Wild at Target: 2021 NHL Winter Classic headed to Minnesota

DALLAS (AP) — The 2021 NHL Winter Classic will be hosted by the Minnesota Wild at Target Field, the home stadium of the MLB’s Twins.

NHL officials announced the site for next Winter Classic during this season’s game Wednesday at Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas.

Minnesota’s opponent for the next New Year’s Day game will be determined later.

It will be the first Winter Classic for the Wild, and their second outdoor game. They beat the visiting Chicago Blackhawks 6-1 in a Stadium Series game at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis four years ago.

A crowd of 85,630, the second-largest at an NHL game, attended Wednesday’s game between the Dallas Stars and Nashville Predators.

The game-time temperature in Dallas was 54.9 degrees, the highest for a Winter Classic game. That was about 22 degrees warmer than it was in Minneapolis at the time it was announced that the Wild will host next year’s game