The 2027 NHL Winter Classic sends the Colorado Avalanche to Salt Lake City on New Year’s Eve to face the Utah Mammoth at Rice-Eccles Stadium — and when the puck drops, every one of the NHL’s 32 franchises will finally have played an outdoor game.
Here is everything you need to know: the date and time, how to watch, the altitude and weather question, and the full results of all 17 Winter Classics played so far.
2027 Winter Classic: the fast facts
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Event | 2027 Discover NHL Winter Classic — the 18th edition |
| Date | Thursday, December 31, 2026 |
| Puck drop | 4:00 p.m. MT / 6:00 p.m. ET |
| Venue | Rice-Eccles Stadium, University of Utah, Salt Lake City |
| Teams | Colorado Avalanche at Utah Mammoth |
| TV (US) | TNT, streaming on HBO Max |
| TV (Canada) | Sportsnet |
| Significance | Completes all 32 current franchises having played outdoors |
Why New Year’s Eve?
Short answer: college football.
This is the second Winter Classic played on New Year’s Eve — the first was the 2025 edition at Wrigley Field on December 31, 2024.
The cause is the College Football Playoff. Its expansion to twelve teams swallowed New Year’s Day afternoon and evening along with New Year’s Eve prime time, and the NHL moved out of the way. For the 2026-27 season, the CFP shifted its New Year’s Eve window to December 30, which freed the date up again — and the NHL took it back.
All 32 franchises: the milestone
Utah is the last team in the NHL to play an outdoor game, and this is it.
Going into the 2025-26 season, there were two holdouts, Utah and the Florida Panthers. Florida checked the box at the 2026 Winter Classic in Miami on January 2, leaving Utah alone.
Altitude, sun and weather
Rice-Eccles Stadium sits at 4,637 feet. That makes this the highest-altitude Winter Classic ever played — every previous edition was at low elevation.
Salt Lake City on December 31 averages a high of 35°F and a low of 23°F, with roughly a 21 percent chance of precipitation and only about a 5 percent chance of snow. Those are close to ideal conditions for outdoor hockey.
The teams
Utah Mammoth
This is the franchise’s third season and its first outdoor game of any kind.
Colorado Avalanche
This is Colorado’s fourth outdoor game but its first Winter Classic, and its first outdoor game as the visiting team.
| Date | Event | Venue | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 27, 2016 | Stadium Series | Coors Field, Denver | Detroit | Lost 5-3 |
| Feb 15, 2020 | Stadium Series | Falcon Stadium | LA Kings | Lost 3-1 |
| Feb 20, 2021 | NHL Outdoors at Lake Tahoe | Edgewood Tahoe | Vegas | Won 3-2 |
Colorado’s all-time outdoor record is 1-2-0. Nathan MacKinnon had three points in the Tahoe win.
Jerseys
The 2027 Winter Classic jerseys have not been unveiled. Based on recent precedent, they should arrive in mid-to-late November — the 2026 sweaters for Florida and the Rangers were revealed on November 19, 2025, about six weeks before that game.
Tickets and getting there
Tickets went on general sale June 16, 2026 through Ticketmaster, following a season-ticket-holder presale on May 13. Presale face value ran from $202 to $477, with resale prices during that window reported above $1,000 a seat. The NHL has not disclosed a general-public face-value range, and sellout status has not been confirmed.
Rice-Eccles seats 51,444 for football and holds an all-time attendance record of 54,383. No hockey-configuration capacity or attendance projection has been announced.
Every NHL Winter Classic
Seventeen Winter Classics have been played. Two scheduled editions were canceled — 2013 by the lockout and 2021 by COVID-19 — and both were later restaged with the same teams and venues.
