today the dew tour invades the green mountain state as kevin rolland looks to back up his win from breckenridge, colorado. ski halfpipe is coming up. first this update from our studios. welcome to the adt nbc sports update. >> okay, back to killington in just a moment. first other sports news starting with matinees in the nhl. big matchup in boston. two of the original picks, rangers and bruins. first things up in the second period, tied 1-1 until marian gaborik gets his 24th of the

year. beverly sees adam mcquaid across ice, the wrister ties the game. no winner regulation, into overtime. andrew ference, the game misconduct for this hit on ryan mcdonough. the ringers power-play, they made good final seconds the scramble, gaborik, the rangers win 3-approximate. >> devils hosting flyers. mid-way through the second. wayne simmons fore-checking here. gets the puck, finds matt reid. the one-timer. reid's 15th of the year, flyers up 1-0. timonen rips one from the point. a artnel deflected. flyers win it 4-1. our nhl game of the week. tomorrow afternoon from pittsburgh, good rivalry game, penguins and the caps. the two great russian stars, ovechkin and malkin, air time 12:30 eastern. college hoops. alabama and kentucky.

first half action, nick jacobs rejected by michael kidd gilchri gilchrist. lamb headed the other way. come on, no? no. second half now. kentucky on the run. marcus key finds terrence jones on the break. nice. six players in double figures for the cats, they win by six. georgetown hosting rutgers. scarlet knights led for much of the game. just over a minute remaining. otto porter knocks down the "j" in the lane, wear tied at 50. a pair of free those gave georgetown the lead. carter's runner, no. hoyas hang on to break rutgers' heart if 52-50. michigan state hosting purd purdue. first half tied at 18. greene throws it up. adrian paine slams it down. spartans the two-point lead. early in the second half now. brandon wood gets it done from the outside. the three-pointer. michigan state up by 14.

then later in the half, greene feeds derek nicks right here, very nice. spartans crush purdue 83-58. that's it. off to the dew tour. wo we'll see you a little bit later. somber hearts at killington, vermont, as the action sports community continues to mourn. thursday, canadian freestyle skier sarah burke passed away. she was 29, a pioneer in her sport. she won numerous competitions in the halfpipe including the dew tour and the x-games. it was a dream of sarah's to win the olympics but first her event would have to be included in the game so she lobbied hard for that goal. last april it was achieved. two years from now halfpipe skiing will make its olympic debut in russia.

sarah would have been the favorite for the gold medal. she died from injuries sustained during a january 10th training run in park city, utah. the accident happened in the same exercise kevin pierce suffered traumatic brain injury in 2009. kevin survived and continues to recover. not only was sarah a huge success, she was actively involved at the grass roots. she enthusiasticry taught camps and clinics to hundreds of children. sarah wanted to see freestyle skiing grow. in 2010 she married fellow freestyle skier rory bushfield. they recently starred in a documentary film called "winter." a fund has been started to fund her legacy and support the causes she championed. for more information and to do nate, giveforwarden come/sarahburke. she was always smiling and wanted to see others do the same. i'm joined by luke van valin.

you were not competing along her, you were very close with sarah and her husband. put this in perspective for the free skiing community. >> luke: well, it's really just created this very pervasive feeling of shock and grief to all of us. to put it in perspective, sarah was like our queen from the very beginning she was the girl that just was always smiling, was always communicating to people. just a really incredible, positive, and unbelievable vibe. she's definitely going to be very missed by all of us are but on one end of it we can really be happy just having been a part of her life. the things she did not only for skiing but for all the individuals that are in this family is very difficult to describe. i think that's wa kept a lot of the people from really diving into a comment about burke. she'll always be remembered and she's one of those girls that has created something so beautiful we all get to enjoy on a daily basis. there's no -- there's no word that i could say that could

really describe how beautiful of a person she was. i'm going to miss that smile, i'll tell you that much. >> todd h.: simon dumont said, "she was one of the most intelligent, strong, beautiful people i ever met in my entire life." "i guess god has better plans for sarah. we love you. you will be missed but never forgotten." another snowboarder gretchen bleiler, who trained with sarah in park city, wrote, "i think sarah would tell us all to keep going, keep waking up early to land those tricks you've been dreaming of but only if it's done with 100% passion, purifier, discipline, and commitment." our thoughts and prayers go out to sarah's family and loved ones at this most difficult time. ski in peace, sarah burke. living the snowboard lifestyle isn't academic texacto

5 grind, you know. you have like a passion for something, it's always in your head, just feels so good to be creative and comfortable and know that this is like my thing. this is what i do. i'm danny davis. and it's different on my mountain.

