Here’s the answer:

Chicago and Minneapolis, 48 degrees
Detroit, 53 degrees
Nassau, NY, 57 degrees
New York City and Pittsburgh, 59 degrees
Newark and Buffalo, 63 degrees
Philadelphia, 64 degrees
Columbus, 67 degrees
Washington, Denver, and San Jose, 69 degrees
St. Louis and Boston, 70 degrees

Source: weather.com

Yes, it really did hit 70 degrees in Boston on New Year’s Day, albeit back in the 19th century. I’m guessing, however, that even though that’s stood for a long time, it’s probably been approached more than once.

So if even BOSTON can hit 70 on New Year’s, what’s the NHL to do to guarantee hockey weather for an outdoor game that’s scheduled months in advance? If the goal is to raise American awareness of the sport, holding it in Canada defeats the purpose, and there are only half a dozen NHL market that have never once gone above sixty on New Year’s Day. Even going by average high temperature is a roll of the dice. Consider St. Louis: their average high is 38, 5 degrees below that of DC, but their record is 70, one degree ABOVE the all-time record in the District.

For the NHL to play an outdoor game in the US, weather is going to be a roll of the dice no matter where the game is played. That’s the risk of playing an ice-based game in an uncontrolled environment.

All told, I’m not saying it’s a done deal, but I will say it’s being looked at. We’ll know for sure when the schedule comes out in July.–CS

IMPORTANT: DO NOT PUT WEB ADDRESSES IN YOUR COMMENT. If you do, your comment will end up in my spam queue. If you must mention your website, there should be a space for it above the comment box.

Your email address is safe with me: I will not send anything to it, and I absolutely WILL NOT release it to ANY third party, unless compelled to do so by force of law. I get about 100 spam messages a day, so I probably hate spam more than you do. In truth, I only look at email addresses to verify they don’t look suspicious, and that’s all I do with them.

Guess away!–CS

Fair enough. Readers, pop quiz, and I have a $15 iTunes gift card at the June 12 Open House for the first person who gets this right. Honor system: no looking this up. Go on what you think is right.

Arrange the following 15 NHL markets according to their record high temperature on January 1st, starting with the coldest.

Boston (Bruins)
Buffalo (Sabres)
Chicago (Blackhawks)
Columbus (Blue Jackets)
Denver (Avalanche)
Detroit (Red Wings)
Minneapolis (Wild)
Nassau (Islanders)
Newark (Devils)
New York City (Rangers)
Philadelphia (Flyers)
Pittsburgh (Penguins)
San Jose (Sharks)
St. Louis (Blues)
Washington (Capitals)

Hint: All of these markets have record highs of 70 degrees or less. (Yup, even San Jose.)

Now, there are four two-way ties and one three-way tie, and as long as you have the appropriate cities together, you’re fine.

Again, I have a $15 iTunes gift card for the first person who gets it right and who doesn’t look it up. No cheating! Contest closes at 10 PM Eastern on May 23rd.

Good luck, Caps fans!–CS