Maple Leafs to host Red Wings at BMO Field on Jan. 1, 2017
The Toronto Maple Leafs will indeed celebrate their centennial season with an outdoor game.
In a rematch of the 2014 Winter Classic, and as part of its season-long centennial celebration, Toronto will host the Detroit Red Wings at BMO Field on Jan. 1 in the first-ever NHL Centennial Classic, the league confirmed Wednesday.
The Leafs will host the Red Wings in the 2017 @NHL #CentennialClassic. #TMLtalk
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) March 9, 2016
INFO: https://t.co/KeBe7uzdTa pic.twitter.com/J6kg707kvu
Though BMO Field is currently undergoing expansion, the open-air facility cannot house the over 105,000 people who attended the Maple Leafs' 3-2 shootout win over the Red Wings at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor back in 2014.
The home to Toronto FC, the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League, and the 2016 Grey Cup, fits almost 31,000, and will serve as a rather intimate setting for a colossal event.
In addition to the outdoor showcase, Toronto will host the NHL-branded 2016 World Cup of Hockey next fall, an event that will effectively kick-start a season aimed to celebrate 100 years of Maple Leafs hockey.
The St. Louis Blues will host the Chicago Blackhawks at Busch Stadium in the annual Winter Classic, which will move to Jan. 2 to accommodate the Centennial Classic.