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Winter Classic weather update: it’s snowing

WC-Scoreboard

Happy New Year! Hope everyone had fun and stayed safe last night.

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Above is the view from my hotel in Ann Arbor. As you can see, it’s snowing on the morning of the Winter Classic. We’ve got around five hours until the puck drops between the Red Wings and Maple Leafs at the Big House (1 p.m. ET on NBC.)

According to the Weather Network, there will be a light snow falling when the game starts, with a temperature of 17F (-8C). The snow is expected to continue throughout the game.

What does that mean?

“A little bit of snow just adds to the romance of the game,” NHL chief operating officer John Collins told the Canadian Press yesterday. “Guys are set up for that. Right now it looks like it’s going to be an on-time start.”

But while the “snow-globe effect” may look good on TV, it’s not ideal for playing hockey in, especially if the snow builds up quickly on the ice.

“We always do shoveling during TV timeouts,” ice guru Dan Craig said. “We have 10 guys on skates, two guys shoveling snow off the other end and we’ll be done in two minutes.”

The NHL won’t want any delays, especially with so many people having to travel a fair distance home to Canada after the game. So at this point, expect the puck to drop on time, snow or no snow.