Road To The Winter Classic starts tonight.

[Ando]

Damn, R.I.P Clint Reif

On another note, I think Scott Darling has great character. Hope he becomes more than just a back up in his future.

 

[timmeh]

Is there anyway to see this in Sweden earlier than on friday?

 

[Sacha Baron Corbin]

That ending was rough well done though.

 

[leafsgirl12]

That ending was rough well done though.

i agree the ending was sad and it must be a very sad time for clif reif's widow and 4 young kids.

 

[WarriorOfGandhi]

narrator in these versions is awful

 

[skymachine]

I've been trying to use the free trial on my iPad for almost an hour but it keeps telling me I am not entitled or the content is unavailable. I registered for the free trial on epix.com which kicked me to the epix app which won't let me watch it. What gives??

 

[Sacha Baron Corbin]

i agree the ending was sad and it must be a very sad time for clif reif's widow and 4 young kids.

I think they captured the sadness of the situation showing Quenville tearing up, while we are all used to seeing the coaching version of him. It shows how real life is still bigger than hockey.

 

[flaneur]

greenburg and co. deserves kudos for their deft handling of reif's death. no need for anything over the top... just a close up on quenneville's red eyes and showing a few words he said in the scrum that eerily echoed what reif had said was all that was needed.

 

[hisgirlfriday]

So I'm rewatching the Road to the Winter Classic ep. 2 and I noticed for the first time that during the Blackhawks shootout against Columbus (51:21-51:24 of the ep) that some portly male Columbus fan directly behind Bobrovsky had pulled his shirt over his head and pressed his bare chest against the glass when Patrick Kane and Brad Richards were making their shootout attempts.

Is this something that always happens during Columbus shootouts?

 

[RedBaronIndian]

So I'm rewatching the Road to the Winter Classic ep. 2 and I noticed for the first time that during the Blackhawks shootout against Columbus (51:21-51:24 of the ep) that some portly male Columbus fan directly behind Bobrovsky had pulled his shirt over his head and pressed his bare chest against the glass when Patrick Kane and Brad Richards were making their shootout attempts.

Is this something that always happens during Columbus shootouts?

Thats dancing Kevin. He is kind of a CBJ mascot. He does this a lot. Not sure if he does during every shoot out

https://twitter.com/kschroeder1720/status/546824358862540801


http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/2014/10/16/6977377/dancing-kevin-columbus-blue-jackets-story

 

[KCC]

Quietest Winter Classic ever. We're days away and there's barely been a peep about it leading up to it.

 

[UsernameWasTaken]

The most recent epi is replaying in SN1 right now (for those in Canada).

I haven't loved it so far. Well, I should clarify and say I like it because the Hawks are in it - but other than that, I've found it pretty dull - not particularly interesting/engaging (although, I've enjoyed the parts about Trotz and his son).

I liked 24/7 more - found it had a bit more 'bite' to it. I'm not sure whether I'm not enjoying this series as much simply because the concept is no longer novel, but I found it more white washed and more poorly produced.

 

[JaegerDice]

Quietest Winter Classic ever. We're days away and there's barely been a peep about it leading up to it.

1) There's no natural rivalry between the teams.

2) Outdoor games got over-exposed last year. They don't feel as special.

3) Even as a Chicago fan, I think Chicago has probably been in enough of these by now.

 

[TRG]

Love hearing the coaches. Both are hilarious and have great personality.

 

[Osprey]

I noticed in my guide that NBCSN is showing Episodes 1-3 Wednesday night. That might interest those of you who get NBCSN, but not EPIX or NHL Network.

BTW, the NHL deserves huge kudos for the distribution of this year's series. Being able to watch it on EPIX, NHL Network or NBCSN, as well as free online streaming, is way better than in years past, when it was either HBO or illegal streaming.

 

[johan f]

I have played hockey in obvious lower tier level than NHL, and my coaches were more with us players, talked more personal with us, they just did not walk thru lockerroom throwing out some mumbojumbo about "keep the pucks on net, keep them on outside and bla bla". I am aware of coaches have lonh sittings with players between the games about tactics but I just find it weird when Chicago coach walks thru the room with his eyes into a notebook and mumbles som tirades that players hardly gets fired up by.

Are there more talks from coaches than we see in those documentaries?

 

[hisgirlfriday]

Found this episode fairly enjoyable because all the Christmas celebration stuff was fun but that footage of slow motion arena seats and logo ice placement over the 3 minute monologue at the end about the story about the hockey teams and the mirror that didn't even make sense was enragingly awful!!!

If anyone from Epix is reading this... stop trying to make the episodes about YOU the clever moviemakers that you think you are and instead keep the focus on the hockey and hockey people. Use those precious minutes you wasted on that tripe instead giving us more mic'd up soundbites on the ice of someone arguing with a ref or players razzing each other in the lockerroom or players/coaches being cute with their kids off-ice. Anything but that pointless tedious monologue that does nothing to advance whatever epic narrative about life you think you are telling in a show that is at its best when its about hockey.

