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NHL announces two February outdoor games in Lake Tahoe

The NHL has announced two outdoor games in Lake Tahoe, Nevada for the 2020-21 season.

On Saturday, Feb. 20, the Avalanche will take on the Golden Knights (3 p.m. ET, NBC; live stream link), and the Bruins will play the Flyers on Sunday, Feb. 21 (7 p.m. ET, NBCSN; live stream link). This will bring the league’s total number of outdoor games to 32 since 2003.

“We are delighted to announce the NHL Outdoors at Lake Tahoe and can’t wait to get on site for what undoubtedly will be two thrilling games in a breathtaking setting,” said NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. “Ever since we began staging outdoor games in 2003 and made it a regular feature of our annual schedule in 2008, we have considered myriad non-stadium settings, but they always were rendered impractical because of the sheer volume of demand from our fans to attend. This season, unable to host our usual huge crowds at such events, we will continue our tradition of taking the game and our players back to their outdoor roots when the Avalanche meet the Golden Knights and the Bruins face the Flyers on an open-air rink at the spectacular Edgewood Tahoe Resort.”

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The “NHL Outdoors at Lake Tahoe” two-game set will not feature fans and will be set on the 18th fairway of the Edgewood Tahoe Resort golf course. All four teams will wear their Reverse Retro jerseys.

It was already announced that the 2020 Winter Classic, which was to be played on Jan. 1 at Target Field between the Wild and Blues, had been postponed. Also canceled was the 2021 Stadium Series game, which was to be hosted by the Hurricanes at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, North Carolina in February.

An outdoor game on Lake Louise in Alberta was rumored to have been discussed as a way to kick off the 2020-21 season, but while the NHL looked at numerous locations, Lake Tahoe won out. According to the league, the resort will be a bubble with only credentialed people allowed in and there will be strict testing protocols. No one will be allowed to leave the resort while they are there.

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Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.