The Black Ice Pond Hockey Championship, which was scheduled for next weekend in Concord, has been postponed because of the warm weather in the forecast.
The nonprofit’s board of directors met Tuesday and decided to move the outdoor hockey tournament’s opening date from Jan. 27 to Feb. 10, chairman Chris Brown said.
“People pay to register in this tournament, and they expect a quality event,” he said. “We want to make sure we can do that.”
It’s the second time in seven years that the three-day annual event at White Park has been rescheduled, he said.
“We’re not in charge of the weather,” he said. “We can only react to it.”
The National Weather Service’s forecast predicted several days with highs of about 40 degrees beginning Thursday. Its long-range forecast, which looks out eight to 14 days, predicted a strong likelihood of above-average temperatures throughout New England and a slightly above-average chance of precipitation.
“All next week it’s mid-40s and rain,” Brown said. “The rain we’ve had the last couple weeks, with some of the warm weather, it’s already kind of eroded the buildup of ice along the sides of the pond.”
Depending on the severity of the weather, it could make the ice merely soft and slushy or unsafe to skate on.
Brown said the two-week delay will allow time for the pond to cool back down. He said he’s hoping the schedule will remain the same – assuming teams can adjust to the postponement – but he’ll make changes as necessary.
He said he doesn’t anticipate there will be any problems securing the necessary permitting from the city to make the change.
“The biggest thing is just making sure the tent company, the services we need for the event, just making sure they can do it on the weekend of the 10th,” he said.
The tournament will remain three days, running from Feb. 10 to 12.
Anyone with questions can contact the event’s organizers through its website, blackicepondhockey.com.
(Nick Reid can be reached at 369-3325, nreid@cmonitor.com or on Twitter at @NickBReid.)