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StaTuesday: The coldest games in Minnesota history

Published Jan. 29, 2019 4:00 p.m. ET

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A big purple blob of frozen terror is currently bearing down on Minnesota, and it is only going to get worse from here.

Conditions in the Twin Cities are expected to reach minus-20 by Tuesday evening, while temperatures up north should get even worse.

If you squint, it kind of looks like Marvel arch-baddie Thanos is snapping his fingers over the upper Midwest.

Naturally, it seems like an appropriate time to remember some of the coldest games ever played in Minnesota.

The Minnesota Vikings played outdoors for a bit after retiring the Metrodome and before moving to mostly-indoor U.S. Bank Stadium, setting up shop at the University of Minnesota's TCF Bank Stadium from 2014-15.

TCF was the site of the coldest Vikings game on record back in 2016, a miserable 10-9 loss (we won't get into that here) to the Seattle Seahawks on Jan. 10 that saw the temperature dip to minus-six.

That game (again, don't think too hard about it) was the third the Vikings have played in subzero conditions, officially, though the temperature has dipped into the single digits five other times.

The Gophers set a stadium record -- TCF opened in 2009 -- a few years prior, when the temperature dipped to 18 degrees at kickoff of a loss to Wisconsin on Nov. 23, 2013.

The Gopher men and women played outdoors a few years ago, as part of the Hockey City Classic at TCF Bank Stadium on Jan. 17, 2014.

The Star Tribune reports that the temperature during the second period of the men's game dropped to six degrees, though it felt like minus-three.

The Gopher men dealt with the conditions a bit better than Ohio State, winning 1-0 before an announced crowd of 45,000, while the Gopher women beat Minnesota State 4-0.

Meanwhile, the Minnesota Wild have had a bit more luck outside.

The Wild beat the Chicago Blackhawks 6-1 at TCF on Feb. 21, 2016 as part of the NHL's Stadium Series, but did it under positively tropical conditions.

Temperatures hovered in the mid-to-low 30s all day.

Across town at Target Field, the Minnesota Twins have never had to deal with subzero temps, but have battled the elements early in the season since moving outdoors in 2010.

The Twins' second home game of the 2018 season was the coldest in team history, as the temperature dipped to 27 degrees at first pitch.

Twins ace and Puerto Rico native Jose Berrios soldiered on, pitching in short sleeves.

Hopefully he's wearing a jacket today.

 

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