For many years, the Winter Classic of the National Hockey League has been one of the fixtures in the calendar of the best league in the world. The 18th edition will follow in 2027 – and it will take place in Utah.
The very first encounter of the Winter Classic took place on January 1st, 2008, when the Buffalo Sabers dueled with the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Buffalo Bills’ (NFL) Ralph Wilson Stadium. The Penguins won the first ever edition 2-1 in a penalty shootout. At that time, 71,217 spectators attended the spectacle.
The 2026 edition took place in Florida, where the New York Rangers and the Florida Panthers faced off at the Miami Marlins (MLB)’s LoanDepot Park. The Rangers kept their clean slate in the Winter Classic, winning 5-1 in front of just over 36,000 spectators.
The record participants in the outdoor spectacle are the Chicago Blackhawks with five participants. Remarkable: the team from the US state of Illinois lost all five games. So far, 17 NHL teams have had the chance to take part in the Winter Classic, and two new ones will be added in 2027.
Winter Classic debutants
Shortly after the turn of the year, the exact date has not yet been set, Utah Mammoth and the Colorado Avalanche will face each other at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City. It is the home of the Utah Utes, the University of Utah football team. This stadium has a capacity of 51,444 seats and is in the upper midfield in the “Winter Classic comparison”.
It will be the first Winter Classic for the Avs, but the team from Denver already has experience with “outdoor games”. In 2021 there were two games at Lake Tahoe, in the first the Avs dueled with the Vegas Golden Knights. Colorado ultimately won the game 3-2.
Image: Kuleralsen, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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