Boston Pro Sports Take Back Seat to Homeland Security

In Boston, there’s nothing more important than pro sports. Except maybe life and death, and homeland security.

Several sports matches in Boston were canceled on Friday during the manhunt for the suspect responsible for the Boston Marathon bombings.

Here’s a rundown …

In the NHL, the Boston Bruins announced that their Friday practice was canceled due to the Boston lockdown. With the local team’s practice canceled, the NHL had to postpone the playoff game between the Bruins and the Pittsburgh Penguins. The match was tentatively rescheduled for Saturday at 12:30 p.m. at the TD Garden, according to the team’s official NHL webspage. A final decision for the game time would be made Saturday morning before the match, with all tickets purchased for Friday’s game to go toward the next day.

Another sports game canceled for Friday was the MLB match between the Boston Red Sox and the Kansas City Royals. Taking place at Fenway Park, the Red Sox game with the Royals was previously scheduled for 7:10 p.m. on Friday. Red Sox spokesman Kevin Gregg told FOX Sports that the Royals have been staying in Boston since Wednesday night and had the day off on Thursday in the city. The Kansas team was staying at the Westin Copley Place Hotel, located only a block away from the marathon finish line. “We’ve been told not to go outside. We’ve been told the hotel has been locked down, although I’ve seen a handful of people moving around,” Royals Vice President Mike Swanson said.

In football, the New England Patriots had to postpone their news conference about next week’s NFL Draft. This was a second time that the team had to cancel their meeting with director Nick Caserio of player personal due to the marathon bombings. It was normally scheduled for Tuesday, but after the attacks, the team rescheduled the meeting for Monday.

The NBA world also experienced a change in line-up when EPSN reported that the Boston Celtics canceled their match with the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday, April 16. Now the Celtics would be heading to New York to face off against the Knicks on Saturday. In a statement release from the team, they said:

Out of respect to all those who have been impacted by the tragic events today in Boston, including members of the extended Celtics family, the Boston Celtics and the NBA have decided to cancel the game scheduled for Tuesday April 16 between the Boston Celtics and the Indiana Pacers.