NHL Officially Postpones All-Star Game And Winter Classic In 2021

Well, this week has sucked for NHL fans everywhere. First, Doc Emrick retires, and now this.

NHL officially announces the postponement of the Jan. 1 Winter Classic at Target Field (Wild-Blues) as well as All-Star Weekend (Jan. 29-30), which would've been hosted by the Florida Panthers.

NHL still targeting the start of the 2020-21 season for "on or around" January 1.

— Mark J. Burns (@markjburns88) October 22, 2020

This is a tough blow, but we can’t say we didn’t see it coming. COVID is still going to be a storyline for the NHL and NBA as they’ll once again have to navigate around the virus to make their respective seasons work. Here’s what the NHL said in their statement today.

“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,” said NHL Senior Executive Vice President & Chief Content Officer Steve Mayer. “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.”

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I honestly don’t know when we’ll be back to have stadiums filled for sporting events, but it doesn’t seem like it’ll be anytime soon. Let’s hope that the NHL and other leagues can still pull through on providing us with entertainment while we deal with this pandemic.

I’m already missing sporting events. Hopefully we can get back to traditions like the Winter Classic and the All-Star Game sooner rather than later.

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