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Winter Classic 2008: The Penguins Coming Out Party · Pittsburgh Sports Memories

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_02: Hello, and welcome to another episode of Pittsburgh Sports Memories.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_02: I'm your host, Steve Wirt.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_02: And as usual, I'm joined with my co-host.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_01: Hi, everybody.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_01: I'm Tim Hannan.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_02: And on today's amazing podcast, we'll be covering the winter classic of 2008.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_02: And uh I'm gonna call this the Penguins Coming Out Party.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_02: So um, you know, the NHL, they decided to uh take their hockey game outside, and uh the penguins and the sabres uh were were playing in that, and uh we're gonna look at this uh inaugural was the first winter classic.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_02: And um, you know, it just was kind of like hello world, here's the uh Pittsburgh Penguins, if you don't know them.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_02: So without further ado, we'll jump right into it.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_02: Um, some background on like outdoor games in general.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I think there was one in the 50s.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_02: I didn't do much research on it.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know, the Red Wings played some prison team or something.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_02: I'm literally not making that up, but um there I do remember seeing this game on ESPN Classic.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_02: It's called uh it was a preseason game, and it was the Kings played the Rangers in a preseason game.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_02: It was outside in the parking lot of Caesars Palace.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_02: So um I'm not sure if Evil Knievel like jumped the rink before the before the game or anything like that.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_02: Remember Evil Knievel famously jumping the fountains at Caesar's Palace.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_02: Um so it's kind of an interesting place.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_02: Like, why would you play a game like a hockey game in the middle of the desert outside?
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_02: It's kind of kind of an odd thing to do, but um, I think it was mainly because Wayne Gretzky and they're trying to hype, even back in 1991, they were trying to prepare, I guess, Las Vegas to become an expansion city all the way back then.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_02: So um the Kings did win, they won five to two, like I said.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_02: Uh by the end of the second period, a bunch of grasshoppers hopped on the ice and froze.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_02: So the I the ice service for like the rest of the game was covered with like grasshoppers.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_02: Um and the attendance was about 14,000 fans watched a preseason game.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_02: So um it kind of like was like, hey, people like watching hockey games outside or in unique venues, I guess.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_02: Um now this wasn't like in a stadium or anything, they actually built a rink in the parking lot of the of the casino.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_02: So what really kind of started everything was it it goes like I guess literally 10 years later, on October 6th, 2001, Michigan played Michigan State in hockey at Spartan Stadium.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_02: The game ended in a 3-3 tie.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_02: Uh but um that was kind of like the um the game that started all the outside game stuff.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_02: It was a very well I shouldn't say that yeah, I guess it is, yes.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_02: So the it set an all-time hockey attendance at the time of 74,544.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_02: And like I said, this is kind of like you have it in your big football stadium where you have a bunch of seats and uh you know the concession stands and rep, you know, everything's kind of set up for the fans, and you just put a rink inside a big outdoor stadium.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_02: So that was kind of like the prototype for the outdoor games to follow.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_02: Um, the first regular season NHL game that was held outside was called the Heritage Classic, and it was held on November 22nd, 2003 at Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium, and that is the home of the CFL's Edmonton Eskimos.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not sure if that's where Warren Moon played.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_02: I think he played in Edmonton.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but this is another football stadium outdoors in Canada in November, which you wouldn't think is very cold, but uh it was.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_02: Uh there was an uh alumni game before the regular game.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_02: So it was kind of like the whole day was like a like a celebration of uh hockey.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_02: And it it featured uh Wayne Gretzky and Guy LaFleur, since the two teams playing were the Montreal Canadians and the Edmonton Oilers.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_02: Uh the Canadians ended up winning four to three, and the game time temperature was negative 22 degrees Fahrenheit.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_02: That wow, I can't believe it got that cold in November, but um that's that's wild.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_02: That's Canada.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_02: That is very cold.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I remember I remember I think Pittsburgh had a day where it was like negative 19.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_02: I remember I had to work outside then.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_02: I think that was like probably Wendy's, like cleaning the parking lot.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_02: It made me go outside like negative 19.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_02: And like I remember going into the freezer to get warm.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_02: It was like warmer in the freezer at like zero than it was.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_02: It's like, hey, it's way warmer.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_02: Negative 22.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know what that is in Celsius, but that's pretty darn cold and Fahrenheit.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_02: So um, so the the attendance for that game was 57,163, and it was like a huge success.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_02: I remember it made like a lot of highlights on ESPN and stuff, and it was just kind of fascinating because I mean I never I never had really heard much hype about that Michigan, Michigan State game, but that game seemed to get a lot of like I know maybe because Gretzky was in it and it was a regular season NHL game.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_02: So that got like a lot of like it really got a lot of you know hype and kind of got people's imaginations turning about having a game outside.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_02: So that's kind of like if the Michigan, Michigan State was like the prototype, that was kind of the proof of concept, was that that game I would I would call it.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I remember that that 2003 game, and like you said, it was kind of a curiosity.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_01: It was like, oh, this is kind of interesting, they're gonna play a game outside.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_01: And um I didn't realize it was that popular.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_01: Like I I remember seeing it, I don't think I watched it, but I remember seeing that they were gonna do it and thinking, like, oh, that's that's pretty neat.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_01: And I wonder how that's gonna look work out.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_01: And I remember watching the highlights and stuff.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but yeah, 50 you should say 57,000 people.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, and and then probably their only question after that was, you know, could you replicate that in the states for a hockey game?
