Milwaukee Admirals will brave the cold for an outdoor game in Minnesota in January

The Milwaukee Admirals are taking it outside. 

The Admirals, a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League, will take on the Iowa Wild at an outdoor hockey rink in Hastings, Minnesota on Jan. 23. The game marks the first time in the team’s 55-year history that the Admirals will suit up to play in an outdoor game. 

The matchup, which will be played at the United Heroes League complex, is also the first time a professional hockey game is being played as part of Hockey Day Minnesota, an eight-day “celebration” of hockey in the state.

“The setting is going to be beautiful and we’ll see what January looks like in Minnesota, but it should be really a cool experience,” said Jon Greenberg, president of the Milwaukee Admirals. 

Ice hockey has been played outside for decades, but the game in January is only the 13th outdoor game played in AHL history, according to a statement from the Iowa Wild. 

Admirals forward Daniel Carr has played in two outdoor games during his professional career, including in the 2016 NHL Winter Classic in Boston. As a kid, his dad would set up an ice rink in the backyard so he could practice hockey in the winter. 

“It kind of brings you back to starting out hockey,” said Carr, a native of Canada. “I think all the guys are really excited about it.” 

Minneapolis played host to an outdoor game in 2022 as part of the National Hockey League’s Winter Classic. That game set the record for the coldest game in the history of the 108-year-old league, as temperatures were around -10. 

The average low temperature in Hastings in January? Six degrees Fahrenheit. 

“Hopefully they got heaters on the bench,” Carr said. “Other than that, there’s not much we can do about it.” 

Aaron Sims, the play-by-play broadcaster for the team, grew up 20 minutes outside of Hastings.

“I grew up playing outside in parks in that area, and to be outside in that part of the country, to do this for the first time, at this level, is pretty special for me,” Sims said.

A spokesperson for the Minnesota Wild said the capacity for the game is 5,000 fans. The game will also be broadcast on a large video board at the complex. 

Greenberg said he believes hundreds of Admirals fans will be in attendance. 

“It’ll be a fun experience for everybody,” Greenberg said. “I hope they (fans) dress warm.” 

Greenberg said the team’s equipment managers have been in touch with other teams that have handled outdoor games to learn how to keep players warm. There is a contingency plan to move the game to an indoor arena if it is too cold to play outside, according to Greenberg. 

“But everybody knows that it’s winter, everybody knows that it’s Minnesota, that it’s going to be cold, but if it’s extreme cold, we do need to get the game in,” Greenberg said. 

Earlier this year, the University of Wisconsin-Madison men’s and women’s hockey teams played in outdoor games at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Lambeau Field also played host to an outdoor college hockey game in 2006. 

The AHL is known as the “development league” for the 32 NHL teams. Nearly 90 percent of current NHL players once played in the AHL, according to an AHL statement.