Helene St. James

Detroit Free Press

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- A foggy night in Detroit left the Detroit Red Wings scrambling for hotel rooms.

They ended up overnighting in Buffalo because conditions at Detroit’s Wayne Metropolitan Airport gave them only a 50-50 chance of being able to land – and diversion would have meant landing instead in Cleveland.

“We are not going to be able to fly home tonight, so we are going to have to stay in Buffalo,” head coach Jeff Blashill said after the 3-2 overtime loss at KeyBank Center.

Instead of eating their post-game meal on the plane ride home, as is customary after a road game, players instead sat at tables set up near the visitors locker room.

About an hour after the game, Blashill decided to call off Saturday’s practice. It is not an ideal situation, because Sunday’s game against the New York Rangers is at 12:30 p.m. Had it been a regular evening game, the morning skate would offset the loss of skating Saturday.

“It’s part of the stuff you have to deal with. There’s fog in Detroit, that's the way it goes.”

Contact Helene St. James: hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames.