It looks like the matchup for the 2023 Winter Classic has been set.
According to Kevin Weekes, the Boston Bruins will host the Pittsburgh Penguins at Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox, on January 1, 2023.
It makes sense that the Penguins would be the visiting team playing in an outdoor game at Fenway, as they were just purchased last year by Fenway Sports Group Holdings, the group that owns both the Red Sox and Fenway Park, along with Liverpool F.C. and multiple other sports-related ventures.
This will be the sixth time that the Penguins have been featured in an NHL outdoor game.
They played the Buffalo Sabres at Ralph Wilson Stadium at the first-ever Winter Classic in 2008, they hosted the Washington Capitals at Heinz Field in 2011, and they faced the Chicago Blackhawks at Soldier Field in 2014. The Penguins have also played two Stadium Series games with the Philadelphia Flyers, once at Heinz Field and once at Lincoln Financial Field.
This game will also be the Bruins’ sixth outdoor game and it’ll be the second time Fenway has been used as the host for an NHL game.
The Bruins played an exhibition game at Conception Bay Sports Arena in Newfoundland back in 1956, they hosted the Flyers at Fenway for the Winter Classic in 2010, they hosted the Montreal Canadiens at Gilette Stadium in 2016, they played the Blackhawks at Notre Dame Stadium in 2019, and were one of the teams that played in Lake Tahoe as part of NHL Outdoors in 2021.
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