1st January 2010, 1:59 PM
Great game, the best Winter Classic yet. Fenway was absolutely perfect and they did a great job of pulling it all together. Some of the images from that game were just stunning. Also interesting was the announcement of the US Olympic Team after the game (an announcement that was a tad bit more exciting then when the Canadian team announced their roster in Saskatoon, SK a few days ago). Only one Bruin made it, the goalie, Tim Thomas, who'll get no icetime, but the ovation from the crowd was nice enough. No Mike Modano! He was on the cusp but I still felt he had enough left to captain the team. Also, Scott Gomez was left off the team. That's a huge omission - he's a solid veteran who's been one of the best American players since he joined the league. Aside from that, there's lots of good players: Kane, Parise, Brown, Langenbrunner, Kessler, Kessel, Miller and others could do some damage. Then again, Backes and Callahan and bunch of other low-calibre players don't exactly make this a team to be feared. O'Sullivan from the Oilers wasn't going to make it but I was still disappointed to see him left off because he has a pretty decent career with the US National team. All in all, it ain't the 2002 team that won silver, a team that had scores of talent and Hall-of-Famers. I just don't see the 2010 team matching up to what Canada, Russia, and Sweden has to offer. Even the Czechs are looking stronger than USA. Hell, Germany could even take them.