Adverse weather causes cancellation of international ice hockey game at Westpac Stadium

The international ice hockey match between the USA and Canada due to be staged today at Westpac Stadium in Wellington has been cancelled.

Event organisers cited "health and safety issues related to the wind" as the reason for the cancellation.

The Ice Hockey Classic was originally scheduled for 4pm on Saturday but a burst in the pipe containing the agent used freeze the temporaty ice rink burst caused it to be first delayed for three hours, and then postponed until today (Sunday 24th June).

As of this afternoon, panels surrounding the ice rink were blown over, leading to the exhibition match to be cancelled. Earlier, the playing surface had been flooded with water.

Promoters TEG Live said in a statement the match was cancelled "due to circumstances beyond the control of the promoters".

TEG Live added “the team worked tirelessly to deliver the 2018 Ice Hockey Classic to Wellington today but, in the interests of safety of players and the need to deliver a quality event for fans, the decision was made to cancel the event.

"The promoters regret the cancellation and apologise to fans for any inconvenience."

About 10,000 tickets were sold for the match, with TEG to offer full refunds would be given to all ticket holders.

With fans, some of whom had made three trips to the venue, left disappointed, Westpac Stadium issued a statement that advised “regrettably, due to health and safety issues related to the wind, we are unable to proceed with the Ice Hockey Classic.

"More information regarding refunds will be updated shortly. We apologise to all ticket holders."

Westpac Stadium Chief Executive Shane Harmon said the staging the match, which was to be Wellington's first international ice hockey game, had been challenging.

Harmon told local media "we're very, very disappointed ... it's the most challenging event that I've been involved with in 20 years in this industry.”

He added "it's the first event we've had to cancel in the Stadium's 18-year history."

Problems first issue arose on Thursday evening when one of the pipes containing the agent used to freeze the water on the temporary rink burst, putting organisers behind schedule.

The match was pushed back from 4pm to 7pm on Saturday as organisers made a frantic attempt to resolve the issue, but time eventually ran out and the game was delayed until noon Sunday.

Today, strong winds blew the fencing over on one side of the rink just before the puck was dropped. The game was initially delayed again, then cancelled shortly afterwards.

Harmon advised that preparation time was not an issue, but "more questions would need to be asked" of promoters if the Stadium was to consider hosting another ice hockey match.

He added “for an event like this, certainly more questions need to be asked in relation to the infrastructure.

"Fans do respond to different and unique events and we'll continue to look to do that, but having known nothing about ice hockey a week ago, and what we know now, we would be seeking more information."

Image:  Panels surrouding Westpac Stadium's ice rink were blown over today. Courtesy of Westpac Stadium.