The NHL announced Thursday that it was officially canceling the 2021 Winter Classic as well as the 2021 All-Star Weekend due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The 13th annual Winter Classic, which was set to feature the Wild and the Blues at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota, was originally scheduled for Jan. 1, 2021. The Florida Panthers were supposed to host the 2021 All-Star Weekend at BB&T Center in Sunrise, Fla from Jan. 29-30, 2021.
Both events were postponed “due to the ongoing uncertainty resulting from the coronavirus,” the league’s release stated. The announcement also said the NHL plans to return to both Minnesota and Florida for their respective events in the near future.
“Fan participation, both in arenas and stadiums as well as in the ancillary venues and events that we stage around the Winter Classic and All-Star Weekend, is integral to the success of our signature events,” NHL Senior Executive Vice President & Chief Content Officer Steve Mayer said in the release. “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.
“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 league clarified that Thursday’s announcement “does not impact the joint declaration by the NHL and National Hockey League Players’ Association on Oct. 6 that we are targeting on or around Jan. 1 as the start date for the upcoming NHL season.”
After originally targeting a Dec. 1 start for the 2020-21 season, the NHL in October pushed back the expected start date to Jan. 1. In a press conference prior to the 2020 NHL Draft, commissioner Gary Bettman said he believed that pushing the start date back would allow the league to have as normal a season as possible.
“Our hope is to have a full season, full regular season, and to have fans in the building, but there are a lot of things that have to transpire, many of which if not most of which are beyond our control before we can finalize our plans,” Bettman said.