(Oh, and a bit of shameless self promotion: If you’re looking for a hockey forum, check out The Faceoff Boards, another site run by me . Also, a wicked writeup by Steve Dangle, he’ll have an awesome video for you guys tommorow that I’ll edit into here)

Steve’s Video, as I said I’d have:

GAME SUMMARY

Karlsson gets the player of the game for the Swedes.
Dustin Tokarski, who was shaky the last few games, finally stepped up and got the player of the game, after stopping 39 out of 40 shots.

Coaches Choice for Swede’s Top 3: Markstrom (who gets heavily booed for his diving), Karlsson (who gets cheers yet again, as he’s a Senators Prospect), and Backlund (who’s rumored to be going to the CHL tomorrow instead of returning to Sweden).

Coaches Choice for Canada’s Top 3: PK Subban (Plenty of cheers, nearby Montreal Canadiens prospect), John Tavares (who’s quickly become a legend in Canada), and Jordan Eberle (who scored the biggest goal in Canadian History since Gretzky to Lemieux or Paul Henderson’s Goal).

Top Goaltender: Markstrom (Should’ve gone to Slovakia’s Jaroslav Janus)
Top Defenseman: Karlsson
Top Forward: John Tavares (the easiest decision since comparing Gretzky to Tie Domi)

Videos (TONS COMING!)

Lets start with the most controversial event so far tonight: A vicious bite by Jokarim Andersson on Tomas Hickey, which better get reviewed by the IIHF.

Now, PROOF that Markstrom is the worst diver I’ve EVER SEEN.

And the final moments and celebrations!

[Videos are coming - Request them on Faceoffboards, Digg, or in the Comments]

So, it looks like Detroit’s only thing close to a scapegoat, Jiri Hudler stole the show when it was needed.

The guy that Wings fans don’t seem to like at all for some reason stole absolutely pounded on everyone, getting two goals an an assist to help the wings remind millions of people why they won the Stanley Cup this year.

Yes, it was another great Winter Classic. The air was cold yet nice, the sky was overcast in just the right way, and Ty Conklin was in net (how the heck he’s pulled off being the starting goalie in all 3 outdoor games the league has had to date is beyond me, especially since he himself is usually the backup).

The two teams looked fantastic in their vintage uniforms, both from the early days of the NHL (Detroit’s from the 20’s, the Hawks’ from the 30’s). The crowd, while 32,000 smaller than last years due to the size restrictions of Wrigley Field, was loud and energetic, and it was just a great time.

On top of Hudler, four other Wings scored (Mikael Samuelsson, Pavel Datsyuk, Brian Rafalski, and Brett Lebda) to take the team even further ahead in the Central Division standings.

Kris Versteeg, Martin Havlat, Duncan Keith, and Ben Eager scored for the Hawks, but it just wasn’t enough (but it was enough to bring the Hawks to 0-4-0 against the Wings this year, which is odd, because the much worse Hawks of last year went 6-2-0).

Now, this brings up the question that everyone’s asking - where next?

Personally, I’d go with one of the following.

Montreal Canadiens vs. Boston Bruins @ Fenway Park (Boston)
New York Islanders vs. New York Rangers @ New Yankee Stadium (New York)
Philadelphia Flyers vs. Washington Capitals @ FedEx Field (Landover, Maryland - Near Washington)

All and all, it was a great game, and I’ll have more info and video for you guys as we go.

UPDATE: VIDEO TIME!

The Anthem Extravaganza:

Take Me Out To The Hockey Game:

Datsyuk Is The Man:

Do bear with us, as all the exact details aren’t out yet, as the Leafs press conference will be either tommorow or Saturday.

But ladies and gentlemen, Brian Burke is the next GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

According to the Toronto Sun (which I won’t link to, most of their stuff is more garbage than the British Sun tabloid, or the parody Sun magazine in the states), Burke signed the contract today while with his second family in Boston.

The contract is for six years, coming out to a whopping $17M, which would actually make him one of the highest paid FORWARDS on the Leafs roster if he was a player, just behind Niklas Hagman.

Burke will have complete control over the team, meaning he could practically trade Luke Schenn for George Parros and nobody could say anything to him until the next day when he gets fired. As well, any reports he does make, will not have to go through MLSE CEO and Dick Cheney of Hockey, Richard Peddie.

So, the wait to see what he does first begins. Many speculate he’s going to immediately blow up the team, trading several of Tomas Kaberle, Pavel Kubina, Niklolai Antropov, Alexei Ponikarovsky, Vesa Toskala, Jason Blake, Mike Van Ryn, Jeff Finger…oh forget it, pretty much the entire team.

Others believe that he might think the Leafs have a shot, and will sign last year’s Captain Mats Sundin to a deal (he did have talks with Burke a few weeks ago while Brian was still the GM of the Ducks). He may also go for a goalie.

Personally, I don’t know what to believe anymore, other than I’m certain of the fact that I hope he doesn’t screw up. I don’t want to be 85 years old when we get to the finals for the first time since 1967, I really don’t.

Talk About It Here: http://faceoffboards.com/showthread.php?t=3195