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_02: Uh yeah, that's definitely what it moves on to.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_02: And it's uh I mean, I don't think that game was broadcast in the United States.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_02: I think it was only broadcast in Canada.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_02: So I don't know that you could have watched it in the United States.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_02: And that was kind of pre-like nowadays, you definitely probably could have streamed it somewhere, but back then in 2003, I don't know how you would have watched that without actually having it on like some sort of cable channel.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so the NHL decides to have a big event game to try and improve the visibility of the league.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_02: This obviously, you know, they've gone through a lockout.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_02: So though when was the lockout?
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_02: It was like 2005, so they're trying to kind of like since hockey was gone for a whole season and people kind of forgot about it.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_02: I think they were trying to like you know get things going again in hockey.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_02: So the NHL and their broadcast partner at the time, who was NBC, they decided to put a game outside on New Year's Day.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, if you know anything about sports in New Year's Day, that's normally like pretty solidly owned by college football, I would say.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_02: Like you all before the college football playoff, you always had like the Rose Bowl and what other big game, like the Fiesta Bowl or the Sugar Bowl, like all all the big those big four or six bowl games were always on New Year's Day.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_02: So if you're playing on New Year's Day in college football, you've had a successful season.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_02: But the NHL and that decides to wade in.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_02: I guess NBC didn't have a bowl game that they could televise.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_02: So so who does the NHL want to hype in its big game?
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_02: Who do you think, Tim?
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_02: New York New York, Chicago, Boston, maybe even Philly or Washington?
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_02: And those are kind of like your big American hockey hotbeds, right?
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, original six team or you know, a big market, maybe the Kings, something like that.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_02: Detroit, yeah, yeah, something like that.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_02: No, no, the the NHL picks Buffalo and Pittsburgh.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_02: And um, you know, because when you think of big time American hockey, everyone's mind goes to Buffalo and Pittsburgh.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_02: You know, two expansion teams, one of which just a couple seasons before had been negotiating a move to Kansas City.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_02: So um you know, I think I think the owner was kind of partial.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_02: The owner of the Sabres was kind of partial to this game to begin with.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_02: And I think too, like they knew the weather in Buffalo gave them the better the best chance of success, you know, out of all the American cities.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_02: Like it's probably gonna snow and be cold.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I can't think of any other besides like somewhere in Minnesota that would have, you know, been better.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_02: And I I don't even know if they were the wild even around back in 2008.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_02: I don't even know.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, you're right.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_01: That's a good point.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_01: There's not really too many, um, you know, for for something like that, because you you wanted it to work, right?
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_01: And and I know they've had it other places since where there's been you know maybe a few more issues, but you didn't want to you didn't want to put it on and then have like constant stoppages or ice melting or anything like that.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_01: You had to have it work.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_01: And so if you weren't gonna do it in northern Canada, yeah, Buffalo, Minneapolis, maybe, maybe Boston.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but you had to go north.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_01: And Buffalo, you know, with with the lake and everything, I mean Buffalo's a pretty sure, sure thing.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think that's what it really and they have a football stadium, so I think that's like kind of the two criteria were were met there.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_02: Um so uh just to get in, so it's Buffalo and Pittsburgh, well, Pittsburgh versus Buffalo, if you want to say it correctly, since Buffalo's gonna be the home team.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_02: Um, the background of the teams, um, not to get too much into the Buffalo Sabres history, but at that time uh the Sabres had won the president's trophy in 2006-2007, which is for the team with the most points in the regular season.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but they had lost in the conference finals to eventual champion uh the Carolina Hurricanes.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_02: Um in the offseason, they lost Daniel Briere, who was one of their big scorers, and a couple other big players from the year before.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_02: But they still had Ryan Miller, who's one of the better goaltenders in the league at that time, and of course Lindy Rupp, who was the Sabres coach as he had been since time immemorial, uh which at that time was 11 years.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_02: He was 11 years into his uh coaching career in Buffalo, which is like I don't know.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_02: I can't compare that to anything else.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_02: And in like in hockey terms, that's like being a coach somewhere 30 years.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_02: So it was it was a long Lindy Rupp was there a long time.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_02: Um, some background on the Penguins.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_02: Um the Penguins uh they had kind of sucked since uh 2001.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_02: Uh the low point was a 2000 was 2003, they had a league low, 58 points.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_02: And uh after the 2005 lockout, the team went through a major rebuild.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_02: Like they tried, remember that in 2005 they tried to like throw together a team around Mario just to like you know, hey, we're gonna go for it, and it didn't work out, and so they just went in a total rebuild mode mode.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_01: I uh I had season tickets that year, and I was um actually excited because you're right, they they did they try to like piece together these kind of aging stars like Ziggy Palfi and John Leclerc and um to kind of like make this last run with with Mario and Sid was a rookie, and that that would be an interesting one to just do an episode about that team because it flamed out so um you know amazingly.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_01: It just that was a complete yeah, that was a complete bomb.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_02: Who was the coach?
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_02: Was it Olchak?
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_02: Was Eddie Olchak the coach?
