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The NHL announced its high-profile 2023 regular-season events and unveiled those plans during All-Star Weekend in Las Vegas. The Winter Classic will head to Fenway Park in Boston, the All-Star Weekend will head to Sunrise, Florida, and the Stadium Series will be in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Boston Bruins will take on an as-yet-unnamed team in the Winter Classic. This legendary course hosted an event in 2010.
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“It’s been 12 years since we were at Fenway,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said. “A lot of money has been put into the building, it’s not quite the same ballpark. Boston is obviously a great hockey town. We’ve now done over 30 outdoor games; if you want to keep doing them you have to go back to some places. It won’t look and it won’t be the same, [NHL chief content officer] Steve Mayer won’t allow it, as it was last time. It’ll be a new experience in a venue that has been transformed and modernized in some ways. We think it’ll be a great event. You’ll have to speculate on who the opponent will be.”
NHL All-star weekend, 22/23
Boston Bruins
Boston will play its fifth NHL Outdoor Game and its fourth Winter Classic. The 2023 Winter Classic, the 15th anniversary of the outdoor competition, was first held on January 1, 2008, at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park, New York. It will be the 36th outdoor NHL game since 2003.
Florida Panthers
The Florida Panthers will host All-Star Weekend for the first time since 2003, with skills games scheduled for Feb. 3 and games on Feb. 4. It was supposed to host the 2021 All-Star Weekend. But plans were dashed due to upheaval due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When we announced it a few years ago, we were excited,” said Sean Thornton, Panther’s chief commercial officer. “With COVID, we’ve had some logistical issues with hotel rooms and availability.
The NHL is coming to Vegas this year, so we’re saying push our time to next year to allow parties to really plan and integrate into the community.
Carolina Hurricanes
Carolina covered to play the Stadium Series in 2021 but saw those plans put on hold during the pandemic. The Carolina Hurricanes will host their 2023 game on February 25 at Carter Finley Stadium on the North Carolina State University campus. “You’re going to be showing the game of hockey to a lot of people who may not be familiar with the game of hockey,” said Hurricanes general manager Don Waddell.
“People love big events. Big events here, in a 55,000-plus-seat venue. You’re going to have your hockey fans, but you’re also going to have a lot of people who haven’t. I think it’s a win-win place for all of us. “There’s not going to be a bad seat. I spend a lot of time there. If you’re on the sidelines, 20 feet behind you is the seat. There’s no big runway. It’s going to bring people closer to the game than other venues.”
Credits: ticketnews.com; official NHL sources
Credits featured image: Brandon Zeman, Flickr
