job done. Kroenke Sports Enterprises (Stan Kroenke to be specific) has not shown that he is willing to help the Avs win. While he is busy with the St. Louis Rams and Arsenal F.C. he is leaving his Denver franchises' in the dust. Let me be clear though, I do not think blindly spending money like the New York Rangers or Toronto Maple Leafs creates a contender, but I feel that the ownership should allow the Avalanche spend a bit on some free agent players. Although the Avs do have a lot of money to spend this off-season to retain talents such as Matt Duchene, Ryan O'Reilly and many others. 

While It is frustrating to watch the Avs lose, I feel that there shouldn't be too much panic within the fan base because this is a young team trying to find their way to the win column and trying to grow out of their "weird teenage" years.

If you think there are other things wrong or that I am way off mark let me know in the comments!

-Colorado Cross Checker

Sid the Kid

When it comes to Sidney Crosby I do not understand the hate he receives. Maybe it's just jealousy, or something, I don't know. People call him out for his arguing with the refs, but that is his job. He wears the "C" on his chest for that reason, he is the "spokesperson," if you will, for his team. If he feels that the penalty called was not fair then it is his job to let the refs know. People call him out for being a wuss. He plays hockey, the toughest sport in the world. He is not a wuss.

With that said, the speculation on his return was very grating. How many times can you ask Sid, "How's your head?" and expect a different answer than "The same..." I was happy to see him return because he is a rare talent in this league. I was not fortunate enough to watch Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux in their primes. I can watch highlight reels, but it just isn't the same. I am not trying to say that Sid is on the same level as Gretzky and Lemieux, they played in a different era in the NHL. Crosby is a truly special player. He came back from almost a year removed from the NHL and was absolutely amazing. 4 points in a game is nothing to scoff at, especially the way he got them.

Crosby is world talent, his stats and accolades speak for themselves. Over 500 points in less than 500 games, Stanley Cup, Olympic Gold Medal. Those are only SOME of the things Sid the Kid has achieved at the ripe old age of 24. We as hockey fans should be excited Crosby is back. It's great for the fans, Penguins and the NHL.

Allow me to introduce myself.

Before I start my bloggin', I suppose I should introduce myself. My name is Bryan Clark, I was born, raised, and still live in Aurora Colorado. I am currently attending college and am working towards a diploma in mechanical engineering. Obviously being born and raised in  Colorado I am a HUGE Avs fan and pretty much watch every game that I can. I do not only watch Avs hockey I watch any hockey I can, no matter which team (Even the Red Wings). I am a fan of the league as well as a fan of the Avs. Well I suppose that is pretty much it, hope you enjoy my blog!