American Hockey League

==Outdoor games==
{{main|AHL Outdoor Classic}}
[[File:2012 AHL Winter Classic CBP Philadelphia.jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.2|An AHL record crowd of 45,653 watched the [[Adirondack Phantoms]] defeat the [[Hershey Bears]], 4–3 in overtime at the 2012 AHL Winter Classic at [[Citizens Bank Park]] in [[Philadelphia]]]]
Since the 2009–10 season, at least one team in the AHL has hosted an [[list of outdoor ice hockey games|outdoor ice hockey game]] each year. The [[Syracuse Crunch]] was the first organization to put on an outdoor game in the AHL on February 20, 2010, building a rink at the New York State Fairgrounds in [[Syracuse, New York]], and packing a record 21,508 fans in for the [[Mirabito Outdoor Classic]] against the [[Binghamton Senators]]. The contest, which was also televised to an international audience on [[NHL Network (U.S. TV network)|NHL Network]], was won by the Crunch, 2–1.

The Connecticut Whale hosted the [[Whale Bowl]], the AHL's second outdoor game held on February 19, 2011 as part of a 10-day Whalers Hockey Fest at [[Rentschler Field (stadium)|Rentschler Field]] in [[East Hartford, Connecticut]]. Attendance for Connecticut's game against the [[Providence Bruins]] was announced at 21,673, the largest in AHL history to that point. Providence won, 5–4, in a shootout.

On January 6, 2012, the largest crowd in AHL history saw the [[Adirondack Phantoms]] defeat the [[Hershey Bears]], 4–3, in overtime before 45,653 fans at [[Citizens Bank Park]] in [[Philadelphia]], as the final event of the week-long activities associated with the [[2012 NHL Winter Classic]], which also included a game between the Philadelphia Flyers and the [[New York Rangers]] on Jan 2 and an alumni game between retired players (including eight honored members of the [[Hockey Hall of Fame]]) of those two clubs on December 31, 2011. The contest was the third outdoor game in AHL history and it more than doubled the league's previous single-game attendance mark.

On January 21, 2012, the Steeltown Showdown between Ontario rivals, the [[Toronto Marlies]] and [[Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL)|Hamilton Bulldogs]], was held at [[Ivor Wynne Stadium]] in [[Hamilton, Ontario]], with the Marlies winning 7–2 in front of 20,565 fans, the largest crowd ever for an AHL game in Canada. The AHL game was preceded the previous night by a game between [[Toronto Maple Leafs]] and [[Montreal Canadiens]] alumni.

Two outdoor games were announced for the 2012–13 AHL season, but a meeting between the [[Grand Rapids Griffins]] and Toronto Marlies at [[Comerica Park]] in [[Detroit]] as part of the festivities surrounding the [[2013 NHL Winter Classic|NHL Winter Classic]] was not held because of the cancellation of the NHL Winter Classic. On January 20, 2013, the Hershey Bears and [[Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins]] met outdoors at [[Hersheypark Stadium]] in [[Hershey, Pennsylvania]] with the Penguins earning a 2–1 overtime victory in front of 17,311 fans.

The [[Rochester Americans]] hosted an outdoor game in 2013–14, the [[Frozen Frontier]], which was held at [[Frontier Field]] in [[Rochester, New York]], on December 13, 2013. The Americans took a 5–4 decision in a shootout against the [[Lake Erie Monsters]] before a standing-room crowd of 11,015 fans. A year after their originally scheduled date, the Griffins and Marlies played at Comerica Park on December 30, 2013, and Toronto prevailed in a shootout, 4–3, becoming the first AHL team ever with two outdoor wins. Attendance in Detroit was 20,337.

As part of the recent addition of the Pacific Division, the AHL played its first outdoor hockey game in California during the 2015–16 season, called the Golden State Hockey Rush. On December 18, 2015, the [[Stockton Heat]] defeated the [[Bakersfield Condors]], 3-2, at [[Raley Field]] in [[West Sacramento, California]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://stocktonheat.com/news/grant-kylington-and-shore-lead-heat-to-3-2-win-at-raley-field/ |title=Grant, Kylington and Shore Lead Heat to 3-2 Win at Raley Field |publisher=Stockton Heat |date=December 19, 2015 |access-date=January 20, 2016 |archive-date=October 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211008204647/https://stocktonheat.com/news/grant-kylington-and-shore-lead-heat-to-3-2-win-at-raley-field/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

For the second consecutive season, the AHL played an outdoor game in California as the Bakersfield Condors hosted the Condorstown Outdoor Classic against the [[Ontario Reign]] on January 7, 2017, at [[Bakersfield College]]'s [[Memorial Stadium (Bakersfield)|Memorial Stadium]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bakersfield.com/Sports/2016/08/23/Condors-bringing-outdoor-hockey-to-Memorial-Stadium.html |title=Condors bringing outdoor hockey to Memorial Stadium |publisher=Bakersfield.com |date=August 23, 2016}}</ref> Despite sometimes heavy rain during the first period, the game went on as scheduled and the Condors defeated the Reign 3–2 in overtime.

Hersheypark Stadium hosted its second outdoor game in 2018. Cleveland’s [[FirstEnergy Stadium]] became the first [[National Football League]] venue to host an AHL outdoor game in 2023, and [[Truist Field]] in Charlotte hosted the Queen City Outdoor Classic in 2024.