Not normally does this situation happen, but with 9:12 left in the second period of the game between the New Jersey Devils and Tampa Bay Lightning, the lights in the Prudential Center in Newark went out. The game was subsequentially postponed and according to the NHL will be rescheduled to resume where it left off. This is the first time a game has been postponed to be played at a later date since the Nashville Predators/Detroit Red Wings game on November 22, 2005.
Our Devils site In Lou We Trust has great coverage of the whole situation. Writer John Fischer was at the game and had this to say about how the Devils organization handled the situation inside the Prudential Center:
I can't blame the Devils for what happened with the lights. I can and will blame them for is keeping the fans at the Rock totally in the dark on the situation. Only two announcements were made: first for the players going to the locker room until the issue was resolved and the one for the postponement, which everyone who stayed figured out when the staff removed the goals and sticks from the benches. Those who stayed for the whole two hours were understandably upset. The many who left prior to that were understandably upset. Even a few morons threw their free hats (and one plastic bottle) on the ice to the only cheers within those hours. I heard some of them say they won't come back. With garbage like that, I won't miss them (Aside: Do they throw trash on a baseball field of rain postpones a game? Whatever).
The total delay for the situation was around two hours and John is right in this situation that two announcements in two hours is not right for the fans at the Rock. While those fans will most likely get to see the end of the game at a later date, keeping fans there for two hours without much of an update is brutal for an organization.
Both of these teams have to travel for Saturday night games as New Jersey will head up to Montreal and Tampa Bay will head up Philadelphia. NHL Network's On The Fly show mentioned that the two best dates for a reschedule would most likely be January 11th and April 5th.
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Given how poorly the Devils were playing
last night, I smell conspiracy! But seriously they were pretty bad outside of the first 10 minutes of the game where Mike Smith kept the Lightning in it.
by Tyler Bleszinski on Jan 9, 2010 12:00 PM EST reply actions
Wow, that’s pretty funny. So the article says reschedule. Does that mean it will pick up from the second period or will they replay the entire game?
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by FrankD on Jan 9, 2010 12:08 PM EST reply actions
The game will pick up where it left off so all the stats in the game at this point will count.
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by Zachary Zielonka on Jan 9, 2010 12:24 PM EST up reply actions
Indeed. Bettman and the NHL came right out of the gate in stating that. Also, the game will pick up where it left off at the Prudential Center.
So far there’s no information on when a re-scheduling may take place. Logically, one would want to do it when TB is in the area, but tonight was the last regular season game between the two and there’s a NHL bylaw that forbids 3 games in 3 nights.
Something has to give but I’ll leave that to the people in charge.
Devils in my heart! Devils in my mind! Devils in my eyes! Devils until I die!
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by John Fischer on Jan 9, 2010 12:39 PM EST up reply actions
Probably the last thing they’d hope for in an already condensed Olympics schedule. I’m definitely curious to see how this pans out.
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by FrankD on Jan 9, 2010 12:42 PM EST up reply actions
I think you will see this resolved sooner rather than later, probably before Tampa Bay heads home by the end of this week.
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by Zachary Zielonka on Jan 9, 2010 2:46 PM EST up reply actions
heh, you called it
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by FrankD on Jan 9, 2010 9:51 PM EST up reply actions
Game has been rescheduled for tomorrow, 6 PM
Gulitti, a beat writer for the Devils, just got off the phone from team owner Jeff Vanderbeek. The rest of the game will be played tomorrow at 6 PM. Anyone at Friday’s game who has their ticket will be admitted for free.
Devils in my heart! Devils in my mind! Devils in my eyes! Devils until I die!
In Lou We Trust - The Devils SBN Blog
by John Fischer on Jan 9, 2010 3:40 PM EST reply actions
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