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Staging hockey tournament games outdoors is fraught with risk. Will temperatures be cold enough to make and keep ice in late December?
The 19th annual Bell Capital Cup hockey tournament is experiencing the polar opposite problem – ice too cold and brittle to stand up to the cuts and turns of a hockey player’s skate blade.
An early cold snap is usually a blessing for outdoor rink makers, but on Wednesday the weather turned so cold it forced the rescheduling of all Day 1 Capital Cup games scheduled for the Canada 150 Rink on Parliament Hill.
Either way, this rink was going to make history – it’s the first time a hockey rink with boards and lights has been built on the lawn of Parliament Hill. Two weeks ago, Daniel Alfredsson, Mike Fisher and other Ottawa Senators alumni played a game here.
Now, the rink is making history for the first Bell Capital Cup games postponed due to brittle ice, with temperatures of -22 C with a -27 wind chill making the surface crack, chip and break. Attendants tried to patch holes with buckets of water, but couldn’t match nature’s work.
PHOTOS: Bell Capital Cup on Parliament Hill
Just past 11 a.m., the Nepean Wildcats peewee AA girls team, many with eye black on their cheekbones to absorb sun glare, skated onto the ice to pose for pictures with the Parliament backdrop – but that was all. Their 11:20 game against the Oakville Hornets was rescheduled for later in the afternoon at the Canadian Tire Centre.
“It’s been fun, but the game is canceled,” said Leigh Burkitt of the Wildcats. “We are excited to play at the CTC.”
A few minutes earlier, Wildcats head coach Mike Garcia had gathered his team to deliver the “good news, bad news” message. The good news – they would be playing on an NHL rink, which, prior to this year’s tournament, was always the ultimate venue for the Capital Cup. The bad news – the once-in-a-lifetime experience of playing a legitimate tournament game on the temporary rink at Parliament Hill would not happen.
“We thought the air temperature would be the problem, but it was actually the ice,” Garcia said. Of course, the air temperature transformed that ice.
The preceding game, between the Brampton Canadettes and Kanata Rangers, also peewee girls AA, squeezed in one period of action until the game was stopped due to ice chipping.
“The ruts were too deep,” Canadettes assistant coach Brianna Tremblay said. “They were worried a girl was going to get her skate blade stuck and hurt her knee or leg.
“The ice looked okay, but you could kind of tell – the girls were saying it was hard to stop. You could hear the (ice) cracking when they were skating. It was cold. The ice really doesn’t do well under those conditions.
“We have the rest of our season to play as well. These girls are young, and a bad injury could hamper their career.”
With several hundred teams involved, including 120 visiting clubs, the tournament was pleased to offer 32 boys and girls teams from throughout the country an opportunity to play on the Canada 150 Rink, as winners of the “Hockey on the Hill” contest.
Now, all bets are off.
“What a disaster,” one hockey mom said, as the morning games were canceled. Special arrangements were made to get players to the Hill, and families traveled distances, took time off work, hired babysitters and made other sacrifices for a special event that threw a giant curve ball at them.
Most handled it with humour, parents hamming it up for cameras pointed toward the Parliament buildings, before heading off to indoor venues.
The 19th annual Bell Capital Cup officially got underway at the Canada 150 hockey rink on Parliament Hill in Ottawa Wednesday Dec 27, 2017.
Whoever compiled the audio playlist got off a good one – Summer in the City by the Lovin’ Spoonful was playing over the loudspeakers just as the games were called off in the frigid air.
Longtime tournament organizer Aaron Robinson, director of fan and community development for the Ottawa Senators, was on the scene to help make the ultimate decision to move all Wednesday outdoor games to indoor venues.
“We really wanted to make it happen for the girls, the teams and for the rink, but it’s safety first,” Robinson said. The forecast doesn’t look promising — the bitter cold will linger — and organizers were considering dropping games for the rest of the week, and perhaps opening the rink for pleasure skating only.
Meanwhile, the show will go on. Tournament GM Scott Lawryk made a point of securing extra ice in venues throughout the region just in case there were issues with the Hill ice.
