This is a list of ice hockey games with the highest attendance on record. All of the games on this list were held in stadiums designed for field sports such as association football, gridiron football, and baseball. Four of the "games" listed were actually doubleheaders, in which a single ticket provided admission to two games held back-to-back. The fixed-roof Ford Field in Detroit hosted one doubleheader and a single game, and another was held at the retractable-roof Veltins-Arena in Gelsenkirchen, Germany (with the roof closed for that game); all other games on the list were held in open-air venues. Most of these games were staged as special events, and all but one were played in the 21st century.
Attendance in the 30,000 range was once quite common for major international matches held outdoors in the 1940s and 50s in Moscow's Lenin Stadium. Figures of this type are still common in bandy, a relative of ice hockey played outdoors.
The record for a Stanley Cup playoff game, as well as for an NHL game played in a teams' regular home stadium, is 28,183, which was set on April 23, 1996, at the Thunderdome during a Tampa Bay Lightning – Philadelphia Flyers game. [1]
A new record was set on December 11, 2010, when the University of Michigan's men's ice hockey team faced cross-state rival Michigan State in an event billed as "The Big Chill at the Big House". The game was played at Michigan's football venue, Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, with a capacity of 109,901, as of the 2010 football season. Ultimately, a crowd announced by the University of Michigan as 113,411, at that time the largest in the stadium's history (including football), saw the homestanding Wolverines win 5–0. Guinness World Records , using a count of ticketed fans who actually entered the stadium instead of UM's figure of tickets sold, announced a final figure of 104,173. [2] [3]
Ice hockey is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hockey sticks to control, advance, and shoot a closed, vulcanized rubber disc called a "puck" into the other team's goal. Each goal is worth one point. The team which scores the most goals is declared the winner. In a formal game, each team has six skaters on the ice at a time, barring any penalties, one of whom is the goaltender. Ice hockey is a full contact sport, and is considered to be one of the more physically demanding team sports.
The 2008 NHL Winter Classic was an outdoor ice hockey game played in the National Hockey League (NHL) on January 1, 2008, at Ralph Wilson Stadium near Buffalo, New York. It was the league's inaugural Winter Classic game, and was contested between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres; the Penguins won, 2–1, in a shootout on a goal by captain Sidney Crosby. The event was the NHL's second outdoor regular season game, and the first outdoor regular season professional ice hockey game to be played in the United States. Due to the snowy conditions, the game was at the time colloquially referred to as the "Ice Bowl" by residents of the area and Sabres' fans. The event was sponsored by AMP Energy, and was televised in the United States on NBC and in Canada on CBC and RDS.
The NHL Winter Classic is an annual outdoor ice hockey game played during the National Hockey League's (NHL) regular season on or around New Year's Day. It is generally held in a football or baseball stadium in the United States in an area with a resident NHL team, though for most of the game's existence, they are usually played in a baseball stadium to avoid scheduling and logistical conflicts with football stadiums during the National Football League regular season. The Winter Classic is distinct from the league's two other series of outdoor games, the NHL Heritage Classic and the NHL Stadium Series. The first Winter Classic was held in 2008 at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park, New York, between the Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins. Fifteen Winter Classics have been held as of January 2024. The most recent game was played during the 2023–24 NHL season at T-Mobile Park, with the Seattle Kraken defeating the Vegas Golden Knights 3−0.
The NHL Heritage Classic is one of the series of regular season outdoor games played in the National Hockey League (NHL) that is held in football stadiums based in Canada. Unlike the NHL's other two series of outdoor games, the NHL Winter Classic and the NHL Stadium Series, the Heritage Classic has been held infrequently: only seven games have been played in the series so far, and the first five match-ups were exclusively between Canadian teams.
The 2009 NHL Winter Classic was an outdoor ice hockey game played in the National Hockey League (NHL) on January 1, 2009, at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois. The second edition of the Winter Classic, it matched the Chicago Blackhawks against the defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings in the 701st game between the Central Division rivals. The Red Wings won the game, 6–4, despite falling behind 3–1 in the first period. It was the first Winter Classic to involve at least one of the Original Six teams, and the first to feature teams from the Western Conference.
The 2010 NHL Winter Classic was an outdoor ice hockey game played in the National Hockey League (NHL) on January 1, 2010, at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. The third edition of the Winter Classic, it matched the Boston Bruins against the Philadelphia Flyers. The Bruins won the game, 2–1, in overtime. With the victory, the Bruins became the first home team to win a Winter Classic. After the game, the roster of the United States men's hockey team for the 2010 Winter Olympics was released, which included Bruins' goaltender Tim Thomas.
