Saturday, September 29, 2007

Lights out: New NHL season has rocky start in London

The lights went out in London ... and took about a half hour to come back on.

NHL Opener

Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images

Lighting problems caused both teams to briefly go back to their locker rooms.

As the NHL was set to kick off the 2007-08 season with a game between the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings on Saturday, the lights at the 17,500-seat O2 Arena failed to come back on after pregame festivities and delayed the start of the game by about 30 minutes.

Both teams briefly went back to their respective locker rooms as arena officials worked to get half of the facility's track lights up and running.

It was a less-than-desirable start for the league's first regular-season start on European soil.

The NHL has opened the season outside North America three times, all in Japan.

The O2, which opened this summer, will also host an NBA preseason game Oct. 10 when the Boston Celtics play the Minnesota Timberwolves.

On Oct. 28, the NFL will play a regular-season game at the rebuilt Wembley Stadium when the Miami Dolphins face the New York Giants.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.


Source: ESPN.com

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