NHL Gives Up on Big Events but Not the Season

Winter Classic, All-Star Weekend are off the calendar
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Oct 22, 2020 4:05 PM CDT
NHL Scraps Winter Classic, All-Star Game but Not Season
Target Field, shown in 2013, was to host the 2021 Winter Classic.   (AP Photo/Jim Mone, File)

The NHL won't take it outside and open 2021 with the Winter Classic in Minnesota but still hopes to get the hockey season going around the start of the new year. The league on Thursday canceled the Winter Classic scheduled for Jan. 1 at Target Field in Minneapolis and All-Star Weekend that was set for late January in Sunrise, Florida. It said those moves don't change the league and players' target date to begin on or around Jan. 1 in the hopes of each team playing a full 82-game season. The lack of a guarantee of being able to host fans, because of the pandemic, led to the cancellation of the two signature events, the AP reports. The league probably will condense the regular-season schedule to get in as many games as possible and stage a full 16-team playoff without going too deep into the summer.

"Because of the uncertainty as to when we will be able to welcome our fans back to our games, we felt that the prudent decision at this time was to postpone these celebrations until 2022 when our fans should be able to enjoy and celebrate these tentpole events in-person, as they were always intended," said NHL senior executive vice president and chief content officer Steve Mayer. "We are also considering several new and creative events that will allow our fans to engage with our games and teams during this upcoming season." The Minnesota Wild were supposed to host their first Winter Classic next season at the home of Major League Baseball's Twins against the 2019 Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues. There's disappointment in Minnesota, per the Athletic; the Wild had campaigned to host the Winter Classic for years. It's now planned for Jan. 1, 2022.

(More NHL stories.)

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