For Robinson, a former tournament GM, this adds to the long list of tournament hiccups over the years.
“We’ve experienced some things,” Robinson said. “We’ve had arenas catch on fire. We’ve had lost baggage on a tarmac. So, we’ve had to reschedule games before and we kind of knew something could come up (due to weather) and we always try to make the best of a bad situation.”
The tournament runs until Dec. 31.
wscanlan@postmedia.com
twitter/@hockeyscanner
查看原文...
The 19th annual Bell Capital Cup hockey tournament is experiencing the polar opposite problem – ice too cold and brittle to stand up to the cuts and turns of a hockey player’s skate blade.
An early cold snap is usually a blessing for outdoor rink makers, but on Wednesday the weather turned so cold it forced the rescheduling of all Day 1 Capital Cup games scheduled for the Canada 150 Rink on Parliament Hill.
Either way, this rink was going to make history – it’s the first time a hockey rink with boards and lights has been built on the lawn of Parliament Hill. Two weeks ago, Daniel Alfredsson, Mike Fisher and other Ottawa Senators alumni played a game here.
Now, the rink is making history for the first Bell Capital Cup games postponed due to brittle ice, with temperatures of -22 C with a -27 wind chill making the surface crack, chip and break. Attendants tried to patch holes with buckets of water, but couldn’t match nature’s work.
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PHOTOS: Bell Capital Cup on Parliament Hill
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PHOTOS: Bell Capital Cup on Parliament Hill
The 19th annual Bell Capital Cup officially got underway at the Canada 150 hockey rink on Parliament Hill in Ottawa Wednesday Dec 27, 2017. The Brampton Canadettes (white and blue) and the Kanata Rangers girls Pee-Wee AA made it through the first period of the 10:10 a.m. game Wednesday before it was called off due to poor ice conditions as a result from the weather being too cold. Tony Caldwell Tony Caldwell/Postmedia Network
The 19th annual Bell Capital Cup officially got underway at the Canada 150 hockey rink on Parliament Hill in Ottawa Wednesday Dec 27, 2017. The Brampton Canadettes (white and blue) and the Kanata Rangers girls Pee-Wee AA made it through the first period of the 10:10 a.m. game Wednesday before it was called off due to poor ice conditions as a result from the weather being too cold. The Kanata Rangers warm up Wednesday. Tony Caldwell Tony Caldwell/Postmedia Network
The 19th annual Bell Capital Cup officially got underway at the Canada 150 hockey rink on Parliament Hill in Ottawa Wednesday Dec 27, 2017. The Brampton Canadettes (white and blue) and the Kanata Rangers girls Pee-Wee AA made it through the first period of the 10:10 a.m. game Wednesday before it was called off due to poor ice conditions as a result from the weather being too cold. The Kanata Rangers get their team photo taken after the second and third period was canceled Wednesday. Tony Caldwell Tony Caldwell/Postmedia Network
The 19th annual Bell Capital Cup officially got underway at the Canada 150 hockey rink on Parliament Hill in Ottawa Wednesday Dec 27, 2017. The Brampton Canadettes (white and blue) and the Kanata Rangers made it through the first period of the 10:10 a.m. game Wednesday before it was called off due to poor ice conditions as a result from the weather being too cold. Ryan Caron from Capital Sports Management fixes some ruts in the damaged ice Wednesday. Tony Caldwell Tony Caldwell/Postmedia Network
The 19th annual Bell Capital Cup officially got underway at the Canada 150 hockey rink on Parliament Hill in Ottawa Wednesday Dec 27, 2017. The Brampton Canadettes (white and blue) and the Kanata Rangers girls Pee-Wee AA made it through the first period of the 10:10 a.m. game Wednesday before it was called off due to poor ice conditions as a result from the weather being too cold. Kanata Rangers goalie watches the puck during first period play Wednesday. Tony Caldwell Tony Caldwell/Postmedia Network
The 19th annual Bell Capital Cup officially got underway at the Canada 150 hockey rink on Parliament Hill in Ottawa Wednesday Dec 27, 2017. The Brampton Canadettes (white and blue) and the Kanata Rangers (blue and red) girls Pee-Wee AA made it through the first period of the 10:10 a.m. game Wednesday before it was called off due to poor ice conditions as a result from the weather being too cold. Tony Caldwell Tony Caldwell/Postmedia Network
