Canucks stuck in Buffalo as winter storm forces cancellation of team’s flight to Columbus

The Vancouver Canucks will be spending one more night in Buffalo.

As noted at the tail end of tonight’s edition of Instant Reaction following the Canucks’ 1-0 win over the Buffalo Sabres this afternoon, severe winter weather has begun in Buffalo. A powerful snowstorm in Western New York has caused the state’s governor to issue a full travel ban and forced the closure of the area’s biggest airport. Additionally, the Buffalo Bills’ AFC Wild Card game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, originally scheduled for Sunday afternoon, was moved to Monday.

The storm is projected to bring up to two feet of snow to the Buffalo region over the next 24 hours. As noted by Mercurynews.com, by Saturday morning, nearly every arriving flight into Buffalo Niagara International Airport had already been cancelled.

The weather is impacting the Canucks’ ability to travel to Columbus. The team was originally scheduled to fly out of Buffalo at 8 PM local time, but shortly after their game against the Sabres concluded, the chartered flight was cancelled. The team will be staying in Buffalo and are hopeful to leave tomorrow, a team spokesperson told CanucksArmy. 

The Canucks aren’t the only NHL team whose travel has been impacted by the inclement weather. The San Jose Sharks, originally scheduled to fly into Buffalo this evening from Ottawa, elected to stay in the Nation’s capital ahead of their Monday game against the Sabres.

The Canucks are scheduled to face the Columbus Blue Jackets at 10 AM Pacific — 1 PM local time — on Monday as they close out their seven game road trip before returning home to face the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday, January 18th.

This road trip has been a smashing success to this point, as after dropping the first game of the trip to the St. Louis Blues, the team shook up their lines and reunited the Lotto Line. Since then, the team has won five straight games in convincing fashion.

Back at the top of the NHL league standings, the Canucks are back to being one of the hottest teams in hockey as they continue their push to return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Additionally, the team found out today that five of their players will be heading to NHL All-Star weekend, which is a team record. You can read more by clicking here.