Then sun has risen over Manchester, New Hampshire this morning, casting bright rays of light into an east-facing hotel room in which I’ve awoken to look out upon the wintry aftermath of a major winter storm that passed through the area four days prior.

It’s a clear morning, and it was a smooth arrival in Manchester last night. We were fortunate, as the recent storm dumped as many as 14 inches of snow on the region, though in looking out onto Elm Street it didn’t appear as though downtown was socked quite as hard. It has been a stormy winter; the New Hampshire Union Leader recently spoke with Tim Clougherty, Deputy Director of Manchester Public Works, who estimated that 65 percent of the city’s snow removal budget has been consumed. The state has also recently added to its depleted salt supply.

Hey! Look who grew up in Manchester. It’s one of the greatest comedians of his generation:

So there aren’t really any “rules” on the team charter when it comes to the acceptable use of computers, cell phones, iPads, and anything that transmits a signal. There are times when I’m rushing through proofreading and pressing “Publish” at the same moment the plane’s wheels leave the ground. But this practice is generally frowned upon, to put it mildly, in commercial air travel.

That’s why this video of our plane’s descent into Manchester-Boston Regional Airport was shot covertly!

Our connecting flight from Charlotte touched down just after 10:00 p.m. local time.

The Verizon Wireless Arena is a short walk from the hotel, and I’ll be on hand to cover the Monarchs’ 10:00 a.m. morning skate. I’ll have lots more throughout the day, including a better set of photographs than the sun and water streak-distorted views from my hotel window. It’s also the Pink in the Rink night tonight, so the team will be wearing pink jerseys and will skate on pink ice as part of the efforts by the Monarchs Care Foundation and Catholic Medical Center to raise awareness and funds to fight breast cancer.

The Monarchs will face the Providence Bruins at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday and the Albany Devils at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday. A preview of this weekend’s action: