NHL Winter Classic: Final Preparations!

by Al Yellon on Dec 31, 2008 3:54 PM CST in Chicago Cubs News

Want to take a break from talking about the Cubs transactions from today? Here's what it looked like at Wrigley Field this afternoon as the final preparations for tomorrow's Winter Classic were going on. Incidentally, the two screens that are being put up so that people with limited views inside can see the game have been constructed inside Wrigley Field, in the left field and right field corners. I'll take and post photos of those tomorrow.

I got there after the Blackhawks had already skated; the four photos below are of the Red Wings skatearound. Note the faux brick around the outside of the rink. The green at the right edge of the first two photos is the faux ivy they have put up in front of the outfield wall.

Nice work on the scoreboard -- they used the Detroit, Pittsburgh, Boston, Tampa Bay, Toronto and Washington plates from the baseball scoreboard and painted new ones for "Nashville", "Vancouver", "Buffalo", and "Blackhawks". It's also the first time a TV camera has been placed inside the scoreboard.

Click on photos to open larger versions in new browser windows. All photos by Al

0 recs | 37 comments

Comments

Will Jim Hendry be scouting this game for prospects?

If so, he should be looking for a left-handed swinging right wing with a high on-rink percentage, who can play several other positions defensively; oh, and not cost more than the price of admission.

GeneticCubsFan - December 31, 2008 reply

Nice pics Al

The scoreboard is one of many I’ll be shooting tomorrow, from both outside and inside the ball yard.

Hey, what’s making the reflections on the seating area, spelling out things?

blackhawk24 - December 31, 2008 reply

I don't think those are reflections.

I think those are things that have been placed on the seats to spell out words. It appears that “Winter Classic” is one of them.

Al Yellon - December 31, 2008 reply

Check the pictures here...

http://www.shaveyourhead.com/

and you will see that the lower grandstand seats on the third base side say “Blackhawks” while the seats on the first base side say “Red WIngs” Seats in the upper deck spell out “Winter” on one side and “Classic” on the other.

08 Cubs - December 31, 2008 reply

Thanks for the link.

Those are cool pictures. Note that the scoreboard said “DETROIT” and “CHICAGO” at the time it was taken, but they changed “CHICAGO” to “BLACKHAWKS”.

Al Yellon - December 31, 2008 reply

and the bleachers

say “Wrigley” in left and “Field” in Right
It was fun out there today, and will be fun again tomorrow.

stadiumguru - December 31, 2008 reply

cool pics dude was that your site?

Do you know which bar in WrigleyHawksVille has the best specials

CubFreak - December 31, 2008 reply

Nothing quite like...

seeing a story about a hockey game on the top of a Cubs blog on the day the Cubs trade one of their most productive players of the last two years.

kanderber - December 31, 2008 reply

The post about the trade...

… is on the front page, and has had a ton of traffic today. Thought people might like to have a change of pace.

Al Yellon - December 31, 2008 reply

They are open.

I couldn’t have typed that with my eyes closed duh.

kanderber - December 31, 2008 reply

Sitting Low Down

Even taking into account that Al’s photos are right at field level, it’s tough to see how anyone’s going to be able to see much from the $75 seats low down in the grandstand….

08Cubs - December 31, 2008 reply

The club boxes...

… the first 10 rows… will be seriously limited view. As you can see in the last couple of photos of the rink, though, the field boxes (the next 15 rows) will have pretty good visibility, and those are (for the most part) $75 seats.

The $75 seats in the bleachers will be limited view unless you are in the top few rows.

Al Yellon - December 31, 2008 reply