The Hockey Stop

Today, Boston Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas put himself in front of his team, league and country by making a self-righteous political statement instead of attending a White House ceremony to honor the Bruins' Stanley Cup victory last season. In boycotting this event he selfishly stole the attention away from his teammates and the entire Bruins organization on a day that should have been a diplomatic, nonpartisan celebration of an amazing achievement in professional sports.

Championship sports teams have been honored in Washington by countless administrations over the years. It doesn't matter if there is a Democrat or Republican in the Oval Office, political disagreements have never entered the picture. That is until now. This is not about President Barack Obama, but respecting the Office of the President of the United States of America. Tim Thomas may have exercised his right as a "Free Citizen," as he posted on his Facebook page, but that does not excuse his actions. He represents an organization that is paying him millions of dollars. He represents the National Hockey League that is trying to broaden its appeal into minority communities. And as one of only two Americans on the team, he represents this country (players from Canada, Slovakia, Finland and other nations were honored to be at the White House with President Obama).

There is a time and place for political protests. This was not one of them. Sports are supposed to be an escape from everything that divides us. It is supposed to be a safe place free of partisan politics. Today, Tim Thomas broke that sacred trust and it will take a long time for those wounds to heal.

Here is video of President Obama honoring the Bruins at the White House.

It seems like a decade ago Tim Thomas and the Boston Bruins raised the Stanley Cup after winning Game 7 against the Canucks in Vancouver. The off-season has been tragic. The headlines have been filled with one untimely death after another. So this season comes with more anticipation than most because of the simply awful summer hockey fans had to endure.

So as I play the newly unwrapped EA Sports NHL 12 for Xbox 360 and watch the Toronto Maple Leafs play the Ottawa Senators in the second preseason game of the year on NHL Network (the Predators beat the Panthers earlier today), it feels different than past seasons. It feels great.

Tuesday night the Washington Capitals face off against Nashville in the inaugural Baltimore Hockey Classic at 1st Mariner Arena. The Caps have a lot of fans in Balmore so it is nice to see owner Ted Leonsis and the team paying respect to their fan base in Charm City with this preseason game. Plus, the Preds are a potential new Southeast Division rival next season because the former Atlanta Thrashers and now Winnipeg Jets will likely be moved to the Central Division in 2012-2013, leaving a spot open in the Southeast. And geographically and culturally Nashville makes the most sense to replace Atlanta/Winnipeg in the division, although the Columbus Blue Jackets and Detroit Red Wings are two other teams that could switch from the Central to the Southeast.

There is so much parity in the National Hockey League that any team can beat any other team on any night. That is what makes professional ice hockey in North America so exciting.

There are also new rules in place thanks to NHL Senior Vice President of Player Safety and Hockey Operations Brendan Shanahan and NHLPA Special Advisor Mathieu Schneider. The two biggest rule changes concern Rule 48 -- illegal checks to the head and Rule 41 - boarding. Also, spring-loaded curved glass will be in place next to the team benches instead of the padded stanchions that were in place during Zdeno Chara's hit on Max Pacioretty last season. Other minor changes include testing shallower nets in preseason games and implementing a new policy on social media outlets like Twitter. Here is the video explanation of the rules changes:



Here's to a great season no matter what team you are rooting for.

Game on!

The Boston Bruins have won the Stanley Cup in stunning fashion over the Vancouver Canucks in Game 7 at Rogers Arena by a final score of 4-0. Many in hockey circles didn't give the Bruins a chance against the super-skilled Canucks, especially after having gone down 2-0 in the series.

But the Bruins dominated the Canucks in Boston, and lost by only one goal in all three games in Vancouver. So perhaps it was inevitable that Boston would dominate this Game 7 in Vancouver. They had simply out-willed the Canucks and played a more physical game that wore down Vancouver's skill players. The injury to defenseman Dan Hamhuis in Game 1 and the suspension of defenseman Aaron Rome after a devastating hit on Nathan Horton in Game 3 did not help Vancouver's cause. That hit to Horton also became a motivational factor for Boston and the series seems to have swung in Boston's favor after that hit.

