Montreal

NHL announces 1st women's Winter Classic game

The NHL Winter Classic will for the first time include an outdoor game between two women's hockey teams - Montreal's Les Canadiennes and the Boston Pride - in an exhibition game this Thursday. The NHL regular-season game between the Habs and Bruins goes Jan. 1.

Montreal, Boston women's teams play ahead of NHL alumni game Thursday, Habs-Bruins game is Jan. 1

Montreal and Boston fans will have three outdoor games to watch at this year's Winter Classic. The NHL said Monday that a women's exhibition game will be held Dec. 31 at Gillette Stadium near Boston, followed by an NHL alumni game. The New Year's Day game is between the Bruins and the Montreal Canadiens. (Paul Chiasson/Canadian Press)

The NHL Winter Classic will for the first time include an outdoor game between two women's hockey teams.

Montreal's Les Canadiennes, of the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL), will take on the Boston Pride of the newly formed National Women's Hockey League (NWHL) on Thursday at Gillette Stadium near Boston.

The shortened exhibition game will be held at 2 p.m. ET, followed by an NHL alumni game at 3:30 p.m. 

On New Year's Day, the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens play in an NHL game that will count in the standings.

"Two days with three Boston-Montreal rival matchups is a great way to celebrate hockey," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said in a release Monday.

"A new year signifies a new chapter, and we look forward to sharing the ice for the first time with two professional women's teams on the league's biggest stage."Â