Storm throws teams, schedules for a loss
The St. Louis Blues saw plenty of snow and ice, but no Avalanche.
The Blues' game against the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday night was postponed because of a storm cutting a frigid path across much of the nation.
A makeup date has not been set for the NHL game, which would have been the first since the All-Star break for both teams.
In New York, the Pittsburgh Penguins were hoping to fly home after their 4-3 shootout win over the Rangers. They are scheduled to play the New York Islanders in Pittsburgh tonight.
“The plan is to (fly home), right now,” Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said. “We're hustling to get out of here. We're hopeful. We also have rooms, if we don't.”
The Toronto Raptors, meanwhile, were still hoping to make it to Atlanta for tonight's NBA game. In the meantime, they were stuck in Indianapolis for the second straight day.
The Raptors were supposed to fly out of Indy after Monday night's 104-93 loss to the Pacers, but their flight was canceled because of the storm. The Raptors tried to take off again Tuesday and instead spent five hours aboard their chartered airplane before that trip was wiped out, too.
Team spokesman Jim LaBumbard said players passed the time on the plane watching movies, listening to their headsets and eating. The Raptors planned to try again today, but as for getting to Atlanta in time, “it's too early to tell,” LaBumbard said.
The weather was fine in California, but the storm might cause the Boston Celtics to extend their West Coast trip.
Coach Doc Rivers said before the Celtics' game at Sacramento that the team was exploring options to get back to Boston but would likely stay in Northern California for an extra night because of the severe weather moving across the country.
The Celtics were finishing up a four-game road trip against the Kings on Tuesday night.
The Celtics don't play again until Friday at home against the Dallas Mavericks. There were clear skies with temperatures reaching the 60s earlier in the day in Sacramento.
The Penn State men's basketball team made it to Champaign, Ill., for its game Tuesday night against Illinois despite heavy snow.
Penn State spokesman Brian Siegrist said the team arrived around 1 p.m. by bus from Evansville, Ind. The team's charter flight was diverted there Monday night because of weather conditions in central Illinois.
The airport in Dallas — the destination for thousands trying to get to Sunday's Super Bowl — was among those shut down. Walkways outside Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, were like sheets of ice.
The National Weather Service advised Wisconsin travelers bound for Texas to wait until this evening, with up to 20 inches of snow forecast for the Milwaukee area.