The story now is the gritty Boston Bruins. What a season for Conn Smythe winner Tim Thomas. What a way to go out in style by 43-year-old Mark Recchi. What a stone wall on defense by Captain Zdeno Chara. What an amazing effort in Game 7 by two-goal scorer Brad Marchand. What a coaching performance by Claude Julien. And the list goes on and on.

Bottom line is congratulations to the Boston Bruins on winning the Stanley Cup for the first time in 39 years.

The Canucks flag flies in front of the B.C. Legislature.

An epic Stanley Cup Final series between the Vancouver Canucks and Boston Bruins will come to a fitting conclusion on Wednesday night with Game 7 at Rogers Arena.

The Canucks have the edge because they are simply a better team at home.

I've never seen a more Jekyll and Hyde team and goaltender then the Canucks and Roberto Luongo in this series. At home in beautiful British Columbia they play with more energy and passion and get the clutch goal and timely save to secure victory. But on the road in Boston they are just atrocious and have been dominated by the Bruins.

So which team will show up Wednesday night? Will it be the good 'Nucks or the bad 'Nucks?

My money is on the team that ran circles around the rest of the league during the regular season on their way to a Presidents' Trophy. The team that battled the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks to a first-round Game 7 victory. The team that put away the pesky Preds and ferocious Sharks. And the team that is now facing their toughest challenge yet in a tough-as-nails Boston Bruins team.

But this is not 1994, when the New York Rangers defeated Vancouver in Game 7 at Madison Square Garden in NYC. In that heartbreaking loss, the Canucks had to watch Mark Messier jump up and down like a little kid after scoring the winning goal to give the Rangers their first Stanley Cup in 54 years.

That won't happen this year. It is why you play during the regular season for home ice advantage throughout the playoffs. For moments like this. There will be 18,000 excited and anxious fans cheering on the Canucks inside Rogers Arena; thousands more gathered in public areas around the city of Vancouver; and millions more across Canada cheering on the Canucks to their first Stanley Cup in franchise history and the first Cup in Canada since Montreal won it in '93.

Regardless of who wins, these two teams have blessed us fans with an amazing series. It's been one for the ages and it's a shame someone has to lose.

Wow. What a Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Boston Bruins and Vancouver Canucks. The most television viewers in 12 years for an SC Final opener witnessed finger biting, hip checks that flipped players in the air, unbelievable goaltending, and a last-second goal to seal a 1-0 victory for the 'Nucks.

What makes the 3.2 overnight rating and 6 share on NBC so remarkable is that these figures are for American audiences and one of the teams resides in a mid-sized Canadian city tucked way up in the fringes of the Pacific Northwest. That means that, unlike last year when two major American markets -- Philadelphia and Chicago -- battled it out for Lord Stanley's Cup, this year Boston is the only American city in the Finals.

And apparently every single TV set in the Boston-New England market was tuned in to the game because the ratings were a full 14 percent higher than last year's Game 1 between the Blackhawks and Flyers.

Besides the fact that one of the teams isn't from an American city, the other fact that makes the ratings so remarkable is the relatively late start time of 8 p.m. on a weekday. No doubt there were a lot of hockey fans who stayed up late to watch the game despite having to go to work or summer camp early the next morning.

According to the initial figures, more Bostonians tuned into the Bruins-Canucks Game 1 than did last year's Game 1 between the Celtics and Lakers. It will be interesting to see the breakdown of the ratings by region. The ratings should be through the roof in the entire New England area -- Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Maine.

And this doesn't even factor in the ratings in Canada, where the entire country is rooting for the Canucks to bring the first Stanley Cup to their country since the Montreal Canadiens won it in 1993.

When the playoffs started if you had told me that the Vancouver Canucks and Boston Bruins would be playing in the Stanley Cup Finals, I would have nodded my head and said, "Yep."

The 'Nucks ran away with the Presidents' Trophy this year and seemed to be operating on another level all season. The Sedin twins, Ryan Kesler, Roberto Luongo and their mates simply dominated the rest of the league. Of course they had a scare in the first round from their arch-nemesis Chicago Blackhawks. But after they got that big monkey off their backs, everything started clicking for Vancouver. And after putting away San Jose in five games, they are peaking at just the right time.