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_02: No.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_01: It was Olcak.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_01: I'm pretty sure he got fired that season.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_01: Don't quote me on that, but I'm pretty sure he did.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_01: And and then they brought in Terrian.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_01: Uh but but yeah, they it was called they even like branded it as like the X-Force.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_01: So I had a t-shirt, I had an X-Force t-shirt.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's the X-Force.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_01: It's like it was a little 90-ish for 2005, but you know, whatever.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_01: It it was it was their attempt to just try to brand it as something.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_02: So after that disaster, or kind of before, like if you look at some of the the draft, I'm gonna go through like how they they rebuilt their core, and they kind of started a little bit before that, but like this is kind of how so first it starts with goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, because that's probably the most important position.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_02: Goaltender is the equivalent of quarterback in football.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_02: Like, if you have one, you can have a pretty mediocre to bad team and still at least make the playoffs, if not challenge for a Stanley Cup.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_02: So they drafted Marc-Andre Fleury.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_02: He was mostly known in Canada for the time for allowing a goal in a championship game in juniors that cost Canada a gold medal in that tournament.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_02: Um the then they drafted uh Yevgeny Malkin because they still stunk.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_02: And now I'm I have 2004, is that it took them like two years to get Malkin out of Russia because of uh all the like I didn't understand it at the time.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_02: I think I understand it now better because of like I followed some soccer and like baseball is kind of like that too.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_02: You have to pay the league, like he was playing in that continental hockey league, and you have to pay them to have rights to then buy the player.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_02: Like, you don't it's not like like when a player is like a free agent, you just go get them, you know.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_02: You have to like go to the league and be like, okay, how much money do you want?
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_02: And they want, oh, 10 million, five million, quadrillion dollars, whatever, you know, whatever it is, and you just kind of pay them.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_02: So like I said, it took a couple years to get Malkin out.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and then uh center Jordan stall in 2006 of the uh hockey playing stalls, and they were straight from the sod farm in British Columbia.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and of course, the main piece to all this was center Sydney Crosby in 2005, and that was the lockout year.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_02: And how they determined that was I think they determined it from the year before their standing, and they just had a lottery.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_02: Although they have a lottery for the top five picks, but I think every team was in the lottery, and they called this draft this it was called sarcastically the Sydney Crosby sweepstakes.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_02: He was considered to be one of the biggest stars since Gretzky and Lemuta come out of Canada, or at least Nova Scotia, but uh but no, he was definitely he's always named the next one, and there was a lot of hype around Crosby, and you know, you weren't you weren't sure what to make of that, but um, you know, I think he's probably lived up to that hype.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so with this core of young players, the Penguins make the playoffs in 2006-2007 season, but they just weren't they were a young team, and I don't think they were quite ready for prime time.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_02: They lost the Ottawa Senators in five games.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_02: I remember that.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_02: It wasn't a very competitive series, and they just uh, you know, kind of flamed out.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_02: Uh like we said earlier, Michelle Terrion um was the coach.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_02: Um, he got hired, and they kind of went from like nice guy oldie Eddie Olcek to my to Michelle Terrion, who's kind of like um here, we'll play a clip.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I'm not sure after what game this was, but um here's Michelle Terrian basically uh telling what he thinks of uh his defenseman.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_00: Not impressed.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_00: It's a pathetic performance.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_00: Half of the team doesn't care.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it's like are we gonna be happy to to play eight minutes?
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_00: I'm I'm not gonna be happy to play eight minutes.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_00: What those guys will say if we take 40% of their salary because they only play or 50% of their salary because we they only play for 50% of the time.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_00: That's enough.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_00: That defensive squad, you know this I think their goal, I I really start to believe their goals is to be the worst defensive squad in the league.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_00: And they're doing such a great job to be the worst defensive squad in the league.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_00: You know, they're they turn the puck over, you know, they have no vision.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_00: They suff like I never see a bunch of defensemen soften like this.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_00: So you know they're they put the two combination and there's a lot of guys don't care.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_00: They pretend to care, but I know they don't care.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_02: I I I think we kind of get the point of uh Terry in there.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_01: Just legendary, man.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_01: I mean he he just the the way he just they soft.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, they soft.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_01: I've never seen so many guys just so soft.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_01: And they they think they they they think they care, but I I know they don't care.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_01: I know.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_01: I I know what's really going on, they don't care.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_01: He um he allegedly like said something like he he didn't that wasn't off the cuff, like he wanted to say that to rile them all up.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_01: Because I think he turned to somebody right before he went up there, he's like, watch this.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, so he he that was sort of premeditated, but it's still, I mean, for me that that's like right up there with like the here's a guy that used to coach the Saints and the Colts.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_01: Remember Jim Mora?
