UPDATED at 11:15 a.m.:

The Sixers and Flyers released a statement saying both teams will play tonight despite the snow:

The Philadelphia Flyers vs New York Rangers game scheduled for 1 p.m. today and the Philadelphia 76ers vs. Los Angeles Clippers game scheduled for 7:30 p.m., both at the WachoviaCenter, will proceed as planned.

Both the National Hockey League and National Basketball Association have policies that when both the home team and the away team are in town.

It’s beginning to look a lot like hockey season here in Philadelphia.

With the white stuff already starting to fall from the sky, it will undoubtedly be a tricky commute to the Wachovia Center for this afternoon’s 1 o’clock game between the Flyers and the New York Rangers.

The National Weather Service is calling for 8-to-14 inches in the Philadelphia area. I am no meteorologist, but that is a pretty broad range. So that makes it hard to even guess exactly what will happen – it seems like there are a variety of ways this powerful storm will turn.

Know what all this means? Less Rangers fans making the trip down the sloppy (when is it not sloppy?) Jersey Turnpike.

From what I am told, there is very little chance this game will be postponed. Delaying the start time would seem to make even less sense, since it is supposed to continue 3

Both teams are already in town, the Rangers having arrived last night, and there is no let-up in the schedule for these two teams to play it again any time soon.

Today is Dec. 19 and it is only the first meeting between these two Atlantic division rivals. If it were to be postponed, 6 of the Flyers’ 41 second-half games would be against the Blueshirts. That’s absurd.

The Rangers could be exactly what the Flyers need at this point in time.

Since starting the season at an impressive 7-1-0 clip, keeping pace with the white hot Penguins, they have gone just 8-15-3 since. That’s slightly better than the Flyers’ current 3-11-1 run over the last weeks.

The Flyers will welcome back Simon Gagne this afternoon. He has been out since Oct. 25 recovering from abdominal surgery.

General manager Paul Holmgren did not make any moves as the NHL’s holiday roster freeze deadline of midnight came and went. The Flyers will be sticking with their current roster for the next five games – come hell or high water.

Come back for the latest news on the snow and the schedule, though I promise I won’t try and play meteorologist. If you’re going to the game, be safe. If not, throw on your Snuggie, watch the flakes fall and enjoy the game.

--

Correction: My apologies for the egregious error in Friday’s notes column in which I mentioned the new single “A” professional hockey league that is coming to Philly. I mistakenly called the Charlestown Chiefs the Johnstown Jets. It was embarrassing. Slap Shot is the ultimate hockey movie – and watching it so many times – the true history behind it is what stuck out while writing it. For those that don’t know, the Charlestown Chiefs were based off of a real team named the Johnstown Jets. The Hanson brothers (actually Jeff, Jack and Steve Carlson, who became the Hanson brothers in the movie) played for Johnstown in the old EHL. The movie was filmed in Johnstown at the Cambria County War Memorial Arena, which is home to the current Johnstown Chiefs (ECHL). I apologize for the mistake.

I will try and make up for it, though.

Here’s a piece of trivia: Name one current member of the Flyers organization that played for the Johnstown Jets.

E-mail me (seravaf@phillynews.com) the correct answer by 7:00 p.m. (EST) and I will randomly pick one winner out of a hat to receive a cool Winter Classic prize.

For the latest updates, follow Frank Seravalli on Twitter at http://twitter.com/DNFlyers.