The NHL announced that the Blues vs Blackhawks Winter Classic game, aka the Battle at Busch, will remain scheduled for noon today.
The NHL also announced some baseball like rules today regarding having to stop the game.
"If the game is started, then stopped permanently due to unplayable weather conditions, it will be deemed "official" once two periods have been played. The team leading at the time play is stopped will be declared the winner and will be awarded two points in the standings.
If the game is tied at the time play is stopped permanently, any time after two periods of play, each team will be awarded one point in the standings, with an opportunity to earn an additional point in a standard shootout format.
If weather conditions permit, the shootout will be conducted at Busch Stadium immediately after regulation play has been stopped. If weather conditions make it impossible to conduct a shootout safely at Busch Stadium, the shootout will take place at United Center on Sunday, February 26 prior to the regularly scheduled St. Louis-Chicago game, with St. Louis deemed the home club for shootout purposes only.
If the game is started, and stopped permanently due to unplayable weather conditions, and fewer than two periods of regular time has been played, the game will be officially "postponed" and, if possible, will be played in its entirety at Busch Stadium on Tuesday, January 3. If the game cannot be replayed at Busch Stadium on January 3, it will be rescheduled at Scottrade Center for a date to be determined later in the season.
Ticket holders must retain their tickets to gain re-entry to Busch Stadium in the event the game is to be played Tuesday, January 3. There will be no refunds for ticket holders unable to attend Monday's postponement date. If the event is canceled on Tuesday, a refund of the ticket's face value will be honored. The refund does not include service fees, and other fees such as delivery or processing fees. "
I know it will never happen but just one time I would like to see a league pressure ticketmaster, someone who makes a lot of money off the NHL, to also refund the service and processing fees. It's the least they could do in a situations like this where some fans could get stuck really taking it on the chin (travel cost, time off work, etc). Enough about the NHL and Ticketmaster for now.
On the injury and illness front, Marian Hossa and Marcus Kruger are out for the Blackhawks. Jaden Schwartz is questionable and Nail Yakupov is doubtful.
The Blackhawks come into the game in first place based on points but the Wild are only one point back with 3 games in hand, while the Blues are 8 points back with 2 games in hand.
Both teams score a little less than 2.8 goals per game while the Blues give up a little more than half a goal a game more than the Blackhawks. The teams' penalty kill units seems to be heading in opposite directions with the Blues falling from 2nd to 4th and the Blackhawks moving up a couple of spots out of last.
The Blackhawks have the 4th best save percentage in the league while the Blues are still last. Both teams shoot just a bit under 10%. Both teams are 2 of only 3 teams without a short handed goal.
I'll try and post some photos from the game on my twitter feed.
It's a great day for hockey.