SOCHI -- Welcome to Day 2 of the Sochi Olympics!
A little sleep was had by all after a day that stretched past 24 hours for the NHL.com crew here, and things look much brighter after a little shut-eye.
It's really warm here in Sochi with temperatures hitting 54 Fahrenheit by 2 p.m. In fact, it is so warm that Sochi organizers have tapped into the emergency snow supply that has been hoarded for the past year to groom some of the mountain courses.
You are not supposed to sweat at a Winter Olympics, but there is a lot of that going on. Not that I'm complaining. In fact, the weather in the Coastal Cluster is very similar to the weather four years ago in Vancouver.
Russia, by the way, is very excited for these Olympics. And nothing generates the excitement more than the men's hockey team. I experienced that firsthand Tuesday. The team had a full press conference at the Main Press Center and almost 500 journalists crammed into Pushkin Hall for the event. The Russians were greeted by applause and sent off at the event's conclusion to an even stronger round of applause.
A few minutes later, a Moscow university student working at these games asked me countless questions about the Russian team as she guided me on a long walk to the NBC broadcast compound. Interest in the team is all-consuming and it will be interesting to see how the Russian players handle it.
Talk to you later today.
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