BUFFALO -- The puck has dropped and play is underway at the Labatt Blue Buffalo Pond Hockey Tournament.

Hundreds of players are taking advantage of the cold temperatures and leftover snow.

The tournament isn't being played on Lake Erie this year, but it is still on ice. Crews spent the last week assembling nine man-made ice rinks in the parking lot of the Erie Basin Marina.

With last night's snowfall, only five of those rinks are being used in today's tournament. The weather also caused a delay starting the tournament this morning.

"It was a type of snow that really caused some issues for us. It came down very heavy and very slushy and so it produced a wet surface on these rinks, which then melted some of this ice that was already set," said Labatt Blue Assoc. Brand Manager Lisa Texido.

Tournament officials say scheduling 96 teams onto the smaller number of rinks will stretch play well into the night. The tournament is open to the public.