24/7: Penguins/Capitals - Road to the Winter Classic

[tomalak301]

Did anyone see part one of this the other night? I just watched it (I don't have HBO, but it was on NHL.Com) and I've got to say it was really fascinating. What I think struck me the most was the differences in both teams, one riding high on a 12 game winning streak, the other hitting rock bottom, or just about there. Baylsma keeps honing in the fact of "playing Penguins hockey" as motivation, while Boudroeu has shown so many emotions only to see his team pretty much suck up the ice every night. The team looks dejected and I do think the coach has lost the Locker Room. When you have the greatest player on Ice play like he's lost, something is wrong. I do wonder if the Coach is going to make it all the way through to the Winter Classic.

Anyway, I figured we can use this thread to follow this series. Like I said, I don't have HBO, but I'll try to get a hold of it somehow. Hopefully NHL.com posts the remaining parts, even though I understand if they don't. Still, if I only see part 1, it was quite fascinating.

 

[mimic]

Just watched it on NHL.com - really hope the next three parts show up there. It's going to be very satisfying to watch the Flyers end Pittsburgh's winning streak.

Last year the Flyers fired Stevens after a 1-6 stretch. I'd have to imagine that Bordeau's seat is heating up, especially now that the Thrashers have overtaken them for first in the division.

Unfortunately this may temper my hatred for the Penguins. It's hard to dislike a team when you see them with their kids. On the other hand, they play for Pittsburgh.

 

[The Habs Fan]

I loved the first episode. For anyone who hasn't seen it, you can watch it here: http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/console?catid=58&id=87985

 

[tomalak301]

Well, I had to replace a digital Cable Box today and just out of curiosity, asked how much it was to add on HBO. They said because we're already paying a lot, we can get 3 months free for it and then it's 19.99 a month. Well, I don't plan to use it for 3 months, but I just got HBO so I can enjoy the rest of 24/7. Really looking forward to how this series will go, especially with the events of the last week and a half.

 

[tomalak301]

So who saw episode 2 and what did you think. Some thoughts I had:

- I think the Shock Value is wearing off. I'm all for swearing, but I hear it every day and after getting so much of it in this episode and hearing so much about it, it's almost something I look past. It's just part of everyday life and people just do it.

- I think the thing I'm taking away the most on this series is not just getting really into this rivalry (Hell, that game tonight was fantastic, even the Shootout which I don't enjoy), but just going behind the scenes. We see meetings with the coaching staff, the players being real human beings instead of just "Athletes" that we take for granted, what the equipment manager does, and just getting a full fledged hockey experience that I didn't think I would ever get, It's making me look at this game differently and I mean that in a good way.

Yeah, I'm sure all sports are like this, but unfortunately, this documentary isn't happening with all Sports. Would I like to go behind the scenes of a week in the NFL (I didn't have HBO at the time so I missed Hard Knocks)? Sure. Same goes with Baseball and the NBA. However, I'm glad they're doing it with Hockey because Hockey is my favorite sport and it's giving me an entirely new perspective.

-Really loved the personal moments. From Balysma with his family and kid shooting pucks, to that player (Forgot his name, Craig Adams was it?) who was walking down the hall with his Son looking at the various pictures. It was funny and cute at the same time.

-I really loved how they did the whole Caps breaking the streak thing. I knew it was coming, but it was like 24/7 kept building the anticipation and things were so much different in terms of mood from Washington and that pep talk from the Assistant Captain during the Boston game finally woke the team up. Then when the streak ended, it was like watching it end again for the first time. Very well done.

Looking forward to the back half. So glad I got HBO just for this because I would probably be really sad if I hadn't. It's been a terrific series so far.

 

[tomalak301]

Each week I'm trying to pick out something new about this show to talk about mainly because it seems to carry the same trends week to week. That's awesome, of course, as it speaks to the quality and the job HBO is doing with this, but it can get a bit repetive to talk about. With that in mind, here's a few thoughts about Episode 3.

-I thought the highlight of the whole show was seeing the NHL War Room and really getting the behind the scenes of instant replay. In 3 minutes, they showed the entire process of video review and I thought that was just incredibly cool. Also, was it me or did the NHL room look a bit small. For 15 games (At least on a Super Day and this season there's been 13 games), that's a lot of TVs going at once. I just loved finally being able to see what the room looks like.

-I'm not sure I can look the same way to a hockey injury (Or I guess anything sports injury related) the same way again. Seeing Lovejoy's eye almost zipped shut was a bit unnerving and made me a little queasy. The pain and injury these guys have to endure in a season is absolutely insane, and I can understand why people are calling for a shorter season.

-Loved the coverage for the Pens/Caps game last week. It was an amazing finish to a great game.

-I really hope the Winter Classic get's played if only because HBO is covering it. I wonder how much damage it will do if the game isn't and HBO has to say in part 4 that weather played a key role in the game not happening.

-Loved the at-home stuff getting ready for the holidays. It's just been a joy to get to know these players better off the ice. HBO has said this has been getting great ratings, so I hope they do it again. If the NHL plays it right, it could be an awesome marketing tool for the game.

 

[the 4th hanson bro]

The game has been pushed back to 8pm EST to try and take advantage of better weather conditions.

 

[tomalak301]

Could be fun having a night game, and I think the NHL did the right thing by announcing it today instead of having fans and workers there waiting all day like NASCAR tends to do.