I don't know if two decades is a fair number. Plus you're forgetting the Heritage Classic where two of the Canadian teams play outdoors. (Though this year's game features the Buffalo Sabres.)Laife Fulk wrote: ↑Jan 03, 2022Just to state the obvious, the Winter Classic (and the variations of it such as the NHL Outdoors at Lake Tahoe) is a way for the NHL to host hockey in 1) places that otherwise wouldn't ever see an NHL game and 2) utilize some of the coolest/most historic venues that otherwise would never host a hockey game. There are dozens of places that should be viewed as obvious potential sites: Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Mile High Stadium or Coors Field in Denver, Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Michie Stadium at West Point and then just a ton of non-stadium venues like Lake Placid, anywhere in Alaska, etc. Basically just name the largest college town in North America or the most iconic stadiums and they'd be on any list.
All this to say that I don't see the city of St. Louis hosting another Winter Classic for quite some time. At least for 20 years, if not longer (since the league has 32 teams it really should be closer to 30 years but... who knows if the NHL really would want to see an outdoor classic held in, say, Tampa or Miami and deal with the nearly impossible logistics of trying to keep the rink in playable shape outside). That said, if the Blues did push hard to "host" a game in KC at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, the League may be a bit more interested as it would be a major market with a stadium that would draw lots of interest.
The Avalanche have already had two Stadium series games: one at Coors and one at the Air Force Academy. But they could easily have games at Mile High (not a Winter Classic) or at the University of Colorado. The Blues going there might be a good call given how many transplants there are in the Denver area. Just watch a Blues game or listen to it on the radio and and when the Blues score there's a large cheer.
Nashville is hosting Tampa Bay this year's Stadium Series game and Carolina has next year's. It would not suck if the Blues did a Stadium Series or Winter Classic game in Nashville at some point in the future.
