This is the show I've been looking forward to. Last year, the Caps/Pens game, at Verizon Center before the Winter Classic, was absolutely amazing. It seemed like an hour long look into one game.
Another year, another family skate and bad sweater party ... this year for the Rangers (and yes, the Flyers one was before in the 24/7 series). Some amazing sweaters and outfits for the party. You have to love any time someone has a sweater that lights up ha.
I really like Claude Giroux. Glad to see that things weren't too bad, gets right back into the mix, and has some nice banter at the faceoff dot. Laviolette gets to show he's that asshole I talked about last post. Still a fucking joke. It's not like Ott did anything wrong, and Laviolette proves to be a dick yet again. There's no need for him to bust through and go to the locker room ... then to laugh it off at the end of the game proves what a fucking joke he is.
Again, HBO does a great job bringing hockey players to the fan as people. Seeing Gaborik pick out a tree, and then carry it home was pretty funny. There's a bit of the Islanders/Rangers, cross town, rivalry, but too much time has gone by in this episode. Bring on the Flyers/Rangers game ... all cameras on deck.
This game starts with the teams walking into MSG, and dives right into the game. It's time like this where I wonder why Shop.NHL.com doesn't sell any team issued gear. There are some really nice tops that fans can't buy. I'd like to pick up a nice Caps jacket, just like the players wear, but I digress. The hitting in this game is intense, and the HBO cameras are right there to capture it all. Something I've noticed throughout the three episodes so far though is the addition of the coaches being mic-ed up. I don't really like how HBO drops them into situations ... it's a bit distracting actually. Rupp is great, his talk is spot on and right to point. Then, another look into the war room. Just like last year, a look into what goes on during reviews. It's awesome to see that, and see what gets looked at to check those goals. I also love how HBO goes back and forth between coaches at 2nd intermission. Both coaches working on their teams, imploring them to work harder and to score the next goal. Then the Rangers come right out and make it happen ... 3-0 Rangers. The game ends up 4-2, just like Laviolette said, only it's the Rangers that win this one. HBO didn't seem to do as much on this game as they did in the Caps/Pans game last season. Maybe there's more to talk about, or the game wasn't like last year's. Who knows.
Christmas at the Bryzgalov household shows his husky, and then another interview ... talking about the many faces of Iyla. Bryz doesn't seem the happy-go-lucky person he was over the previous two episodes though. The last couple games seem to be getting to him a bit. They haven't turned out great for the guy. Then they go from there to Brian Boyle and his 12 siblings. 13 kids ... that's amazing. It appears that HBO was more about putting together the Flyers and Rangers as "people that just happen to play hockey", instead to putting more into the Flyers/Rangers game. I'm guessing this is the reason.
Then we get to see the rink going in at Citizens Bank Park. This is the point where "Welcome to the Black Parade" became an opening that most Caps and Pens fan equate to a camera getting into Heinz Field. This year also shows some awesome pictures of the rink and the beginning of construction. Going into the Winter Classic, the Rangers are the team that's playing well ... and the Flyers are a bit up and down. One more episode, that concludes with the Winter Classic.
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