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, players.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_01: You know, the way he used to play offs, yeah, and Diddley Pooh and all that, and like you know, uh I mean that that's like like that that's right up there with those kinds of rants.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_02: It's definitely an all-timer, the Bears who thought, you know, we thought who the Bears who they were and we let them off the hook.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_01: Oh yeah, yeah.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_02: That's like definitely all timer, but um that's Michelle Terry and so you went from like Eddie Olcek, like I said, who's like the nicest guy to this guy who's like, yeah, they they soft.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_02: Or like I also heard story like he cussed them out like during an intermission, like in like half French, half English.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_02: So I mean, bilingual cuss out.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_02: That's you know, just in case you didn't catch it in English, here's it in French.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_02: So Michelle Terrian, um, he's he's a classic.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so the league they want the hype, it's their biggest young star, and that's Sidney Crosby, and uh it's up and coming team, the Pittsburgh Penguins.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_02: So um uh the setup for the game, um, the NHL picks Ralph Willsham Stadium, which is now High Mark Stadium in Buffalo to host the game.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_02: It's Ralph it's been around for a long time.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_02: It's a football stadium.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_02: The Bills play their games there.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_02: Um, they actually started prepping the surface after the Bills' last home game on December 24th.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_02: So thank God the Bills stunk for all those years back then.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_02: It was like the Bills, like now, you know, they would have had trouble getting that game in because they had to fit it in with it with an NFL playoff game.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_02: But uh because the Bills were so bad back then, it really wasn't an issue.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_02: So um another thing, they they put the rink between the 16 yards of the yard lines of the field, so it's kind of between the 20s.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_02: And uh they had to actually level it because I guess they crown the field so it can drain.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_02: They had to level it with styrofoam, insulation, and sand so that the ice wouldn't be like tilted to one side or the other.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_02: So some interesting things about them making the uh for the uh rink.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_02: Um couple weird fun facts.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_02: Uh Mark Andre, well not weird, but this is kind of a circumstance.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_02: Marc Andre Fleury got hurt a week before the game.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_02: So Ty Conklin had to start in goal for the Penguins.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_02: Um I think he hurt his ankle like going to get a puck into the boards or something like that.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_02: But um Ty Conklin had played for the Sabres the year before, which is odd, but even better connection, he had also started for the Oilers in the Heritage Classic game in 2003.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_02: So uh they actually had a guy who had some experience in outdoor hockey games.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_02: The Penguins did.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_02: Um, they also had a guy named George Laroc, or as my wife used to call him, George Laracue.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_02: Um he was the penguin he was the penguins enforcer and uh Sydney Crosby bodyguard.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_02: Um he had also played in the Heritage Classic for Edmonton.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_02: He was just kind of like, I don't know, I guess he was a goon.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_02: I guess, you know.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_02: Back then you had to have a guy to protect Crosby.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_02: It really didn't work though.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_02: So he wasn't.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um I mean he technically he was a goon, but he was I don't know.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_01: He he was just a big, huge hulking guy.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_01: He wasn't like uh like if you compare him to some of the guys we had before, like Alp Samuson or Darius Casparitas, guys that would kind of headhunt if needed, like that was not George Laroc.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_01: Like he just he was kind of like a big teddy bear almost.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_01: Like he just wasn't he wasn't really that guy.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_01: So you're right, that never really did work.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_02: Well, yeah, and it was like so I remember Madden would say somebody twirled LaRoc he can play hockey again.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_02: Like, because he would actually try and play.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_02: Like he'd go behind the net and like try and stick handle and stuff.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_02: It's like, oh yeah, you're just supposed to be like hitting people and making sure, like, you know, make your make people scared of you so they don't like bother say they cross baby.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_02: They go after you, not cross.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_02: Crosby, that's kind of your whole point.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_02: But it didn't really work out.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_02: The Penguins never really did get a guy like that for to protect Crosby like that.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_02: I I can I can't think of you know anybody they ever really had.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_02: But um also playing for Buffalo uh was Ryan Miller, like I said, and he had some outdoor experience.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_02: He actually played for Michigan against Michigan State in that Cold War game in 2001, that game I had mentioned at the beginning that was outside.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_02: So do you have three guys right there that had experience playing you know competitive hockey outside?
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I don't know.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_02: I mean George Laroc grew up in like somewhere in Canada, and I'm sure Ty Conklin did too, so they probably played outside.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know where Ryan Miller grew up, but maybe he played outside too.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_02: But he's uh he's definitely American, so I I don't know.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe he grew up in Minnesota or something, I don't know.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_02: Um obviously, like we said, the uh NHL picked Buffalo because you know had the best chance for cold and snow.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_02: And uh the weather didn't didn't let us down, you know.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_02: It really did.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_02: It was cold and snowing conditions for the whole game.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_02: It was it looked like uh game played that that should be played outside, you know.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_02: So even with uh it's kind of funny, even with the snow in the forecast, the NHL didn't want to take any chances.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_02: So they actually brought snow into the stadium to make it sh look like it was a snow-filled stadium.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_02: So they actually brought trucks of snow and put it in on the field.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_02: So um which is kind of odd, but hey, you know, it's TV, you gotta make it look right, I guess.
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_02: So uh the NHL had to make some rule changes um for the game, but they had the team switch ends at the halfway mark of the third period to nullify any wind and weather advantage a team may have had.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_02: So and they also let like you know, if it were to go to you know a shootout, you could pick which end you wanted to defend because I guess like I said, the wind and the snow ended up it ended up playing a major factor.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_02: So uh that's all the lead up in uh on to the game.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_02: Um it's kind of cool.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_02: The pens score really early in the first 30 seconds of the game, and it's the ultimate trivia question answer.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_02: So before we play this clip, do you know who scored the first goal in winter classic history, Tim?
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_01: Was it Colby or Armstrong?
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_02: You looked at the notes, didn't you?
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_02: No, I swear I didn't.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_02: I remember that.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_02: I remember it was Colby.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_02: Is that right?
