St. LOUIS, MO – Less than two months remain from the NHL’s mid-season tentpole event, the Winter Classic, scheduled for the friendly confines of Wrigley Field between the host Chicago Blackhawks and visiting St. Louis Blues.
Moved to a different day than the traditional New Year’s Day tilt, this season’s event will be held on Tuesday, December 31st where weather conditions are typically perfect for an event like this.
It will be the seventh outdoor game for the Chicago Blackhawks who have not fared well by generating a 1-5 record in games out in the elements.
Chicago hosted the second Winter Classic in 2009 at Wrigley Field where they lost to the Detroit Red Wings 6-4. The Blackhawks were on the verge of their first Stanley Cup victory and were becoming the darling of outdoor games with Kane and Toews leading the charge with eventual championships in 2010 and 2013.
Five years after their first appearance in the Winter Classic, the Blackhawks hosted the Pittsburgh Penguins at Soldier Field on March 1, 2014 for one of the first Stadium Series games. It was the fourth scheduled outdoor game in an eight-day period. It is remembered for not just Chicago’s only outdoor game victory, 5-1, but in the experience which is remembered as the “snow globe” game. The falling curtains of snow during the tilt made visibility an issue and the optics spectacular.
The following year in 2015, the Blackhawks returned to the Winter Classic when they travelled to Washington D.C. to battle Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals at Nationals Park where sun became an issue with ice surface condition leading to moderate delays in the designated game start.
In 2016, the Blackhawks traveled to Minneapolis to face the Wild at TCF Stadium on February 26th, the first of two Stadium Series events that season, the second to take place the following weekend at Coors Field in Denver between the Colorado Avalanche and Detroit Red Wings. It was one of the only events which featured an Alumni game the day before the regular season match and featured a blend of Wild and North Stars players battling Blackhawk legends. Chicago dropped that one 6-1.
In continuing their run of outdoor game appearances in four consecutive seasons, Chicago traveled to St. Louis for the 2017 Winter Classic to face their archrival Blues at Busch Stadium. The event also included an alumni game in which the turnout shocked NHL organizers as attendance at the legends game outdrew the regular season game. Weather played a factor in delaying the start, but the event went off without a hitch resulting in a home team victory of 4-1.
After a one-year hiatus, the Blackhawks returned to the outdoor stage and it was the Winter Classic’s first neutral site game, held at Notre Dame Stadium on the famed campus. 100 miles and one time zone to the east, Chicago battled the Boston Bruins in a game which was feared to be threatened by heavy rains the day before.
Round-the-clock care of the ice surface and an army of armed squeegee pushers preserved the rink for game day. Practice and the always popular alumni skate were moved inside.
With this appearance in the 2025 Winter Classic, Chicago will surpass the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers for the most outdoor game appearance with their seventh game, six years after their last appearance. With Connor Bedard’s presence on the team in what is now his second season, the Blackhawks could see more of these special events.
The St. Louis Blues first appeared in an outdoor game when they host the Blackhawks in 2017 at Busch Stadium. Their second appearance in an outdoor game was five years later when they travelled to Target Field in Minneapolis to battle the Wild sealing a 6-4 victory in what ended up being the coldest outdoor game in history with a game time temperature at minus 5.7 degrees Fahrenheit. They possess a 2-0 record in outdoor games.
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In the lead-up to the big game, I will share details to know if you plan on attending the Winter Classic. What to do in Chicago while there, events surrounding the game, getting around the Windy City, where to stay, the sights and sounds around the game such has event logo generation, jersey unveilings, the specially-designed goaltender equipment, walk-up attire for game day and all the interesting details of the league’s marquee event.
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Dennis Morrell has developed a deeply rooted passion for our game over many decades as a goaltender, writer, photographer, goalie coach, and active Level 3 USA Hockey-certified, on-ice official with over 2,000 games with the whistle. His passion for the game began in the early 70s upon his first glance at players battling for the puck at Clayton’s Shaw Park.
And yes, the ice is perfect.
He has been fortunate to journalistically cover 2 NHL Entry Drafts, 5 NHL All-Star 
Games, 8 NHL Outdoor Games in two countries and 25 games played in the context of 10 Stanley Cup Final series, witnessing the oldest trophy in sports lifted by the champion 4 times, including when his beloved hometown team, the St. Louis Blues, won their first chalice in 2019.
He has witnessed over 1,000 major and minor professional games in over 250 different arenas. He can be reached at [email protected] and you can follow him on Twitter at DMMORRELL