| Year | Date | Venue | Matchup | Score | Winner | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Jan 1, 2008 | Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park | Pittsburgh at Buffalo | 2-1 (SO) | Pittsburgh | 71,217 |
| 2009 | Jan 1, 2009 | Wrigley Field, Chicago | Detroit at Chicago | 6-4 | Detroit | 40,818 |
| 2010 | Jan 1, 2010 | Fenway Park, Boston | Philadelphia at Boston | 2-1 (OT) | Boston | 38,112 |
| 2011 | Jan 1, 2011 | Heinz Field, Pittsburgh | Washington at Pittsburgh | 3-1 | Washington | 68,111 |
| 2012 | Jan 2, 2012 | Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia | NY Rangers at Philadelphia | 3-2 | NY Rangers | 46,967 |
| 2013 | Canceled — 2012-13 lockout | |||||
| 2014 | Jan 1, 2014 | Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor | Toronto at Detroit | 3-2 (SO) | Toronto | 105,491 |
| 2015 | Jan 1, 2015 | Nationals Park, Washington | Chicago at Washington | 3-2 | Washington | 42,832 |
| 2016 | Jan 1, 2016 | Gillette Stadium, Foxborough | Montreal at Boston | 5-1 | Montreal | 67,246 |
| 2017 | Jan 2, 2017 | Busch Stadium, St. Louis | Chicago at St. Louis | 4-1 | St. Louis | 46,556 |
| 2018 | Jan 1, 2018 | Citi Field, New York | NY Rangers at Buffalo | 3-2 (OT) | NY Rangers | 41,821 |
| 2019 | Jan 1, 2019 | Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend | Boston at Chicago | 4-2 | Boston | 76,126 |
| 2020 | Jan 1, 2020 | Cotton Bowl, Dallas | Nashville at Dallas | 4-2 | Dallas | 85,630 |
| 2021 | Canceled — COVID-19 | |||||
| 2022 | Jan 1, 2022 | Target Field, Minneapolis | St. Louis at Minnesota | 6-4 | St. Louis | 38,619 |
| 2023 | Jan 2, 2023 | Fenway Park, Boston | Pittsburgh at Boston | 2-1 | Boston | 39,243 |
| 2024 | Jan 1, 2024 | T-Mobile Park, Seattle | Vegas at Seattle | 3-0 | Seattle | 47,313 |
| 2025 | Dec 31, 2024 | Wrigley Field, Chicago | St. Louis at Chicago | 6-2 | St. Louis | 40,933 |
| 2026 | Jan 2, 2026 | loanDepot park, Miami | NY Rangers at Florida | 5-1 | NY Rangers | 36,153 |
| 2027 | Dec 31, 2026 | Rice-Eccles Stadium, Salt Lake City | Colorado at Utah | Scheduled | ||
Winter Classic records
- Biggest crowd: 105,491 at Michigan Stadium in 2014, Toronto over Detroit. Still the largest attendance at any NHL outdoor game.
- Smallest crowd: 36,153 in Miami in 2026.
- Coldest game: −5.7°F at puck drop, Target Field, Minneapolis, January 1, 2022 — the coldest outdoor game in NHL history by game-time temperature.
- Warmest outdoor game: 65°F at Coors Field, Denver, at the 2016 Stadium Series.
- Most appearances: Chicago, five — and the Blackhawks have lost all five.
- Best record: St. Louis and the New York Rangers, both 3-0.
- First hat trick: Mika Zibanejad, Rangers, January 2, 2026 — eighteen years and seventeen games into the event’s history.
- First shutout: Joey Daccord, Seattle, 3-0 over Vegas, 2024.
The rest of the 2026-27 outdoor schedule
| Event | Date | Venue | Matchup |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tim Hortons Heritage Classic | Sunday, October 25, 2026 | Princess Auto Stadium, Winnipeg | Montreal at Winnipeg |
| Discover NHL Winter Classic | Thursday, December 31, 2026 | Rice-Eccles Stadium, Salt Lake City | Colorado at Utah |
| Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series | Friday, February 20, 2027 | AT&T Stadium, Arlington | Vegas at Dallas |
Thursday, December 31, 2026, at 4:00 p.m. MT / 6:00 p.m. ET, at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City. Some ticket resale sites incorrectly list January 1, 2027.
TNT in the United States, streaming on HBO Max. Sportsnet in Canada.
The Colorado Avalanche visit the Utah Mammoth. It is Utah’s first outdoor game and Colorado’s fourth, though Colorado’s first Winter Classic.
Not yet announced. Recent editions have been unveiled around six weeks out, which points to mid-to-late November 2026.
Note: Jerseys, parking details, attendance projections and the New Year’s Eve concert lineup have not yet been announced.
