The National Hockey League (NHL) has announced that the 2024 NHL Stadium Series will take place at MetLife Stadium in February as a two-day event featuring four rival teams. The games will be played outdoors in front of fans, and the New Jersey Devils will host the Philadelphia Flyers, while the New York Islanders will host the New York Rangers.
The Games
The New Jersey Devils will host the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday, Feb. 17, in an outdoor night game. The New York Islanders will host the New York Rangers on Sunday, Feb. 18, at a time yet to be determined. The Rangers have been designated as the road team against the Islanders because of their Madison Square Garden lease agreement, which forbids them from playing a home game anywhere but MSG.
The event will mark the first time four NHL teams have played outdoor games at the same venue in front of fans. The games will be broadcast on ESPN.
The Plan
Initially, the NHL’s plan for MetLife Stadium was to have the Rangers face the Devils in a single game between the archrivals, who met in the Stanley Cup playoffs this postseason. However, Steve Mayer, NHL chief content officer and senior executive vice president, said that there had been many iterations of what they wanted to do, and they felt this would be unique and a way to keep their outdoor games fresh.
Mayer added that the plan is to emphasize that the games are being held in New Jersey, despite the presence of the New York teams, and they plan to “lean into the music scene with some of those typical names” associated with the state. The NHL anticipates attendance will be over 75,000 for each game.
The Schedule
The Stadium Series event joins a 2023-24 season NHL outdoor game schedule that includes the Heritage Classic between the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers on Oct. 29 at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, and the NHL Winter Classic on Jan. 1, 2024, between the Vegas Golden Knights and the Seattle Kraken at Seattle’s T-Mobile Park.
The Teams
This is the sixth regular-season outdoor game for the Flyers, who are 1-3-1 in those events. Philadelphia last played outdoors in February 2021 against the Boston Bruins in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. The Rangers are playing their fifth outdoor game, having gone 4-0-0. Their most recent outdoor game was the 2018 Winter Classic at New York City’s Citi Field. The Devils (0-1-0) and Islanders (0-1-0) are both playing their second outdoor game, having both lost to the Rangers at Yankee Stadium in 2014.
The 2024 NHL Stadium Series will be a significant event for the league, featuring four rival teams playing outdoors in front of fans at the same venue. The NHL anticipates attendance will be over 75,000 for each game, and the games will be broadcast on ESPN. The league plans to emphasize that the games are being held in New Jersey, despite the presence of the New York teams, and they plan to “lean into the music scene with some of those typical names” associated with the state. This event joins a 2023-24 season NHL outdoor game schedule that includes the Heritage Classic and the NHL Winter Classic.
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