WASHINGTON -- On a balmy Sunday afternoon in Reston, Va., a couple dozen young hockey players are trying to wait patiently for the ice resurfacing machine to complete its duty. They're fidgety, anxious to get out on the ice.

This region's sporting culture long has been dominated by the professional football team, but at the same time these kids were bumping into each other and swaying in anticipation, that football team was slogging to the end of another disappointing season on the other side of the District of Columbia and these young athletes (and their parents) don't seem the least bit concerned.

Youth hockey has exploded in the D.C. region. The level of participation has increased because of several factors. The biggest was the arrival in America's capitol city of a Russian dynamo on skates who has altered the Washington Capitals' position in the marketplace and helped the growth of the sport in ways few probably could have imagined.

ARLINGTON, Va. – Washington Capitals defenseman Brooks Orpik will be a game-time decision for the 2015 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic on Thursday at Nationals Park.

Orpik left Washington's 4-3 overtime loss to the New York Islanders on Monday with a right knee injury after a third-period collision with Islanders forward Cal Clutterbuck. The 34-year-old had to be assisted to the locker room by defenseman John Carlson and forward Jason Chimera.

"I've hurt the knee before, so this one felt a little bit different," Orpik said. "A lot more painful than previous injuries, but the other injuries were a lot worse, so hopefully that's a good sign.

"It would be kind of disappointing to miss this one, but that's kind of up in the air right now."

Washington Capitals forward Jay Beagle is about to play in his second Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic. Beagle suited up for the Capitals at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh in 2011, and he's expected to be in the lineup Thursday against the Chicago Blackhawks at Nationals Park.

Beagle agreed to offer up his opinions in blog form leading up to the main event.

We had an optional practice today, which was good for us because it gave guys who needed a breather a chance to take one, and guys who wanted the opportunity to skate a chance to get on the ice for a loose practice.

Now that practice is over I am going to head out to lunch with my family. We've been on the road quite a bit of late so it'll be good to get some downtime with them. I've got my mom and dad in town as well as my mother-in-law. They're not here for long, so I have to make the most of it.

NEW YORK – The 2015 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic, the New Year's Day outdoor game between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Washington Capitals at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. (1:00 p.m. ET, NBC, CBC, TVA), will pay tribute to the United States Armed Forces during pre-game and in-game festivities, which will feature an anthem ceremony with the Armed Forces Color Guard, the U.S. Army Chorus and U.S. Army Herald Trumpets, singers Master Sergeants Bob McDonald and Caleb Green, and the National Capital Region Eagles; a flyover by the D.C. Air National Guard, 113th Wing; and performances by punk pioneer and rock and roll icon Billy Idol, Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Gavin DeGraw, and country music artist Lee Greenwood.

The décor and field design at Nationals Park for the 2015 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic will visually celebrate the city of Washington, D.C. The League will honor all five branches of the military throughout the day.

The full lineup of performances and special celebrations for the 2015 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic is being produced by IMG Productions, a global leader in sports, fashion and media.

Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Antti Raanta is preparing for his first Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic. He's expected to back up starter Corey Crawford on Thursday against the Washington Capitals at Nationals Park, just as he did on March 1 in Chicago's Coors Light 2014 NHL Stadium Series game against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Raanta agreed to offer up his opinions in blog form leading up to the main event.

CHICAGO -- Last year was my first outdoor game in the NHL, so that was a pretty unique feeling. How the winter was last year, it was snowing, so it made it even more fun. When you're a little kid, you always play outside and you always dream to be some NHL player or some hero, and you try to do those things, what you see them doing on TV.

Now it's going to be even more fun to be part of the Winter Classic.

Washington Capitals forward Jay Beagle is about to play in his second Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic. Beagle suited up for the Capitals at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh in 2011, and he's expected to be in the lineup Thursday against the Chicago Blackhawks at Nationals Park.

Beagle agreed to offer up his opinions in blog form leading up to the main event.

UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- We're just a few days away from the Winter Classic, and I'm feeling fortunate to be playing in another one. I was lucky a few years back to be with the Capitals when we played against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Heinz Field. It was such a great experience.

As a kid growing up in Calgary, you always skate outdoors. Every chance I had, I would be on the outdoor ice. A lot of times, I can remember being out there a lot with people in my family. It was kind of a family thing; even my grandpa would be out skating with me. Skating outdoors is really where most of us learn how to play.

Playing at the Winter Classic in Pittsburgh was obviously a great experience. At that time, I was up and down a lot between Washington and Hershey in the American Hockey League. I got called up a week before the Classic and I had two good games. They kept me for the Classic and it was obviously a pretty special experience. It's something you never forget. It's pretty cool to be part of an outdoor game like that, especially one that was such a rivalry against Pittsburgh. It was a lot of fun.

The Epix guys are here filming us, but having more cameras around doesn't really change anything, at least for me personally.

WASHINGTON -- No matter how many outdoor rinks Dan Craig builds in venues larger than any NHL arena, and he has built quite a lot of them in the past seven years, he still feels the same level of nervous excitement as the days tick off the calendar, drawing event-day closer.

"It's nerves for accomplishment is what it is," Craig, the NHL's senior director of facilities operations, told NHL.com on Monday. "It's a game, and that's one of the things I never lose sight of, and within Hockey Operations, within our world, we never lose sight of it. This is a regular-season game and I want the guys to be able to play this as any regular-season game."

Except, and nobody has to tell this to Craig, it's not any regular-season game: It's the 2015 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic outside at Nationals Park on New Year's Day (1 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, TVA Sports).

Not long after defenseman Matt Niskanen signed with the Washington Capitals this past summer, he paid a visit to Kettler Capitals Iceplex to get his bearings and have his first in-person player-coach conversation with Barry Trotz.

The differing backgrounds struck Niskanen almost immediately.

"I was in town looking for a place to live and I talked to him, and he was like, 'There is a lot, a lot of media here,'" Niskanen said, laughing. "He was like, 'I mean, A LOT!'"

Niskanen said he didn't laugh out loud because he didn't want to embarrass Trotz.

"But inside I was laughing," he said while laughing outwardly. "I'm talking to him thinking there were times in Pittsburgh when Sid [Crosby] was making a comeback and I couldn't even get to my stall, and I was on the other side of the room."

WASHINGTON -- Preparations at Nationals Park for the 2015 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic on Jan. 1 (1 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, TVA) are nearing completion.

"We've got all the ice markings in, logos are almost completely in," NHL senior director of facilities operation Dan Craig said. "We'll put in our big center logo at 4 p.m. here, seal it all in."

Near 5 p.m., the center-ice logo was halfway finished. With an 80 percent chance of rain here Sunday, Craig's crew will work until around 9 p.m. to stay on schedule.

The Chicago Blackhawks and Washington Capitals will practice at the ballpark Wednesday, though the rink will be in use starting Tuesday.

CHICAGO -- It's difficult to find a word that adequately describes the season Corey Crawford is having for the Chicago Blackhawks.

Impressive, steady and dazzling could all work for the majority of his outings. In 20 games, Chicago's No.1 goalie is 12-6-2 with a 2.00 goals-against average, a .923 save percentage, and one shutout. He's playing noticeably better under the guidance of first-year Blackhawks goaltending coach Jimmy Waite, and is a big reason Chicago is leading the NHL in penalty-killing.

"Commend him on getting off to a great start," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said of Crawford earlier this season. "His focus has been excellent every day on the ice, the practice days as well, but he really seems like he’s concentrating on the next shots, the next situations. His preparation has been excellent."