"It's been a good setup so far," Craig said. "It's supposed to get a little bit warmer, which shouldn't impact [us] at all. It's all stuff that we've dealt with in the past at other venues and events. I think everything is right on track."
One such venue was Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, which hosted a Coors Light NHL Stadium Series game between the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings on Jan. 25, 2014, when the game day temperature was 75 degrees under clear skies. Other warm-climate hosts were Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., for a 2015 Stadium Series game between the Kings and San Jose Sharks, and Coors Field in Denver for the Detroit Red Wings against the Colorado Avalanche on Feb. 27, 2016.
"It's definitely not as warm as some of our California or our Denver setup last year," Craig said. "But we have some good sets of weather here and I think that's why we chose the day we did in October in Winnipeg. I think that we should have a very good few weeks."
The 2016 Heritage Classic will be the fourth outdoor game played in Canada since Nov. 22, 2003, when Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton hosted the first NHL regular-season game played outdoors. The Heritage Classic was played at Calgary's McMahon Stadium on Feb. 20, 2011 and Vancouver's BC Place on March 2, 2014.
"I think that being in Canada is always special," Craig said. "I think Winnipeg is a great Canadian city and we have two very young talented teams coming in here, and I think it's going to be a great hockey event."