The conditions were hardly perfect but at least they could use the field.

The final load of snow was pushed off the playing surface of Tim Hortons Field Tuesday morning only moments before the Hamilton Tiger-Cats started their final week of practice for Sunday's CFL Eastern Conference Final against the Edmonton Eskimos.

For 26 hours, stadium staff had manned two snow-clearing vehicles, each with its contact points equipped with plastic piping to protect the artificial turf, to remove the record 17 cms of snow that had hit the field, and the rest of the city, through Monday and into Tuesday.

"We already had a plan in place in case of a weather disturbance, even before we knew about this storm," said Rob Gatto, the city's manager of sports and entertainment. "We had to be prepared and the Hamilton staff worked diligently."

Even as the Ticats ran through their 90-minute practice, the vehicles were scooping up piles of snow that had been pushed off the field, and loading them into waiting trucks.

Gatto said that the ground hadn't frozen, and when the black rubber pellets on the field surface attracted the warmth of the sun, icy patches on the field began to melt. Still, the players were clearly running with more caution than usual and head coach Orlondo Steinauer said that the last of those spots melted just as the practice ended.

Gatto is not worried about field conditions for Sunday. The forecast calls for flurries Thursday, but no serious snow or cold before Sunday.

And on Thursday a private company to work the playing surface with a 'deep-grooming' machine, whose metal spikes loosen the pellets and "fluff up" flattened blades of the turf. When they did that last week both the Ticats and Forge FC, who are also practicing, liked the results.

The Ticats will practice indoors at Redeemer University College Wednesday and Friday. They'll return to Tim Hortons Field Thursday, and for Saturday morning's "walk-through" practice.

Tuesday's practice was closed to the few fans who normally attend, because of the safety factor in the stands.

Gatto says two, eight-hour shifts of 20 workers will clean the seats, salt the stairways and clear the snow from off-field parts of the stadium, every day until Sunday.

smilton@thespec.com

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