The ice is ready, but will there be hockey?
"We're going to play," NHL chief operating officer John Collins said Thursday at a news conference.
Weather forecasts for Saturday's Winter Classic at Heinz Field continue to be gloomy, calling for rain showers. Some forecasts Thursday lowered the probability of rain to 80 percent but other reports kept it at 100 percent.
Collins, the brains behind the Winter Classic, shrugged off the scary forecasts.
"Weather is part of the game's DNA," Collins said. "I mean, it's an outdoor game. Like the World Series, weather gets involved in it. We're going to play. We're planning to play at 1 o'clock. We've got maximum flexibility to do what needs [to be done] to get that game in on Saturday."
Should the game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals not be played Saturday, however, the league's Plan B is a game time of noon ET Sunday, still at Heinz Field.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/winterclassic11/news/story?id=5971344
