Bruins, Blackhawks to practice indoors ahead of Winter Classic

SOUTH BEND, Ind. --The forecast for Tuesday is calling for an overcast sky, temperature in the low-to-mid 30s and maybe even a dusting of snow, perfect conditions for the 2019 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic.

But before they get there, the NHL, the Boston Bruins and Chicago Blackhawks called an audible on their practice plans Monday because of a system of rain coming into the area.
The rain is expected to move in early Monday and fall steadily throughout the day, so the Blackhawks and Bruins will move their practices indoors to Compton Family Ice Arena across the parking lot from the stadium, meaning the first time they skate on the Winter Classic rink will be in warmups before the game Tuesday (1 p.m. ET; NBC, SN, TVAS).

The Blackhawks, who were scheduled to practice at 10 a.m. ET, will practice at 11:30. The Bruins, scheduled for 3 p.m., will follow at 1 p.m. Each will have an hour of ice time before the Notre Dame men's team plays against Boston College at 5 p.m.
The family skates, which are planned for after each team's practice at the stadium, were cancelled.
"We can skate, and we have before in light rain because it doesn't affect the ice, it doesn't affect the conditions," Kris King, the NHL's senior vice president of hockey operations, said Sunday. "If there is a lot of rain, the ice gets too soft and you're talking about potentially having hazardous conditions for the players, and we don't want to put them in that and I don't think anybody is comfortable practicing in a rain storm."
The NHL had a similar issue last season before the Washington Capitals and Toronto Maple Leafs played in the 2018 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series game at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland, on March 3.
Heavy winds made the League cancel the outdoor practices on March 2, forcing the Maple Leafs to practice at McMullen Hockey Arena, Navy's main rink on campus, and the Capitals to stay home and practice at their training facility in Arlington, Virginia.
The NHL gave the Capitals and Maple Leafs more time to skate during pregame warmups to test the ice, and King said he did not feel the game was impacted by the fact that neither team had a chance to test the ice the day before.
"It's not unprecedented but not ideal," King said. "You can't fight Mother Nature. We've got a plan in place. We're well prepared."
The ice crew began preparing to deal with rain Sunday, most notably readjusting the Olympia ice machines so they could be used to vacuum water off the ice surface. They also have squeegees and brooms ready if they have to manually get the water off the surface quickly.

"Our game plan with the weather is we want to make sure we're keeping on top of everything as far as our preparations and planning," Mike Craig, the NHL's senior manager of facilities operations, said Sunday. "If we do have an opportunity to get the players out there, we're definitely going to do that. Having said that, if we have to move practices, then we want to make sure we're maintaining it all the way through so as soon as the weather system stops, we're able to recover quickly and be ready as soon as possible."
Craig said the ice is otherwise game ready.
"We hope the weather people are wrong here and this thing skirts by us and we can have a normal Dec. 31," King said. "If not, it affects what New Year's Eve is about and the players getting a chance to get on the ice. They don't practice long. Traditionally, most teams get out there, get the feel and then they enjoy it with their families. We've always thought that that was a big part of these events. It's unfortunate if the weather doesn't allow us to do that, but we're thinking about the next day, which looks great. The weather looks fabulous."