Story Summary
The 2026 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic will bring a cabin-inspired setting to Princess Auto Stadium when the Winnipeg Jets meet the Montreal Canadiens in Winnipeg on Oct. 25.
The NHL is converting the stadium into what it describes as a larger-than-life Canadian cabin retreat for the outdoor game. A dramatic stone fireplace, warm lighting, oversized rustic timber logs and hockey-themed details will surround the outdoor ice, aiming to contrast a clean playing surface with the feel of a winter lodge.
NHL President of Content & Events Steve Mayer said the concept draws on cabin and cottage culture as part of Canada’s heritage, while connecting Manitoba, Winnipeg, Quebec and the history of the Jets. The design will also include oversized pennants, vintage-style memorabilia and wooden hockey sticks decorated with antlers, all intended to reflect the Canadiens-Jets rivalry in a curated hockey-lodge setting.
It will be Winnipeg’s first outdoor game since the 2016 Heritage Classic and the first Heritage Classic staged since 2023. The league has been developing the field design for close to a year, according to Mayer, who said the production has gone through an unusually high number of versions.
Key Facts
- The Winnipeg Jets will play the Montreal Canadiens at Princess Auto Stadium in Winnipeg on Oct. 25 in the 2026 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic.
- The NHL is transforming Princess Auto Stadium into a Canadian cabin-themed setting featuring a dramatic stone fireplace, warm lighting and oversized rustic timber logs.
- The design includes oversized pennants, vintage-style memorabilia and wooden hockey sticks adorned with antlers.
- Steve Mayer said the design is intended to draw on cabin and cottage culture as part of Canada’s heritage.
- The game will be Winnipeg’s first outdoor NHL event since the 2016 Heritage Classic.
- The 2026 game will be the first Heritage Classic since 2023.
- Mayer said the NHL had worked on the field design for close to a year and produced more versions of it than for almost any previous outdoor game.
- Mayer said 32,343 fans were expected in attendance, alongside the television audience for the Sunday evening game.
IHM Discussion
Outdoor hockey has always relied on more than the rink itself. The ice is the competitive stage, but the surroundings provide the event’s identity, particularly in a Heritage Classic that is explicitly designed to connect the NHL game to Canadian hockey culture.
This edition is taking that premise beyond a printed stadium graphic. Mayer contrasted the 2016 setup, when the field was covered in a graphic, with a newer approach built around a dimensional set that uses the stadium’s high walls. The cabin concept gives that evolution a clear visual language: stone, timber, firelight, old-style hockey objects and regional references rather than a generic outdoor backdrop.
The choice also joins two distinct hockey settings without suggesting they are identical. Winnipeg is placed in the Canadian Prairies and cottage-country imagery, while Montreal is linked to Quebec’s forests and mountain chalets. Both teams arrive with regional reference points that can fit an outdoor-game presentation rooted in recreational pond and outdoor-rink hockey.
For the Jets, the return matters because Winnipeg has already hosted one Heritage Classic and therefore has an established standard for the spectacle. Mayer acknowledged that the expectation grew as soon as the league announced its return. The response is a set intended to make an immediate impression inside the stadium as well as on television.
Why It Matters
The Heritage Classic is a league event with sporting and cultural weight, and its visual presentation is central to how it is experienced in the stadium and on screen. A detailed physical environment can give an outdoor game a distinctive character without changing the game itself.
For Winnipeg, the Oct. 25 fixture marks the return of outdoor NHL hockey after a decade away. For the Canadiens and Jets, the staging places their meeting within a specifically Canadian setting built around hockey memory, regional imagery and the outdoor roots of the sport.
The television dimension is equally important. Mayer said the NHL creates these designs with a large television audience in mind as well as a full stadium, making camera-facing scale, depth and lighting part of the event’s execution.
Mini Q&A
When is the 2026 Heritage Classic?
The Winnipeg Jets and Montreal Canadiens are scheduled to play at Princess Auto Stadium in Winnipeg on Oct. 25.
What will the Heritage Classic field design look like?
The stadium will be staged as a Canadian cabin retreat with a stone fireplace, warm lighting, oversized timber logs, vintage-style memorabilia, pennants and antlered wooden hockey sticks.
Why is this outdoor game notable for Winnipeg?
It will be Winnipeg’s first outdoor NHL game since the 2016 Heritage Classic.
Coach Mark Comment
The strongest design choice is the use of depth rather than a flat visual treatment. A fireplace, logs and high-wall elements can frame the ice without competing with the puck, provided the sightlines remain clean. The concept is built for a broad television shot, but its real test will be whether the rink still feels like the clear focal point once play begins.
What Comes Next
The Jets and Canadiens are scheduled to meet in the 2026 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic at Princess Auto Stadium on Oct. 25, with the cabin-themed installation forming the backdrop for the Sunday evening game.
IHM Final View
This Heritage Classic is being presented as a return to a familiar Canadian hockey image, but on a larger and more physical scale than Winnipeg’s previous outdoor game. The NHL has chosen a setting that connects prairie cabin culture, Quebec chalet imagery and the visual history of the Jets, giving the Canadiens-Jets meeting a deliberately local frame.
The important distinction is that the cabin is not merely decorative. It is the event’s organising idea, shaping everything from the fireplace and timber to the memorabilia and antlered sticks. After close to a year of design work, the league will have its answer on Oct. 25 when the finished set is seen with a full crowd and a live game on the ice.