The Chicago Blackhawks have a pretty extensive outdoor record since the NHL started taking games outside. Now, they are going to add to that long list in 2025.
They will open next year with another Winter Classic. Chicago will host the St. Louis Blues in the 2025 Winter Classic at Wrigley Field.
This is the second time that Wrigley Field will host the event as it hosted the Winter Classic in 2009 between the Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings.
Wrigley will join Fenway Park as the only other venue to host it twice. The Hawks also hosted the Boston Bruins at Notre Dame Stadium in 2019 so this will be their third time hosting.
They were also the road team in the event twice making it five times appearing in the big event. They visited the Washington Capitals at Nationals Park in 2015 and the Blues at Busch Stadium in 2017.
The Chicago Blackhawks are playing in yet another Winter Classic in 2025
When they play this game next year, Chicago will pass Boston for the most Winter Classic appearances ever. The Hawks also have a few Stadium Series appearances in there as well.
Right now, the Hawks are one of the worst teams in the league. Why would the NHL want them to host another Winter Classic? Well, that is the Bedard effect.
This year's Winter Classic was incredible. The Seattle Kraken hosted the Vegas Golden Knights and the league celebrated having 32 teams now. However, according to the league, the TV ratings were not what they needed to be.
They had lower ratings for that game than Connor Bedard's NHL debut on October 10th. It is the first time since the Winter Classic was introduced in 2008 that it wasn't the highest-viewed game of the season.
Fans in both Canada and the United States like seeing Bedard play. He has similar hype to Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid but he plays in one of the United States's biggest markets. Everyone in both countries is going to watch this game.
Some fans nationally are going to be upset about this. It is clearly a business decision for the NHL but it should make for a great game between two long-time rivals.
Would having Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Mikko Rantanen and the Colorado Avalanche there be even better? Of course it would be. They have somehow never been in a Winter Classic.
However, the league might have wanted the old-school rivalry to come to the home of the Cubs after it's already been at the home of the Cardinals.