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The outdoor Winter Classic regular season game
was scheduled to be played on Jan. 1 in Minneapolis, Minnesota,
while Sunrise, Florida was set to host All-Star Weekend from
Jan. 29-30.
"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 a news 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."
The Minnesota Wild were scheduled to face the St. Louis Blues on
New Year's Day at the home of Major League Baseball's Minnesota
Twins.
The Florida Panthers were set to host All-Star Weekend, a
two-day event featuring an All-Star Game, skills competition and
other entertainment for fans.
The league said it intends to return to both Minnesota and
Florida for these signature events in the near future.
The NHL, which concluded its virus-interrupted season in late
September, just over three months later than normal, also said
the postponement of the signature events does not change their
target date of Jan. 1 to begin the 2020-21 season.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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