Next NHL Winter Classic will have Penguins take on Bruins at Fenway Park
Anthony Scultore
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The NHL announced that the Boston Bruins would host the 2023 Winter Classic at Fenway Park back in February.
Latest reports indicate their opponent will be the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Penguins were sold earlier this season to the Fenway Sports Group, and since the setting is at Fenway Park, it really should not come as a surprise.
Per ESPN, the game will be played on January 2, 2023.
Penguins vs Bruins in Winter Classic
This is officially the third Winter Classic for the Pens, who played in the inaugural game against the Buffalo Sabres in Orchard Park, N.Y. That game, played on Jan. 1, 2008, marked the NHL beginning its tradition of hosting an outdoor game to start the new calendar year.
It will be the fifth NHL regular-season outdoor game for the Bruins and the second time the Winter Classic has been played at Fenway Park, home of Major League Baseball’s Boston Red Sox. The Bruins defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 2-1 in overtime on Jan. 1, 2010, to win the third Winter Classic.
“It’s been 12 years since we were at Fenway,” Commissioner Bettman said in a statement. “A lot of money has been put into the building, it’s not quite the same ballpark. Boston is obviously a great hockey town. We’ve now done over 30 outdoor games; if you want to keep doing them you have to go back to some places. It won’t look and it won’t be the same, [NHL chief content officer] Steve Mayer won’t allow it, as it was last time. It’ll be a new experience in a venue that has been transformed and modernized in some ways. We think it’ll be a great event. You’ll have to speculate on who the opponent will be.” NHL.com
The St. Louis Blues defeated the Minnesota Wild 6-4 at Target Field in Minneapolis on Jan. 1 to win the 2022 Winter Classic.
–Field Level Media contributed to this report