Amid a light snowfall, the two former NHL players were on hand to see the Minnesota Twins baseball stadium being prepared for the outdoor hockey game between the Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues on Jan. 1 (7 p.m. ET; TNT, SN1, TVAS, NHL LIVE).
"Boy, you just hope you get a setting like this," Carter said. "I don't think we're going to have to be concerned about ice conditions at all. … Certainly beautiful."
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Carter, who played 473 games over nine NHL seasons and is a native of White Bear Lake, Minnesota, played for the Wild in the 2016 Stadium Series against the Chicago Blackhawks at TCF Bank Stadium on the University of Minnesota campus on Feb. 21, 2016, and in the 2014 Stadium Series with the New Jersey Devils against the New York Rangers at Yankee Stadium on Jan. 26, 2014.
"It's cold out [today] but it kind of brings back the warm and fuzzies of TCF and playing at Yankee Stadium, that was a blast," Carter said. "I think in the states, Minnesota really prides itself on enduring the outdoors and cold and hockey being the 'it' thing. For the NHL to be here, the Winter Classic, the marquee game of the day, I think Minnesotans are going to do a heck of a job supporting the club. They're going to show up in full force. I don't think you'll see any complaints about the conditions, they'll be ready to endure."
Vanek played two seasons with the University of Minnesota, and spent two of his 14 NHL seasons with the Wild. Of his 1,029 games in the NHL, four were outdoors, including with the Buffalo Sabres against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the inaugural Winter Classic at Ralph Wilson Stadium on Jan. 1, 2008.