Like the Canucks, the Boston Bruins were another team looking to put past playoff defeats behind them. In Boston's case, this season they became much more mentally tough after last season's collapse against the Flyers, in which they blew a 3-0 lead in the series and a 3-0 lead in Game 7. They weren't going to let that happen this year. And after beating Montreal in seven games in the first round and sweeping Philadelphia, the B's beat the Lightning in seven games behind stellar goaltending by 37-year-old Tim Thomas and a game winning goal from forward Nathan Horton.

Now the best team from the east and the best team from the west will battle for Lord Stanley's Cup in what will hopefully be a great series. You certainly couldn't ask for two more hockey crazed cities than Vancouver and Boston. People in British Columbia, Canada and Massachusetts, USA live and breathe the sport of hockey.

Here is the Stanley Cup Finals Schedule (all times are Eastern Standard):

Game 1 — Wednesday, June 1 (NBC 8PM) at Rogers Arena, Vancouver, British Columbia,

Game 2 — Saturday, June 4 (NBC 8PM) at Rogers Arena, Vancouver, British Columbia,

Game 3 — Monday, June 6 (VS 8PM) at TD Garden, Boston

Game 4 — Wednesday, June 8 (VS 8PM) at TD Garden, Boston

Game 5* — Friday, June 10 (NBC 8PM) at Rogers Arena, Vancouver, British Columbia,

Game 6* — Monday, June 13 (NBC 8PM) at TD Garden, Boston

Game 7* — Wednesday, June 15 (NBC 8PM) at Rogers Arena, Vancouver, British Columbia,

* If Necessary

The result of Zdeno Chara's hit on Max Pacioretty was horrific. The Montreal Canadiens winger slammed his head against the stanchion between the bench and plexiglass. The 22-year-old was carried off in a stretcher and suffered a severe concussion and a fractured vertebra that will keep him off the ice indefinitely. His parents were among the 20,000 stunned fans at the Bell Centre who were all hoping and praying that the young player would be all right as the result of the check by Chara.

After this gruesome incident, there is no doubt that when the NHL Board of Governors meets next time they will vote to require every arena to install new padding on their stanchions to protect players from this type of event.

The debate right now is not about whether there should be more padding on the stanchions, but whether Chara should have been suspended. The NHL decided not to suspend Chara and predictably Montreal fans are in an uproar about the decision. Air Canada has even threatened to pull its sponsorship unless the league takes action to punish Chara, saying this in a statement:

"We are contacting you (Wednesday) to voice our concern over (Tuesday night's) incident involving Max Pacioretty and Zdeno Chara at the Bell Centre in Montreal. This is following several other incidents involving career-threatening and life-threatening headshots in the NHL recently."

"From a corporate social responsibility standpoint, it is becoming increasingly difficult to associate our brand with sports events which could lead to serious and irresponsible accidents; action must be taken by the NHL before we are encountered with a fatality."

"Unless the NHL takes immediate action with serious suspension to the players in question to curtail these life-threatening injuries, Air Canada will withdraw its sponsorship of hockey."

"While we support countless sports, arts and community events, we are having difficulty rationalizing our sponsorship of hockey unless the NHL takes responsibily to protect both the players and the integrity of the game."

Additionally, the AP is reporting that the Montreal police are opening up a criminal investigation into the hit at the request of Quebec's director of criminal and penal prosecutions, Louis Dionne.

Here is the video of the incident.



What do you think? Was this hit intentional by Chara? Was it just a tragic accident after a clean hit? Even if it wasn't intentional, should Chara have been more aware of the stanchion when he delivered the check?

What would John Wooden do?

Coach, player, business exec, volunteer, politician. It doesn't matter. If you ask yourself that question every time you do something, it will be the right thing to do.

I found out legendary UCLA basketball head coach John Wooden died Friday at age 99 when I was biking in Venice Beach. I knew it was coming but the reality of it was somewhat emotionally overwhelming. While I was riding the bus back from Santa Monica to my home in the Miracle Mile area of Los Angeles, my friend called me and we decided to meet in front of the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center where Wooden passed away. There was a small gathering of UCLA students across Westwood Boulevard -- the leftovers from a bigger gathering earlier that evening. While I didn't attend UCLA (I did get a certificate in print journalism from UCLA Extension) I had family members that graduated from the school. I'm glad I got the chance to pay my respects to Wooden. At the bottom of this story there are pictures I took with my camera phone from the gathering at the UCLA Medical Center.

