CHICAGO -- Tim Erixon was so close to experiencing an NHL outdoor game that he practically could feel the cold air against his face.

It was 2011-12, Erixon's first season with the New York Rangers. However, he played 18 games for New York between trips to Connecticut of the American Hockey League.

One of the demotions stung a little more than the others. It happened Dec. 28, 2011, days before the Rangers were to play the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2012 NHL Winter Classic. The Rangers won the game 3-2 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

"I got sent down [a few days] before, so I never got to experience it," said Erixon, now a 24-year-old who was acquired by the Blackhawks on Dec. 14 in a trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets. "It was my first year [in the NHL]. I got sent down right before the trip, the day before we were going to leave."

Erixon was dealt to the Blue Jackets the next season. He'd stashed thoughts of playing outside in the back of his mind until his latest career transaction brought them rushing back to the forefront.

He'll have a chance to make his NHL outdoor hockey debut at the 2015 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic, on Jan. 1, 2015 at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., against the Washington Capitals.

The camera abruptly zoomed in on Chicago Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville's face, so close that you could see the tears that hadn't yet dropped out of the bottom of his eyelids. This was the picture of a man, not just a coach, dealing with the stark reality of life and death amidst the whirlwind of an NHL season.

Clint Reif, an unheralded member of the Blackhawks family as their assistant equipment manager, was found dead in his home Sunday morning. He was 34 years old.

Earlier in the week Reif was doing what he loved to do, preparing the equipment, the jerseys, pants, socks, skates, everything, alone at United Center while the Blackhawks attended a season-ticket holder function at Navy Pier.

The EPIX cameras were with Reif while he worked. He dished on players, providing some insight into the inner workings of the Blackhawks and the personalities that made work never feel like work.

Then Reif was suddenly gone, so Quenneville had to stand in front of the media and talk about his loss prior to Chicago's game Sunday against the Toronto Maple Leafs. His eyes welled up while he stood at the podium. He was a picture of shock and sadness.

As the journey toward Nationals Park on New Year's Day continues for the Washington Capitals and Chicago Blackhawks, the second episode of "EPIX Presents Road to the NHL Winter Classic" examines the truths of winning and losing, teamwork and toughness, and the reality that occasionally the game can take a backseat to family, friendship, loved ones and, unfortunately, lost ones.

Some of the highlights in the second episode of the four-part series, which airs Tuesday night on EPIX, include family skates for both the Blackhawks and Capitals, featuring the loved ones and the little ones that are rarely seen but so important in the lives of the players and coaches.

There are light-hearted moments, such as Alex Ovechkin walking through the concourse at Verizon Center while attending a Washington Wizards game in search of ice cream. There is a segment on Blackhawks forward Andrew Shaw, who is affectionately known as "The Mutt" for his uncanny ways of getting under your skin by running his mouth and never holding back. Capitals rookies Michael Latta and Tom Wilson are shown during a lunch in Columbus talking about how pickles are made.

CHICAGO -- The wind whipped in howling gusts, the snow fell in sheets and Soldier Field transformed into a gigantic snow globe.

The calendar read March 1 for the game between the Chicago Blackhawks and Pittsburgh Penguins last season, but nobody thought about spring's arrival during the Windy City leg of the 2014 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series.

Chicago's iconic football cathedral, located near the shores of Lake Michigan, was frigid with polar air and awash in white. It was the perfect backdrop for an outdoor hockey game, reminiscent of the days so many players spent as kids on frozen lakes and ponds.

WASHINGTON -- The remainder of the Washington Capitals' road to the 2015 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic will wind through the Metropolitan Division, a weeklong journey that could have sizable implications.

Before the Capitals host the Chicago Blackhawks on New Year's Day at Nationals Park (1 p.m. ET, NBC, CBC, TVA), they conclude their December schedule with three straight road games against divisional opponents.

"We're aware of the situation here that we have a big schedule coming up here," Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom said. "We've got to be focused and make sure we're not taking it lightly. Every point is important right now. We've got to be sharp here."

