This year’s Winter Classic will take place on New Year’s Eve between the Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues at the Chicago Cubs' historic home of Wrigley Field. They won’t be the only outdoor ice hockey team at the home of those “loveable losers” (as the Cubs are historically called, but we guess that name can now apply to the Connor Bedard Blackhawks as well). The 2025 Frozen Confines: Big Ten Hockey Series will feature games on January 3rd and January 4th.
The name is a play on Wrigley’s famous nickname of “the friendly confines”. January 3rd’s matchup will be Notre Dame against Penn State and the Irish are going to wear special jerseys for the occasion. The majority white jerseys offer accents of light blue, straight from the Chicago city flag. Light blue strips on the arms have golden shamrocks in the middle and the famous interlocking gold “ND” logo featured on the shoulder.
The shoulder crest pays tribute both to Notre Dame and the Chicago cubs. The big “C” featured prominently on Cubs home jerseys is here in the sme blue shade as the city flag. The famous Notre Dame mascot “Lucky” is featured inside the logo with Notre Dame ‘founder’s lines” in the dark blue shadow of the C.
Receptions to the jersey have been positive, but we have a few questions about it. Notre Dame isn’t a Chicago school as they’re located in a neighboring state that most likely wouldn’t even be considered a great area for the Chicago metro region. Thus it’s a little odd to see Notre Dame, one of sport’s most historic brands, embracing a team identity from a city they don’t share.
Think of it this way. Remember when the New Jersey Devils played in the 2014 Stadium Series at Yankee Stadium? Wouldn’t it have been weird to see a Devils logo and colors in the New York Yankees famous interlocking “NY” logo? Remember when the Anaheim Ducks played in that same year’s Stadium Series at Dodger Stadium against the Los Angeles Kings? Imagine if Wild Wing’s iconic duck goal mask was featured in the interlocking Dodger’s “LA” logo. For all intents and purposes, Notre Dame’s location and Chicago are about as closely related as Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. We all know Gritty would never wear anything Pittsburgh Penguins inspired.
Notre Dame does have a connection to the Chicago Blackhawks, as the Blackhawks played in the 2019 Winter Classic at Notre Dame Stadium. If Notre Dame wanted to do a jersey that paid tribute to Chicago sports, wouldn’t the Blackhawks have made more sense? We understand Notre Dame is playing in the Cubs stadium, but the Blackhawks are playing in the major event preceding it in the same location.
We’re probably over thinking this since the jerseys do look pretty nice and are sure to be a hot seller among fans. Maybe we’re just questioning the inspiration. Maybe we’re just wondering what a potential Blackhawks and fighting Irish collab would have looked like. We can dream, can’t we?