Team USA will play Canada outdoors at New Era Field, home to the NFL’s Buffalo Bills, on Dec. 29, 2017 at the 2018 World Junior Championship.
USA Hockey Executive Director Dave Ogrean announced the game Friday, the first outdoor game to take place at an International Ice Hockey Federation event.
The U.S.-Canada matchup will be the feature game of the preliminary round. The other games at the tournament will take place at KeyBank Center, home of the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres, and nearby HarborCenter.
Buffalo hosted the world juniors in 2011, but the 2018 edition starts with the outdoor game. It will be played just days shy of the 10-year anniversary of the first-ever Winter Classic — Jan. 1, 2008 — held at then known as Ralph Wilson Stadium. The attendance for the 2008 game was 71,217. Only the 2014 Winter Classic at Michigan Stadium has recorded a higher attendance — 105, 491 — for an outdoor game.
The 2017 world juniors is set for Dec. 26 through Jan. 5, 2017 in Toronto and Montreal. Chicago had been among five finalists to host the 2018 edition.