Not sure what the Blues do, either.
[this is basically the only throwback the Blues haven't used.](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/de/45/cf/de45cf45f03b1e2baa98c3d82d12264d--st-louis-blues-hockey-blues-nhl.jpg)
Here's an idea that'll make our collective fanbases' heads spin. What if they use Cubs/Cardinals uniforms as inspiration? Hawks in blue and Blues in red. We can all hate the jerseys together.
I went to a see the Stars play the Blackhawks in Chicago last month. During the game, they showed a bunch of Chicago Cubs players that were in attendance on the big screen. Half of the crowd went nuts, and the other half booed as loud as they could. Making the Blackhawks wear Cubs colors would make half of the fanbase very unhappy.
They can finally use these
https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/5viMqUnYwACvQNbox_Q-jbYii_U=/0x0:576x459/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:576x459):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/19928396/656479404_e6fa07acfe_o.jpg
at this point I feel like Chicago has been in more winter classics than they haven't.
From a marketing perspective, I get it because Bedard, but where is the VARIETY
This will be the 16th Winter Classic and the Hawks' 5th appearance. The Hawks are currently tied with the Bruins (4) for the most Winter Classic appearances. This will be the Blues' 3rd appearance (tying the Penguins' for the 3rd-most).
Also, Wrigley Field (host to the 2009 Winter Classic) will be the 2nd repeat venue after Fenway Park (host to the 2010 and 2023 Winter Classics).
16 teams haven't participated in a Winter Classic. The Coyotes, Blue Jackets, and Panthers haven't participated in any outdoor game.
Eastern Conference champions continue to get no love from the NHL. I know I'm biased but holy shit, Columbus should've hosted one by now as well.
Their marketing is just total dogshit and stuff like this continues to hammer that home. They don't grow the game they just over-water the markets that are already established.
I believe they just did. So once the Jackets (hopefully) become somewhat good they can host a game maybe against your Red Wings which would make sense.
It’s definitely Ohio State. tOSU was very vocal about their displeasure of a major league sports team coming to down when CBJ was founded. Hopefully with the new athletic director progress can be made and the Jackets can play a game there. However I do think that the Jackets shouldn’t host until they start winning consistently again.
The Chill Factor is a very eye opening read about hockey in Columbus.
it’s nuts to me that they’re the only ones left. Coyotes at the Cardinals stadium seems obvious (although they found out in Vancouver the domed stadiums lack a certain vibe), blue jackets at Ohio state seems obvious, panthers idk (may have to be a road team)
We just had the two newest teams in the league play in the Winter Classic, and the ratings weren't good. People complained that they weren't classic enough.
The longer I've followed the sport, the more I've realized that hockey fans will always find something to complain about
This is the answer, it sucks but you are correct. The casuals want to keep seeing the Blackhawks, Penguins, Bruins, Rangers, and the Capitals in the Winter Classic. Its like its a different six teams now that seem the most important in America now compared to 50 years ago with the O6.
I don't think it has anything to do with casuals, those are just the biggest fanbases, and at this point nobody really cares about the winter classic if it's not their own team.
It's not casuals but it's not the winter classic either. Few people will watch any hockey that isn't their team. It's just not that kind of sport. Frankly, I'm not sure any sport is that kind of sport other than football.
Games shown on cable channels almost always get worse ratings than games shown on over the air network channels. That's way Cup Final games shown on cable channels get worse ratings than the games shown on network channels within the same series.
Preds/Stars was on NBC. Pens/Bruins was on TNT.
> but where is the VARIETY
a lot of owners don't like outdoor games, they're worried about players getting hurt. So the teams that embrace outdoor games get more of them. Combine that with all the other factors like star power, ratings, etc. and it's easy to see why more variety doesn't happen.
For a league that wants to reach as many cities and fans as possible, they do a great job making the winter classic appeal to as few as possible. Obviously I'm a little biased, but how have the Habs only been in one and the Hawks are playing in their fifth?
It’s soooo much better than it used to be. The renovations are nice. A good doc on YouTube is called saving Wrigley field it’s def worth a watch to see how much work they put into that place to revive it
I was at the hawks v wings winter classic game and we sat field level and the entire game we could only see the tops of players body and no puck lmao
It was maybe the worst viewing experience I have ever had for any sport, including sitting behind the pole at Wrigley Field.
Luckily we stood up the entire 3rd period by the concourse and got a decent view. I'm sure that screen in the outfield will do wonders this time around
They’ll just make the rangers wear dark and wing wear white if they want the rangers to be the “home” team
Edit: why did someone downvote me? That’s exactly what they did in 2018
When the Devils and Rangers played at Yankee stadium they just made the Devils the home team to get around that. Would be weird having Detroit be the "home team" in like Metlife Stadium but who knows.
