Plans are in the works for a March 13th outdoor Heritage Classic game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Buffalo Sabres at Hamilton’s Tim Hortons Field, according to Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News.
Harrington reports the game, which was originally slated to be a matinee at Buffalo’s KeyBank Center, was absent from the Sabres’ two half-season ticket options released last week.
Per Harrington, logistics for the outdoor game, however, remain clouded due to uncertainty around the Canada-U.S. border situation and the need to compensate the Sabres for the lost home game.
Tim Hortons Field, the home of the CFL’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats, normally holds 24,000 fans but can be expanded to roughly 40,000 for special events.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NHL postponed last season’s Winter Classic in Minnesota and the Stadium Series in Raleigh, N.C., but it did stage two outdoor games without fans between the Colorado Avalanche and Vegas Golden Knights and the Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers at Lake Tahoe.
The NHL announced earlier this summer that Target Field will host the 2022 NHL Winter Classic between the Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues on New Year’s Day, and the Nashville Predators will welcome the Tampa Bay Lightning at Nissan Stadium for the NHL’s Stadium Series on Feb. 26, 2022.
