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Christmas comes early for NHL fans with the arrival of HBO’s stunning documentary series “24/7 Red Wings/Maple Leafs: Road to the NHL Winter Classic.”
After losing the popular series last year to the lockout, the show hit the ground running Saturday night with a stunning intro to set the stage for the four episodes of behind-the-scenes looks at the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs.
Opening with the scene of children playing on an outdoor rink, the intro weaves through imagery from the cities of Detroit and Toronto and cuts in with clips of both teams in action.
From start to finish, the first three minutes of the show is poetic. The kids on the pond serve as the basis for what outdoor hockey is all about and how many NHL dreams are born on sheets just like that. Narrator Liev Schreiber then delivers this memorable line about the impossible dream of making it to the NHL: “If no one believed in the impossible, there would be nothing left to dream about.”
The opening montage then weaves in imagery from the two teams’ storied histories with a really awesome soundtrack underneath. It then closes with the kids on the rink again, showing hockey in its purest form.
There really could have been no better way to set the stage for what should be a very fun series leading up to and including the Winter Classic.