This humble Midwestern man, who led the Bruins to 10 championships and 88 straight wins, was genuinely a good person. I'm sure he had his flaws like everyone, but they certainly were not greed or putting winning above everything else -- sadly two of the qualities that have tarnished college basketball since the Wizard of Westwood worked his magic.

Wooden personified everything that is good and right about sports. He was loved by the UCLA community and will be missed tremendously.

I attended George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, and have to believe that Wooden set the blueprint for Patriots coach Jim Larranaga's magic carpet ride to the Final Four in 2006. Wooden and Larranaga share many of the same coaching philosophies, namely putting integrity, honesty and hard work above the win-at-all-cost mentality that is so pervasive in competitive sports.

Of course since this is a hockey blog, I'd be remiss not to make some connection to the sport. I found this story on PennLive.com about Hershey Bears (the Washington Capitals minor league affiliate currently battling the Texas Stars in the Calder Cup Final) coach Mark French and his affinity for Wooden.

French keeps a copy of Wooden's book "They Call Me Coach" on the bookshelf of his Giant Center office.

Here is the brief story from PennLive.com. Click here for the link to the article:

A copy of John Wooden's "They Call Me Coach" is on the bookshelf in Mark French's Giant Center office. French coaches hockey as head coach of the Hershey Bears, but he has drawn guidance and inspiration from the lessons of the basketball coaching legend, who died at 99 Friday.

"One of first coaching books I read, and I read it my first year getting involved in coaching," French said Saturday. "I’d heard one guy say every time he had to make a decision as a coach, he thought, What would John Wooden have done in these situations? After reading his book, I’m not so sure that’s not a blueprint of how you want to live your life.

"He was more than a coach. He changed his players' lives by the lessons of life that he taught them. I think all coaches aspire to have a greater impact than maybe just on the game and truly affect their athetes’ lives. He was a true philosopher-coach. He did that. He saw beyond the game. And he was very successful, too.”

French often talks about focusing on the process of a season instead of fixating on results. He said that's something he adopted from Wooden's philosophy.

“You can drive yourself nuts as a coach if you worry about wins and losses," French said. "But if you worry about, as Wooden did, a very patient way of just doing things the right way day in and out and repetition, you’ll get the desired result.

"I think that’s the only way a coach can look at a situation. It’s the only thing you’re in control of is the process. You’re not in control of wins and losses. I think he was the first one to really put those into defining terms.”

No. 1 seed Washington Capitals. Done. No. 2 seed New Jersey Devils. See ya. No. 3 seed Buffalo Sabres. Eliminated. No. 4 seed Pittsburgh Penguins. It's tee time. No. 5 seed Ottawa Senators. Have a nice summer. No. 6 seed Boston Bruins. Bye bye.

Improbably the eighth-seeded Montreal Canadiens will be flying to Philadelphia to take on the seventh-seeded Flyers at Wachovia Center for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Wow.

Unlike the Western Conference, where the two top seeds -- the Chicago Blackhawks and San Jose Sharks -- will be battling it out for a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals, two Cinderella teams will dance on the East Coast.

Tonight the Flyers came back from a 3-0 series deficit and 3-0 goal deficit in Game 7 in Boston to become only the third team in NHL history to climb back from three games down to win a series.

Simon Gagne scored on a power play with 7:08 left in the third period to propel the Flyers into the history books.

And what makes this win even more remarkable is the fact that Philadelphia needed an overtime shootout victory over the New York Rangers in the final game of the regular season just to make the playoffs.

And on top of that the Flyers are riddled with injuries, including losing top goalie Ray Emery earlier in the season and then losing backup Brian Boucher in the Bruins series. So they had to go with untested netminder Michael Leighton, who played solid in relief against the woeful offense of Boston.

And I also heard there was an NBA playoffs going on too, but I've been too busy watching the most exciting NHL playoffs in years to pay any attention.

Down 2-0 in their second-round series against the Boston Bruins, the Philadelphia Flyers could use some inspiration heading home for a pivotal Game 3 at the Wachovia Center.