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, it is it is.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_02: And uh hold on, we'll uh we'll play that clip for you.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_04: They came out a couple times last week just to chart the normal wind flow so they could at least have the wind at their backs in the first period.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_04: Here comes Crosby, got by Campbell and putting it to baseball! Colby Armstrong after Crosby with a dash by the defense, and it's 1-0 Penguins, 21 seconds in!
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_01: I did not remember that it was that it was 21 seconds into the game, I'll say that.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't remember that it was that quick.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_01: I remember I remember it was early on.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_02: I I do remember that, which was you know, pretty cool.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_02: Good for Colby Armstrong, something he can tell his grandkids about.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_02: It's almost like equivalent to like, do you know who scored the first points in a Super Bowl for the Steelers?
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_01: It was a safety.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_02: That's like another great yeah, it was Dwight White.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_01: It was Dwight White, okay.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yep, I know it was a safety, but I couldn't remember who who touched Tarkington in the end zone when he dove on the ball.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's kind of like funny too.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I know Stan Savern has a funny story about that.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_02: Like, he's like asking like Dwight White who did that, and he's like, I don't know, Franco, Terry.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_02: It's like it's you.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_02: It's like, really?
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_02: But but um so like after that, like the ice, like we were talking about you were just talking about the ice and like being cold.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_02: Like the ice was not good this game.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_02: It it was not like I you can tell it's the first one, and they kind of like threw it up quickly.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_02: I guess if you started on the 24th, you only really had what eight days to put this together.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_02: So I I think that was part of the issue, is they they didn't feel like they had enough time to get the ice right, and it was their first time doing it.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_02: So I remember at one point Crosby tried to flip the puck in the air to himself to carry the puck into the Buffalo zone because the puck couldn't sit right on the ice, and uh it was just it was like crazy, and the snow was really flying.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_02: Um, there were really some big hits by Buffalo in this game, and this game would it it like unlike like the one of the complaints about the Heritage Classic was like nobody wanted to hit anybody because at negative 22, like do you really want to get hit when it's that cold?
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_02: You're already cold.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_02: So so but I think that this game was as physical as anything, and um the penguins did dominate the first period, but they just couldn't get another really offensive in.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_02: Like I said, there was just a lot of uh snow and stuff on the ice, and it was tough to control the puck.
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_02: But uh so it ends with the penguins being up one-nothing.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_02: So um Buffalo keeps the physical play going into the second period, and early in the period, they uh even up with a goal by Brian Campbell, and it's just a very physical play throughout that period.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_02: I remember there's a highlight like Brooke Sorpik takes a big hit and he literally like gets rolled on his back and does like a somersault on the ice, like Brooke Sorpik.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_02: I remember from Buffalo did that, but Buffalo definitely was uh just just totally physic out physically, the uh penguins, which you know that's kind of penguins, that really isn't their game.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_02: Like a physical, like hard-checking game really isn't normally what the penguins are traditionally known for.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_02: So uh we move on to the third period, and uh the third period is still that weather is going, it's it's really bad, and the the ice is getting worse.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_02: I remember there was a lot of stoppages in the game for ice.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_02: And like, do you remember one of the Zambonis actually froze up, had like a big block of ice, and one of the Zambonis broke?
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_02: So they only had like one Zamboni for like the end of the game.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_01: No, I do not remember that.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I remember that.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I remember that.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_02: And uh the weather really made the game very uneven.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_02: There were a lot of delays, like they had to take a lot of extra commercials and stuff.
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_02: Like normally hockey is not like baseball or football, where you know the game like if a game starts at seven, it's normally over by nine, you know.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_02: This game, I I think it took forever just because so many stoppages and stuff.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_02: But uh Ty Conklin played really well, and he turned away a lot of uh chances that the Sabres had.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_02: I think he ended up with like 36 saves.
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_02: So he he played really well, especially in the last minute of the third period.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_02: Like Buffalo had a bunch of chances to to take a light lead, and uh, he was able to keep the fuck out of that.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_02: And uh once again, Colby Armstrong plays uh plays a huge role.
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_02: He takes a hooking penalty, like the penguins are I can't I the penguins are like just at the last few seconds of regulation, he takes a hooking penalty right as time expired in the third.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_02: So like the penguins literally go into overtime on the penalty kill.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_01: Now, Steve, back back then, what were the overtime rules?
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_01: Was it still five on five?
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_02: I think it was still five on.
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_02: I think it was five on five, it was still regular.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_02: It was five on five and then a shootout.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, I'm pretty sure.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_02: But yeah, it's just like a ring.
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_02: I think it was still just like regular, but they added the shootout after because they went to the shootout after the lockout.
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_02: That's when they added the shootout, and I remember everybody got like all fired up about that, and I was like, oh, not a shootout, because some people don't like it.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_02: But so the penguins killed that penalty, and Buffalo definitely dominates the first half of the overtime, but then the penguins kind of work it out and like you know, start to break out when they can kill off the penalty, but they just can't get one past Ryan Miller, and um you know it's just like I said, the ice was really bad, and getting any offense going it had really become a struggle at that point with the uh with just the conditions, the weather conditions, but it still looked awesome, and you know, 70,000 people are there having a good time.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_02: So why not go to a shootout?
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_02: So they go to a shootout.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_02: Chris Letang and Crosby are the second, were the first.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_02: I think Christensen was the first for the Penguins.
