PHILADELPHIA (KYW NEWSRADIO) -- The Eagles are in the playoffs, but the next game at Lincoln Financial Field will be...a hockey game. The Flyers are playing Pittsburgh in a rare outdoor match next month.
The National Hockey League has had 26 outdoor games since 2003. The Flyers-Penguins Stadium Series match-up on the night of February 23 would be the first at the Linc, says Dean Matsuzaki, the NHL's Executive VP for events. "We've been eyeing Lincoln Financial Field for quite a while, actually," Matsuzaki said. "It was in the running on our first visit down to Philadelphia. We did a game down in Philadelphia once before." That was the 2012 Winter Classic at Citizens Bank Park. Matsuzaki says the league has made "four or five" site visits to the Linc already, checking out broadcast locations and field access points. He says 200 workers will begin arriving two weeks before the game. "Sunday, February 10 will be our first boots on the ground," he said. "And that day is really just kind of a quiet day - travel in and get some marking done on the field of all our dimensions, where everything is going to go. And then our refrigeration truck will show up Monday morning, February 11." The Flyers have lost all three of their previous outdoor games. But maybe some of that Eagles mojo will rub off this time.