Blues set sights on Winter Classic on Jan. 1

With Wednesday's game against the Edmonton Oilers now in the rearview mirror, the St. Louis Blues can finally turn their full attention to the 2022 Discover NHL Winter Classic.
The League's premiere outdoor event will be played on Jan. 1 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota - the home of Major League Baseball's Minnesota Twins. The division rival St. Louis Blues and Minnesota Wild will face off at 6 p.m. CT on TNT and 101 ESPN in front of a sold-out crowd of more than 38,000 hockey fans.

As of Thursday, weather forecasts for Minneapolis on New Year's Day had a predicted high of -3 degrees Fahrenheit and a low of -13. If that holds up, it will be the coldest NHL game on record. The previous mark - 0 degrees - was set during the 2003 Heritage Classic in Edmonton. The coldest Winter Classic was in 2014 at Michigan Stadium, where the Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings competed in front of a record 105,491 fans that endured a balmy 13 degrees.
The Blues will be playing in their second Winter Classic. Back in 2017, St. Louis beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1 at Busch Stadium thanks to two third period goals from Vladimir Tarasenko that came just 1:53 apart.

"It's exciting," Blues captain Ryan O'Reilly said of playing outdoors. Saturday's game will be the second Winter Classic appearance for O'Reilly. "These events are definitely special. There's a buzz in the locker room… We've seen pictures of what's going on [with the rink construction at Target Field] and everyone is excited."
"They're a lot of fun," added Blues Head Coach Craig Berube. "There's a lot riding on the game, I believe. It's a big deal. It's great what the NHL does for outdoor games. Players I know get excited for them. It's something you look forward to. It's a great event for the players, everybody involved, the families. We're looking forward to it. It's going to be a lot of fun."

The Blues have 12 players that have played in an NHL outdoor game - 10 of those have played in at least one Winter Classic. Brandon Saad leads the team with four outdoor game appearances - he will play in his fifth outdoor game on Saturday. Tyler Bozak ranks second on the club with three outdoor games, while Brayden Schenn, Torey Krug and Marco Scandella have each appeared in two.
Berube has served as an assistant coach in two Winter Classics - both with the Philadelphia Flyers. Blues Assistant Coach Steve Ott also has experience in outdoor games after playing in the 2017 Centennial Classic in Toronto.
In addition, Robert Thomas, Jordan Kyrou and Scott Perunovich all appeared in an outdoor contest when USA and Canada squared off at the 2018 IIHF World Championships in Buffalo.

The Blues, however, will have a handful of players who have never played a game outdoors at any level. Those players include Jordan Binnington, Justin Faulk, Oskar Sundqvist, Logan Brown and Nathan Walker.
"First-timer here, but I'm excited. It should be fun," Binnington said. "It's a lot of people in one place. I'm looking forward to the experience of being out there with the guys for a couple days. (O'Reilly) was just telling me, even sometimes just long shots because of the wind, the puck can get moving around a little bit. That will be new, kind of like ball hockey, I guess. A new experience and we'll just adapt.
"It's going to be interesting," he added. "I don't know what to expect. I see how cold it's going to be, but I don't know how cold it will feel. We're going to do our part gearing up and do the best we can to be ready for it."