"The crew has been working really hard for the last few days," King said. "We were tracking this weather that was coming in, so the guys have put in a few long days, but we're right where we want to be with the build right now."
King, a native of Winnipeg, Manitoba, is no stranger to snow or varying conditions. The 2017 Scotiabank NHL100 Classic is the 11th outdoor game at which he has worked.
"We've faced all types of weather. We've had games in (Los Angeles) and we're getting the snow here. It's things we work through. Right now, there is nothing concerning for us with this weather," he said.
"The guys will keep moving the snow off. We've got a few other projects to do to get ready and we'll just monitor the weather and monitor our temperatures from the [ice-making] truck. We'll be ready for Friday."
The Senators and the Canadiens each have a practice scheduled for Friday.
King said the sub-freezing temperatures for the past few nights have been colder than ideal for ice making, so the crew has been using the refrigeration unit housed in a 53-foot trailer to warm the ice at night.
"The evenings are a little cooler than what we want but we have the technology in the truck so we can heat the glycol in the floor," King said. "Right now, we're actually heating the sheet, we're warming that up. We're letting the snow fall and that's kind of insulating the sheet for us. Everything has gone really good here."
Pipes from the trailer carry 3,000 gallons of glycol coolant used to make the ice. It takes about 20,000 gallons of water to create a two-inch thick ice surface.
King said he strives to create a playing surface as close to what the players will experience in a League game indoors.
Forecasts for the next few days call for temperatures in the low teens to low 20s (Fahrenheit) during the day and near 0 at night. On Saturday, the high is expected to be 22 with a low 7. There is a chance of snow showers.
The Senators and Canadiens, two of the founding members of the NHL, met on the League's opening night, Dec. 19, 1917, a game won 7-4 by the Canadiens.
The Canadiens will be making their fourth appearance in a regular-season outdoor NHL game. Montreal is 2-1-0, most recently defeating the Boston Bruins 5-1 at the 2016 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
It is the first outdoor game the Senators have hosted. Ottawa made its other appearance in a regular-season outdoor NHL game at the 2014 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic at BC Place in Vancouver, a 4-2 victory against the Vancouver Canucks.