To the rest of the episode, I was bummed as a Hawks fan the only Christmas break footage we got was Quenneville even though I did like that part and Quenneville has been a great character on the show. Also bummed we didn't see any of the Toronto game which was awesome and instead got the stinker 'Peg game featured in full but it was interesting to see how adverse situations played out in the locker room I guess. Interesting the disembodied Seabrook was the voice trying to rally the team in the lockerroom, but it got me wondering why Brent Seabrook (and Duncan Keith for that matter) really hasn't been featured in this series at all but guys like Bickell and Shaw are? Maybe Seabs doesn't give the camera crew much?

I also was a little baffled in the way they put together the recap of the Colorado game. The story of that game was Seabrook being a boss and Duchene being frustrated yet the only Colorado player they really showed was MacKinnon. You saw Seabrook's goal, but the reason Duchene committed the interference penalty on him was another Seabrook play where Seabrook somehow caught up to Duchene and picked his pocket on a breakaway without committing a penalty that was pretty awesome. After the game, Seabrook gave the great soundbite explaining how he caught up to him was that he thought "all the turkey in his belly propelled him." They also inexplicably cut off the scuffle that broke out between Duchene/Kane/Landeskog after the empty net goal. That was an interesting spontaneous organic confrontational hockey moment but I guess it didn't fit whatever narrative they were trying to tell. Lame.

And in the Caps footage, I couldn't help but think they should really be playing the Pens in this game. There was the Ted Leonsis footage that was all about the Pens-Caps rivalry. All they could talk about in the Pittsburgh game is Crosby vs. Ovechkin.

So why are the Caps and Hawks playing in this again?

The Hawks should have hosted somebody other than the Pens (probably the Blues) in last year's Stadium Series game and the Pens should be visitors in the Caps Winter Classic right now.

 

[Classicnamesup]

Quietest Winter Classic ever. We're days away and there's barely been a peep about it leading up to it.

They have just been overdone. They were maybe a big deal the first fifty times but now they are just not worth getting excited about. The quality of ice is usually so bad the game is barely watchable.

Apparently the money keeps coming though but these teams don't even have a rivalry at all.

The most recent epi is replaying in SN1 right now (for those in Canada).

I haven't loved it so far. Well, I should clarify and say I like it because the Hawks are in it - but other than that, I've found it pretty dull - not particularly interesting/engaging (although, I've enjoyed the parts about Trotz and his son).

I liked 24/7 more - found it had a bit more 'bite' to it. I'm not sure whether I'm not enjoying this series as much simply because the concept is no longer novel, but I found it more white washed and more poorly produced.

Agree 100%. You really notice the production value and quality of HBO lacking here. The show is decent, some interesting points but they do nothing as good as HBO. The voice over isn't as good, the action shots during the game aren't as good, the soundtrack isn't as good, the interviews aren't as good, the behind the scenes isn't as good.

Disappointed personally, would rather HBO be doing it

 

[Carlzner]

I have played hockey in obvious lower tier level than NHL, and my coaches were more with us players, talked more personal with us, they just did not walk thru lockerroom throwing out some mumbojumbo about "keep the pucks on net, keep them on outside and bla bla". I am aware of coaches have lonh sittings with players between the games about tactics but I just find it weird when Chicago coach walks thru the room with his eyes into a notebook and mumbles som tirades that players hardly gets fired up by.

Are there more talks from coaches than we see in those documentaries?

Obviously. Intermissions are 17 minutes not 30 seconds.

 

[JaegerDice]

Q has really been the only great part of this series.

And the Reif segment.

Everything else has been pretty meh, IMO.

I am starting to understand why Trotz has been so successful though. He obviously knows the Xs and Os, but more impressive, even when he's blowing cliched smoke up players *****, he can somehow make you believe it, and that's before you take 20-years worth of credibility into account.

 

[titaniumexpose]

Anyone watching this via Epix on PS3 getting errors? Happens every time I attempt to watch episode 3. Probably not Sony's fault but this **** is getting annoying.

Edit: Main interface and movie selection screen loads fine until I select the show.

 

[RussianRifle27]

I've actually found this documentary to be much better than the Leafs/Red Wings. The narrarator sounds exactly like Liev Schreiber to me, maybe it is. I haven't really noticed much of a difference between Epix and HBO. Both seem to get the same footage and have good cinematography.

 

[JaegerDice]

I've actually found this documentary to be much better than the Leafs/Red Wings. The narrarator sounds exactly like Liev Schreiber to me, maybe it is. I haven't really noticed much of a difference between Epix and HBO. Both seem to get the same footage and have good cinematography.

Well the guy in charge of this series is the same guy that was in charge of the HBO series. So it makes sense the footage and cinematography are up to snuff.

The problem is that there isn't a real 'story' at the heart of it this year. In the first season, it was the Pens on a roll vs the Caps on a slide for example.

Last year, boring as it was due to the lack of personality on each team, it was a young team trying to take the next step, vs an older team trying to stave off decline.

This year.... what? What thematic or contextual tie/contrast do these two teams have?

It feels like two independent looks at two different teams, without much of reason for one team to care about what the other is doing.

 

[Pigskin]

not much talk around about this series

just watched Ep 3 and I think its fantastic ... very well done indeed Epix

Cheers

 

[Five Alarm Fire]

I think I'm more excited for Sharks/Kings 24/7. I enjoyed the first episode very much, haven't seen the other two. We've already seen the Capitals and I'm far more interested in the Pacific division due to the lack of exposure.