>> todd h.: we welcome you to killington, vermont. this is the pantech invitational countdown show as we get ready for the men's superpipe competition. 12 of the world's best will tackle this 22-foot superpipe with very difficult conditions on an icy cold day here in the northeast. the men won the first event in breckenridge, colorado, last month, 22-year-old kevin rolland from france. this young man stomped that first competition, luke, there was no question about it, no one could debate who should have finished first. he went out there and threw it down. the rest of the podium was solid as well. he said, weather here, not what you expect in mid-january in greater new england. 14 degrees, 7 miles an hour the wind, lightly snowing all day long. but the sun is beginning to poke out. as it sets in the west.

it was just about a month ago in the rocky mountains of breckenridge, colorado, for the first stop the nike open on much different conditions, luke. it was warm, it was sunny, the pipe was soft. duncan adams threw down a blistering second run to get himself on the podium. >> luke: basically the best day you can imagine for skiing. one of those guys, a very different approach to superpipe skiing. there's no doubles in his run, no really big spins until we get down to the bottom. everything is really big, really smooth, and well-executed. his grabs are there and the judges just love it. here's a switch 900 to cap things off at the bottom. that's the biggest spin he does by a full 180. duncan adams right there ended up in third place, great run on the day. >> second place belonged to justin doer tee. >> luke: he's a real risk-taker in the sport, one of the guys he

hears about a new trick and he's already tried it. both directions. spinning right and left all the way down the pipe. when he puts together a run up at the top you never know what you're going to see. everything is brand new for this guy. it's beautiful to watch. >> >> todd h.: second place in breckenridge, colorado. the man who dominated the defending champion, kevin rolland from la plain, france. wow is all i can say >> luke: it as full-scale french weapon. look at the size of these doubles. all the way down the pipe. his ability to put together a run and seamlessly execute is beyond comparison. look at the giant 1260 at the bottom, three doubles in a row, unprecedented, kevin roland takes the "w." >> todd h.: that's how it shifts down at our first stop at breckenridge. kevin rolland sits atop the leaderboard. dorey second, adams third.

keep your eye on kenworthy, perkins, and yater-wallace. at 16 this kid is sensational. i would not be surprised to see him on the podium for the overall >> luke: a huge amount of talent throughout the field. look for some of the young americans to strike through and show you flying colors. >> todd h.: this is the count-down to the men's superpipe finals. as we said, 12f the world easily best. surveying what they have to tackle. the 22-foot superpipe here at killington, vermont. as we continue to work our way towards the first runs, we'll step aside. this is stop number two of the winter dew tour. the pantech invitational. the winter dew tour. built by mountain dew, brought to you by mongoose, the official bike of the dew tour. by ballpark. men. easier said than understood. by toyota.

and by mountain dew. it's different on the mountain.

>> todd: killington resort. it stretches across six mountains and features 140 diverse trails. known as the beast of the east, they boast the highest lift service skiing and riding in the northeast. but they're best known for their diversity of terrain. killington offers multiple terrain features for snowboarders and free skiers, including seven world-class terrain parks. here's it's about progression. timberline at rams head mountain is the most popular park featuring more than 20 features and a 13-foot halfpipe.

the park offerings culminates with the dream maker terrain tyke. the all-natural terrain park with more than 70 features located right here on bear mountain. killington has many activities including the all-new tubing park and an abundance of exciting night life. this weekend the best athletes will compete in killington's 22-foot superpipe. the biggest, baddest superpipe in the northeast. come visit killington. the beast of the east. the sun has not completely set here in the northeast. killington, vermont, the stop of site two, the countdown to the pantech invitational. alongside luke van hail lin, tiffany simmons, i'm todd harris. chiseled, whittled and manicured to pretty much picture perfect as the best it can be under these conditions. it's cold, it's icy. we've got the best halfpipe skiers in the world getting set to tackle it.

