Take it Outside

For many a hockey player, the roots of loving the game are grounded in playing outdoors – whether it was on a backyard or neighborhood pond, a flooded lot, or a homemade piece of ice. Sustaining that identity has always been something the NHL has front of mind and that contributed to the creation of now iconic events like the Winter Classic.

Here’s how the series came to be.

Playing official games outdoors started sporadically at first. Going back to the 1950s, a few teams played exhibition games outdoors, but it wasn’t until 1991 when the first NHL-sanctioned contest between two league teams was held in the open air. Playing on a rink constructed in the Caesars parking lot in Las Vegas, the Los Angeles Kings beat the Rangers 5-2.

That game was just a singular event, but 10 years later, the league decided to launch the Heritage Classic – the name tied to the origins of the game being played outdoors. When the puck dropped between the Edmonton Oilers and Montreal Canadiens on Nov. 22, 2003, it marked the first-ever NHL regular season game played outside.

Make it Classic

That series would be played sporadically – a total of seven times to date – but its success spurred the idea of more outdoor games. And executives at NBC began to conceptualize how to execute an outdoor game that could also be televised – bringing not just NHL hockey, but the magical experience of playing outside to the airwaves.

It took time. Logistics of location, adapting larger ballparks and stadiums to the demands of building and maintaining ice, and equipping the location for proper broadcast demands weren’t easy problems to solve. But on a snowy New Year’s Day in 2008, the puck dropped between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Buffalo Sabres at what is now known as Highmark Stadium.

The Winter Classic was a go.

The iconic New Year’s Day game is now an annual event – with just two years missed since its inception (the NHL lockout prohibited the 2013 game from being played and in 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic forced a pause), and the game at T-Mobile Park in Seattle will be the 15th occurrence of the Classic. (Two Classics have been moved to Jan. 2 due to scheduling)

Teams have developed traditions around the Classic as well often wearing custom game day outfits that match their home city or a tradition around the location of the game. And the league – as it does with all of its major events – collaborates with local teams and organizations on a Legacy Project – a philanthropic effort meant to better the host city in thanks for its efforts.

Other outdoor games have been added to the Schedule from time to time including the Stadium Series, and two “Classics” to mark the 100th season along with the NHL Outdoors series at Lake Tahoe, but the Winter Classic is the only one to occur every single year.

Challenge Accepted

Of course, for all the excitement, playing outdoors can provide some very specific obstacles. There have been weather-related delays to the game and, to ensure equity in dealing with the elements, some games have seen teams switch sides of the ice halfway through periods.

Players have had to find proper base layers to stay warm in colder temperatures and don’t be surprised if you see NHL players wearing eye black on outdoor game days to help aid vision in spite of any glare from the sun off open ice.

Throughout it all, NHL ice crews have pulled off Herculean efforts to sustain ice regardless of whatever Mother Nature might conjure up. For example, Dallas, where rain melted down the first iteration of a built sheet.

Joining the Tradition

And while the Kraken are just in their third year of existence, they bring experience and appreciation for the Winter Classic as they become part of the lore that is the Winter Classic.

T-Mobile provides a venue that the Classic crew is accustomed to. As of today, of the 39 outdoor games the NHL has hosted, 23 have been played in an NFL stadium, 13 – including this year – occurred in an MLB park, two have been on a golf course and one was in a soccer stadium.

And there are 13 current players (and two Coaches!) that are already part of the NHL outdoor game legacy including four who’ve participated in a Winter Classic.

Pierre-Edouard Bellemare has played in four non-Winter Classic games; Tomas Tatar, Brian Dumoulin, and Andre Burakovksy have three to their names –Tatar (2014) and Dumoulin (2023) have previously played in a Winter Classic. Justin Schultz and Philipp Grubauer played in two Stadium Series games; and Jordan Eberle, Adam Larsson, Jared McCann, Jamie Oleksiak, Jaden Schwartz, Brandon Tanev and Eeli Tolvanen have each played outdoors for the NHL once. Oleksiak’s (2020) and Schwartz’s (2017) games were both Winter Classics.

The experience extends beyond the players on the ice. Dave Hakstol was one of two head coaches in the 2017 Stadium Series, and assistant coach Dave Lowry filled the same role for Calgary in the 2011 Heritage Classic.

General manager Ron Francis also participated in an alumni game before the 2011 Winter Classic. For the record, he posted a 1-0-1 stat line.