Fifteen years ago, an outdoor hockey game was a novelty reserved for cold-weather cities in January or February.
The National Hockey League has come a long way since the first outdoor game in Edmonton in 2003. The league will play its 25th outdoor game March 3 in Annapolis when the Washington Capitals play the Toronto Maple Leafs at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
The matchup will be just the third played in March and is part of the Coors Light NHL Stadium Series, which began in of all places Los Angeles in 2014 when the Anaheim Ducks played the Los Angeles Kings.