The 19th annual Bell Capital Cup officially got underway at the Canada 150 hockey rink on Parliament Hill in Ottawa Wednesday Dec 27, 2017. The Brampton Canadettes (white and blue) and the Kanata Rangers girls Pee-Wee AA made it through the first period of the 10:10 a.m. game Wednesday before it was called off due to poor ice conditions as a result from the weather being too cold. The Brampton Canadettes wait to see if the game will continue Wednesday. Tony Caldwell Tony Caldwell/Postmedia Network
The 19th annual Bell Capital Cup officially got underway at the Canada 150 hockey rink on Parliament Hill in Ottawa Wednesday Dec 27, 2017. The Brampton Canadettes (white and blue) and the Kanata Rangers girls Pee-Wee AA made it through the first period of the 10:10 a.m. game Wednesday before it was called off due to poor ice conditions as a result from the weather being too cold. A Kanata Ranger brings the puck up the ice Wednesday. Tony Caldwell Tony Caldwell/Postmedia Network
The 19th annual Bell Capital Cup officially got underway at the Canada 150 hockey rink on Parliament Hill in Ottawa Wednesday Dec 27, 2017. The Brampton Canadettes (white and blue) and the Kanata Rangers girls Pee-Wee AA made it through the first period of the 10:10 a.m. game Wednesday before it was called off due to poor ice conditions as a result from the weather being too cold. Tony Caldwell Tony Caldwell/Postmedia Network
The 19th annual Bell Capital Cup officially got underway at the Canada 150 hockey rink on Parliament Hill in Ottawa Wednesday Dec 27, 2017. The Brampton Canadettes (white and blue) and the Kanata Rangers girls Pee-Wee AA made it through the first period of the 10:10 a.m. game Wednesday before it was called off due to poor ice conditions as a result from the weather being too cold. A few kanata Rangers take in the view Wednesday. Tony Caldwell Tony Caldwell/Postmedia Network
The 19th annual Bell Capital Cup officially got underway at the Canada 150 hockey rink on Parliament Hill in Ottawa Wednesday Dec 27, 2017. The Brampton Canadettes (white and blue) and the Kanata Rangers girls Pee-Wee AA made it through the first period of the 10:10 a.m. game Wednesday before it was called off due to poor ice conditions as a result from the weather being too cold. The Brampton Canadettes during Wednesday's game. Tony Caldwell Tony Caldwell/Postmedia Network
The 19th annual Bell Capital Cup officially got underway at the Canada 150 hockey rink on Parliament Hill in Ottawa Wednesday Dec 27, 2017. The Brampton Canadettes (white and blue) and the Kanata Rangers girls Pee-Wee AA made it through the first period of the 10:10 a.m. game Wednesday before it was called off due to poor ice conditions as a result from the weather being too cold. The Brampton Canadettes wait to see if the game will continue Wednesday. Tony Caldwell Tony Caldwell/Postmedia Network
The 19th annual Bell Capital Cup officially got underway at the Canada 150 hockey rink on Parliament Hill in Ottawa Wednesday Dec 27, 2017. The Brampton Canadettes (white and blue) and the Kanata Rangers girls Pee-Wee AA made it through the first period of the 10:10 a.m. game Wednesday before it was called off due to poor ice conditions as a result from the weather being too cold. The Kanata Rangers girls try and keep warm after Wednesday's game. Tony Caldwell Tony Caldwell/Postmedia Network
The 19th annual Bell Capital Cup officially got underway at the Canada 150 hockey rink on Parliament Hill in Ottawa Wednesday Dec 27, 2017. The Brampton Canadettes (white and blue) and the Kanata Rangers girls Pee-Wee AA made it through the first period of the 10:10 a.m. game Wednesday before it was called off due to poor ice conditions as a result from the weather being too cold. The Kanata Rangers girls try and keep warm after Wednesday's game. Tony Caldwell/Postmedia Network
The 19th annual Bell Capital Cup officially got underway at the Canada 150 hockey rink on Parliament Hill in Ottawa Wednesday Dec 27, 2017. The Brampton Canadettes (white and blue) and the Kanata Rangers girls Pee-Wee AA made it through the first period of the 10:10 a.m. game Wednesday before it was called off due to poor ice conditions as a result from the weather being too cold. The Kanata Rangers Girls Pee-Wee AA skate around to keep warm Wednesday. Tony Caldwell Tony Caldwell/Postmedia Network
