SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Playing on an outdoor sheet of ice already brings its fair share of challenges, even under the most ideal conditions. Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson can certainly attest to that — after playing with Boston University at Fenway Park back in January 2017.
“I flew over the boards once,” Forsbacka Karlsson recalled. “It was one of my first shifts in the game. That doesn’t really happen on the inside.”
Barring an extreme case of someone literally rocketing out of the rink at Notre Dame Stadium, both the Bruins and Blackhawks generally know what to expect when they arrive for Tuesday’s Winter Classic matchup.
Wind and uneven ice will force every player logging a shift to deal with a bit of a learning curve during an outdoor tilt. Likewise, goalies will have to tense up for just about any attempt heading their way — even something as harmless as a volley from center ice.
“When it’s really sunny, the glare can make things tough to see the puck,” Jaroslav Halak said. “You just need to be focused.”
On Sunday, Bruce Cassidy harped on the need for his club to get a chance to get its feet wet with an outdoor practice at Notre Dame Stadium — allowing newcomers to get acclimated to the outdoor experience, while giving Winter Classic veterans such as Zdeno Chara a chance to map out their new surroundings.
“You have to adapt to it,” Chara said. “You’ve got to be a little more space aware. You’re kind of used to seeing that human wall behind the glass. That gives you a sense of perspective where the space is. Now it’s clear and a little bit more in the distance.”
It will be a tough challenge for the B’s to adjust to — one made even more difficult when steady rain kept Boston indoors once again on Monday.
As such, when Boston finally heads out for warmups on Tuesday, it will stand as the first time the B’s will be able to test out the sheet — just about 30 minutes ahead of puck drop.
That being said, any excuses related to the weather or conditions need to go out the door with this Bruins club — especially given their opponent on a national stage.
It’s a familiar narrative for most teams in the days following a Winter Classic outing — with (mostly the losing) clubs harping on how the poor ice kept speedy wingers mired in quicksand and prevented netminders from snuffing out less-that-quality looks from the opposition.
It was the angle Martin Brodeur took after getting lit up in the 2014 Winter Classic, followed by Corey Crawford at the 2017 Winter Classic.
But even though Boston is going into Tuesday’s outdoor showcase blindfolded in some regards, David Krejci wasn’t harping on the loss of Monday’s practice, at least from the perspective of formulating a game plan.
“(It’s) not really that big,” Krejci said of the consequences that come from not being able to practice outdoors. “It’d be nice to get out there and it’s always fun to practice in a different environment then we’re used to. But at the same time, it will just be the same thing for both teams. … I’ve done it before, so I’m all good.”
As Krejci said, the Blackhawks will be in the same boat as Boston, with Chicago forced to practice indoors at Compton Family Ice Arena on Monday as the fellow Original Six club looks to snap a three-game losing streak at the Winter Classic.
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