Penguins force Red Wings to cancel preseason game.

The Detroit Red Wings have just had to deliver some really unfortunate news to their fans tonight, and to make matters even worse the situation was entirely out of their control.

Earlier today I reported on the fact that tonight's preseason game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Detroit Red Wings would be subject to a significant delay, with the game being pushed all the way back to 8:30 pm EST after an original start time of 7:00 pm EST.

That was of course a major inconvenience for fans in Detroit that had plans to attend the game tonight at Little Caesars Arena, although the Red Wings did do their best to accommodate fans by opening the doors to the arena at the same time.

Unfortunately the news only got worse from there.

In an official announcement, the Penguins have now revealed that they will not be traveling to Detroit at all tonight and as a result the Red Wings have been forced to effectively cancel their home game despite having several fans show up to the game in spite of the previously announced delay. In the statement the Penguins express that they will be unable to participate tonight, while also shedding some more light on what exactly their travel issues really were.

From the Penguins:

The Pittsburgh Penguins regret that we were not able to travel to Detroit this afternoon as planned for our game against the Red Wings. Continued mechanical issues with our team plane were not able to be rectified and despite great effort, there was no method to travel to Detroit safely.

We are extremely sorry for the inconvenience caused to all fans, media, officials and the Red Wings who were already at Little Caesars Arena.

That will of course do very little to appease fans in Detroit who have now been left hanging twice today, with this second delay obviously being considerably worse than the first.

The Red Wings have confirmed the game is indeed cancelled, with the game now rescheduled for Monday night at 7:00 PM EST.

From the Red Wings:

The Detroit Red Wings today announced that tonight's preseason game against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Little Caesars Arena has been rescheduled for Monday, Sept. 30 at 7:00 p.m. as part of a split-squad game. The Red Wings will also play a preseason game against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center on Monday, Sept. 30 at 7:00 p.m.

Winged Wheel Nation members will be contacted via email with additional details.

I can't help but feel terrible for all the fans who traveled to tonight's game.