My suggestion is to hold off on the "Rocky" movies and instead change the channel to HBO on Tuesday night at 10 p.m. for the documentary "Broad Street Bullies." The film looks back at the rough-and-tumble Flyer team from the 1970s who fought and scored their way to the only two Stanley Cups in franchise history.

Here is the trailer:

The National Hockey League regular season wrapped today with a thrilling overtime shootout in Philadelphia to catapult the Flyers into the playoffs and send the Rangers home to New York.

Here are the first-round match-ups. For the full schedule with dates, times and TV coverage, click here.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

#1 Washington Capitals vs. #8 Montreal Canadiens

#2 New Jersey Devils vs. #7 Philadelphia Flyers

#3 Buffalo Sabres vs. #6 Boston Bruins

#4 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. #5 Ottawa Senators

WESTERN CONFERENCE

#1 San Jose Sharks vs. #8 Colorado Avalanche

#2 Chicago Blackhawks vs. #7 Nashville Predators

#3 Vancouver Canucks vs. #6 Los Angeles Kings

#4 Phoenix Coyotes vs. #5 Detroit Red Wings

Also, some awards were decided on the final day of action.

Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby and Tampa Bay's Steve Stamkos will share the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy because both players finished with 51 goals.

Vancouver's Henrik Sedin nabbed the Art Ross Trophy for scoring with 112 points (29 goals, 83 assists).

New Jersey goalie Martin Brodeur and backup Yann Danis won the William M. Jennings Trophy for fewest goals allowed, with 191.

Some initial thoughts on the first-round match-ups (and guess what, it all comes down to the men between the pipes):

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Caps-Canadiens

Washington is quickly putting its record-breaking regular season behind it (first non-Original Six team to reach 120 points) and focusing on Les Habs, a team it has never faced in the playoffs. Laval, Quebec native and former Montreal goaltender Jose Theodore should be pumped to play his old team and he is sure to hear it from the crowd, which should provide even extra motivation.

Prediction: Caps in 4

Devils-Flyers

Philadelphia is riding high after advancing to the playoffs in a last-game shootout against the Rangers. That won't last long. The Devils are a complete team. They already were one of the fiercest defensive teams in hockey, but with the addition of Ilya Kovalchuk they are now dangerous on offense. Flyers will sneak one win in but that is all.

Prediction: Devils in 5

Sabres-Bruins

A good match-up between two defensive-minded teams. But the edge goes to the Sabres because of Ryan Miller. If he shows the spark he had in the Olympics for Team USA, then Buffalo will be very hard to beat.

Prediction: Sabres in 6

Penguins-Senators

This is a very even match-up but the edge has to go to the Pens because of their experience winning the Cup last year and the Sidney Crosby factor. Also, Sens star Alexei Kovalev will miss the playoffs with a left knee injury. That said, Ottawa and head coach Cory Clouston should not be underestimated. They have weapons up front like Jason Spezza and Daniel Alfredsson and the blue line is solid, especially with the addition of Andy Sutton.

Prediction: Sens in 7

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Sharks-Avs

San Jose is a perennial playoff disappointment and that won't change this year. Despite another stellar regular season, Colorado could upset the Sharks. That is unless goalie Evgeni Nabakov plays up to his potential. If he does, the Sharks are pretty much unbeatable. But the Russian goalie has been known to put in mediocre performances just at the wrong time. Avs coach Joe Sacco has his group of young players believing.

Prediction: Avs in 7

Hawks-Preds

Next to the Capitals, Chicago has the most dynamic team in the NHL. With Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews leading the charge the Hawks are the best in the West. But there is still a question mark at goal. Can Cristobal Huet and Antti Niemi take this team deep into the playoffs? Time will tell.

Prediction: Hawks in 5

Canucks-Kings

The City of Angels is excited the Kings are back in the playoffs after a long dry spell. And with a corps of young talented players like Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown there is a bright future ahead for the Los Angeles franchise. And they will give the Canucks everything they've got. But it won't be enough. Vancouver has more depth and experience and Team Canada gold medal winner Roberto Luongo and Art Ross winner Henrik Sedin.

