Red Wings-Hurricanes Game Canceled Due To Poor Ice Condition

Tonight’s Red Wings-Hurricanes game in Raleigh has officially been postponed, nearly two hours after the scheduled puck drop, because the ice at PNC Arena is unplayable. It’s actually pretty cold in Raleigh tonight! But the word on the street is a broken compressor is the culprit.

The rink was already rough for the morning skate, and apparently no better when , which were called off about 15 minutes before the game’s start at 7:00 p.m. local time. At around 7:20 Hurricanes president Don Waddell said the issue had been fixed, but they were waiting for the now-working cooling system to bring the temperature down and solidly re-freeze the ice. That apparently never happened.

Meanwhile, poor fans in attendance had to pass the time by watching the arena staff’s games of solitaire.

They might’ve gotten this game in eventually, but according to NHL rules a game cannot start under 22 hours before a team’s next scheduled game, and the Red Wings have a game in Tampa tomorrow night.

It’s the first postponement due to technical issues in the 17-year history of the building. Fans will get their refunds (info will be posted later on the Canes’ website), and a plan to make up the game will be announced at a later date. In the meantime, Carolina fans, go watch the Panthers instead; Washington looks terrible early.