ST. LOUIS \u2014 Corey Crawford said the ice was \u201cpretty bad.\u201d Niklas Hjalmarsson said it was better than the indoor ice at Carolina\u2019s PNC Arena. Trevor van Riemsdyk said none of it mattered.
\u201cBoth teams are playing in the same elements,\u201d van Riemsdyk said following the Blackhawks\u2019 4-1 loss in a rainy Winter Classic at Busch Stadium. \u201cIt\u2019s not like it was just raining on our end, or just raining on them. You can notice it when it rains, obviously the ice feels a little different. But it\u2019s nothing that affected us too much, I don\u2019t think.\u201d
Five hours before the scheduled noon puck drop, the NHL announced that it was sticking with that original start time. But the league also laid out a whole bunch of bizarre scenarios. The game had to go two full periods to be deemed official, otherwise they would try again on Tuesday. If it couldn\u2019t be played by Tuesday night, it would be rescheduled indoors at Scottrade Center at a later date. And in a fascinating possibility, if the game was official, but unfinished, and tied, each team would have earned one point, and a pregame shootout at the United Center on Feb. 26 would have decided the extra point.
But the game went off on time, and without a hitch. Blues captain Alex Pietrangelo said the rain was a bit of a factor early, with little puddles affecting play, but that it let up in the second period and everything froze over.
\u201cI don\u2019t think anyone\u2019s really complaining about the conditions too much,\u201d Patrick Kane said. \u201cThe ice was fine.\u201d
Said Blues coach Ken Hitchcock: \u201cIt was way better than anybody thought. And I think the ice felt heavy, so the shifts were short. You were looking at 25, 30 second shifts. That fits us, too.\u201d
\u201cHe\u2019s been probably our best player so far this year, and [Scott Darling], too,\u201d Niklas Hjalmarsson said. \u201cWe\u2019re spoiled with having great goaltending. It makes it extra tough sometimes, when you feel like maybe you don\u2019t have his back sometimes, when he had your back.\u201d
\u201cI went there and the guy suggested a sombrero, and I told the guy, \u2018I\u2019m round enough as it is,\u2019\u201d Hitchcock said. \u201cWo we settled on a navy fedora and the Stetson style.\u201d
Email: mlazerus@suntimes.com
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