AHL Outdoor game rained out – still an adventure for fans

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The hockey game at Sacramento’s Raley Field, home of the triple-A Rivercats, affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, was rained out, and postponed until Saturday. Wait, this is hockey, not baseball. Well, it was. The first ever outdoor game of the AHL Stockton Heat versus the Bakersfield Condors was officially a rain out. Despite the four year California drought, Friday, December 18, 2015 the rain came down.

For the safety of the players, officials and fans, officials have rescheduled the game for the late afternoon of Saturday, December 19 at 4:30 pacific time. This means the live broadcast will also be aired on delay.

The past several days crew worked day and night to prepare the ice on the baseball diamond for the game. The final remaining glass along the boards was being finalized late in the day, as people looked to the ominous sky growing darker with clouds. Not long before the gates officially opened to the waiting crowd, the light rain began. As the fans streamed in, they gathered under the concourse waiting. They chatting amongst one another, but still seemingly enjoying themselves. Many remarked they were disappointed that the game was delayed, but happy that we were finally seeing the rain in California.

Raley Field – Zamboni leaves the ice in the rain.

Fans came from miles away, some from Bakersfield (about four hours to the south), the San Francisco bay area (only a 90 minute drive, unless it’s Friday night, get-away traffic, then it’s about 3 – 4 hours, depending upon what time you left town). Many of them will do it again on Saturday.

Rain settles on the ice

As the puddles grew, the ice crew took a couple of zamboni’s on the ice to check the surface. As they made pass after pass, the water flowed around in a wake form, as if they were boats. There was about 1-2 inches of water on the ice, and it looked more like a pond than ice ring.

Fans gather on the concourse – out of the rain. Only a few brave souls sit in the seats, under umbrellas, as they watched the rain come down.

Leading up to the rain, there were many preparations. This is the third outdoor professional ice hockey game in California, and the first for the AHL. This is the first year AHL has been in the Golden State. AHL is the top level before the National Hockey League. This time the game is between the Stockton Heat, owned and operated by the Calgary Flames and the Bakersfield Condors, owned and operated by the Edmonton Oilers. Raley field is a 14,000 seat ballpark, situated just down the street from the Capital building in Sacramento, a few short blocks from Old Sacramento. Even in the rain, it was beautiful.

Leading up to the event, the players took a practice on the ice on Thursday, a nice sunny, but chilly day. Following practice, many of the Heat staff was given a chance to try out the ice, as well as the families of the players. Our PHN staff photographer on was hand much of the day and shot these photos. Enjoy. We’ll be back on Saturday with a wrap up of the event.