Bitterly cold temperatures didn’t chill enthusiasm for the Milwaukee Admirals first-ever outdoor hockey game, which was part of the 20th annual Hockey Day Minnesota. The eight-day, statewide hockey celebration featured an outdoor professional hockey game for the first time, with the Admirals and the Iowa Wild facing off at the United Heroes League complex in Hastings, a city of about 22,000 residents 30 miles southeast of Minneapolis
The Admirals skated to a 3-2 overtime victory over the Wild on Friday evening in the coldest outdoor professional hockey game in history.
Zach L’Heureux scored the game-winner for the Admirals a little more than 90 seconds into the overtime period as Milwaukee fans erupted in cheers while clanging cowbells in celebration. The team rallied from a two-goal deficit to win it in front of an announced crowd of 4,608 fans who braved the cold.
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The official temperature at game time stood at minus 8 degrees, breaking the previous professional hockey outdoor record of minus 5.7 degrees, set at the 2022 NHL Winter Classic at Target Field in Minneapolis in game that pitted the Minnesota Wild and the St. Louis Blues.
The Admirals expressed gratitude for the “several hundred” fans who made the trek to Hastings for the game “When we say we have the best fans, we REALLY mean it,” the team posted on X.
The team also applauded its play-by-play announcer Aaron Sims, who stood outside to provide all 60-plus minutes of action to fans listening to the radio broadcast. “You are one of one,” the team said of Sims on X.
Admirals President Jon Greenberg had high praise for Sims, as well. “He went through hell to bring you that game folks. Unenviable working conditions to say the least,” Greenberg posted on social media. “Cold, heat going out repeatedly in his work area, power going out, working outside in sub-zero temperatures. Epic performance.”
This game also marked the first outdoor game in Iowa Wild history and the 13th outdoor game played in the 90-year history of the American Hockey League. The Admirals and Wild wore specially designed jerseys for the outdoor matchup and for a rematch Saturday night at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena, a game won by the Admirals 4-2.
The Admirals have been pushing for several years to host an outdoor game in Milwaukee, something team officials have said they hope will come to fruition once American Family Field, the home of the Milwaukee Brewers, undergoes a planned winterization project.
