Checking out the progress of work at Ralph Wilson Stadium this afternoon, there on the ice was Dan Craig, NHL Facilities Operations Manager and the guy in charge of this entire affair. But he wasn’t just on the ice - he laced up a pair of skates and was giving the surface he had built a whirl. “It felt good. We’re almost at the point we were in Edmonton four years ago at this time.”

The place is really taking shape. Walking into the stadium today, I was absolutely amazed at how they got this place tidied up, a far contrast from the dreck and mess in the concourses, ramps and seating bowl the other day. Crews are still dashing around the building getting ready for the big event. Down on the field, the ice has been painted, the glass is up, the zamboni is applying water and smoothing the ice. And now they’re actually trucking IN snow to give the field a neat cosmetic appearance.

Today’s 2PM daily briefing was a more crowded affair - media from national outlets and from other cities were in attendance, and joining Craig and Don Renzulli was NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly, who was piped in to the briefing via teleconference from New York City.

Daly stated that this event can already be deemed a success, just for the buzz and enthusiasm that it has created across the USA and Canada. “Looking at the weather reports, I am confident that we will able to get this game in and on schedule” Daly reported.

I asked Daly who would be the ultimate arbiter of stopping the game in the event that the weather deteriorates in mid stream. “The final decision will be with the Commissioner (NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman), but this would be in consultation with the on ice officials, Dan (Craig) and the Players Association” Daly replied. Daly also stated that if the game encounters perfect weather conditions, the idea of a mid period stoppage to change sides might be scrapped, but that is not likely. He also stated that the 10 minute stoppage in the third will be a hard whistle at exactly the 10 minute mark, not the first break in play.

NHL Senior Veep Don Renzulli reported that today’s activity will entail bringing in snow and grooming the field to give a nice look. “They say we’re expecting 1-2 inches overnight and as far as I’m concerned that would be perfect.” The stage outside for the pregame concert is also under construction, and the events crew was loading music and graphics for the main video board and ribbon boards, and doing tests and dry runs.

Tomorrow the Sabres will practice at 1:30PM on the ice, followed by the Penguins later in the afternoon. So was any thought given to opening the practices to the public? “We considered it” Renzulli replied, but we estimated anywhere from 1000-20,000 fans might show up, and with everything else going on, felt that this might become too unwieldy.”

The stadium parking lots open roughly 40 hours from now, and while Commissioner Daly states that the league is considering doing such an event again, everyone involved can agree on one thing - in two days we will be taking part in an event that will be very special, very historic and something we will remember for the rest of our lives. Dan Craig is right - “We’re ready to play. Let’s go.” Let’s go indeed!

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