Prediction: Canucks in 7

Coyotes-Wings

This is going to be a great series. Both teams are peaking just at the right time and have hot goaltenders. Phoenix has MVP candidate Ilya Bryzgalov and the Wings have rookie of the year candidate Jimmy Howard behind the net. With all the off-ice problems in Phoenix, it is amazing the Coyotes are in the playoffs. And Detroit had all kinds of on-ice problems earlier in the season. But with the kind of Cinderella season Phoenix is having, it has the edge.

Prediction: Coyotes in 6

I'm happy to report that the Los Angeles Times has finally added links to the Ducks and Kings from the top navigation bar on their new homepage.

Plus, the King and Ducks both won their games last night. L.A. dispatched Minnesota 6-3 at Staples Center while Anaheim dominated the Bruins 6-1 in Boston.

Oh yeah, and I heard the Dodgers and Angels won their playoff games yesterday but that hasn't been confirmed.

Many NHL franchises and sports venues are getting on board the green bandwagon by taking steps to reduce their carbon footprint.

This trend encompasses all of professsional sports, as The New York Times noted in a recent article titled "Getting Sports Events to Go Green," which focused mostly on Major League Baseball's efforts to green the game. For example, the Boston Red Sox use solar panels to heat water at Fenway Park.

So what has hockey done to lessen waste and pollution when thousands of fans pack arenas across North America? One initiative is called NHL Green -- a partnership between the league and GreenLife with technical guidance from the Natural Resources Defense Council. The NHL will use this alliance to develop a league "Green Plan." But what are individual teams doing right now to reduce their carbon footprint?

Here are the greenest NHL arenas based on factors such as easy access to public transportation, energy efficiency, eco-friendly construction materials, recycling options and other environmentally friendly aspects.



Arena: Consol Energy Center
Team: Pittsburgh Penguins
City: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Neighborhood: Downtown
The Stanley Cup champs are moving into a shiny new venue after waddling in the decrepit Mellon Arena -- the oldest and lowest capacity arena in the NHL. And what an arena it will be! The Consol Energy Center will not only help the Penguins in Pittsburgh, but the real penguins in the rapidly melting polar ice caps. When the arena opens for the 2010-11 season it aims to be the first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certified NHL arena. The Consol Energy Center will feature a gigantic glass atrium facing downtown that will bring in more natural light, lots of green space around the building, environmentally friendly paints, alternative energy sources and locally purchased construction materials. Plus easy access to public transportation allows fans to take the subway or bus to the game instead of driving.





Arena: General Motors Place
Team: Vancouver Canucks
City: Vancouver, Canada
Neighborhood: Downtown
Vancouver aims to be the greenest host city ever when the 21st Winter Olympic Games head to British Columbia in February, 2010. In June of 2006 the Vancouver Organizing Committee and the International Ice Hockey Federation announced that the hockey games would be played on NHL-sized rinks so there would be no environmental impact by expanding the ice size at GM Place (to be called Canada Hockey Place for the Olympics) and UBC Thunderbird Arena. GM Place is serviced by the SkyTrain "Stadium-Chinatown" station. SkyTrain is Vancouver's elevated rapid transit system.





Arena: Madison Square Garden
Team: New York Rangers
City: New York City, New York
Neighborhood: Chelsea
It's hard not to be green when garden is in your name and you are situated atop the busiest train station in North America -- Penn Station. Thus, "the world's most famous arena" makes the list for being so damn accessible without a car.





Arena: Pepsi Center
Team: Colorado Avalanche
City: Denver, Colorado
Neighborhood: Downtown
The Pepsi Center is not only retrofitting their building to make it more environmentally friendly, but also is taking the initiative to educate visitors about the importance of energy conservation. The arena teamed with Xcel Energy to launch a website with tips on how Colorado residents and businesses can save money and energy by going green. The Pepsi Center also features the Power Zone where kids and adults alike can play interactive trivia games, learn about wind and solar power, and more. The venue has also installed solar panels and designated hybrid-only parking spaces and a no-idling zone. The Pepsi Center is serviced by bus and Denver's light rail system. The closest station is Pepsi Center/Elitch Gardens on the C and E lines.





Arena: Philips Arena
Team: Atlanta Thrashers
City: Atlanta, Georgia
Neighborhood: Downtown
The 2008 Atlanta tornado outbreak caused minor exterior damage to the Philips Arena. Since then it has been only good news. The arena not only survived the tornado but is thriving -- Pollstar recently named Philips Arena the No. 1 U.S. venue for the first half of 2009 and earlier this year the arena became the first existing NBA or NHL arena to achieve LEED certification. The arena is also served by mass transit. The Philips Arena/CNN Center subway stop is an easy walk to the venue.





