SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Outdoor hockey is coming to Utah.
The Utah Mammoth will host the 2027 Winter Classic at Rice-Eccles Stadium against the Colorado Avalanche. The date has not been announced for the game at the home of the University of Utah football team.
It’s set to be the first outdoor game for the franchise formerly known as the Phoenix and Arizona Coyotes and before that the Winnipeg Jets. The other 31 active teams had all taken part, making Utah the last to participate.
Owners Ryan and Ashley Smith have been praised by Commissioner Gary Bettman for just about everything they’ve done since buying the team and relocating it to Salt Lake City in 2024.
“This is a dream,” Ryan Smith said. “We actually came up here early in the process of even getting the team because we said this is what we want. We wanted our players to be able to have it.”
Rice-Eccles Stadium hosted the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Olympics and is scheduled to do so again when the Games return to Salt Lake City in 2034. It has a seating capacity of 51,444.
“This stadium sets up very well from a sight line perspective,” Bettman said. “There’s an intimacy here. We expect to have 50,000-plus here.”
Colorado is making its fourth outdoor appearance. The Avalanche are 1-2-0 in previous outdoor contests.
“The Avalanche organization is always proud to be in consideration for marquee events like this," Colorado president of hockey operations Joe Sakic said in a news release. "We’re looking forward to being matched up with a great team and represent the Rocky Mountain region in a game that appeals to these two markets in this part of the country.”
Utah’s legacy as a winter sports destination makes the Winter Classic a natural fit for the state and a natural draw for the community, according to Ryan and Ashley Smith.
“We don’t hide from the winter here. Ashley Smith said. “We live in the mountains. It’s what we breathe. It’s very authentic to us and all of Utah.”
Alcohol sales will be permitted in the stadium during the Winter Classic because it is considered a private event. Athletic events involving the University of Utah prohibit alcohol from being sold inside the stadium during those events.
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Utah Mammoth center Nick Schmaltz (8) celebrates with teammates after scoring his second goal of the game in the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Utah Mammoth, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, in Elmont, N.Y. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minneapolis was on edge Thursday following the fatal shooting of a woman by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer taking part in the Trump administration’s latest immigration crackdown, with protesters venting their outrage, the governor urging restraint and schools canceling classes as a precaution.
State and local officials demanded ICE leave Minnesota after the unidentified ICE officer shot 37-year-old Renee Nicole Macklin Good in the head Wednesday morning. But Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said agents won't be going anywhere.
The Department of Homeland Security has deployed more than 2,000 officers to the area in what it says is its largest immigration enforcement operation ever. Noem said more than 1,500 people have already been arrested.
Dozens of protesters gathered early Thursday outside of a federal building on the edge of Minneapolis that is serving as a major base for the immigration crackdown. They shouted “No More ICE,” “Go Home Nazis,” “Quit Your Job,” and “Justice Now!” as Border Patrol officers pushed them back from the gate and fired smoke grenades.
“We should be horrified," protester Shanta Hejmadi said. “We should be saddened that our government is waging war on our citizens. We should get out and say no. What else can we do?”
Bystanders captured video of Macklin Good's killing in a residential neighborhood south of downtown, and hundreds of people turned up for a Wednesday night vigil to mourn her and urge the public to resist the immigration crackdown. Some then chanted as they marched through the city, but there was no violence.
“I would love for ICE to leave our city and for more community members to come to see it happens,” said Sander Kolodziej, a painter who came to the vigil to support the community.
The videos of the shooting show an officer approaching an SUV stopped across the middle of the road, demanding the driver open the door and grabbing the handle. The Honda Pilot begins to pull forward, and a different ICE officer standing in front of it pulls his weapon and immediately fires at least two shots at close range, jumping back as the vehicle moves toward him.
It is not clear from the videos if the vehicle makes contact with the officer, and there is no indication of whether the woman had interactions with ICE agents earlier. After the shooting the SUV speeds into two cars parked on a curb before crashing to a stop.
In another recording made afterward, a woman who identifies Macklin Good as her spouse is seen crying near the vehicle. The woman, who is not identified, says the couple recently arrived in Minnesota and that they had a child.
Noem called the incident an “act of domestic terrorism” against ICE officers, saying the driver “attempted to run them over and rammed them with her vehicle. An officer of ours acted quickly and defensively, shot, to protect himself and the people around him.”
President Donald Trump made similar accusations on social media and defended ICE’s work.
Noem alleged that the woman was part of a “mob of agitators” and said the officer followed his training. She said the FBI would investigate.
But Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called Noem’s version of events “garbage.”
“They are already trying to spin this as an action of self-defense,” Frey said. “Having seen the video myself, I wanna tell everybody directly, that is bullshit.”
He also criticized the federal deployment and said the agents should leave.
The shooting marked a dramatic escalation of the latest in a series of immigration enforcement operations in major cities under the Trump administration. Wednesday's is at least the fifth death linked to the crackdowns.
The Twin Cities have been on edge since DHS announced the operation’s launch Tuesday, at least partly tied to allegations of fraud involving Somali residents.
A crowd of protesters gathered at the scene after the shooting to vent their anger at local and federal officers.
In a scene that hearkened back to crackdowns in Los Angeles and Chicago, people chanted “ICE out of Minnesota” and blew whistles that have become ubiquitous during the operations.
Gov. Tim Walz said he was prepared to deploy the National Guard if necessary. He expressed outrage over the shooting but called on people to keep protests peaceful.
“They want a show,” Walz said. “We can’t give it to them.”
There were calls on social media to prosecute the officer who shot Macklin Good.
Commissioner Bob Jacobson of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety said state authorities would investigate the shooting with federal authorities.
Associated Press reporters Steve Karnowski, Ed White in Detroit, Valerie Gonzalez in Brownsville, Texas, Mark Vancleave in Las Vegas, Michael Biesecker In Washington, Jim Mustian in New York and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed.
A protester receives aid after confronting law enforcement outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Minneapolis, Minn. (AP Photo/Tom Baker)
A protester revives aid after confronting law enforcement outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Minneapolis, Minn. (AP Photo/Tom Baker)
A protester covers their eyes after confronting law enforcement outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Minneapolis, Minn. (AP Photo/Tom Baker)
Federal agents confront protesters outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Minneapolis, Minn. (AP Photo/Tom Baker)
Protesters gather outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Minneapolis, Minn. (AP Photo/Tom Baker)
Demonstrators gather during a vigil near where an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed a woman in Minneapolis, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Giovanna Dell'Orto)
A protester stands next to a makeshift memorial honoring the victim of a fatal shooting involving federal law enforcement agents, near the scene in Minneapolis, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Tom Baker)
A bullet hole and blood stains are seen in a crashed vehicle on at the scene of a shooting in Minneapolis on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (Ben Hovland/Minnesota Public Radio via AP)
People protest as law enforcement officers attend to the scene of the shooting involving federal law enforcement agents, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Tom Baker)
