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NHL Winter Classic To Be Featured On New HBO Show

By Jordan Ruby

Year in and year out, Hard Knocks is one of the best shows on television. it gives unprecedented access to athletes acting candidly in an environment many of us would otherwise never get to see Now, Hard Knocks is leaving the gridiron and heading to the ice.

Seth Orrabaugh of the Pittsburgh-Post Gazette is reporting HBO will announce a new show later this afternoon that will chronicle the lead up to this year's winter classic, featuring the Capitals and the Penguins at Pittsburgh's Heinz Field. It will mix parts of "Hard Knocks" and "24/7," a show they have produced leading up to a number of different boxing matches.

More info after the jump.

According to Rorabaugh, the show will feature players being mic'd up, both on the ice and off. Hopefully, it will also feature translation for when Alex Ovechkin goes off on Sidney Crosby in a profanity-laced Russian outburst.

Much like "Hard Knocks," this NHL series will have players wearing microphones on and off the ice and would offer an uncensored look at the Penguins and Capitals leading up to the New Year's Day game. A game between the Penguins and Capitals Dec. 23 in Washington is expected to be one of the main focuses.

And that's what should make this show so great. Not the swearing, but that we'll be able to see these guys for who they really are. There's a big difference between how candid a person can be on anything-goes HBO, and how cadid they have to be when dealing with the local media; which is the majority of our exposure to them.

If the NHL version is similar to the original Hard Knocks, but with Alexander Ovechkin in the leading role, it should easily surpass it's NFL predecessor.