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Once again, the ice is an issue in Chicago

If these games were being played in California, Florida or Texas then I could see how the ice conditions could become a major story. Yet the Stanley Cup finals will be in Chicago and Philadelphia, not exactly two cities you think of being hot and having issues keeping the ice is good shape.

Yet that’s exactly what some of the talk was about today. It’s June, and unless the Stanley Cup finals were being played in the Yukon there’s a good chance we’d be having the issues no matter what arena the games are played in. Still, the players weren’t too happy with the ice conditions during the game last night. From an AP report:

“It’s so hot outside, I don’t know if you could do anything about it,” Blackhawks left winger Kris Versteeg said.

He said the ice was fine for about the first 10 minutes of each period.

“The last 10, it heats up a bit,” Versteeg said. “There’s nothing they can do about it. They’re not going to change the temperature or anything like that. They’re not going to tell the people to stop screaming and opening doors.”

Watching the game, I didn’t notice anything particularly out of the ordinary when it comes to the puck bouncing, but the players certainly take notice. Chris Pronger suggested that they could certainly ensure the ice was hard enough for everyone’s liking, but the fans wouldn’t enjoy sitting around with the temperature set at about 4 degrees.

“It’s getting hot out, humid out. While it is the Windy City, we can’t open up the doors, as we talked about yesterday, and let all that cold wind in. I don’t think it’s any worse than it was in Anaheim or Carolina or whatever. As you’ve progress further in the Playoffs, the ice usually gets a little softer. It’s tough to keep it that cold.”