NHL's ice guru worries about Classic weather

0 Comments | USA TODAY, December, 2007 | by Kevin Allen

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- The outdoor rink at Ralph Wilson Stadium is splendidly frozen for Tuesday's NHL Winter Classic (1 p.m. ET, NBC), and yet the emotions of the man in charge remain on thin ice.

Dan Craig, the league's ice-making guru, hasn't slept much the past few days, and Sunday he came to the rink to skate -- by himself at 4:30 a.m. -- and size up the conditions the Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres will face when they play the first regular-season outdoor NHL game on U.S. soil.

"Obsessive? Not me," Craig deadpanned. "But channel 49 (The Weather Channel) on my TV is automatic as soon as I enter the room."

The Weather Channel, which is sending a television crew to the event, is calling for temperatures from 18-32 and an 80% chance of...