Now returning for its second year, hockey fans can rejoice as the NHL Winter Classic will once again ring in the New Year on January 1st. This year, two of the original six NHL teams will face off as the Chicago Blackhawks will host the Detroit Redwings in the open arena of Wrigley field.

The original NHL Winter Classic, which featured the Buffalo Sabres hosting the Pittsburgh Penguins at Ralph Wilson Stadium, was an incredible success. Not even the inclement, snowy weather deterred the thousands of hockey fans from remaining in the stadium, until The Penguins finally won in penalties 2-1. It was the highest-rated NHL game since 1996.

This year, compounded with the success of last year’s event, The Winter Classic features one of the oldest rivalries in hockey history. The Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings rivalry is to hockey what The New York Yankees and The Boston Red Sox rivalry is to Major League Baseball.

The match will be non-stop action, but also a very relaxing experience to the hungover at home.

The Sharks signed D Matthew Kinch to a one-year contract on Thursday. Terms of the deal are undisclosed as yet. Kinch spent the 2007-08 season with Binghamton (AHL). In 73 games played, he tied for second among team defensemen with 25 points and accumulated 73 penalty minutes. His presence should be a definite bonus to the Sharks’ ticket sales

Shawn Horcoff reportedly signed a $33M, six year extension contract with the Edmonton Oilers. Horcoff had a good last season before he endured a season ending shoulder surgery. He was involved with 21 goals and 29 assists in 53 games. This might help the Oilers keep Horcoff, a premier National Hockey League player, in their uniform in the long run. This will be good news for Edmonton since Horcoff has been an important part of the club, being part of their race for the Stanley Cup in 2006. He will also raise the ticket sales for the Oilers this season.

The Boston Bruins released their new ticket plan Monday, it involves hockey and eating.  The plan is called “Hungry for Hockey,” in which it gives tickets for all Boston Bruins home games as well as all you can eat on several items.  These include Hot dogs, pretzels, nachos, popcorn and soft drinks.  The plan goes for a little less than $1,700 and the seats are located in the 327-328 sections.  The Bruins front office feels as though the plan will benefit fans of all kinds because it allows family and friends to enjoy the games and food for an affordable price.  The “Hungry for Hockey” ticket plan also comes with the perks of regular season ticket holders including discounts and unique opportunities for special events.  While the 2008-2009 Boston Bruins schedule has yet to be released, there is quite the stir amongst Bruins fans with the newest addition to the ticket plans.

The Penguins were able to pull off a triple overtime victory of the Red Wings to keep their season alive.  It was an exciting game and anyone who was there to see it live really go their money’s worth.  Now game 6 is coming back to Pittsburgh.  Its going to be rough and tough battle to the finish.  Detroit can still win tonight, but I know that the Penguins will bring their A Game.  I just bought my penguins tickets tonight at a good price from Vivid Seats.  Cant wait to go!

The Predators new owners are doing all that they possibly can to keep the young players in their team and are also on the look out for young blood in a bid to rebuild their team. The testimony to this fact can be got from the fact that the Preds have signed a seven year contract with forward Martin Erat, the longest contract in the history of the franchisee. Polie felt that bringing in new and raw talent will augur well for the franchisee and he expects that the young talents will be able to put Nashville and Predators back on the map of glory.

Jacques Martin will no longer remain as the Florida Panthers’ coach but he is given an opportunity to instead be at the helm of the Panthers’ team as General Manager.

Since the 2006-2007 season, Martin has his hands full being both the coach as well as the GM but that does not mean that he will continue to agree being their GM shortly after resigning from the post of team coach. He has been a faithful boss with the Florida Panthers and all eyes are on him to see if he will indeed say yes and concentrate in his front office duties this season.

Team owner Alan Cohen refused to say if Martin is pressured into accepting the role as GM. He further added that he and Martin has spent time discussing hs future with the Florida Panthers and that he will be glad with whatever decision Martin comes up with by end of next week.

The Anaheim ducks will be the first team after Detroit Red Wings to bag consecutive Stanley Cup wins. The coach of the hockey team Randy Carlyle and the players sounded upbeat and confident after they defeated the Phoenix Coyotes 3-2 on Sunday to conclude the regular season schedule of the NHL.

 The team had started the 91st NHL season in London. They will start the first championship against Dallas at home on Thursday. The team concluded in the fourth place in the Western Conference scoring 102 points and setting a record of 47-27-8. Getzlaf, with 81 points scored the maximum in the team. Chris Pronger, captain of the team returned for the final match after being suspended for eight games following his stamping of Ryan Keslers leg in a match against the Vancouvers. The team concluded with 1481 penalty minutes. Carlyle said that they now need to perfect their performance even more so that they can continue to play brilliantly.

Minnesota Wild played one of the best first period sessions this season as they beat Edmonton Oilers 3-1 last Wednesday night. The Minnesota team scored two goals in the space of the opening seven minutes and further consolidated their lead to end with a final score line of 3-1 and avenging for their poor showdown in Edmonton. This victory has placed them in the first place in the NHL’s Northwest division and the coach of the Wild was pretty pleased to see his side put behind the loss to Oilers in their last match.

Rolston, the coach, said that this win puts the team in for bigger challenges ahead and wants them to continue their rich hockey skills that they showcased in the match to stay perched on top of the table. Nikalas Backstorm was responsible for Wild to win the game as he made 32 saves and was thrilled to get the better off the Oilers as they lost very badly to them last Monday.

The Chicago Blackhawks stemmed their flow of continuous four game defeat by coming up with an impressive 6-3 performance against the Columbus Blue Jackets last Friday night and by beating the jackets they have put their foot on the playoff race. The Blackhawks coach Denis said that all his team members played a solid game and wanted his team to play like they did on Friday in a bid to enter into playoff race. The Chicago Blackhawks rallied to a three goal advantage in the first period itself and the Columbus team always had to fight from behind in the entire course of the game.

The Chicago goalie Patrick Lalime made 29 saves in the game and the only face saving players for the Blue Jackets were Nash, the new captain, Modin and Fritsche. The Blue Jackets are fast slipping off from the playoff race and have only won a single game of their last nine games at home. The Chicago Blackhawks at this moment are in danger of getting knocked out of the playoffs and will have to play out of their skin to enter it. The Blue Jackets have never made it to the playoffs so far in their history and there will be two more contests among these two teams in this season.