Penguins to host Capitals at Heinz Field Jan. 1, 2011

Citi Field will have to wait to host an NHL Winter Classic.

Although NHL executives have toured the home of the Mets, praised the sightlines and consider it a strong candidate for an outdoor game, the NHL on Friday formally awarded the Jan. 1, 2011, game to Heinz Field in Pittsburgh.

Sidney Crosby's Penguins will host Alex Ovechkin's Capitals, a pairing of superstars that surely was urged by NBC, which has broadcast all previous New Year's Day games.

In his annual state of the league address in Chicago on the eve of the Stanley Cup Finals, commissioner Gary Bettman said Washington, D.C., will host a Winter Classic in the next two to three years, "but there is ample room to move around."

Yankee Stadium, which is hosting a college bowl game in the final week of December for the next five years, is not a candidate, NHL sources have said.

Bettman also announced that the Canadiens will face the Flames outdoors Feb. 20 at Calgary's McMahon Stadium, the site of the opening and closing ceremonies of the 1988 Winter Olympics and home of the CFL's Stampeders. With expanded seating, more than 49,000 attended the 2009 Grey Cup championship game.

The commissioner said no plans for league expansion are on the table but that some relocations are possible.

Bettman reiterated his belief that Islanders owner Charles Wang doesn't "have any intention to leave the New York area" and will honor the Nassau Coliseum lease, which runs through 2015.

Among other topics: With NHL revenues up 4 percent, the $56.8-million salary cap could rise about $2 million if the NHLPA votes to trigger an escalator clause; next season's schedule will be released June 22, three weeks earlier than usual, and a research camp using prospects to test potential rules and equipment changes is set for Aug. 18-19 in Toronto.