Arena: Staples Center
Team: Los Angeles Kings
City: Los Angeles, California
Neighborhood: Downtown
The Staples Center makes the list simply for trying to get car-centric Angelenos out of their leased luxury SUVs and onto the subway to see a game. The L.A. Metro recently released the above video advertisement to encourage fans to take the Blue Line light rail to the Staples Center. The Kings offer ticket discounts to metro riders and the venue provides secure bike racks. Other green initiatives include a dynamic recycling program, low-energy lighting, green cleaning chemicals, waterfree urinals and 1,727 solar panels installed on its rooftop.





Arena: TD Garden
Team: Boston Bruins
City: Boston, Massachusetts
Neighborhood: Downtown North section
The future just got brighter for Boston and the planet because TD Garden recently installed an energy-saving LED lighting system that will light up the arena's exterior at night. According to the website GreenSportsVenues.com: "The project provides a 60% decrease in kilowatt consumption over the previous equipment." The lighting system also automatically shuts off at 2 a.m. to save energy. The lighting changes colors depending on the team playing, so for example when the Bruins hit the ice the color will be yellow. And to celebrate a victory the lights can even do the wave with special effects.





Arena: Verizon Center
Team: Washington Capitals
City: Washington, D.C.
Neighborhood: Gallery Place/Chinatown
The "Phone Booth" has turned Gallery Place/Chinatown into the hottest neighborhood in the nation's capital while doing its part to cool down the planet. When former Caps owner Abe Pollin decided to replace the U.S. Air Arena in Landover, Maryland he significantly reduced the carbon footprint by locating the new arena above the Gallery Place/Chinatown Metro Station -- making the arena easily accessible via subway for fans in the Virginia and Maryland suburbs. The Verizon Center was also the first indoor venue to install a high-definition LED scoreboard. Light-emitting diodes are significantly more energy efficient than traditional incandescent bulbs.

Honorable Mentions:

Honda Center -- Anaheim Ducks
Large recycling program and locally grown produce used in restaurant.

Air Canada Centre -- Toronto Maple Leafs
Located next to Union Station so easy access to public transit.

Bell Centre -- Montreal Canadians
Located in the heart of downtown, the arena provides easy access to public transit.

Xcel Energy Center -- Minnesota Wild
Recycling program, green cleaning products, low-energy lighting, low-flow water in restrooms, bike racks and bus vouchers for employees, education zone display with info on renewable and alternative energy.

Prudential Center -- New Jersey Devils
The newest arena in the NHL is also one of the most accessible via public transit -- the facility is located two blocks from Newark Penn Station.

ESPN.com is reporting a source told senior writer E.J. Hradek that the Philadelphia Flyers will play the Boston Bruins in Fenway Park on New Year's Day as part of the third NHL Winter Classic.

There was speculation that the Washington Capitals would play the Bruins but apparently the NHL wants the Caps to play the New York Rangers at the new Yankee Stadium on New Year's Day 2011.

The popular outdoor event is likely being expanded into a doubleheader on Jan. 1 with the Flyers-Bruins being followed by the Leafs-Flames at McMahon Stadium in Calgary.

The inaugural Winter Classic in 2008 was played at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Buffalo and set an NHL attendance record of 71,217. Hockey fans braved the biting Upstate New York winter weather to watch the Pittsburgh Penguins defeat the Buffalo Sabres 2-1 on a shootout goal by Sidney Crosby.

The second Winter Classic took place at Chicago's Wrigley Field (pictured above) and pitted the Chicago Blackhawks against the Detroit Red Wings. The Wings won the game 6-4.

The Winter Classic has grown into a great showcase for the sport and draws in casual viewers who don't normally tune into hockey games as the solid TV ratings prove.

Beantown is sure to be buzzing just as Wrigleyville was for the event. However, a Washington-New York matchup in 2011 at the new Yankee Stadium featuring Alex Ovechkin and the bright lights of the Big Apple would be hard to beat in terms of generating excitement.