National Hockey League Outdoors game at Lake Tahoe between the Vegas Golden Knights and Colorado Avalanche had to be postponed for nearly eight hours on Saturday due to player safety issues.
Colorado defenseman Samuel Girard opened the scoring only three minutes into the contest, which was halted after the first period with the Avalanche ahead 1-0 as the sunshine melted the ice to cause poor skating conditions and grave injury risk.
“We concluded after consulting with our icemakers and both teams that we didn’t think it was safe and appropriate to continue playing this game at this time,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said.
The second period start was postponed by nearly eight hours to 9 pm local time (0500 GMT Sunday).
A special rink was assembled on the 18th hole of a lakeside golf course to create the unique atmosphere with mountains in the background and boaters watching on the water at a distance but no spectators were allowed in the rink due to COVID-19.
The matchup was the first of a double-header that ends on Sunday with the Boston Bruins facing the Philadelphia Flyers.The start of this game has been pushed back to Sunday night.
“We’ve done more than 30 outdoor games. This has been the most difficult weather circumstance we’ve had and it’s a beautiful day,” said Bettman. “We knew unabated sunshine was a problem.”
Bettman said players were divided over returning to play as planned or waiting.
“You’ve got to do the prudent thing,” he said. “We’re all disappointed. You can’t have success if you don’t risk failure.”
Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog, a Swedish left winger, said Colorado was ready to keep going but it was probably wiser to wait and resume under the lights.
“That first period was the way it was but some places were slushy,” he said. “We were ready to go out. We wanted to go out, but it’s probably for the best.
“We’ll take it in stride and try to pick up where we left off. It’ll be one to remember for sure.”