Wrap up warm if you’re heading to Target Field in Minneapolis — home of MLB’s Minnesota Twins — for the 2022 Winter Classic on Saturday.
The NHL has staged 32 modern outdoor games, but Saturday’s match between the Minnesota Wild and the St. Louis Blues maybe the coldest yet, with sub-zero temperatures forecast.
The high temperature on Saturday is only supposed to reach -2 degrees, but it will be even colder when the game begins at 7 p.m. ET with a frozen temperature of -5 and the wind chill hovering around -20 degrees.
And it could go down as the coldest outdoor NHL hockey game in history if those temperatures pan out.
So much so that the National Hockey League says even the ice will need to be heated.
“When the air temperature is above the optimum ice temperature, the glycol and aluminum pans transfer heat away from the ice. But when the air temperature is below the optimum ice temperature, it transfers heat to the ice,” said NHL.com.
“The NHL has used a custom-made inline heater before to warm the glycol in the pipes on the way to the floor, but here it will use two inline heaters for the first time, one at the refrigeration truck and another in the outfield. The crew can calibrate the temperature to a half-degree.”
Meanwhile the NHL has announced the postponement of nine additional games, eight of those due to attendance restrictions in Canada. The NHL postponed nine other Canadian games for the same reason earlier this week.
Photos: Picturesque golf course by lake stages Winter Classic
Photos: Picturesque golf course by lake stages Winter Classic
While the National Hockey League has hosted the Winter Classic in some spectacular locations, none has come close to this year’s event.
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Photos: Picturesque golf course by lake stages Winter Classic
The 2021 edition was hosted on the 18th fairway of Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course on the shores of Lake Tahoe.
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Photos: Picturesque golf course by lake stages Winter Classic
Two games were hosted on the unique rink, the first being the Vegas Golden Knights facing the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday, February 20. Play was suspended after the first period because of “extreme sun.”
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Photos: Picturesque golf course by lake stages Winter Classic
The next day, the Boston Bruins played the Philadelphia Flyers.
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Photos: Picturesque golf course by lake stages Winter Classic
The start of that game was pushed back due to a forecast of sunlight with no cloud cover and unseasonably warm temperatures.
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Photos: Picturesque golf course by lake stages Winter Classic
“We’ve done over 30 outdoor games,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said on the NBC broadcast over the weekend. “This has been the most difficult weather circumstance we’ve had, and it’s a beautiful day. But if you look up at the sun, the cloud cover is everywhere but where the sun is, and it did a number on the ice.”
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Photos: Picturesque golf course by lake stages Winter Classic
With the two teams facing off as the Nevada sun was setting, players dueled in front of some beautiful scenes.
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Photos: Picturesque golf course by lake stages Winter Classic
Joel Farabee of the Flyers scored one of his team’s goals on Sunday but it wasn’t enough to avoid defeat.
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Photos: Picturesque golf course by lake stages Winter Classic
Boston scored four times in the second period to run away with the game, including David Pastrnak’s goal in a 7-3 win.
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Photos: Picturesque golf course by lake stages Winter Classic
Playing on the 18th hole of a golf course was a first for the NHL. Given the beautiful backdrop, it could become a more common setting in the future.
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The NHL says it plans to reschedule those games for later in the season when attendance restrictions in Canada “may be eased or lifted.”
The NHL also postponed the New York Islanders’ road game against the Seattle Kraken scheduled for January 4 after the three Canadian stops on the Islanders’ road trip were scratched.
Hot chocolate will be a requirement in Minneapolis on Saturday night.
A total of 91 NHL games have now been postponed this season due to Covid-19 issues.
