The 2024 NHL Winter Classic was a

regular season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of S ...

outdoor

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL) game between the

Seattle Kraken The Seattle Kraken are a professional ice hockey team based in Seattle. The Kraken compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The t ...

and the defending

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup () is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, and the International Ic ...

champion

Vegas Golden Knights The Vegas Golden Knights are a professional ice hockey team based in the Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Golden Knights compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division ...

. The game was played on January 1, 2024 at

T-Mobile Park T-Mobile Park is a retractable roof ballpark in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the home stadium of the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball and has a seating capacity of 47,929. It is in Seattle's SoDo neighborhood, near the w ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, before a crowd of 47,313 spectators. The Kraken defeated the Golden Knights 3–0 and became the first team to earn a

shutout In team sports, a shutout (North American English, US) or clean sheet (Commonwealth English, UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketba ...

in a

Winter Classic The NHL Winter Classic () is an annual NHL outdoor games, outdoor ice hockey game played during the National Hockey League's (NHL) regular season on or around New Year's Day. It is generally held in a American football, football or baseball stad ...

Background

The league announced the game on January 2, 2023, before the start of the previous season's Winter Classic. This was the first Winter Classic held in the

Pacific Time Zone The Pacific Time Zone (PT) is a time zone encompassing parts of western Canada, the western United States, and western Mexico. Places in this zone observe standard time by subtracting eight hours from Coordinated Universal Time ( UTC−08:00 ...

, as well as Seattle's first outdoor game. Vegas previously appeared in the 2021

NHL Outdoors at Lake Tahoe NHL Outdoors at Lake Tahoe was a series of two outdoor regular season National Hockey League (NHL) games, held on the weekend of February 20–21, 2021. Both games were played without fans at a rink on the 18th fairway of the Edgewood Tahoe R ...

. This was also the first Winter Classic to take place in a stadium with a

retractable roof A retractable roof is a roof system designed to roll back the roof of a structure so that the interior of the facility is open to the outdoors. Retractable roofs are sometimes referred to as operable roofs or retractable skylights. The term o ...

. Due to Seattle's rainy climate that may have affected ice conditions, organizers planned on closing T-Mobile Park's retractable roof in case of heavy rainfall. This could have resulted in the first "indoor" Winter Classic, and the first such game since the

2014 Heritage Classic The 2014 NHL Heritage Classic was an outdoor regular season National Hockey League (NHL) game held indoor, part of the Heritage Classic series of outdoor NHL ice hockey games in Canada. It took place on March 2, 2014, in BC Place in Vancouver, w ...

BC Place BC Place is a multi-purpose stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Located at the north side of False Creek, it is owned and operated by the BC Pavilion Corporation (PavCo), a Crown corporation of the province. The venue is currently ...

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

. However, on game day, the weather forecast was partly cloudy with a temperature of 44°F and only a 10% chance of rain, and the roof was left open during the game. The rink was surrounded by decorations in a nautical theme that reflected local heritage and the Kraken mythos; topographic designs were laid on the surface and the walkway between the rink and dugouts resembled docks and piers. A

boathouse A boathouse (or a boat house) is a building especially designed for the storage of boats, normally smaller craft for sports or leisure use. describing the facilities These are typically located on open water, such as on a river. Often the boats ...

was used as a broadcast studio. Construction of the rink began in December using a temporary ice plant to pump up to of glycol to create the rink surface. A two-day fan festival was held on

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and New Year's Day in the north parking lot of

Lumen Field Lumen Field is a multi-purpose stadium in Seattle, Washington, United States. Located in the city's SoDo neighborhood, it is the home field for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL), Seattle Sounders FC of Major League ...

, located adjacent to T-Mobile Park. The event included a mobile hockey museum and a display of the

. Both teams' uniforms were leaked to the public four days prior to their official unveiling on November 22, 2023. Players from the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference. Since the 1991–92 season, the ...

were spotted wearing the Kraken's Winter Classic uniform inside the

Delta Center The Delta Center is an indoor venue in Salt Lake City. Opened in 1991, the arena is the home of the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Utah Mammoth of the National Hockey League (NHL). The arena has a seating capacity ...