>> what's up? i'm tucker perkins with your halfpipe preview >> todd: 21-year-old tucker perkins is used to these conditions. this is what it's like to be on a superpipe >> luke: a great angle of it indeed. look at that cork right there. that's him going inverted. spinning a 900 right there. just to see it from up high, get to check out this pipe in a little bit better light as it was when this was filmed, a beautiful thing. he's way up there, look for big stuff from him throughout the day. tucker perkins, looks like he qualified in second -- not in second place, right around fifth place mark. >> todd: our thanks to tucker perkins, giving us a beautiful shot of the 22-foot superpipe here at killington, vermont. well, the women's competition took place earlier with heavy hearts. as all of our six finalists remembering sarah burke and what she means and what she meant to

sports. but in the end it was maddy bowman, south lake tahoe, came away with top honors. >> luke: the big 900 up top. speaking of up top, all these girls have had those memories of being up at the top of the superpipe with sarah, getting all ready. a lot of them talked about her smile and made them feel so good. skiing on a day like today, being able to hold up the flag for burke, was definitely a big thing. what an honor to take the "w" for maddy bowman. >> todd: grecher bleiler said it best, sarah would want them to charge it as hard as they could. maddy bowman did just that. she is your winner with an 87.50. devin logan second. brit that sigourney in third. tiffany simons caught up with maddy bowman after her victory. >> todd h >> tiffany: congratulations, from sixth to first, describe how that second run went differently for you. >> i came into and it knew i had

to lay it all down because it was my last run. i just went for it. once i got past that nine i was like, oh, thanks. that's where i fell on my first run. it was great. i had great coaching at the top. just laid it down. and i'm technique e ed stoked o. >> tiffany: earlier this week the skiing community lost one of their own in sarah burke. is there anything you want to say? >> sarah was an idol to all of us. i didn't know her personally. but last year at x-games it was my first time. and i was -- nerve-racking. she came up to me and just started talking to me and it was such a small gesture for her but it meant so much to me and it made me feel so much mere comfortable. to have your idol you've looked up to since you were a little kid was amazing. she will be missed so much but she'll never be forgotten. she meant so much to everyone. >> tiffany: thank you so much. ski for sarah. guys? .

>> todd: thank you very much, that was well-spoken. that was earlier today. as the maintenance continues on the superpipe here we're getting set to release the men, the pantech invitational as the course slippers come down, putting down the dye, so the visibility is picture perfect at killington, vermont. we're about ten minutes away from the start of the men's competition. right now, tiffany simons standing by with the defending champion in men's ski pipe. >> tiffany: kevin, one win down, two more competitions to go. what's your mindset as you come into this one today? >> i don't know. i'm too nervous. i want to keep my title. the pipe is really icy here. so we're going to kind of adapt -- we're going to have to adapt our keys to the pipe. i think the run going to be not really high. but we have to work with this pipe. so we'll see. >> tiffany: when you have to ski in icy conditions, is that

something that you kind of shy away from, or do you more or less think, all right, i'm going to attack this and deal with it? >> i don't know. when you have icy pipe -- it's the first time -- i never ride a pipe icy hike that. so it's really difficult. because when you land down it's really -- it's really painful. hurt the ski, hurt the body. it's really hard to keep the ski on the run. it's a little bit flat here. so it's really hard to keep the speed at the beginning of your run. we just have to ski with this pipe and we'll see. >> tiffany: good luck today. >> thanks. >> todd: good luck to kevin row laundry looking to make it two in a row. t minus eight minutes before we release the 12 best men in the ski superpipe final. not all the action taking place

on the slopes. in town the wobbly barn, a favorite of our crew. deejay rack entertaining the masses. ♪ ♪ ♪

snoerts ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> todd: those who are

social media inclined, like the dew tour on facebook for exclusive behind the scenes access from the winter dew tour. there it is, the superpipe from killington, vermont. beast of the east. icy conditions prevail today, skis will be at their very sharpest. for more on sharp edges wide receiver check in with luke van valin. >> luke: thanks, todd. down next to the superpipe we definitely have a very, very icy condition. basically whenever the skiers are hitting the ground, in any particular order, we're seeing some very, very serious slaps, audible loud noises. that indicates the ice. in order to combat that a lot of the athletes are keeping super-sharp edges. these will cut into the ice,

help keep your balance, turn, hold on to your landings, take off in the trajectory you like. in order to symbolize how sharp these things are we've got a ba than that here. i'm going to attempt to slight the skin of the banana with the edge to show you exactly how sharp these babies are. let's see how well they've done their -- oh, boy. as you can see, right in half right there. this particular ski is extremely sharp. you wouldn't want to ski with a banana on it. that's the real deal, todd. >> todd: thank you very much, luke. t minus 2:10 to the final. we are getting set as the world's 12 best ski superpipe athletes skate to the 22-foot superpipe in killington, vermont. the first of two when we return to the beast of the east.