New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers all set for history 2012 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic game
The stage is set, the fans are ready, but the weather was a little bit of a problem for the National Hockey League (NHL), as they had to reschedule the game to 3pm E.T. due to a change in the forecast, but still, the New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers are unable to hold their excitement in any longer.
The annual alumni game prior to the 2012 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic game took place in which the legendary, Eric Lindros, made a comeback in the Philadelphia Flyers jersey, a sight which we have not seen for over a decade now.
Lindros played for Philadelphia for the last time back in May of 2000, which had the fans geared up and exited to see him back in action with many other legends of the major league.
Entering the city as the rival team, the New York Rangers were booed at many different occasions, even by the staff at the venue where the Winter Classic will be taking place on Monday, January 2, 2012.
"We got booed today by the people cleaning the seats", New York’s Brad Richards said. "I can't imagine it will be any different tomorrow. It's part of the privilege and joy of what we get to do. It's part of sports. It's why get to play. It's because of the fans. It's because they care. If they're working, they still care about booing us. It's great".
Over 45,000 people are expected to be showing up at the event on Monday, making it one of the most looked towards in NHL history since the Winter Classic was brought in as an annual event.
Another thing the New York Rangers will have to watch out for will be the numerous distractions on the ice they will have to face. Fans will be trying their best in order to distract the team and with double the people they are normally used to seeing in a regulation game, it will certainly be a challenge for an original six team.
"That's going to be the trick", Rangers’ goalie, Henrik Lundqvist, said. "There's going to be a lot of distractions out there. It's not going to be a normal game. It's going to be so different. Just being prepared for that”.
When New York coach, John Tortorella, was asked how he thinks his club will be able to counter the distractions, he answered in the positive by saying that he has full confidence in the Rangers and their ability to get through a tough situation.
One thing which had suspicion flying around the league was whether Philadelphia would be playing Ilya Bryzgalov in the net or not. According to earlier statements by the player, he would not be starting as their main goalie and the Flyers have now come out in the open by saying he will be playing the backup to Sergei Bobrovsky, but is not expected to be on the benches for long.
Bryzgalov did not term this as something to undermine him but rather a strategy by the team which he fully supports, giving them a real chance at taking the game and going down in history is one of the best possible ways.
It will certainly be exciting the match on Monday between the New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers as both teams fight to go down as winners in the 2012 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic.
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