The cold weather limit for Saturday’s “Winter Classic” open-air ice hockey match has been set at -20°C

Game can be postponed at two hours’ notice if the weather gets too chilly

print this

Eyeing the mercury, the organisers are almost certainly counting their blessings that practically all the tickets have been sold. The current freezing weather threatens to spoil the “Winter Classic" open-air ice hockey match between the local SM-Liiga rivals Jokerit and HIFK in the Helsinki Olympic Stadium scheduled for Saturday, February 4th.
      The limit has been set at -20°C. According to the team bosses, the players - who will be provided with heated dugouts - are ready to play in even colder conditions. This, however, would require the consent of the game controller and the team physicians.
     
The audience will be in for a truly bone-chilling afternoon of several hours in extreme conditions at the stadium. The game’s organiser HIFK’s starting point is that the game will be played.
      “The cold weather will not cancel it. We will pull out all the stops to guarantee the safety of the players”, says HIFK marketing director Roland Carlsson.
      The organisers urge spectators to dress up warmly, to move around during the game, and to purchase hot drinks at the stadium. Bringing in one’s own drinks is not allowed.
      “Warm clothing, common sense, and the right attitude. That is what is needed”, Carlsson advises.
      The weather forecast will be checked at ten o’clock Saturday morning, and two hours before the scheduled start of 3 p.m. the delayed starting time or a possible postponement will be decided upon. The first possible alternative date is Sunday, February 5th.
     
The cold weather in recent days has not unnaturally made the acquired refrigeration equipment redundant.
      In fact, the weather has been so cold that at the start of the week the rink’s ice surface became so hard that it began to break up all by itself. Cracks in the ice can be dangerous for the players.
      “A temperature closer to zero would be optimal when making the ice. Now we have used the ice-rink machines to spread warm water on the rink to soften the ice and to make it nice and resilient. The surface will be finished off by planing it”, the match's project manager Jukka Tenhunen explains.
      The plexiglass surrounding the rink will be kept clear of hoarfrost by treating it with a layer of kitchen vinegar diluted with water.
     
The ”Winter Classic” has been prepared since the turn of the year.
      Today the sanding of the stands and the walkways will begin. Four tonnes of sand will be used.
     
The Saturday late afternoon weather forecast predicts a temperature of -16 degrees Celsius. The wind speed will be 5 metres per second. This translates to a windchill factor of -25°C when walking upwind. For a player skating at a speed of 20 km/h upwind, the sensation equals a temperature of -28°C.
      As the sea outside Helsinki is still free of ice, the air humidity further increases the bite of the cold air.
      The SM-Liiga threshold for calling off a match is -20°C, but there is room for flexibility and even for breaking up the game into smaller units or playing just two of the normal three 20-minute periods.
      The bandy league players are hardier folk: they have no frost limit, and if the temperature for their games (played outside) goes very low indeed they can also dice matches up into shorter units.
      Cross-country skiers don't go out onto the track in less than -20°C, and in their rule-book there are special considerations for the effects of the track, wind, and relative humidity in borderline cases.
     
As for spectators, well, when they have paid for the tickets, they will probably just grin and try to bear it.
      More than 33,000 tickets have been sold so far.
      Another outdoor game will be played, weather permitting, on February 9th, when Finland meet Russia in a European Hockey Tour fixture in the Olympic Stadium.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  February´s Winter Classic outdoor ice hockey event at Helsinki Olympic Stadium will be bigger than last year (29.11.2011)
  "Winter Classic" ice hockey project back on track after all (14.10.2011)

See also:
  Saturday-night hockey fever in the Stadium (8.2.2011)

Helsingin Sanomat