Carolina Hurricanes: Stadium Series Could Be Delayed a Full Year

The Carolina Hurricanes could be waiting until 2022 for an outdoor game

The Carolina Hurricanes could see their first outdoor game, the 2021 Stadium Series game, be delayed until the 2021-2022 Season.

The damage of the year 2020 and the Coronavirus Pandemic is starting to pour into 2021 already. While we still have no idea if the NHL will be able to start the 20-21 season on January 1st as planned, certain events are starting to get nixed or delayed. As we march closer towards January, there has been radio silence from the league, throwing doubt on the whole season.

We already knew that the Winter Classic, scheduled to be played on New Years’, was going to have to be delayed somewhat. The All-Star game was already going to be a non-starter this year. But the Stadium Series, initially scheduled for February 20th, was still up in the air. Now Don Waddell, in talking with CanesCast Podcast, mentioned that it may be delayed up to a year.

https://twitter.com/Canes/status/1333518418859986944

This is basically par for the course for this season and for this specific outdoor game. There still isn’t an opponent nor any discussion revealed for who it may be or what the details of the game might be. Rumors have mentioned both the Pittsburgh Penguins or the New York Islanders as possible visitors to Carter-Finely Stadium.

Of all the games to delay this season, the outdoor game in one of the biggest college football stadiums in the nation shouldn’t be one. It may be the only game that could have 18,000 or more fans in attendance, a sellout at PNC Arena, and still keep social distancing. It may be the only way to enjoy a game of hockey safely without a widespread vaccine.

So why would they consider delaying it? Two reasons.

The first is pretty straightforward. They want to make as much money as possible and it does cost a bit to make and keep ice outdoors in Raleigh, North Carolina weather dependant. Would a half-empty stadium be enough to validate the costs? Is there enough demand that would validate raising the price of tickets? Can the fans afford that? Can a vaccine come out in time to fill the stadium?

These are questions that are probably being evaluated to determine if the juice is worth the squeeze when it comes to planning this game.

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The second reason on the other hand depends on the answer to a much simpler question; will there even be a season. If there won’t be a season then there is no reason to spend the resources needed to continue planning. It’s still all up in the air right now. There should be training camps and other preseason events happening right now if the season is to start as planned.

Even Don Waddell is skeptical that the league has enough of their stuff together to make it happen. Failure to reach an agreement between the league and the NHLPA could end up in another lockout season as Billionaires and Millionaires argue over dollar amounts leaving the fans high and dry. It’s not a good look for a league vying to be more popular on the continent.

Waddell also mentioned pursuing contracts for both Dougie Hamilton and Andrei Svechnikov in the next few months to keep them on the roster for years to come. You can listen to the podcast here.

Questions for Cardiac Cane Readers: How do you feel about the series being delayed a full year?