NHL cancels All-Star Weekend and Winter Classic game.
The NHL has canceled both the All-Star Weekend and the so-called Winter Classic outdoor game for the coming year. As the league announced on, both events have been postponed due to the corona pandemic.
NHL announces postponement of Winter Classic and All-Star Weekend. https://t.co/sOcHxLGDtz #WinterClassic #NHLAllStar pic.twitter.com/eYDzN8WBiC
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) October 22, 2020
“Because of the uncertainty as to when we will be able to welcome our fans to the games again”, the league had the feeling that it would be a prudent decision to postpone the celebrations to 2022 if the league’s vice president, Steve Mayer, quoted.
The open-air game between the Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues should open the season on January 1, 2021 at Target Field in Minneapolis, and the All-Star Weekend should take place in Sunrise, Florida at the end of January.
The league emphasized that it is still sticking to the goal of starting the new season on or around January 1, which should consist of 82 regular season games for all teams as well as playoffs with 16 teams. The NHL ended its previous season after an almost five-month hiatus due to the corona pandemic in August and September in two so-called sealed-off bubbles in the Canadian metropolises of Edmonton and Toronto with no spectators.