Video: Claude Giroux’s sister gets engaged on Winter Classic ice

Yahoo! Sports

Sun Jan 01 05:15pm EST

Video: Claude Giroux’s sister gets engaged on Winter Classic ice

Last year, we saw the introduction of two new traditions in the days leading up to the NHL's Winter Classic: The 24/7 series, and on-ice engagements.

Granted, we didn't quite know the latter was going to become a tradition until Sunday afternoon, but clearly it has. The day before the 2011 Winter Classic, a friend of Mike Green used his connection to pop the question on the ice. Sunday afternoon, history repeated itself, as Claude Giroux's sister Isabelle got engaged there:

For the record, I don't suspect Isabelle will be allowing her brother to retell the engagement story at the wedding. Let's all relive Claude's version of the events:

"He called me, Eric, and he's like, 'I'm gonna propose to your sister, when should I do it?' And I'm like, 'Just do it on the ice,' and he was skating around for a half an hour, he was all nervous, like, 'I don't know how to do it,' and I'm like, 'Grow some balls, just do it.'"

How cute.

I don't have any problem with saying I find this all very touching. As Ilya Bryzgalov would say, "I'm a human. I'm not made from the steel."

Some of you might bristle at the thought of hockey's marquee regular-season event also being a major hub of love and romance, but after two engagements in two years, it may be too late to do anything about it. The Winter Classic will move you.

Frankly, it makes a lot of sense as place to get engaged. The day before the game, after both teams finish their practices, friends and families of the players are permitted to enjoy a skate on the ice. It's a special treat, and when you combine it with the natural outdoor setting, and the fact that it's New Year's, it's a stage set for romantic proposals.

It's way better than doing it at the Universal tour, when Jaws pops out of the water. Am I right, ladies?

Finally, here are Mike Green's friends agreeing to marry from last year's Winter Classic.