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Could weather concerns force the NHL to postpone the Heritage Classic?

heritageclassic

It wouldn’t be an outdoor game in 2011 if we didn’t have concerns about the weather. In Pittsburgh, there were problems with rain that pushed the game from an afternoon start to the evening. In Calgary, the question isn’t rain. It’s that is just too freaking cold for the ice to stand up to the abuse of a hockey game. Who knew that moisture and cold temperatures could be a bad thing for ice?

On the eve of the Heritage Classic, we’re sitting here with a good news/bad news situation (depending on who you’re talking to). For the optimists, look no further than the players who practiced on the ice in the morning. Both the Habs and the hometown Flames participated in 1-hour practice sessions to test out the ice and the elements. Once they stepped off the ice, one of the first questions asked was, “How are the ice conditions?” Thankfully, the players are saying the right things.

Flames center Olli Jokinen pretty much summed up most of the players assessments when he said, “The ice was great. No complaints.” But he wasn’t alone in his optimism. Steve Staios played in the Heritage Classic back in 2003 when he was a member of the Edmonton Oilers. Back then, the cold weather was also the big concern and ended up being a problem. For a man who has experience playing in these conditions, he doesn’t sound very concerned:

“This is much better. It’s a lot better. There are a few areas where it chipped up and in ’03 there were a lot of areas like that. We were on it for as long as we were and I know they can do things between TV timeouts to patch it up and also in between periods.”

But it’s not all sunshine and rainbows up in Calgary. Former NHL goaltender and current CBC broadcaster Glenn Healy was less than complimentary when he spoke of the ice conditions in McMahon Stadium:

“There’s no question that the ice for the alumni game was dangerous and was unsafe. It wasn’t one spot; it was in a couple of hundred spots.”

What a killjoy.

What we know is that the NHLPA has been in contact with the league about the ice conditions. The story as of tonight is that they’ll go out and reassess the ice tomorrow morning and start making decisions. In the event that the Heritage Classic had to be postponed due to unplayable ice conditions, the event would be moved to Monday.

The good news is there will be a lot less usage tomorrow than there was today. There were two practices, a public-type skate, and an alumni game on the ice surface today. All things told, they had about six hours of total usage throughout the day. Considering the worst thing for ice in these conditions is over usage, that shouldn’t be a problem tomorrow. The only thing planned for the ice surface tomorrow is some TLC from NHL ice guru Dan Craig and the hockey game. Speaking of Craig, he doesn’t seem too worried either:

“Our first skate was pretty good. Our second skate was probably a little chunky,” Craig said. “It’s still very cold out there. It tightened up that top surface so it got a little flaky, but other than that, I think we’ll be good. We just have a few things to do tonight and we’ll be ready to go.”

For the record, Sunday’s forecast in Calgary is 16 degrees Fahrenheit (-9 Celsius for our Canadian readers). The forecast calls for colder conditions than previously expected and is about 16 degrees below optimal conditions for an ice sheet. But as Staios said, there are things they can do during the intermissions and TV timeouts that can pacify the haters.

After listening to the players, announcers, and participants of the alumni game, the sun could be a bigger problem at the beginning of the game as it sets and creates a reflection off the ice. But I don’t think Dan Craig is going to be able to do anything about that.