Team USA takes it outdoors tomorrow to play Canada during the World Junior Championship. The matchup is the first ever top-level IIHF World Championship game to be played outside.
Being hosted at New Era Field, the home of the Buffalo Bills, Team USA and Nike didn’t look far for inspiration for the team’s uniforms.
The jerseys, still with the USA Hockey red, white, and blue theme, are almost an exact copy of the Bills jerseys. The only difference is the long sleeves.
Team USA practiced at the New Era Field rink on Wednesday and showed off their jerseys with many, many Instagram posts.
The jerseys are available for purchase through the Buffalo Bills webstore in custom or blank.
“I’ve only seen it on TV,” Team USA’s head coach Bob Motko said after practice to The Buffalo News. “I’m like you. It’s the first time that I’ve stepped out there in an NFL stadium with a hockey rink sitting right there. It was pretty cool.”
The rink was previewed with a 360° interactive video.
While the game is bound to be awesome, the outdoor game was held in limbo due to weather expected in Buffalo. Today, the final approval come through and the game will be held as planned. Because the game is part of the first round, it must be played and the backup plan would have it moved into KeyBank Center.
ALL SYSTEMS GO: USA/Canada #WorldJuniors outdoor game will take place as scheduled at New Era Field in Orchard Park, NY (TSN & TSN GO, Friday at 3pm et/Noon pt) #TSNHockey pic.twitter.com/po1ywj6AUT
— SportsCentre (@SportsCentre) December 28, 2017
Weather projections call for a gametime temperature of 19 degrees with a wind chill of 8.
Fans in Buffalo are not unfamiliar with sitting in snow, with a handful of Buffalo Bills fans sitting through a blizzard on December 10th.
I wish I loved anything as much as these people love the Buffalo Bills pic.twitter.com/sifFFYj1t6
— Christian Borys (@ItsBorys) December 10, 2017
Headline Images: @rileytufte27
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