UPDATE 1:47 p.m.:聽Friday’s Caps game has been postponed. No makeup date has been announced yet. A decision regarding Sunday’s game vs. Pittsburgh will be announced Saturday morning.聽Saturday’s Wizards game has also been postponed by the NBA. No date has been given for the rescheduled聽game.
WASHINGTON — With a severe winter storm聽descending on the Washington area, . The Washington Capitals bumped their 7 p.m. start time for Friday鈥檚 home game at the Verizon Center against the Anaheim Ducks up to 5 p.m., but D.C. Homeland Security and Emergency Management (HSEMA) has encouraged them to cancel the game.
鈥淲e’ve talked to all of these organizers and we have told them that we are telling our residents, the folks here in the city, to be off the streets by聽three o’clock,” said HSEMA director Chris Geldart. “If the Capitals decide to bring their players in and put them in danger like that, and the other folks do the same, I cannot tell the NHL or the NBA what to do with that, but I highly encourage them not to have those games.”
D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier told 海角社区app that police may not support Friday’s Caps games with officers, as the blizzard will “come fast and furious.”
Metro service is scheduled to shut down at 11 p.m. Friday and not return online until late Sunday.
The Washington Wizards have a home game against the Utah Jazz at Verizon Center scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Saturday. Players have reportedly been told the game will be canceled, but the team has not made an announcement yet.
Players here are saying they have been told Saturday game v will be canceled
— J. Michael (@ThisIsJMichael)
Complicating matters for both teams is the fact that both opponents are from the Western Conference, and neither is scheduled to visit Washington again this season. The Ducks have an East Coast road trip that includes games in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia in early February. The Jazz also come east one more time, with a late-February/early-March swing through Boston and Toronto.
The Caps also have a home game against Pittsburgh scheduled for 12:30 p.m. Sunday, which is slated for the NBC national television slot.