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_02: And like the first guy for the Sabres scored, actually.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_02: And then Christensen didn't.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_02: So like it all like Chris Letang really had to like you know, Conklin makes a big save, and Chris Letang probably makes like a very big goal in that shootout to to set Crosby up.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_02: So here I have uh I have the call for um we'll do the call.
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_02: This is the you know, the this is the end of the game.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_02: This is the last couple shooters in the shootout, so we'll we'll share that with you.
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_04: Connolly two per six in his career all for one this year against King.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_02: This was a big stop, man.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_02: That was a big stop.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_02: And like stopping Connolly, that like was big because that kind of set it allowed Chris Letang to tie the tie the shoe down.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_04: Not many defensemen do this, but he's been for a little bit.
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_04: He looked at a four and looked like he did lose it, didn't he?
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_03: He did, but he didn't lose the regain control, calm it down, and then go high to the blocking side.
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_03: With a one stick handle there, he never even touched the puck, he just went over the top of it like he was trying to clear the snow off the top of the puck.
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_03: What a move.
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_03: Forehand backhand.
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's weird that like Chris Letang, too, is a defenseman.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_02: Like, defensemen normally don't aren't in the shootout, at least not the first three.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_01: So that's kind of it's also it's also weird that we had a goaltender that could stop shoot out uh shots.
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_01: Remember that?
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, that's pretty good.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_01: That's also kind of odd, you know, because we don't really have that anymore.
• 32:34
  SPEAKER_04: Uh everyone standing, a Finnegan, a bullet for one, five for twelve minutes, career on pumpkin.
• 32:49
  SPEAKER_02: And another great thing is they both played, like both goal plunders played at the one end because the other end was so bad.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_02: So they just stayed at the one end.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_02: They had to like switch, you know.
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_02: It's like when you played street hockey on the street, and you're like, okay, I'll take the goal, you take the goal, you know.
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_02: He only had one then.
• 33:05
  SPEAKER_02: That move.
• 33:07
  SPEAKER_04: One for five this year.
• 33:09
  SPEAKER_04: Eight for twenty-six.
• 33:12
  SPEAKER_04: The game on his stick right here.
• 33:17
  SPEAKER_04: Score! Penguins win.
• 33:23
  SPEAKER_04: Snow flying in their faces as they celebrate.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_04: As kids they might have done 20 years or so ago in a two on two game.
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_04: This was not that.
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_03: The shootout winner by Sidney Crosby.
• 33:37
  SPEAKER_03: But as he was approaching Ryan Miller, You couldn't even see the made the quick little move right between the legs and the penguins.
• 33:48
  SPEAKER_03: Win this game.
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_02: So penguins win, penguins win.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_02: Yay! No, um it's just like a classic moment in Pittsburgh sports now.
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_02: That's like, you know, legendary become legendary.
• 34:03
  SPEAKER_02: Um I looked up some quotes about what Crosby said he was thinking.
• 34:07
  SPEAKER_02: He said, if you would have been in my mind, I'm telling you that all I was thinking about was trying to get a shot on net.
• 34:15
  SPEAKER_02: And uh after the game, Crosby said probably the most Canadian thing ever.
• 34:19
  SPEAKER_02: I just wanted some warm clothes and a hot chocolate after that.
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, Ryan Miller Ryan Miller uh and Crosby, I mean, poor Ryan Miller, because this goal and then the the golden goal two years later were both on Ryan Miller.
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um he just he kind of always had his big moments stolen by Crosby back then.
• 34:45
  SPEAKER_02: Let me uh put a little explanation point on the game.
• 34:48
  SPEAKER_02: Um it's the perfect TV ending.
• 34:50
  SPEAKER_02: The star of the league wins the game in dramatic style.
• 34:53
  SPEAKER_02: The NHL and Penguins fans couldn't have asked for a better ending.
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and it really did look like a snow globe at the end of the game, like somebody shook up a snow globe and like had a hockey, you know, a little hockey thing in there.
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_02: But um, and and some more on the aftermath.
• 35:08
  SPEAKER_02: What happened to the teams?
• 35:09
  SPEAKER_02: Uh Buffalo didn't make the playoffs, even though they finished with 90 points for the season.
• 35:15
  SPEAKER_02: Uh eventually the Sabres did fire Lindy Rupp, but that wasn't until 2013.
• 35:21
  SPEAKER_02: He lasted what four or five more years after that.
• 35:25
  SPEAKER_02: He was one of the longest tenured head coaches in any of the four major pro sports.
• 35:29
  SPEAKER_02: Um depends that year they have a great playoff run and make the cup finals, but they lose to the almost dynasty Red Wings team with Henrik Zyne Zetterberg and Friends.
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_02: So um there's a little Crosby commercial that we can put in there where he talks about losing to Hendrik Zedberg, but it was pretty cool.
• 35:50
  SPEAKER_02: Um I have a link to that.
• 35:51
  SPEAKER_02: Um more on the aftermath of the game, that was just the aftermath of the teams.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_02: Um, the game gets a 2.6 rating on TV, and it almost tied the Gator Bowl on CBS, which got a 2.7.
• 36:06
  SPEAKER_02: And uh that was actually the highest rated regular season game in the NHL since 1996.
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_02: And I hear you go, Tim, I know you love this.
