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On the same day this week that New Jersey Devils forward Zach Parise moved into fourth place in the NHL scoring race, Edmonton Oilers forward Robert Nilsson was a healthy scratch. The connection? On draft day in 2003, the New York Islanders — picking 15th overall — had a shot at Parise. It was seemingly a no-brainer pick, because of his talent and his ties to the organization (his father, J.P. Parise, played parts of four seasons for the team). Instead, they opted for Nilsson, leaving Parise there for the Devils two picks later. The Isles then traded Nilsson to Edmonton in 2007. Year after year, regime after regime, it's that sort of decision-making that has the Isles poised to pick first overall in the draft again.

Six spots before Parise, at No. 11, the Philadelphia Flyers grabbed Jeff Carter, who led the league in goals (26) before Christmas. Carter is a self-described notoriously slow starter, so his output in the early going of 2008-09 came as something of a surprise, even to him. Much of his success has to do with his willingness and ability to shoot the puck. "When I grew up, my dad always taught me you can't score if you don't shoot, so I try to put it in the net every chance I get," Carter said. So how long can he hold off the surging Alex Ovechkin in the NHL goal scoring derby? "I don't know," Carter said. "He seems to be scoring well these days. He's a great player. We'll see."

There was a little mishap on the day the ice-making equipment arrived at Wrigley Field in Chicago to begin preparations for the Winter Classic. Two ice resurfacing machines were being unloaded from a flatbed truck when the brakes on one jammed and it slid off the back. No one was injured and the machine survived with no apparent damage either.

Since the Winter Classic is all about marketing, you wonder if the Chicago Blackhawks have invited Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Carlos Zambrano as a guest Zamboni driver. Zambrano on a Zamboni — how could that miss?

U.S. president-elect Barack Obama has a standing invitation to the 2009 Winter Classic and organizers are keeping their fingers crossed.

Facts and figures relating to making outdoor ice: NHL.com says more than 400 workers were involved and needed 52,000 feet of plywood, 20,000 gallons of water and 350 gallons of paint. The paint was used to simulate Wrigley's famous ivy-covered outfield wall.

The best news for Dan Craig, the league's ice guru, was he was able to get into Wrigley Field far earlier this year than he was last year at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Buffalo. Barring a thaw, that should make for better overall ice quality and prevent some of the delays that occurred in the 2008 game, when the sheet needed to be patched.

Craig on the difference between laying down an ice sheet outdoors as opposed to indoors: "One of the things we have to be careful for is, when you do natural ice outside, it freezes from the top down, compared to artificial ice, which freezes from the bottom up. We want to make sure there isn't any [air] in between. That's why we have the refrigeration system to balance ourselves out."

Beyond second base, out in centre field, a second smaller rink will be built, essentially to serve as the set for NBC's pregame show. It will feature snow banks, two nets and a couple of children's teams playing shinny.

Detroit Red Wings goalie Ty Conklin is the most seasoned of Winter Classic players, not just because he grew up in Alaska either (he recalled the other day playing outdoors in Russia as a 10-year-old). Conklin also suited up for the Edmonton Oilers in 2003 in freezing cold conditions and then again last year for the Pittsburgh Penguins in the snow. Even so, there hasn't been a troop of players stopping by his locker asking for advice. "I can't explain to anybody how to stick-handle in the cold and when the ice is a little bit choppy," he said. "I'll leave that up to them." Conklin went on to say the hardest job was Paul Boyer's (the Red Wings equipment manager) "because you never know what kind of weather you are going to get. It could be [1 C], a nice and sunny day, or it could be [-12 C] and the wind could be blowing 20 miles an hour. You have to prepare for a lot of different elements."