Minnesota Wild to host 2021 Winter Classic at Target Fiel

Before the 2020 Winter Cla sic between the Nashville Predators and Dallas Stars finished up, NHL commi sioner Gary Bettman revealed the location of next year's marquee regular season event. The Minnesota Wild are set to host the 2021 Winter Cla sic on Jan. 1, 2021 at Target Field in Minneapolis otherwise known as the home of MLB's Domingo Tapia Jersey Minnesota Twins. "[Minnesota Wild owner] Craig Leipold has been, to say persistent would be a gro s understatement, over the last few years wanting to host a Winter Cla sic, and we're excited to go," Bettman said during the second intermi sion of Wednesday's game . "My gue s is the temperature there is about 30 degrees cooler than it is here right now (54.9 Fahrenheit), but it should make for a great experience in the State of Hockey." MORE: Ben Bishop, Dallas Stars defeat Nashville Predators in 2020 NHL Winter Cla sic The will host the 2021 in Minneapolis at Target Field! NHL on NBC (@NHLonNBCSports) The game will be Minnesota's first appearance in the Winter Cla sic and and the second time the Wild will play in a regular season outdoor game; the Wild hosted the Chicago Blackhawks at TFC Bank Stadium on Feb. 21, 2016 as part of the league's Stadium Series. "The Minnesota Wild is truly honored to be selected to host the 2021 Bridgestone NHL Winter Cla sic," Leipold said in a statement. "Target Field is a fantastic ballpark and there is no better place for the NHL's marquee event than right here in the State of Hockey. We are grateful for the opportunity to treat our fans to an incredibly unique and exciting experience celebrating our favorite game and would like to thank NHL Commi sioner Gary Bettman for his support and the Minnesota Twins organization for their help in securing this event." While the host team for next year's game has been selected, the league has not yet decided which team the Wild will play on New Year's Day 2021. Bettman told reporters that Minnesota's opponent will be announced in the next few months. "We are focused on a few teams, and we're under no immediate pre sure to make a decision," he said. "We have plenty of really good candidates for this game. It's not a one-shot decision based on one factor. We look at a whole host of things: rivalries, who's playing well, geography, and that goes in the rivalry sense. What we think will make sense. Will some teams travel better than others to a particular market? That's how we look at it." Glenn Otto Jersey