2022 NHL Winter Classic

The 2022 NHL Winter Classic is an upcoming outdoor regular season National Hockey League (NHL) game, part of the Winter Classic series.

2022 NHL Winter Classic
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DateJanuary 1, 2022
← 2020 2023 →

History

The NHL announced on January 1, 2020 that the 2021 Winter Classic would be hosted by the Minnesota Wild at Target Field.[1] The league then announced on February 23, 2020 that the St. Louis Blues would be the visiting team.[2] The league had previously contemplated Target Field as a host for a Winter Classic game, touring the stadium both in 2018 and 2019, and observing how the area hosted the NCAA Final Four in 2019,[3] and Super Bowl LII in 2018. It was to be the Wild's second outdoor game after hosting the 2016 NHL Stadium Series against the Chicago Blackhawks at TCF Bank Stadium.[1] This was also to be the Blues' second outdoor game after hosting the 2017 NHL Winter Classic against the Blackhawks at Busch Stadium.[2]

The NHL delayed the start of the 2020-21 season to January 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic having forced the 2019-20 playoffs to conclude in late-September. If the Winter Classic were to be held, it would have likely served as the season opener for both teams.[4] On October 22, 2020, the NHL officially announced that the 2021 Winter Classic, and the 2021 All-Star Game in Sunrise, Florida, had been postponed due to "uncertainty as to when we will be able to welcome our fans back to our games", as fan participation and accompanying events are considered "integral to the[ir] success. The NHL stated that both events would not return until 2022 at the earliest, and that these events could be held in Minneapolis and Sunrise "in the near future" (but not yet naming them the 2022 hosts).[5][6]

References
  1. "Wild to host 2021 NHL Winter Classic at Target Field" (Press release). NHL.com. January 1, 2020. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  2. "Blues to play Wild in 2021 NHL Winter Classic" (Press release). NHL.com. February 23, 2020. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
  3. McLellan, Sarah (January 1, 2020). "Wild lands Winter Classic at Target Field for 2021". Star Tribune. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  4. "NHL, NHLPA targeting Jan. 1 as start date for 2020-21 season". Sportsnet. October 7, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
  5. "NHL postpones Winter Classic, All-Star Weekend for upcoming season". Sportsnet.ca. Retrieved 2020-10-22.
  6. "NHL postpones 2021 Winter Classic, All-Star Game". ProHockeyTalk | NBC Sports. 2020-10-22. Retrieved 2020-10-22.
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