, while

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host

Renee Paquette Renee Jane Paquette is a Canadian-American television personality. She is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a backstage interviewer and pre-show panelist. She was previously known for her time in WWE between 2012 and 2020, where she served ...

wore the Golden Knights' Winter Classic uniform ahead of the promotion's Full Gear pay-per-view. The Golden Knights wore faux-back 1917 vintage white uniforms with heritage gold stripes, gray pants and helmets, featuring a stylized gray "V" crest with petal accents and gold trim. The Kraken wore

Seattle Metropolitans The Seattle Metropolitans were a professional ice hockey team based in Seattle, playing in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) from 1915 to 1924. During their nine seasons, the Metropolitans were the PCHA's most successful franchise, a ...

-inspired uniforms in the team's current colors, featuring barber-pole stripes in ice blue, vintage white and deep sea blue, and a stylized red "S" modeled after the team's logo.

Game summary

The first period of the game commenced after puck drop at 12:24 P.M.

Pacific Time The Pacific Time Zone (PT) is a time zone encompassing parts of western Canada, the western United States, and western Mexico. Places in this zone observe standard time by subtracting eight hours from Coordinated Universal Time ( UTC−08:00). ...

. :

Team rosters

Scratches

*Vegas Golden Knights: Pavel Dorofeyev, Ben Hutton, Dysin Mayo *Seattle Kraken: Jaycob Megna, Devin Shore

Entertainment

The American national anthem was performed by 14-year-old guitarist Nikhil Bagga (who has also performed at select Kraken games at

Climate Pledge Arena Climate Pledge Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is located north of downtown Seattle in the entertainment complex known as the Seattle Center, the site of the 1962 World's Fair, for which it was ...

) accompanied by

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performer Brittany Rupik. Rapper

Sir Mix-a-Lot Anthony L. Ray (born August 12, 1963), better known by his stage name Sir Mix-a-Lot or his CB handle Prime Minista, is an American rapper. He is best known for his 1992 hit song " Baby Got Back", which peaked at number one on the ''Billboard'' ...

performed during the player introductions while Seattle-based rock band

Heart The heart is a muscular Organ (biology), organ found in humans and other animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels. The heart and blood vessels together make the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrie ...

performed during the first intermission. During the pregame arrival for the teams, the Kraken wore outfits resembling workers from the Pike Place Fish Market, while the Golden Knights wore

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

costumes. The players were introduced during a ceremony that featured the Fish Market's employees tossing fish over the teams.

Broadcasting

In the United States, the game was televised on

TNT Troponin T (shortened TnT or TropT) is a part of the troponin complex, which are proteins integral to the contraction of skeletal and heart muscles. They are expressed in skeletal and cardiac myocytes. Troponin T binds to tropomyosin and helps ...

, simulcasted on

TruTV TruTV (stylized as truTV) is an American basic cable Television channel, channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel primarily broadcasts reruns of Television comedy, comedy, Reality television, docusoaps and reality shows, with a rec ...

, and streamed on

Max Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (American dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (British dog), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of the OBE) * Max (gorilla) ...

. In Canada, the TNT feed was simulcast on

Sportsnet Sportsnet is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language Discretionary service, discretionary sports broadcasting, sports specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media. It was established in 1998 as CTV Sportsnet, a joint venture betw ...

and streamed on

Sportsnet+ Sportsnet is a Canadian English-language discretionary sports specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media. It was established in 1998 as CTV Sportsnet, a joint venture between CTV, Liberty Media, and Rogers Media. CTV parent Bell Globe ...

Television ratings

The 2024 NHL Winter Classic surpassed the 2022 game for the lowest ratings of any Winter Classic in the United States to date, with an average of 1.1 million American viewers watching the game.

Notes

References

{{NHL on Sportsnet NHL Winter Classic

NHL Winter Classic The NHL Winter Classic () is an annual outdoor ice hockey game played during the National Hockey League's (NHL) regular season on or around New Year's Day. It is generally held in a football or baseball stadium in the United States in an area w ...

Seattle Kraken games Vegas Golden Knights games Ice hockey in Seattle Sports competitions in Seattle 2024 in Seattle