Zigeunerzelt » competitiveness that he

CHICAGO -- The Pittsburgh Penguins were wrapping up practice Friday when Tanner Glass grabbed an iPad mini and skated around the temporary rink in the middle of Soldier Field. The 30-year-old Canadian forward smiled as he captured the chilly scene, which took him all the way back to when he first learned to skate at his grandparents farm. "As I grew up, there was an outdoor rink right beside by the main rink," said Glass, a native of Regina, Saskatchewan. "So even tournaments, wed have our real game inside and then wed all just take half our gear off and run across to the outdoor rink and play all day. It reminds me of that and kind of the good old days." Yup, these outdoor games still have an allure for NHL players, especially when they involve two of the best teams in the league. The league gets a marquee prime-time finish for its successful Stadium Series when Sidney Crosby and the Penguins take on Jonathan Toews and the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday night at the home of the NFLs Chicago Bears. "Youve got two pretty fast, skilled hockey teams and if the ice can kind of agree with everyone I think that would make for a pretty good product out there," Crosby said. The forecast calls for light snow and temperatures in the teens, but each team has some experience with the pratfalls of playing outside. Chicago lost 6-4 to rival Detroit in the 2009 Winter Classic at Wrigley Field. Crosby had the winning shootout goal when visiting Pittsburgh beat Buffalo 2-1 in the first Winter Classic in 2008, but the Penguins lost 3-1 to Washington when they hosted the 2011 game at Heinz Field. Now the Blackhawks and Penguins return to the great outdoors for their first meeting since Pittsburghs 3-2 victory on Dec. 20, 2011. Its their first game in Chicago since Patrick Kane had the only shootout goal in the Blackhawks 3-2 win on Feb. 20 of that year. While scheduling and the leagues most recent labour dispute have kept the teams apart, the players are plenty familiar with one another. Team captains Crosby and Toews face off for the first time in an NHL regular-season game after leading Canada to the gold medal in the Sochi Olympics last weekend. Crosby, Toews and Penguins forward Chris Kunitz scored in their countrys 3-0 victory in the final against Sweden, which included Marcus Kruger, Johnny Oduya and Niklas Hjalmarsson of the Blackhawks. Penguins coach Dan Bylsma got a chance to see Kane up close when he was behind the bench for Team USA in Russia. "Ive learned quite a bit about his competitiveness," Bylsma said. "You kind of see the smile. Its certainly a ton of skill how he plays the game, but I was impressed by it and learned just the competitiveness that he has and brings to the game. Skill-wise you see it live." The first NHL game at Soldier Field also features two teams in need of a win. The Penguins are coming off a 6-5 shootout loss to Montreal, while the Blackhawks lost 2-1 at the New York Rangers on Thursday night. Chicago, which almost tied the game against the Rangers in the final seconds, is playing its first game in the Windy City since Jan. 26. "Everybody is excited for Saturday," centre Peter Regin, who scored the only goal against New York, said Thursday night. "Obviously we were hoping to get a different outcome tonight, but we play in two days. That is the good thing about the NHL, you play every second night, so its not so long before you can redeem yourself." Will Sutton College Jersey . Groves signed with Cleveland as an unrestricted free agent last year after a season with Arizona. He was in the linebacker rotation and had a sack in the season opener against Miami. Wholesale Arizona State Jerseys . 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As the U.S. finishes a week-and-a-half training camp in the host country, Donovan said American players have enough confidence and experience to confront more traditional World Cup teams heading into a first round that includes matches against Germany, Portugal and Ghana. "I think the experience that we have now far exceeds the experience that we ever had with any team, and that lines up to give us a real chance," Donovan said Thursday. "We are confident in how we play. We are confident in what we do. Our guys have had enough experiences against all of these players, against teams like Ghana, Portugal, Germany. ... We feel confident that we can get results against them, and thats a nice feeling going into a World Cup." The U.S. opens against Ghana on June 16, plays Cristiano Ronaldos Portugal six days later and closes the group stage against Germany on June 26. The Americans will be playing in their seventh straight World Cup, and Donovan is heading to his fourth. "Theres never been competition for places like there is in our team now," the midfielder said during a news conference. "You can really make a case for probably 35 or 40 guys to be a part of a 23-man roster, and thats never been the case. Its really up for grabs in a lot of positions, and that in itself obviously creates competition, which makes the team better." Donovan, who turns 32 in MMarch, said the U.ddddddddddddS. team is more respected by opponents. "The reason its the group of death is because we are in it," he said. "In the past, it would have been a relatively easier group for Germany or Ghana or Portugal because they had us in it. But now, because we are in it, it makes it one of the most difficult groups in the tournament." Donovan said the first goal remains to reach the knockout stage of the 32-nation tournament. "Our expectations, like most teams, are to get out of the group," he said. "We are aware that we have a difficult group, but the expectation is that we can do it and we are going to try to get out of our group, just like most teams in this World Cup. That is the objective. That is the goal. But we feel good about where we are at." German coach Jurgen Klinsmann brought 26 players to this training camp get acclimated to the teams World Cup base in South Americas biggest city. The team, mostly with players from Major League Soccer, will play an exhibition against South Korea on Feb. 1 at Carson, Calif. "Weve been very lucky to have two weeks here in Sao Paulo," Donovan said. "Its been very nice to have a couple of weeks to adapt to what its going to be like this summer. When we come back we have a comfort level. We know the people, the club, the training facilities. It makes it a lot easier. You get a feeling for what its like here, and it helps a lot." Klinsmann is expected to visit the Arena da Amazonia on Friday in the jungle city of Manaus, where the U.S. will play Portugal. 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