Forecast is frightful for Winter Classic

The weather outside may be looking frightful for the 3rd Winter Classic to be played at Fenway Park between the Philadelphia Flyers and the Boston Bruins.  After looking at the forecast the last couple days for Boston, MA, it is looking like it might be the worst kind of weather for an outdoor hockey game.  As of right now there is a good chance of it raining on January 1 at Fenway Park in Boston.

Raining in January?  That is unheard of coming from the North Dakota/Minnesota area, that's for sure, but it is something that is an obstacle for the upcoming NHL Winter Classic.  All we can do right now is pray that the rain stays away at least until later in the evening or the wind pushes the storm clouds away and we are able to enjoy another 'Classic'.

An excerpt from the Boston Baked Blog on NHL.com:

Not surprisingly, today's afternoon media briefing with Don Renzulli and Dan Craig was focused on analyzing weather forecasts and preparing for contingency plans should New Years Day be a washout.

While weather is always a concern, Renzulli went about easing the tension.

"Now we are looking at light drizzle, temperature dropping (for New Years Day)," Renzulli said. "It's kind of too early right now to decide what we are going to do. We have got to finish out our build-out phase and we will continue to monitor the weather. And we are prepared for a number of different issues, and when we get to Thursday, we'll make a call based on the current weather forecast. But right now looks like we'll be good to go and play the game."

Renzulli said if a decision is going to be made to postpone the game until Saturday, in a perfect world it will be made before the stadium fills up with fans.

"Once the Commissioner gets here, we will meet with him and Dan (Craig) and Colin Campbell and evaluate what we think the weather is going to be; and if we think there is a good chance we can get this game in, we'll do everything in our power to do that," Renzulli said. "If they are calling for a foot and a half of snow, it’s a little bit different. Three days out, I think it's kind of hard to make that decision.

"It's not like baseball where you can get in, you know, five and a half innings and it's a full game. We want to play three full periods, and we are going to make the decision based on that."

-- Dan Rosen

That's what the NHL is dealing with heading into the Winter Classic.

Celebration of Hockey

Scheels, the Urban Plains Center and the Fargo Force have announced the First Annual Pond Hockey Festival to be held on the pond directly to the east of the ice arena this coming New Year's Eve. The pond hockey festival is a celebration of the great game of hockey and allows for hockey fans of both genders and all ages to interact and mingle the way the game originated, on the pond.


The Pond Hockey Festival will cost $100 for each team which will include playing in the tournament and 6 Fargo Force tickets to the game later that night.  Registration is available here.

New Year's Day, January 1, 2010 will be the 3rd NHL Winter Classic.  Hopefully everyone will be able to watch the game between the Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers at Fenway Park in Boston, MA.