I was lucky enough to get tickets to the NHL Winter Classic on Thursday. Yes, prices were steep but as a lifelong Red Wings fan living in Chicago there was no way I could pass it up. Weather-wise, we had a nearly perfect day. It was in the upper 20's (F) and cloudy, which apparently are optimal conditions for maintaining NHL-quality ice. The sun poked its head out at one point during the 3rd period but that didn't seem to affect play at all. With the exception of slightly cold feet I was comfortable the entire time, though I'm sure I looked like the Michelin Man with all the snow gear I had on under my jersey. The crowd was dominated by Hawks fans of course, but there were actually more Red Wings fans than I expected considering how the tickets were distributed. Still, I don't mind being outnumbered as I truly enjoy jawing back and forth with opposing fans. It's standard operating procedure for any Wings fan at a game in Chicago to be prepared to cite past and present performance when challenged with the only bit of trash talk Chicago fans seem to know: "DEE-TROIT SUCKS!" Through some trial and error, I found out on Thursday that replying with "1961" was particularly effective.

By now, I'm sure you all know what happened at Sean Avery's impromptu press conference in Calgary yesterday. If not, it's up on Youtube. When I first heard about what he said, I figured he probably made an off-the-cuff remark without considering the impact it would have. But after watching the video, it's obvious he had the whole thing planned out. Though I have to admit he has a point, this was an unprofessional move and he made himself and the rest of his team look bad. HOWEVER, I think the media frenzy that has come as a result is getting a bit out of hand. Yeah, he made a bad choice. The league swiftly dealt with it, though, so let's move on. Now, we have articles popping up all over that are obviously trying to add fuel to the fire. From The Bruins Blog at Boston.com: Sean Avery, the Dallas Stars' forward/agitator who was suspended by the NHL yesterday after making crude comments regarding an ex-girlfriend now dating another player, apparently had a rude confrontation with a fan in Boston earlier this season, according to an ESPN.com report. Say it ain't so! If this was such big news, why'd the Bruins Blog wait until now to report, err... link to it? This is certainly not the fi

A 68-year old woman died of heart failure at the Blackhawks game on Monday. If that's not creepy enough: "Patricia and Dorothea Kuhlman said that even more peculiar than the death of their sister, 68, at the hockey game is the fact that their mother died under similar circumstances nearly 22 years ago. Mildred Kuhlman died March 30, 1986, while attending a Blackhawks game at Chicago Stadium, Patricia Kuhlman said." If this happened to my family, I might think about giving up my season tickets at the end of the year.

The NHL has finally released ticket sale info for this year's outdoor game in Chicago between the Red Wings and the Blackhawks. The bottom line, if you plan on going to this game, is that you will be spending a fortune to do so. Pricing tiers are set at $75, $225, and $325, and there will be a random drawing to determine which non- Hawks' season ticket holders will have a shot at going. Wrigley Field only holds about 41,000 and when you consider the 14,000 season ticket holders who get first crack 'em, the 5000 or so seats reserved for the Red Wings, the chunk of lower level seats reserved for Amateur Hockey Association of Illinois members, and however many are held for press/promo purposes, the number of publicly available tickets is going to be pretty small. Anyone whose number doesn't come up in the drawing (which is the group I assume I will be in) will be at the mercy of scalpers and season ticket holders looking to turn a hefty profit.

After being suspended indefinitely pending a hearing and then his subsequent appeal, Michael Peca is serving a five-game suspension for grabbing a referee's sleeve and/or arm during a Blue Jackets game in Dallas last Friday. According to Peca, he made contact with the ref in an attempt to get his attention so he could protest a no-call prior to a Dallas goal that was just scored. According to NHL rules, any player that intentionally makes contact with a referee is automatically subject to a ten-game suspension. Peca's appeal got this reduced to five games. I understand the need to enforce this rule, but what Peca did seems hardly worthy of a five-game suspension, let alone ten. Unfortunately, there isn't any decent video on the net so I haven't seen for myself exactly what happened. Still, when you take into account the fact that Chris Pronger only received an eight-game suspension at the end of last season for stomping on Ryan Kesler's leg, it seems that Michael Peca got the shaft. Am I way off here? Does Peca's punishment fit the crime?

Top Rangers prospect Alexei Cherepanov collapsed on the bench at the end of a KHL game today. Apparently, after being involved in a collision with teammate Jaromir Jagr (which supposedly was minor), he returned to the bench and his heart just stopped. This sounds very similar to what happened back in 2005 to Jiri Fischer. Luckily in Fischer's case, paramedics immediately reacted and were able to revive him. Unfortunately for Cherepanov, the ambulance that is normally on hand during all games had already returned to the hospital since only a few minutes of regulation remained. There is also already speculation that the arena's defibrillators were not working properly. In any case, it's truly sad to hear about this kind of stuff - especially when it happens to a guy who's only 19 years old.

It was bad enough that the NHL chose Def Leppard to headline the season kick-off party in Detroit, NHL Face-Off Rocks 2008. Now I see that they've added Alanis Morrissette to the bill. She won't actually be there, but a portion of the show she'll be playing that night in Montreal will be broadcast live via satellite. Is this honestly the image that the league wants for itself? A couple of has-beens that don't "rock" whatsoever? I have a feeling that this is going to be harder to watch than an NFL Superbowl half time show.

Designed for the sole purpose of ruining the skillfully crafted rosters of fantasy hockey managers everywhere, pre-season injuries have reared their ugly heads once again. This year, we already have a few that beg the question, "What did these guys do to piss off the hockey gods?" First up is Carolina. Now, it's one thing if one of your top wingers gets hit when he's not ready for it, takes a puck to the skate while crashing the net, etc in a pre-season game and has to miss some time as a result. You expect that, and you deal with it when it comes. But losing Justin Williams for four to six months due to off-ice exercise gone wrong is a different story. Just reading about this one gives me chills: