Talk about irony… While the Philadelphia Eagles’ Lincoln Financial Field was impacted this week due to the effects of a classic winter storm, another stadium in the state was bracing for the impact of a Winter Classic.

Not long after the Pittsburgh Steelers crushed the Carolina Panthers in their regular-season home finale last Thursday, Heinz Field officials began the transformation from football field to outdoor hockey arena for the NHL’s Winter Classic, a Jan. 1 game between the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins.

You can check out, in time-lapse format, the switch from gridiron to hockey rink in the video above (footage courtesy NHL Network). Fortunately for the Heinz Field crew that handled this transformation, there won’t be a major rush to switch it back. If the Steelers win Sunday at Cleveland, they have a first-round bye and won’t play until they host a divisional playoff game on Jan. 16. If they lose to the Browns (and the Ravens beat or tie Cincinnati), then Pittsburgh will be on the road for the playoffs … and Heinz Field can remain open for public skating the rest of the winter.

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