buying the team and relocating it<\/a> to Salt Lake City in 2024.<\/p>\n\u201cThis is a dream,\u201d Ryan Smith said. \u201cWe actually came up here early in the process of even getting the team because we said this is what we want. We wanted our players to be able to have it.\u201d <\/p>\n
Rice-Eccles Stadium hosted the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Olympics and is scheduled to do so again when the Games return to Salt Lake City in 2034. It has a seating capacity of 51,444.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis stadium sets up very well from a sight line perspective,\u201d Bettman said. \u201cThere\u2019s an intimacy here. We expect to have 50,000-plus here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Colorado is making its fourth outdoor appearance. The Avalanche are 1-2-0 in previous outdoor contests.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Avalanche organization is always proud to be in consideration for marquee events like this,\u201d Colorado president of hockey operations Joe Sakic said in a news release. \u201cWe\u2019re looking forward to being matched up with a great team and represent the Rocky Mountain region in a game that appeals to these two markets in this part of the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
Utah\u2019s legacy as a winter sports destination makes the Winter Classic a natural fit for the state and a natural draw for the community, according to Ryan and Ashley Smith.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t hide from the winter here. Ashley Smith said. \u201cWe live in the mountains. It\u2019s what we breathe. It\u2019s very authentic to us and all of Utah.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alcohol sales will be permitted in the stadium during the Winter Classic because it is considered a private event. Athletic events involving the University of Utah prohibit alcohol from being sold inside the stadium during those events.<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
AP NHL: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/nhl<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SALT LAKE CITY (AP) \u2014 Outdoor hockey is coming to Utah. The Utah Mammoth will host the 2027…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":398903,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5116],"tags":[2859,193,1281,192,144,5277,295,5,4444,43342,4,292,1254,43,1256,51,232,3154,18],"class_list":["post-398902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-colorado-avalanche","tag-ashley-smith","tag-avalanche","tag-co-state-wire","tag-colorado","tag-colorado-avalanche","tag-coloradoavalanche","tag-gary-bettman","tag-hockey","tag-joe-sakic","tag-local-news-for-apple","tag-nhl","tag-nhl-hockey","tag-ryan-smith","tag-sports","tag-ut-state-wire","tag-utah","tag-utah-hockey-club","tag-utah-mammoth","tag-winnipeg-jets"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115863308439288321","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=398902"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398902\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/398903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=398902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=398902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=398902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}