2023 Cleveland Monsters Outdoor Classic Start Time Delayed

CLEVELAND, OH - The weather at FirstEnergy Stadium was near perfect Saturday afternoon.

In fact, there wasn't a cloud in the sky in downtown Cleveland, Ohio after an all-day soaking rain took over the city on Friday.

The lack of sun cover posed a major problem.

After the Cleveland Monsters and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins completed the pre-game warmup skate, it was determined that due to the increased sunshine in the 12-1pm hour the ice conditions required a delay in the start of today's game.

The announcement made inside the stadium is the delay will be until approximately 6:00 p.m. ET.

Fans holding tickets to today's game may stay in the stadium or may leave and re-enter.

Outdoor Classic Weather Delay Nothing New For Dillon Simpson

While most of today's participants on the Monsters and Penguins are experiencing their first weather delay at an outdoor game, Cleveland Monsters captain Dillon Simpson is all too familiar with outdoor games being delayed.

In fact, including today all three of the AHL outdoor games he has been a part of have had weather-related delays.

"I remember waiting in the locker room fully dressed and the game keeps getting delayed keeps getting delayed," Simpson recalled of the 2017 event. "Just stay in it and try to enjoy it."

The most memorable for Simpson was the 2017 AHL Outdoor Classic in Bakersfield, California when the Bakersfield Condors and Ontario Reign played for a period of time in the pouring rain.

"Just had to roll with the punches," Simpson said of battling the conditions outdoor games bring, and battling back in that 2017 outdoor game to win. "You know, we played in the pouring rain for a while there and kind of just laugh at it and keep going. It was a great experience for those guys, for that city."

Simpson also informed InsideAHLHockey.com that he played in an outdoor game in college during his senior season at North Dakota against the University of Omaha-Nebraska, and his team won that game too.

He enters the 2023 Cleveland Monsters Outdoor Classic with a perfect 3-0 record in outdoor games - a trend he'll hope continues tonight when the game is expected to start.