The decor was superb, but the playing conditions a little less perfect. In a picture postcard panorama showing mountains and lake, an outdoor meeting of the National Hockey League (NHL, the North American Ice Hockey League) played, Saturday, February 20 in Lake Tahoe (Nevada), had to be interrupted, because of too much sun.
The match counting for the regular season ended at the end of the first period, while the Colorado Avalanche – for which the Frenchman Pierre-Edouard Bellemare plays – led 1 to 0 at the expense of the Golden Knights of Las Vegas. After a little over eight hours of waiting, the match was able to resume at 9 p.m. local time (6 a.m. in Paris).
The bright sun was melting the ice, causing bad conditions and too great a risk of injury. All this at almost 2,000 meters above sea level, on a specially equipped ice rink on the 18e hole in a golf course on Lake Tahoe – the largest mountain lake in North America – to create a unique atmosphere with the mountains of the Sierra Nevada as a backdrop. Without any spectator, however, the Covid-19 pandemic requires.
“We concluded, after consulting with our ice specialists and both teams, that it was neither safe nor appropriate to continue playing this game at this time.”NHL boss Gary Bettman said. The match was finally able to resume, at night, adding a new part of the spectacular to the event. The Colorado team eventually won 3-2.
Outdoor matches, a tradition since 2003
Another meeting is scheduled for Sunday between the Boston Bruins and the Philadelphia Flyers, and its kickoff, initially scheduled for the afternoon, has also been postponed to the evening.
Outdoor games have become a tradition in NHL since 2003. “We have organized more than 30 outdoor meetings. It is the most difficult weather condition that we have known and… it is a beautiful day ”said Mr. Bettman.
Far from the Tahoe sun, it is a much more surprising and impressive meteorological phenomenon observed in Texas, hit hard by an unprecedented polar cold wave that paralyzed this state for several days, more accustomed to heat waves than to the snow. For lack of electricity, among other things, three NBA games had to be postponed in recent days. And in NHL, the Dallas Stars had to give up hosting four times this week.