• 36:14
  SPEAKER_02: It gets a higher rating than Gretzky's last game in 1999, so I know uh I I know you I know you like that one.
• 36:24
  SPEAKER_02: Um, the game sets a regular season attendance record for the NHL with 71,214.
• 36:30
  SPEAKER_02: It gets more than the Heritage Classic at 51,000, but not as much as that Michigan, Michigan State game that I keep alluding to that had 74.
• 36:39
  SPEAKER_02: Um, just in case you're wondering, if you're wondering, well, what's the highest attended hockey event?
• 36:45
  SPEAKER_02: Um, it was the Michigan versus Michigan State game in 2010 at 105,000.
• 36:51
  SPEAKER_02: That's the highest attended hockey game.
• 36:53
  SPEAKER_02: And then uh in the NHL, it's the Maple Leafs and the Red Wings, and they also played at that.
• 37:00
  SPEAKER_02: Well, what is that the big the big house?
• 37:02
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know what the official name for that is.
• 37:03
  SPEAKER_02: I just call it the big house, but 104,000 for that game.
• 37:07
  SPEAKER_02: So if you have a game in Ann Arbor, those are the big hockey games still right now.
• 37:12
  SPEAKER_02: Nobody, I don't think anybody's really matched those totals.
• 37:15
  SPEAKER_02: 100,000 people at a hockey game is pretty impressive.
• 37:18
  SPEAKER_02: It is.
• 37:20
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so the the game's like a huge success, and because of this success, the NHL makes the winter classic a regular event on New Year's Day.
• 37:29
  SPEAKER_02: And but they kind of make a switch.
• 37:31
  SPEAKER_02: They switch the games, although they're going back to football stadiums, I think, again the next year or two.
• 37:36
  SPEAKER_02: They switched the games from football stadiums to mainly baseball stadiums because I think the main reason was it's a little smaller and it's easier, like it gives them more time to set up the hockey rink, you know, in the baseball stadium.
• 37:53
  SPEAKER_02: Um, although in 2020, Dallas and Nashville did play in the Cotton Bowl, and they got 80,000 people for a game.
• 38:00
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I cannot believe Dallas and Nashville would become two hockey hotbed markets.
• 38:06
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, boy, you would have said that even in 2008, you'd have been kind of like scratching your head on that one, huh?
• 38:15
  SPEAKER_02: The NHL does kind of oversell the idea, I think, because they add this thing called the Stadium series, which is different than the winter classic because they can just kind of have them whenever and wherever and how many ever they want to have.
• 38:28
  SPEAKER_02: And they've had them like places like LA and Dodgers Stadium, and they've had a few, like the Penguins were in one in Soldier Stadium against the uh Blackhawks.
• 38:39
  SPEAKER_02: Um, the NHL keeps having the Heritage Classic as an outdoor game for the Canadian teams, even though in 2022, which I guess is coming up this winter, uh Buffalo is playing Toronto.
• 38:51
  SPEAKER_02: I guess all the other Canadian teams were busy on New Year's Day.
• 38:55
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
• 38:57
  SPEAKER_02: Uh the winter classic has even been played in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, which seems like an odd thing.
• 39:03
  SPEAKER_02: So and like I said, there's uh an event at a winter classic is going to be played in Nashville in 2022 between Tampa Bay and Nashville.
• 39:13
  SPEAKER_02: Once again, not really traditional you know hockey markets, but um, I bet they'll sell out that's that's the Tennessee Titans Stadium, whatever they call it, you know, these days.
• 39:23
  SPEAKER_02: But um, and then there's another one scheduled for Raleigh, North Carolina in 2023 for the hurricanes.
• 39:29
  SPEAKER_02: So I mean, if the goal of this like showcase of your sport and league was to spread it to places where you know hockey normally isn't popular, I would say that you know this has probably been an unmitigated success, you know.
• 39:45
  SPEAKER_01: It it really was, and and even at the time, um to your point, Steve, about the ratings and everything, uh, you know, it was a huge success.
• 39:53
  SPEAKER_01: I I remember listening to Mike and Mike on ESPN the next day, and at the time that was kind of the the big you know, that's where everybody got their sports talk, um, or a lot of people got their sports talk.
• 40:07
  SPEAKER_01: And I remember they um they said how uh they kind of teased it before commercial, they're like, you know, all the bowl games yesterday and and the best sporting event of the day was not uh a college football game.
• 40:20
  SPEAKER_01: And then they just went into great detail about what a what a great event that was.
• 40:24
  SPEAKER_01: And then it it definitely helped that it you know came down to a shootout with you know the the the best young player in the game at the time, who you know, to your point, Steve, hadn't really hadn't really broken out yet, but you know, certainly had a lot of um pedigree, and it comes down to him.
• 40:40
  SPEAKER_01: So that made it just dramatic and fun.
• 40:44
  SPEAKER_01: And um, like you said, I mean that burst so many other games.
• 40:48
  SPEAKER_01: They they did oversell it.
• 40:49
  SPEAKER_01: The Penguins have played in multiple outdoor games now.
• 40:53
  SPEAKER_01: You mentioned the Soldier Field game.
• 40:54
  SPEAKER_01: They played one at Heinz Field against the Flyers.
• 40:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um, they played one against the Capitals, I think, at Heinz Field.
