February 22, 2017
For all of us in the Delaware Valley, we’re experiencing unseasonably warm weather this week. At a time of the year when heavy snow isn’t uncommon, it has felt like April and May in Philadelphia. The same can be said for Western Pennsylvania, which happens to be hosting a pretty big hockey game this weekend.
Well, considering the Flyers’ poor form in 2017, Saturday night’s Stadium Series contest has lost a little bit of luster. But there has never* been a bigger outdoor game played between the Flyers and hated Pittsburgh Penguins.
(*This is the first time the Flyers and Pens have played outdoors.)
Oh yeah, the weather. The forecast in Pittsburgh on Friday, when both teams are scheduled to practice, is supposed to be sunny and 76 degrees. In February. I am no John Bolaris (nor do I play one on TV), but that is a few ticks above the freezing point.
According to Sean Gentille of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, NHL vice president of facilities operations Dan Craig (not to be confused with ours) isn’t worried about the mild Pittsburgh weather, considering he and his crew have handled a couple of games in California and Denver with mild temps.
The key word here is “coolant”:
“We have all of our data that we have out of those three venues,” Craig said. “We’re running the same truck, we’re running the same floor."
That pump truck, parked outside Heinz Field, circulates 300 tons of coolant through 365 feet of six-inch mains to tubes in aluminum pans, housed below the elevated ice deck. The trip takes 90 seconds.
“That little baby back there can be a dragster,” Craig said of the truck. “Sometimes you have to watch, it can overrun you if you’re not careful.”
The good news for the NHL is that temperatures at Heinz Field are supposed to drop down closer to 40 degrees by the time the puck drops, but there is also another complication: Rain is in the forecast for Saturday morning, but for now, it looks like the precipitation will be gone before the game starts.
Let’s hope so. You don’t want to have this:
Start of the 2nd period. pic.twitter.com/VQHPzZZpK2
— Tom Gazzola (@TomGazzola) January 8, 2017
Craig has dealt with rainy weather for outdoor hockey games as well, with the 2011 Winter Classic between the Capitals and Penguins being one of those times. Per Gentille, Craig and his crew’s task “is more about making sure condensation on the ice surface freezes quickly, removing whatever doesn’t and then ensuring that the surface is suitably flat.”
Follow Rich on Twitter: @rich_hofmann