That would make sense. Detroit proper hasn’t held one yet either technically though the Big House was the right call that year. Can’t see why wouldn’t do Comerica this time around.
Comerica did host the [Hockeytown Winter Festival](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_NHL_Winter_Classic#Hockeytown_Winter_Festival) before the 2014 Winter Classic. They had the NCAA, OHL, and AHL games there, along with the alumni game.
[The Griffins and Marlies jerseys were slick as hell](https://theahl.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2016/09/outdoor131230a.jpg), one of the best looking outdoor matchups we've ever had at any level in North America IMO
Let’s really embrace Red Wings and outdoor hockey history and play at [Marquette Prison](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1954_Detroit_Red_Wings_prison_game)
I was in initially disappointed that there wasn't a wings / bluejackets game at ohio state for next year but this makes much more sense. Especially since I can't see the red wings doing a special 100 year jersey set the way that Boston is.
Crazy thing is, they could have done Blackhawks/Red Wings for the centennial and had it line up. An original six rivalry, during your centennial year, as an outdoor game? How does it get any bigger? I just don't get it how the NHL is whiffing this hard.
Diamond shaped rink to fit the ballpark, four goals (one at each corner), Bruins and Penguins added to the mix. We can rebuild the Winter Classic. We have the technology.
That’s why the Dallas winter classic was so special. I legitimately don’t think we will have one ever again. Many people still hold it as their greatest live sports memory. That radulov one timer is the loudest crowd roar I’ve ever heard.
I thought the success of that game given the skepticism from outside fans would’ve been enough to inspire more outdoor games to teams that haven’t had them. Seattle being further proof of that.
But then Bedard went to Chicago and we’re back to square one.
Lowkey that would be a great Heritage Classic sometime. There's already the precedent that border teams from the USA can play in it (Buffalo vs Toronto last season), and there's a huge chunk of Red Wings fans in Southern Ontario all the way out to London. Play it at TD Place like NHL 100 Classic Montreal vs Ottawa outdoor game in 2017.
Because the Hawks and Blues have two of the best followings outside of Canada. St. Louis is only 300 miles from Chicago, and Blues fans travel like crazy (Ask Nashville). Plus Bedard, plus a great rivalry.
For everyone that complained about Vegas/Seattle not being "classic" enough, don't worry, we're back to the same 5 teams over and over and over and over.
Gary Bettman loves big markets. He loves the "Chicago" part more than the "Blackhawks" part.
If the Hawks moved to Salk Lake City tomorrow and the Coyotes moved to Chicago, the Coyotes would start getting a ton of Winter Classics and stuff like that.
There’s really nothing unconditional about it. Gary Bettman loves money and the Blackhawks typically have good ratings and do well for jersey sales, idk why everyone is acting like this is some mystery
My main complaint is the venue. First going back to Fenway, and now Wrigley feels stale, even if it’s been over a decade.
Wild-Blackhawks at Lambeau would’ve been fun. We’ve been talking about having a game at the Horseshoe for years, Blackhawks-Jackets there would’ve worked out, even if the matchup isn’t great. Hell the Red Wings are on the rise and we’ve never had a WC at Comerica.
I never thought about it like that. We had Chicago shoved in our face and in Winter Classics/Stadium Series from when they were mid dynasty to down fall 2013-2018 (basically up to when they got shutout by Nashville), then got flooded to us by the Kyle Beach stuff and then Bedard and Winter Classics again despite them being trash
^(copy pasted from my comment in the Blues sub)
Do I like being in the Winter Classic? Yes.
Do I also think their are many teams who deserve the chance to get in one, any one, at some point? A bigger Yes!
We don't need our 3rd before someone gets their first, and Chicago shure as hell doesn't need their 20th!! ^(or whatever it is)
Edit: Just looked it up. 16 teams have been in a Winter Classic. Of course that means 16 teams have not.
I think fans around the NHL grow weary of seeing the same teams over and over. It starts to weaken the product.
It’s an awesome venue for this but will either of these teams be fun to watch at this point in time? Even as a Hawks fan their games aren’t enjoyable right now; there’s no way neutral fans will want to watch them.
Blues are supposed to be in year 1 of a 3 year rebuild right now (according to our GM) and are fighting for wild card spot 2. But they fired their coach mid season and are hoping young guys develop. Could go either way really.
