The Winter Classic is often the NHL regular season’s most exciting and anticipated game. The game is closely followed by the Stadium Series and the other outdoor games that take place throughout the season. The intrigue of the outdoor game and a once-in-a-lifetime feeling always draw a crowd, but the games taking place in an alternate site are also what makes them popular.
Related: 6 Future Outdoor Game Locations
A big topic in recent weeks has been NHL expansion, notably with the Smith Entertainment Group, a Salt Lake City sports ownership group, formally requesting a team. For now, the league will stay at 32 teams, but the interest in where hockey could be played remains an ongoing conversation. What cities could host an NHL team for a season, and which ones would make a great site for even one game or a mini-series?
Alternate sites for NHL games would both be exciting for the fans and a great way for the league to grow the game. Putting a city on the map for one game would not only provide interest to the hockey fans living there but to the greater region as well. Better yet, if the league takes on this initiative, something they should consider for a handful of reasons, there are plenty of teams who can host those games as well.
Cleveland
Columbus is the most popular city in Ohio, but Cleveland has the strongest sports presence, with professional teams in three of the four major sports (guess which one is left out). The Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse (formerly known as Quicken Loans Arena) hosts the AHL’s Monsters and the Cleveland Cavaliers and could be a great place for the Columbus Blue Jackets to play a game once or twice a season. Cleveland is one of the most underrated cities in the country, and no better way to showcase it than with at least one game a season there.
The convenience of Cleveland is that it’s a reasonable commute for the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Detroit Red Wings. The Green Bay Packers played at least one home game every year from 1933 to 1994 in Milwaukee, which helped them become the team of Wisconsin (winning helped, too). The Blue Jackets can further expand their fanbase and become the team of Ohio in case they weren’t already.
Halifax – Boston Bruins & Ottawa Senators
Halifax, which is the biggest city in Nova Scotia, has produced some of the best players in the game despite a population of under 500,000 people. The list of greats, both past and present, includes Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon, Al MacInnis, Brad Marchand, Bobby Smith, and Alex Killorn, to name a few. The city is small and tough for NHL teams to travel to, but is passionate about the game and deserves to see more of the professional game.
The Montreal Canadiens are the closest team in Canada to Halifax but the Ottawa Senators make the most sense to host a home game among the Canadian teams. The Boston Bruins are a great fit not only because of location but it would allow their top-line star and captain Marchand to make a homecoming. This sets up a best-case scenario where the NHL sends four teams to Halifax and plays a mini-series in Scotiabank Centre, which holds only 12,000 people but will surely be packed. Just imagine the Bruins facing the Penguins with Marchand going up against Crosby or the Senators hosting MacKinnon and the Colorado Avalanche.
Houston – Dallas Stars
Houston is one of the cities best suited for NHL relocation as the fourth-most populous in the United States and a big sports market. Until the league expands and starts searching for new cities, they would be a great destination for the Dallas Stars to host an alternate home game. The Stars already have a big fanbase with the team being one of the more successful ones in recent seasons led by Jason Robertson, Joe Pavelski, and Jake Oettinger but they could expand their reach throughout the state of Texas.
There’s no AHL team or even a minor hockey league in the area, making it easy to think there isn’t a rink available for a game. However, the Houston Rockets play in Toyota Center, which has a capacity of over 19,000. There isn’t an obvious opponent for the Stars to face in an alternate game in Houston, but they could play at least one home game there every season against different teams. The Stars have a strong grip on the southern region of the country, and a game in the alternate city would further improve their standing in the area.
Atlanta – Florida Panthers
It’s the city constantly in the rumors for an NHL team when the league eventually expands despite the past failures to maintain a team. Atlanta is a great sports city and Georgia is a greater sports state with college football having a strong presence in the area. However, they’ve not only struggled to keep an NHL team there, they’ve done so twice.
It would be ironic if the NHL hosted a game between the Calgary Flames and the Winnipeg Jets in Atlanta. Both teams not only relocated from the city but are thriving in their new locations even without much playoff success, with passionate fanbases supporting them.
That aside, Atlanta would be a great city for at least one NHL game per season, especially since TNT, one of the national broadcasts, has their headquarters there. On top of that, there’s an arena already in place for a game with the Atlanta Hawks playing in the 18,000-seat State Farm Arena. The Florida Panthers
Salt Lake City – Colorado Avalanche
Utah and Salt Lake City, in particular, have been the most aggressive in pushing for a new NHL team. Ryan Smith, who owns the Utah Jazz, has already laid out the groundwork and has a plan to both bring hockey to the untapped market and allow it to thrive there. The city, which hosted the 2002 Winter Olympics, is a worthwhile gamble for the league to consider, but until then, having one game a season in the area can test out the market and see how it could hold up in the long run.
The Avalanche are the team of the Rocky Mountain region, and it makes the most sense to host a game in Salt Lake City. Better yet, with Utah sandwiched between Colorado and Nevada, it gives the league a perfect matchup as the Avalanche could host the Vegas Golden Knights. The two teams met in one the most unique outdoor games in the 2020-21 season when they traveled to Lake Tahoe to play in the middle of one of the ski resorts where the game was delayed over eight hours because of the melting ice. A rematch between them at an NHL-ready arena like Delta Center, which hosts the Jazz and over 18,000 spectators, would not disappoint.
Other Cities That Can Host an NHL Game
San Deigo has been through a whirlwind in recent seasons regarding their sports teams, losing the Chargers and going through the highs and lows with the Padres. Hosting the San Diego Gulls, the Anaheim Ducks AHL affiliate, they would be a great site for a game, especially between the Ducks and Arizona Coyotes, two of the prominent teams in the region.
The NHL should also strongly consider National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) arenas and up the ante by holding pregame shows in the area similar to College Gameday, the hit show on ESPN for college football. Ralph Engelstad Arena in North Dakota or the Yost Ice Arena in Michigan would bring the pro game to passionate hockey fans and create a remarkable atmosphere for the games and everything leading up to them.
Is there a city you think deserves to host an NHL game? Let us know in the comment section below.