NHL postpones Carolina Hurricanes’ 2021 outdoor game
The Carolina Hurricanes will wait at least one more year before participating in an outdoor hockey game.
The NHL announced Wednesday the outdoor game scheduled for Feb. 20 at Carter-Finley Stadium is postponed, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“While we are extremely disappointed that we will not be able to host an outdoor game this season, the health and safety of our fans remains our top priority,” Hurricanes president and general manager Don Waddell said in a statement. “We look forward to hosting the game in the near future and rewarding our incredible fanbase with an unforgettable experience.”
The Canes home game at Carter-Finley was scheduled to be the 12th NHL Stadium Series game and the 32nd NHL regular-season outdoor game overall. Carter-Finley would have been the sixth college football facility to host an outdoor hockey game, joining Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland, Minnesota’s TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana, and Air Force’s Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
After years of discussions and negotiations with the NHL and N.C. State, the Hurricanes were selected for their first outdoor game experience last year. At the time of the announcement last February, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon was “relentless” in his pursuit of the event.
The NHL Stadium Series began in 2014 and the Hurricanes anticipated a crowd of at least 50,000 for the game. The NHL usually books 4,700 hotel rooms for a 10-day period before and after an outdoor game. In a written statement to the Centennial Authority, which oversees PNC Arena, Waddell said outdoor games generate around $22 million in economic impact.