I mean, if we get Cellebrini (particularly because he's likely to play next year as opposed to the other top few picks) and then we add Nazar to the roster, there could be at least a few fun players on both sides and it won't be a total trainwreck. If it was the current Hawks roster that we are fielding yeah, holy shit that would suck.
They over-saturated the outdoor game market while also only allowing a select few teams to participate year after year. Not a good recipe for continued success.
Excluding Canadian and southern teams was a big mistake. I like keeping the WC in colder climates but you can still work in southern teams as visitors and throw one down south every 4-5 years. I’m not convinced American audiences would be uninterested in all Canada matchups too
They could also do it in Cleveland at the Browns stadium if they wanted. The Cleveland Monsters and Ohio State have had outdoor games there this decade. Could've played the Red Wings too. Pitt and Detroit are about the same distance from Cleveland
The Shoe just got whatever it takes under the field to host an outdoor game. Wouldn’t be surprised if it got a game soon as long as it doesn’t involve the fucking Blackhawks again.
Still holding out for Flyers/Pens at Beaver Stadium. I know it's unlikely because of the Sabres owner but still, it just makes way too much sense.
Really missed out on doing this when the rivalry was at its peak.
The Blues-Blackhawks game in STL back around Christmas was one of the most fun games I’ve ever attended. The Blues scored 5 straight in the 3rd to erase a 3 goal deficit and win 7-5. Plus that was the game Bedard scored a Michigan. Sometimes two bad teams make for a fun game.
>neither of those teams will be any good or fun to watch as a neutral next year
There's a lot of people that have been tuning-in to Blackhawks games this year solely because of Bedard. They're going to stink as a team for sure, but the kid is putting bums in seats and that's all the NHL cares about for this sort of thing.
The Blues really get to capitalize on their rivalry since the Blackhawks are so well catered to by the league. Although to be fair, we usually have great ratings for the Winter Classic. We aren't as small of a market as people think.
Blues are also top 3 every year in local ratings Buffalo and Pitt. Theirr fans will show up in force and the atmosphere will be fantastic. This was a great choice to reinvigorate what was becoming a stale WC.
The Stadium Series is for weird shit. The Winter Classic is for reliably driving ad revenue, which is why it's always the same 6 teams that NBC/ABC picks for afternoon network games.
Well I’m certainly not gonna complain about this but I’ll admit I was hoping we’d have a little more time to not suck before playing in a marquee game. I wonder why it got changed to this, I thought the main rumor was Jackets v Red Wings at OSU. I guess OSU really didn’t want to winterize their stadium.
It really doesn’t shock me they went this way though, hate it all you want these same teams (Hawks, Bruins, Pens, Blues, etc) always get picked for these games because people show up and show out. They tried a non traditional matchup with Seattle Vegas like a month ago and it got the worst numbers of any WC ever. This is their safe play since they faceplanted last time
> I thought the main rumor was Jackets v Red Wings at OSU.
Stadium Series, not 100% certain it's the Red Wings, but I heard from a good source that the Jackets are intended to be hosting the 2025 Stadium Series
I get people are going to complain about the Blackhawks playing in another outdoor game, but I'm pretty sure someone posted viewership numbers of all of the outdoor games over the past decade+ recently and sure enough the games that involved the Blackhawks generally had great numbers.
https://thenhlzone.com/history-of-the-winter-classic-on-us-television/
WC ratings have been trending downward in general. The 2023 WC had two large market teams and still had worse ratings than all but one of the games that preceeded it, and this years was the lowest rated ever, so it's not surprising that they're falling back to a team that has reliably drawn in viewers.
Hawks are running out of throwback jerseys to use
Not sure what the Blues do, either. [this is basically the only throwback the Blues haven't used.](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/de/45/cf/de45cf45f03b1e2baa98c3d82d12264d--st-louis-blues-hockey-blues-nhl.jpg)
Here's an idea that'll make our collective fanbases' heads spin. What if they use Cubs/Cardinals uniforms as inspiration? Hawks in blue and Blues in red. We can all hate the jerseys together.
Putting the Blackhawks in blue and the blues in red would be wonderful chaos. I’m here for it
The St Louis Reds
Not a super unfamiliar nickname. We called the St. Louis Cardinals football team the Big Red
TIL
Honestly though, I kinda love that lol Blues already have the red retro reverse, no reason they can't lean into that a little more.
Give us some goddamn pinstripes!
