Leafs spend 4 hours stuck in NJ storm

The Toronto Maple Leafs were stuck in traffic for four hours while heavy snow and gusting winds whipped through New Jersey on Sunday night as part of a larger storm that ripped through the U.S. east coast.

The Leafs were returning to their hotel after beating the Devils 4-1 in front of a sparse crowd in Newark when New Jersey State Police closed the road. A 20-minute ride in clear weather became an exercise in patience.

"It's totally out of your control," said Dave Poulin, the Maple Leafs' vice-president of hockey operations. Poulin added the team was comfortable and there was little grousing. "You're on a great big warm bus that's absolutely full with 200 gallons of gas."

Some of the players passed the time by tweeting. Centre Tyler Bozak told his followers: "Roads closed in new jersey stuck on the bussss. Brutaallll!!"

The team finally arrived at the hotel about 3 a.m., five hours after leaving the Prudential Center. The next concern was when Newark Liberty Airport would open so the team could head back to Toronto, where a game against Carolina is scheduled for Tuesday night.

As of 6:30 p.m. ET on Monday, the club was just boarding a plane at the airport.

The Montreal Canadiens also were concerned about flying out after losing to the New York Islanders 4-1 on Sunday.

Republic Airport on Long Island had been closed while a fleet of snow blowers and other equipment tried to clear its two runways, but the Canadiens were expected to depart Monday afternoon for a game Tuesday night at Washington.

The NBA's Orlando Magic had an easier time getting to New Jersey in a snowstorm than they did getting from their hotel to the arena the Leafs had left the night before.

A bus carrying some players and coaches to their game against the Nets on Monday night got stuck in snow shortly after leaving their hotel, forcing players to walk a couple of blocks back to the W Hotel in Hoboken, where they boarded a second bus taking the rest of the team to the Prudential Center in Newark.

Forward Ryan Anderson said the bus driver tried to turn a corner and got stuck in a 1.5-metre pile of snow.

Other sports were hit worse.

Workers in Philadelphia were busy digging out Lincoln Financial Field before the Eagles played the Minnesota Vikings on Tuesday night. The game was postponed from Sunday when the storm system dumped about a foot of snow on Philadelphia.

"The roads are bad for East Coast standards," Vikings tight end Visanthe Shiancoe said. "But if this was in the Midwest there would be no way that this would be delayed."

Pennsylvania's governor seemed to agree.

"This is football; football's played in bad weather," Ed Rendell told KYW-TV on Sunday. "The fans would have gotten there, the subways work and the major arteries are still open and other fans would have stayed home. But you play football regardless of the weather."

Other NFL teams planned to travel home Monday after storms put a crimp in their plans.

The New York Jets spent the night in Chicago following a 38-34 loss to the Bears. The New England Patriots were also stranded until Monday after a 34-3 win in Buffalo, and the New York Giants spent the night in Appleton, Wis., after a 45-17 loss at Green Bay.

"Depressing," Giants tight end Kevin Boss said. "It would've been a lot easier with a win."

The storm also caused trouble for numerous college events.

Fordham's men's team was scheduled to face Georgia Tech on Monday night, but the game was called off when the Rams' flight to Atlanta was cancelled. Florida cancelled its game against Fairfield on Tuesday night because the Stags couldn't make the trip from Fairfield, Conn.

The start of women's tournaments in New York and New Orleans were delayed until Wednesday, and the Boston-Richmond and Arizona-Marist women's games scheduled for Tuesday were postponed.