The Big Chill at the Big House was an outdoor college ice hockey game played on December 11, 2010, at Michigan Stadium at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. The Michigan Wolverines men's team defeated its rival, the Michigan State Spartans, 5–0. In a rematch of the Cold War outdoor game between the teams in 2001, the "Big Chill" set a record for hockey attendance with an official attendance of 104,173.
Teams in the American Hockey League first hosted games outdoors in 2010. Paralleling the National Hockey League's Winter Classic and Heritage Classic, these outdoor games frequently pit two regional rivals in a game in an outdoor venue. Inasmuch as the games have carried a unified brand, the most commonly used name for these events has been the Outdoor Classic.
The 2011 NHL Winter Classic was an outdoor ice hockey game played in the National Hockey League (NHL) on January 1, 2011, at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The fourth edition of the Winter Classic, it matched the Washington Capitals against the Pittsburgh Penguins; the Capitals won, 3–1. The game, rescheduled from its original 1:00 p.m. ET start time to 8:00 p.m. due to weather concerns, was telecast on NBC in the United States, and CBC (English) and RDS (French) in Canada. Pittsburgh native Jackie Evancho performed the Star Spangled Banner and Pittsburgh sports legends Mario Lemieux, Franco Harris and Jerome Bettis presided over the ceremonial dropping of the puck, and during the second intermission Harris and Bettis hosted a fan event at the outside rink.
The 2011 Heritage Classic was a regular season outdoor National Hockey League (NHL) game between the Montreal Canadiens and the Calgary Flames. The game was played at McMahon Stadium in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, on February 20, 2011. The Flames defeated the Canadiens by a score of 4–0 before a crowd of 41,022 spectators. It was just the second time in six NHL outdoor games that the home team won.
The 2012 NHL Winter Classic was an outdoor ice hockey game played in the National Hockey League (NHL) on January 2, 2012, at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The fifth edition of the Winter Classic, it matched the New York Rangers against the Philadelphia Flyers, two Atlantic Division rivals; the Rangers won by a score of 3–2. The original plan was to have the contest at the Philadelphia Eagles' home, Lincoln Financial Field; however, the Eagles played there the day before, and the NHL needed at least a week of preparation time to build the ice rink onto the field. The game was broadcast by NBC in the United States and by CBC and RDS in Canada. NBC's announcers were Mike Emrick and Eddie Olczyk, with Pierre McGuire handling sideline duties and Bob Costas as the studio host.
Hockey Weekend Across America is an annual event devised by USA Hockey to promote the game of ice hockey in the United States. The weekend is capped by "Hockey Day in America", with broadcasts of National Hockey League games on the national networks of NBC (2011–2021) and TNT (2024–present).
The 2014 NHL Winter Classic was an outdoor ice hockey game played in the National Hockey League (NHL) on January 1, 2014, at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The sixth edition of the Winter Classic, it matched the Toronto Maple Leafs against the Detroit Red Wings; the Maple Leafs defeated the Red Wings, 3–2, in a shootout to move past the Red Wings in the Atlantic Division. The game was televised nationally in Canada on CBC and nationally in the United States on NBC. The game set an NHL attendance record of 105,491, surpassing the previous record set during the 2008 NHL Winter Classic.
The Stadium Series is one of the series of regular season outdoor games played in the National Hockey League (NHL). This event is distinct from the NHL's other two series of outdoor games, the NHL Winter Classic played on New Year's Day in a different NHL city every year, and the NHL Heritage Classic. Games in the Stadium Series have been held in either late January, February, or early March in a football or baseball stadium in the United States. The first Stadium Series was held in 2014 and consisted of seven teams participating in four games held in three venues. In 2015, only one game in the Stadium Series was held, while in 2016 and in 2024, two games were held. From 2017 to 2023 and again in 2025, only one game was scheduled per year.
The National Hockey League (NHL) first held a regular season outdoor ice hockey game in 2003, and since 2008 the league has scheduled at least one per year.
The 2017 NHL Stadium Series was a regular season National Hockey League (NHL) game played outdoors, part of the Stadium Series of games held at football or baseball stadiums. The Philadelphia Flyers played against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on February 25, 2017.
NHL Outdoors at Lake Tahoe was a series of two outdoor regular season National Hockey League (NHL) games, held on the weekend of February 20–21, 2021. Both games were played without fans at a rink on the 18th fairway of the Edgewood Tahoe Resort in Stateline, Nevada, on the south shore of Lake Tahoe. The elevation of the rink was approximately 6,240 feet (1,900 m) above sea level.