Elliotte Friedman is in The Windy City for the 2025 Winter Classic between the St. Louis Blues and Chicago Blackhawks. While recording the latest episode of his 32 Thoughts Podcast with Kyle Bukauskas, Friedman floated some ideas for what could come next on the outdoor schedule in 2026 and beyond.
One of those ideas was seeing a rematch between the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins in what he termed a “goodbye” Outdoor Game between Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby.
Elliotte Friedman: Next year, we’ll see. All eyes are on Florida. We know they’re getting an Outdoor Game. We’ll see if it’s this one (the Winter Classic). I would like to see every market get one. I know some people didn’t like Lake Tahoe. I loved the idea — even if it didn’t work 100 percent. I loved the idea. I would love to see (them) take this one global. I was talking today with Petr Mrazek briefly about it, putting it in a famed soccer stadium. And I got to wonder if they’ll think about this sort of thing.
Corey Masisak, who covers the Avalanche, he wondered the other day if they should give Crosby and Ovechkin another one. Like a goodbye one. I thought it was an interesting idea.
Once again, the moment I get in there and I start to get into an Outdoor Game mode I know we’re going to have a great time.
The Capitals and Penguins played in one other Outdoor Game against each other previously, the 2011 Winter Classic at Pittsburgh’s Heinz Field. The matchup brought 68,111 people out to the Steelers’ foodball stadium and was the most watched Winter Classic of all time with 4.50 million average viewers tuning in on NBC.
Ovechkin, who is closing in quickly on Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goals record of 894, has only one more season left on his contract: the 2025-26 campaign. Meanwhile, the 37-year-old Crosby, who recently inked a two-year extension in September, is signed through the 2026-27 season.
The Capitals have played in four Outdoor Games total and hosted two of them (Nationals Park and Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium) in the area, sporting a record of 3-1-0. The only game they lost was the 2023 Stadium Series Game against the Carolina Hurricanes at NC State’s Carter-Finley Stadium. The Penguins have played in six and have a record of 2-3-1.