The 19th annual Bell Capital Cup officially got underway at the Canada 150 hockey rink on Parliament Hill in Ottawa Wednesday Dec 27, 2017. The Brampton Canadettes (white and blue) and the Kanata Rangers made it through the first period of the 10:10 a.m. game Wednesday before it was called off due to poor ice conditions as a result from the weather being too cold. Ryan Caron from Capital Sports Management fixes some ruts in the damaged ice Wednesday. Tony Caldwell Tony Caldwell/Postmedia Network
The 19th annual Bell Capital Cup officially got underway at the Canada 150 hockey rink on Parliament Hill in Ottawa Wednesday Dec 27, 2017. The Brampton Canadettes (white and blue) and the Kanata Rangers girls Pee-Wee AA made it through the first period of the 10:10 a.m. game Wednesday before it was called off due to poor ice conditions as a result from the weather being too cold. Tony Caldwell Tony Caldwell/Postmedia Network
The 19th annual Bell Capital Cup officially got underway at the Canada 150 hockey rink on Parliament Hill in Ottawa Wednesday Dec 27, 2017. The Brampton Canadettes (white and blue) and the Kanata Rangers girls Pee-Wee AA made it through the first period of the 10:10 a.m. game Wednesday before it was called off due to poor ice conditions as a result from the weather being too cold. Two Kanata Rangers warm their hands up during Wednesday's game. Tony Caldwell Tony Caldwell/Postmedia Network
The 19th annual Bell Capital Cup officially got underway at the Canada 150 hockey rink on Parliament Hill in Ottawa Wednesday Dec 27, 2017. Nepean Wiildcats goalie Alexis Jandciu adjusts her hat before going out on the Canada 150 ice on Parliament Hill Wednesday. Tony Caldwell Tony Caldwell/Postmedia Network
The 19th annual Bell Capital Cup officially got underway at the Canada 150 hockey rink on Parliament Hill in Ottawa Wednesday Dec 27, 2017. The Brampton Canadettes (white and blue) and the Kanata Rangers made it through the first period of the 10:10 a.m. game Wednesday before it was called off due to poor ice conditions as a result from the weather being too cold. Ice crews from Capital Sports Management fix some ruts in the damaged ice Wednesday. Tony Caldwell Tony Caldwell/Postmedia Network
The 19th annual Bell Capital Cup officially got underway at the Canada 150 hockey rink on Parliament Hill in Ottawa Wednesday Dec 27, 2017. The Brampton Canadettes (white and blue) and the Kanata Rangers girls Pee-Wee AA made it through the first period of the 10:10 a.m. game Wednesday before it was called off due to poor ice conditions as a result from the weather being too cold. A Brampton player warms her hands up Wednesday. Tony Caldwell Tony Caldwell/Postmedia Network
The 19th annual Bell Capital Cup officially got underway at the Canada 150 hockey rink on Parliament Hill in Ottawa Wednesday Dec 27, 2017. The Brampton Canadettes (white and blue) and the Kanata Rangers girls Pee-Wee AA made it through the first period of the 10:10 a.m. game Wednesday before it was called off due to poor ice conditions as a result from the weather being too cold. Tony Caldwell Tony Caldwell/Postmedia Network
The 19th annual Bell Capital Cup officially got underway at the Canada 150 hockey rink on Parliament Hill in Ottawa Wednesday Dec 27, 2017. The Brampton Canadettes (white and blue) and the Kanata Rangers girls Pee-Wee AA made it through the first period of the 10:10 a.m. game Wednesday before it was called off due to poor ice conditions as a result from the weather being too cold. The Brampton Canadettes gets a pep talk Wednesday. Tony Caldwell Tony Caldwell/Postmedia Network
The 19th annual Bell Capital Cup officially got underway at the Canada 150 hockey rink on Parliament Hill in Ottawa Wednesday Dec 27, 2017. The Brampton Canadettes (white and blue) and the Kanata Rangers made it through the first period of the 10:10 a.m. game Wednesday before it was called off due to poor ice conditions as a result from the weather being too cold. Ice crews from Capital Sports Management fix some ruts in the damaged ice Wednesday. Tony Caldwell Tony Caldwell/Postmedia Network
Just past 11 a.m., the Nepean Wildcats peewee AA girls team, many with eye black on their cheekbones to absorb sun glare, skated onto the ice to pose for pictures with the Parliament backdrop – but that was all. Their 11:20 game against the Oakville Hornets was rescheduled for later in the afternoon at the Canadian Tire Centre.
