For the second time in the long history of these two team, the Bruins and Flyers will go back outdoors this season as the NHL has decided to do two outdoor games this season a6 Lake Tahoe. The Bruins and Flyers were originally scheduled to meet on Sunday February 21 in Boston. It's obvious now that the Bruins will once again be the home team for this outdoor game. The last time these two teams played an outdoor game was the 2010 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic at Fenway Park which ended up being a 2-1 Overtime win by the Bruins.
The B's and Flyers aren't the ones two teams that get play at Lake Tahoe as the Colorado Avalanche and the Vegas Golden Knights will also play at Lake Tahoe on February 20. An originally scheduled home game for the Avalanche.
Both games will feature all four teams wearing the Reverse Retro Jerseys that the league announced back in November. This is an interesting move by the NHL to host not one but two games outdoors this season in one location. This is a big money grab for the NHL, and for a league that is projected to lose billions of dollars this season in lost revenue, having NBC not only broadcast the games but also get some very well placed national advertisements for these games, will give the league a small boost of advertisement revenue forthgese said games.
It's also interesting that the league decided to choose both Boston and Philadelphia for this type pf game. The Bruins and Flyers are going to have across country to Nevada in order to play this special game. Granted we understand why the league chose the Bruins and Flyers strictly based off of the rivalry of these two teams that has been generated over the years despite both teams meeting only three times a season under the normal schedule format.
The Golden Knights was the obvious choice here given their location alone However, its believed that the league could've chosen better match ups and not force to teams in the eastern time zone to fly west. A Golden Knights vs Arizona Coyotes match up would've drew a lot of eye balls. Battle of the desert. Another route the league could've taken was maybe Vegas vs the San Jose Sharks. These two teams have quickly developed a rivalry in Vegas' short time in the league as an expansion franchise.
Another brilliant match-up could've been the battle of LA between the Anaheim Ducks and the Los Angeles Kings. Granted both teams are projected to finish in the bottom of the league again in total standings, but given the geographic of the two teams, would've driven some viewerships. However, Bruins vs Flyers sounds a lot more of a national interest than the Ducks vs Kings.
The league chose to go this route and the match-ups are set in stone. Plus this a bit of a make up for the lost outdoor games that were previously originally scheduled. The 2021 Winter Classic was supposed to be played on New Years Day between the Minnesota Wild and the St. Louis Blues at Target Field in Minneapolis. The Carolina Hurricanes were also scheduled to host an NHL game at a military base in Carolina.
No official word yet in which the NHL will give Minnesota the Winter Classic in 2022, and Carolina the Stadium Series game as well in 2022, but that is probably a safe bet to make. The NHL still awarded the Michigan the 2014 Winter Classic between the Red Wings and Maple Leafs after the game had to be cancelled in 2013 due to the lockout. This time the game was cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
As for the Bruins, they can have this game to look forward to. The Bruins open up the season on Thursday in New Jersey when they take pn the Devils to open up the 56-game pandemic shortened 2020-21 NHL Season.
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