Thousands of fans left Wellington's Westpac Stadium yesterday angry and disappointed following the cancellation of an international ice hockey exhibition match between the US and Canada.
Westpac Stadium on Wellington's waterfront Photo: RNZ / Richard Tindiller
The match was scheduled for Saturday but had to be postponed to Sunday because of a burst pipe that stopped the ice from freezing.
It was then cancelled yesterday after high winds tore down part of the plexiglass wall on the temporary rink erected in the stadium.
The event was being touted as the first outdoor match between two countries in the Southern Hemisphere.
A Canadian ice hockey fan who'd bought tickets to the cancelled match in Wellington says the organisers should have been better prepared for the capital's weather.
Allan Abbott said organisers were having problems with one end of the barrier and they were taking out all the plexiglass and metal struts when an entire side wall fell over.
"And there were people underneath the glass trying to hold it up or else trying to escape so they don't get hurt.
"No one seemed to know what they were doing."
Westpac Stadium chief executive Shane Harmon told Morning Report his staff did everything they could and it was simply a series of freak accidents that led to the cancellation.
"Look we're shattered, in the 18 years of the stadium's history we've never had to cancel an event," Mr Harmon said.
"Very very disappointing and very very sorry for all the ticket holders."
He said everybody, including the event promoters, owners, and the stadium, did everything they could to try and make sure the event went ahead.
He said at no stage did they believe the schedule was a problem, it was agreed to a year ago, and it was just in the last couple of days that the issues cropped up.
All tickets, including booking fees, would be refunded in full, Mr Harmon said.
He said the main cost would sit with the promoters, but everyone involved had lost money.
Event promoters TEG, which owns Ticketek, did not return Morning Report's calls.
Canada beat the US 8-5 in Auckland on Friday night, with the final three games of the the six-game exhibition series to be played in Australia.