• 41:01
  SPEAKER_01: So there's there's been a bunch of them now.
• 41:03
  SPEAKER_01: They're not quite as unique as that one was.
• 41:06
  SPEAKER_01: But you know, it definitely opened up a whole door of cool things they could do with outdoor games.
• 41:11
  SPEAKER_01: I think they've played them in like Yankee Stadium, and you know, they've really played them in some interesting places.
• 41:18
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, they played them in uh I think Fenway, you know, Wrigley, you know, anywhere, like you know, a lot of like different kind of places.
• 41:28
  SPEAKER_02: Um like you said, this game put Crosby on the map.
• 41:31
  SPEAKER_02: Um, we talked about Crosby would go on to beat Miller for that golden goal in the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.
• 41:37
  SPEAKER_02: So uh poor Ryan Miller, he gets tortured by Sidney Crosby again.
• 41:41
  SPEAKER_02: Um, just the kind of the final thoughts.
• 41:44
  SPEAKER_02: The the Penguins did wear them cool retro blue sweaters, which was the first time they had worn them since the 70s when they switched to the black and gold colors for the team.
• 41:53
  SPEAKER_02: So and it was really a marketing boom, it was genius.
• 41:56
  SPEAKER_02: Like those things are probably still one of the more well, yeah, it's your background there, Tim.
• 42:01
  SPEAKER_02: And it's you know one of the more popular, you know, penguins logos.
• 42:05
  SPEAKER_02: So um I I I mean the penguins go on to win three Stanley Cups over the next decade or so.
• 42:11
  SPEAKER_02: And um, I would definitely call this game the springboard or the beginning for uh this group of penguins, their dynasty.
• 42:19
  SPEAKER_02: I'll call them a dynasty.
• 42:20
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, three Stanley Cups.
• 42:22
  SPEAKER_02: They won another one more Stanley Cup than the Kings or the Blackhawks, right?
• 42:26
  SPEAKER_02: I don't think the Blackhawks won three.
• 42:27
  SPEAKER_01: The Blackhawks won three, yeah.
• 42:29
  SPEAKER_02: Well then they're at least equivalent to the Blackhawks, but but yeah, I mean it's uh you know it's really an amazing goal.
• 42:37
  SPEAKER_02: And uh like you said, I can't compare it to anything else in sports.
• 42:40
  SPEAKER_02: Like, like maybe like the only thing, like what if Michael Jordan would have had to shoot like a foul shot at the end of a game to win a you know, win a game or something, or or like you know, somebody even if somebody hits a home run like in like Joe Carter in the World Series, you know, or Mazarowski, that's the only thing, you know, I I don't know.
• 42:58
  SPEAKER_02: David Tyree's helmet catch.
• 43:00
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
• 43:01
  SPEAKER_02: Adam Venateri kicking a field goal, I I don't know.
• 43:04
  SPEAKER_02: But um yeah, it's definitely one of the bigger things, at least in Pittsburgh sports for sure, and probably uh in the NHL in general.
• 43:13
  SPEAKER_02: So um any other final things there, Tim?
• 43:17
  SPEAKER_01: Well, that I I really like Steve that you framed it as a springboard because I never thought of this game like that, but you know, the way you the way you presented it, that makes a lot of sense.
• 43:26
  SPEAKER_01: And you were trying to find other sports moments to compare it to.
• 43:30
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know that I would compare it to a dramatic moment.
• 43:32
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe I would compare it to if to your point to like springboard moments.
• 43:36
  SPEAKER_01: So like those great 49er teams, okay, they had the the Dwight Clark catch, that was like their springboard.
• 43:42
  SPEAKER_01: The Patriots had like the Tuck Roll game, that was their springboard.
• 43:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um Michael Jordan had the Craig Eloh shot.
• 43:48
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 43:49
  SPEAKER_01: Like so you can always go back and look at like it and Steelers had the immaculate reception, and and sometimes those teams didn't win a championship that season, and the penguins didn't win a championship that season, although they got you know all the way to the finals.
• 44:03
  SPEAKER_01: But um, but that was kind of the coming out party and the the like okay, we have some potential, and now like this is this is real.
• 44:13
  SPEAKER_01: This is this is actually something, and and then the end result of that group with Latang, and Letang and Crosby and Malkin all figure prominently in that game, you know, that that's the that's they like you said they win three Stanley Cups.
• 44:27
  SPEAKER_01: So I I I think that's really well um stated there by you because I I just never thought of it that way before.
• 44:34
  SPEAKER_01: And and you're right, you can really trace it back to that game.
• 44:39
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, I I that's what I kind of thought, you know, even though the you know, you know, Crosby had been around for two or three seasons and Malkin too, but I think that's when the team finally started to really be competitive because they had kind of been around but hadn't done anything, and then you know, they they they definitely you know that springboarded them into the the success they would have for years to come.
• 45:01
  SPEAKER_02: But um as usual, thanks for joining us.
• 45:04
  SPEAKER_02: Uh hope you enjoyed uh our episode today and uh reliving the memories of the uh good old winter classic in 2008.
• 45:11
  SPEAKER_02: Um join us on uh Pittsburgh Sports Memories at Weebly.com and uh check us out on Twitter.
• 45:17
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• 45:28
  SPEAKER_02: But um thank you so much for listening, and we'll uh catch you next time.