Just like Saturday's Winter Classic Alumni Game, the 2012 NHL Winter Classic between the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers will start at 3 p.m. ET, pushed back two hours from its original 1 p.m. start time. The NHL announced the news, and it's assumed that it's being forced by the same concerns that pushed back Saturday's game.
The problem isn't the unseasonably warm temperatures in Philadelphia, rather the sun that beats down on the rink in the middle of the afternoon. The ice conditions become too soft for an NHL game. Cloud cover would have solved the problems, but with mostly sunny skies in the forecast for Monday, delaying the game became necessary.
Gates will open at Citizens Bank Park at 1 p.m. for the game, and television coverage on NBC and CBC will be pushed back two hours as well.
For more on this year's Winter Classic, head over to SB Nation's Rangers blog Blueshirt Banter and Flyers blog Broad Street Hockey. For everything Winter Classic in the build-up to the game, head over to our NHL Winter Classic StoryStream.