More than a dozen years after it was first contested, the NHL Winter Classic is coming to the State of Hockey, with the Minnesota Wild hosting an opponent to be named on Jan. 1, 2021 at Target Field in Minneapolis. As the team practiced outdoors on Thursday, officials from the Wild and Twins talked logistics about the NHL's biggest regular season event coming to town.

Seeing the local NHL team on the ice at the mercy of the Minnesota winter elements was a scene they are sure to repeat once or twice sometime in the next 360 days or so, in preparation for the league’s biggest regular season show finally coming to town.

On Jan. 1, 2021, a sellout audience is expected to pack Target Field, the downtown Minneapolis ballpark that houses the Minnesota Twins, to see the Wild face off in the Winter Classic.