On Friday, Penn State Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics, Dr. Patrick Kraft, announced “The Hockey Valley Doubleheader.” The showcase will feature the men’s team face-off against Michigan State and the women’s team against Robert Morris, both on January 31, 2026, at Beaver Stadium.

“This is a historic moment for Penn State Hockey, our fans and the entire Penn State community,” Kraft said. “To bring the excitement of college hockey to Beaver Stadium is truly special.”

Now here’s my question: If Beaver Stadium can host Penn State hockey, why can’t it host the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers in the NHL Winter Classic?

This isn’t the first time the idea of hockey at Beaver Stadium has been talked about. Onward State wrote about it way back on March 27, 2015, when then Flyers Chief Operating Officer Shawn Tilger announced he would pitch the NHL hosting a Penguins-Flyers game in State College. At the time, concerns over hotel availability, parking, field damage, and even liquor license restrictions stood in the way.

Nearly a decade later, the tone had changed. In a June 2023 interview with StateCollege.com, Kraft said he was all in on the concept. “Oh, absolutely. I think it’d be amazing in Beaver Stadium,” Kraft said. “If the NHL called me today, I’d be like, ‘Yep, let’s go.'” Still, he said Penn State had work to do and all logistics would have to be solved before hosting an event of that scale.

Fast forward to February 2025, and the NHL was openly talking about Happy Valley. In an ESPN article by Penn State alum Emily Kaplan titled, “After Ohio and Florida, where will NHL host next next outdoor games?”, Steve Mayer, the NHL’s President of Content and Events, said the league would “love to talk at some point about Penn State,” also saying that they had told the school to “make us aware of your timeline.” He said the timing hadn’t been right in the past, with the NHL already hosting Flyers-Penguins Stadium Series games back in 2017 and 2019.

Around that same time, Kraft tied Beaver Stadium’s $700 million renovation directly to opportunities like this. When speaking to Sports Illustrated in February 2025, he said the upgrades would “create significant new revenue” and allow the university to host “non-football activities and large-scale events.”

And now the proof is here. What makes things interesting is that it comes in the middle of the renovation project.

For years, it was reported that Beaver Stadium would be out of the picture for hockey until the renovations were completed in 2027. But I guess that’s what the power of NIL money and the No. 1 hockey prospect in the country can change.

So here’s the ask. To Dr. Kraft, to Mayer and the NHL, and to everyone who could help make this a reality, let’s bring the Winter Classic to Happy Valley.

We’ve seen Beaver Stadium shake for football, and we’ll see it packed for college hockey soon. The Winter Classic is about the spectacle, tradition, and atmosphere, and no stadium in the country delivers those three things like Beaver Stadium.

Kraft has been on record saying Beaver Stadium should be used for more than just football. The NHL has said Penn State is “attractive” and for the school to “make us aware of your timeline.” And now, with the doubleheader on the schedule, the message is clear — the timeline has officially begun.