WASHINGTON -- A damp and frigid day in Washington did not delay the progress being made on the rink for the 2015 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic, to be played between the Chicago Blackhawks and Washington Capitals at Nationals Park on New Year's Day (1 p.m. ET, NBC, CBC, TVA).

"Right now we're in good shape," NHL senior director of facilities operation Dan Craig said. "We're not quite at half an inch [of ice], very close to half an inch right now."

Over the weekend, installation of the boards and aluminum trays that regulate the temperature of the ice surface were completed. The crew began spraying water on the playing surface to create the ice, which will ultimately be about two inches thick.

Elsewhere around the ballpark, some décor elements had already been installed, such as detailing on both dugouts and a large banner featuring the NHL Winter Classic logo in left field.

Architectural rendering of 2015 NHL Winter
Classic (Click to enlarge)

NEW YORK – The National Hockey League® today unveiled an architectural rendering of the 2015 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic®, the much-anticipated outdoor match-up between the Chicago Blackhawks® and Washington Capitals® on New Year's Day.

Hockey's biggest stars – including Alex Ovechkin, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane – will take center stage as the Blackhawks and Capitals meet in Washington, D.C. at Nationals Park, home of the Washington Nationals. The event will be broadcast live nationally on NBC in the United States and on CBC and TVA in Canada on 1 p.m. ET on Jan. 1. Sirius XM Satellite Radio will provide radio coverage.

The 2015 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic® continues the tradition the NHL® has established of hosting a regular-season game outdoors at the onset of the new year to celebrate the origin and traditions of hockey.

Pierre McGuire's favorite NHL Winter Classic moment is one he experienced from six time zones and approximately 4,200 miles away.

"I wasn't at the first one in Buffalo and I was watching it in Prague, and it was late at night," McGuire, NBC's Inside-the-Glass analyst, said on a media conference call Thursday. "The call I will always remember, 'Here's Crosby, with the game on his stick.' It was my great partner for the last 10 years, 'Doc' Emrick, making that call."

Mike 'Doc' Emrick, NBC's lead NHL broadcaster, was putting words to the incredible pictures McGuire was seeing on his television; Crosby at center ice in the middle of a Buffalo blizzard, ready to bear down on Ryan Miller for what turned out to be the shootout winner and the snow globe image for the NHL's new signature regular-season event.

WASHINGTON – At 1 p.m. Thursday, the sun hung above home plate at Nationals Park during the fourth day of rink building for the 2015 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic, flooding most of the soon-to-be-completed playing surface with light. The temperature hovered in the mid 40s, made chillier by a noticeable breeze.

With puck drop scheduled for that time on Jan. 1 between the Chicago Blackhawks and Washington Capitals, such weather on New Year's Day would suffice, though a few tweaks would be preferred.

"I would say a perfect day is 30 degrees and overcast, a little bit of snow," NHL Executive Vice President of Events Don Renzulli said.

Game-day forecasts call for partly sunny skies and temperatures in the mid 20s to mid 30s, according to Renzulli, though it is too early for those models to be concrete.

On the field, the construction crew, headed by senior director of facilities operations Dan Craig, continued to place the aluminum trays that will eventually maintain the ideal 22-degree temperature of the ice.

Tom Wilson and Michael Latta live together in an apartment in Northern Virginia, and some college students would be surprised at the minimalist nature of their bachelor pad.

At some point in Brad Richards' career, if only for a brief time, he probably lived in a place like that. He, his wife and their 2-month old child now live in one of Chicago's signature skyscrapers, with a stunning view of one of America's largest cities and Lake Michigan from their living room.

The first episode of "EPIX Presents Road to the NHL Winter Classic" begins and ends with the road, and the idea that the journey is as important as the destination. Richards, a veteran of 1,013 NHL games and a Conn Smythe Trophy winner, knows about the road an NHL player must traverse.

Wilson and Latta represent a juxtaposition to Richards; the eager young players hoping to forge a path to NHL success. In that way, they also represent their teams, and how the new inside look from EPIX at the franchises as they prepare for the NHL's signature regular-season event could be shaped.