Chicago Blackhawks Notes: Winter Classic Preps and All-Star Updates

Winter Classic Hysteria Building Around Wrigley

With the Winter Classic a mere nine days away, the excitement is building not only in Chicago and Detroit, but throughout the entire NHL. The league’s website is heavily promoting the game, and players are weighing in on the historic occasion.

For instance, Ty Conklin, who has been a part of the first two NHL outdoor games (Edmonton in 2003 and Buffalo in 2008), commented that the city of Chicago is becoming “hockey-crazy,” and also on the excitement of the city about the team.

Jonathan Toews, who has played outdoor games a lot in his hometown of Winnipeg, said  “I won’t have any excuses (not to play well), I guess. I’m supposed to be used to that. But it should be fun.”

The Blackhawks have three games to play before that magical day, however. They will skate at the United Center Friday night against the Philadelphia Flyers (and the NHL’s Second Star of the Week, Jeff Carter), and then they have two road games against Minnesota and Detroit before the big day.

After their game at the Joe on Dec. 30, the two teams will both have an opportunity to skate on the Wrigley ice on New Year’s Eve.

The NHL also announced that they will be setting up a boatload of attractions outside of the stadium for the day before and day of the game. There will be a ton of hockey-themed events, such as taking shots against a virtual goalie (either Chris Osgood or Cristobal Huet), and also an ice-sculpting display.

There will also be chances littered throughout the area to win tickets to the All-Star Game, and yes, to the Winter Classic as well.

All-Star Voting Update

The races are tight, and the situation is fluid, but these are the absolute most up-to-date figures we have available.

Ryan Getzlaf has taken over the lead among Western Conference forwards with 546,899 votes. Patrick Kane is currently running second, only 487 votes behind. Jonathan Toews is third, with 451,947 votes. Also, he is over 100,000 votes ahead of Marian Hossa, the fourth place forward.

For those of you who don’t know, the Blackhawks have not had a player start in the All-Star Game since Chris Chelios in 1997. With the possibility of TWO players starting the game, I encourage all of you to keep voting!

As for the defensemen, the situation is just as muddled as ever, with the top four players being separated by a mere 36,000 votes. Scott Niedermayer leads, followed by Nicklas Lidstrom and Chris Pronger, and Brian Campbell is in fourth with 444,213 votes.

On the goalie side, Jean Sebastien-Giguere is leading the pack with 456,514 votes. Roberto Luongo has dropped to second, 44,000 votes behind. Evgeni Nabokov is third.

On the Eastern Conference side, the voting is being dominated by the Penguins and Canadiens.  Both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin have already passed the all-time record for most All-Star votes (held by Jaromir Jagr). Crosby has 1,074,001 votes, and Malkin is second with 966,105 votes. Alexei Kovalev is third with 790,163.

On the defensive side of the puck, Andrei Markov is first with 862,873 votes, and teammate Mike Komisarek is second. Sergei Gonchar is only 32,000 votes behind Komisarek.

The goalie race is neck-and-neck between Carey Price and Marc-Andre Fleury, with a mere 7,000 votes separating Price and Fleury. The third-place goalie, Henrik Lundqvist, is over 700,000 votes behind.

City Looking at Adding Indoor Rinks

Mayor Richard J. Daley announced that he is looking into adding more indoor hockey rinks in the city of Chicago, in an attempt to get more young people interested in the game of hockey.

“Kids want to play the sport,” Daley said. “We can do a couple of them inside, and that’s something we want to do in the next few years: to have rinks you can rent 24/7”.

Daley also said he “hopes that this event (the Winter Classic) is not only a terrific competition, but also inspires more young people to get involved in hockey, a sport where you learn teamwork."

Jay Blunk, Senior VP of Business Operations for the Hawks, said “we need a youth hokey initiative, (and) we recognized the great potential of hockey in this massively populated area.”

While discussions between the team and the city are in their preliminary stages, I can see the Blackhawks doing what a lot of teams are already doing. An example is the success of the Bulls/White Sox Training Academies, where kids learn how to play basketball or baseball from coaches of the teams involved.

Random Note

The Blackhawks will not practice again until their morning skate before their game against the Flyers on Friday. Their next scheduled practice at Bensenville is on Saturday.