“It’s been fun, but the game is canceled,” said Leigh Burkitt of the Wildcats. “We are excited to play at the CTC.”
A few minutes earlier, Wildcats head coach Mike Garcia had gathered his team to deliver the “good news, bad news” message. The good news – they would be playing on an NHL rink, which, prior to this year’s tournament, was always the ultimate venue for the Capital Cup. The bad news – the once-in-a-lifetime experience of playing a legitimate tournament game on the temporary rink at Parliament Hill would not happen.
“We thought the air temperature would be the problem, but it was actually the ice,” Garcia said. Of course, the air temperature transformed that ice.
The preceding game, between the Brampton Canadettes and Kanata Rangers, also peewee girls AA, squeezed in one period of action until the game was stopped due to ice chipping.
“The ruts were too deep,” Canadettes assistant coach Brianna Tremblay said. “They were worried a girl was going to get her skate blade stuck and hurt her knee or leg.
“The ice looked okay, but you could kind of tell – the girls were saying it was hard to stop. You could hear the (ice) cracking when they were skating. It was cold. The ice really doesn’t do well under those conditions.
“We have the rest of our season to play as well. These girls are young, and a bad injury could hamper their career.”
With several hundred teams involved, including 120 visiting clubs, the tournament was pleased to offer 32 boys and girls teams from throughout the country an opportunity to play on the Canada 150 Rink, as winners of the “Hockey on the Hill” contest.
Now, all bets are off.
“What a disaster,” one hockey mom said, as the morning games were canceled. Special arrangements were made to get players to the Hill, and families traveled distances, took time off work, hired babysitters and made other sacrifices for a special event that threw a giant curve ball at them.
Most handled it with humour, parents hamming it up for cameras pointed toward the Parliament buildings, before heading off to indoor venues.
The 19th annual Bell Capital Cup officially got underway at the Canada 150 hockey rink on Parliament Hill in Ottawa Wednesday Dec 27, 2017.
Whoever compiled the audio playlist got off a good one – Summer in the City by the Lovin’ Spoonful was playing over the loudspeakers just as the games were called off in the frigid air.
Longtime tournament organizer Aaron Robinson, director of fan and community development for the Ottawa Senators, was on the scene to help make the ultimate decision to move all Wednesday outdoor games to indoor venues.
“We really wanted to make it happen for the girls, the teams and for the rink, but it’s safety first,” Robinson said. The forecast doesn’t look promising — the bitter cold will linger — and organizers were considering dropping games for the rest of the week, and perhaps opening the rink for pleasure skating only.
Meanwhile, the show will go on. Tournament GM Scott Lawryk made a point of securing extra ice in venues throughout the region just in case there were issues with the Hill ice.
For Robinson, a former tournament GM, this adds to the long list of tournament hiccups over the years.
“We’ve experienced some things,” Robinson said. “We’ve had arenas catch on fire. We’ve had lost baggage on a tarmac. So, we’ve had to reschedule games before and we kind of knew something could come up (due to weather) and we always try to make the best of a bad situation.”
The tournament runs until Dec. 31.
wscanlan@postmedia.com
twitter/@hockeyscanner
查看原文...