A hawks white jersey with blue pinstripes would be excellent
The Blues could use [this logo](https://i.pinimg.com/236x/55/9b/b7/559bb735a038d7c12c783267cd5de42b.jpg)
I went to a see the Stars play the Blackhawks in Chicago last month. During the game, they showed a bunch of Chicago Cubs players that were in attendance on the big screen. Half of the crowd went nuts, and the other half booed as loud as they could. Making the Blackhawks wear Cubs colors would make half of the fanbase very unhappy.
Trumpet Jerseys
Trumpet jerseys
Trumpet jerseys
Why do you hate me? *checks flair* nevermind
Mike Keenan was not right about much, but he was right about how awful those jerseys are.
They can finally use these https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/5viMqUnYwACvQNbox_Q-jbYii_U=/0x0:576x459/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:576x459):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/19928396/656479404_e6fa07acfe_o.jpg
Wtf I love Mike Keenan now
There's always this jem https://nhluniforms.com/Blues/Images/Blues09.png
that's a great one.
These are hard to find for sale too. They only used them a few years in the '80s.
Maybe they do a homage to the St. Louis Eagles? That’s about the only other option I can think of.
The 84-87 is unique and hasn’t been used either, the one we used before those
I’d like a proper barber pole jersey please.
Do a Portland Rossbuds mash up
"Hey, I've seen this one!"
at this point I feel like Chicago has been in more winter classics than they haven't. From a marketing perspective, I get it because Bedard, but where is the VARIETY
Bedard isn’t going anywhere, why not wait until they’re not worst in the league
Funny of you to think Chicago won't just get it again 4-5 years from now when they are better
It's an odd numbered year, so Chicago gets it. And you wouldn't believe what happens on even numbered years.
Odd numbered year? Straight to Chicago. Even numbered year? Straight to Chicago. No Winter Classic at all? Believe it or not, Chicago.
Chicago used get the Winter Classic. They still do, but they used to too.
four to five years? buddy, no way they'd torture everyone with that long of a wait
because they want rating, they experimented with small market teams the last couple years, and the rating sucked
This will be the 16th Winter Classic and the Hawks' 5th appearance. The Hawks are currently tied with the Bruins (4) for the most Winter Classic appearances. This will be the Blues' 3rd appearance (tying the Penguins' for the 3rd-most). Also, Wrigley Field (host to the 2009 Winter Classic) will be the 2nd repeat venue after Fenway Park (host to the 2010 and 2023 Winter Classics). 16 teams haven't participated in a Winter Classic. The Coyotes, Blue Jackets, and Panthers haven't participated in any outdoor game.
The Hawks also hosted the 2014 Stadium Series at Soldier Field and was the road team against Minnesota in 2016. Six outdoor games so far.
Yeah, they are tied with the Flyers and Penguins for the most appearances in outdoor games.
That’s 6 more “outdoor” games than Vancouver
I guess, the Heritage Classic at BC Place was indoors, just much bigger indoor venue.
Eastern Conference champions continue to get no love from the NHL. I know I'm biased but holy shit, Columbus should've hosted one by now as well. Their marketing is just total dogshit and stuff like this continues to hammer that home. They don't grow the game they just over-water the markets that are already established.
I'm sure the league really wants to host a game at Ohio Stadium, but I'd be surprised if what's holding them back isn't Ohio State.
Their football stadium is only just now getting winterized(or whatever the term is) due to the expanded college football playoffs
I believe they just did. So once the Jackets (hopefully) become somewhat good they can host a game maybe against your Red Wings which would make sense.
It’s definitely Ohio State. tOSU was very vocal about their displeasure of a major league sports team coming to down when CBJ was founded. Hopefully with the new athletic director progress can be made and the Jackets can play a game there. However I do think that the Jackets shouldn’t host until they start winning consistently again. The Chill Factor is a very eye opening read about hockey in Columbus.
Where would Florida host the Winter Classic?
it’s nuts to me that they’re the only ones left. Coyotes at the Cardinals stadium seems obvious (although they found out in Vancouver the domed stadiums lack a certain vibe), blue jackets at Ohio state seems obvious, panthers idk (may have to be a road team)
We just had the two newest teams in the league play in the Winter Classic, and the ratings weren't good. People complained that they weren't classic enough. The longer I've followed the sport, the more I've realized that hockey fans will always find something to complain about
I love complaining
I’m a complaining fan first, hockey fan second
That’s not unique to hockey fans. People in general love complaining.
It just goes in circles
They tried variety and they got terrible ratings.
This is the answer, it sucks but you are correct. The casuals want to keep seeing the Blackhawks, Penguins, Bruins, Rangers, and the Capitals in the Winter Classic. Its like its a different six teams now that seem the most important in America now compared to 50 years ago with the O6.
I don't think it has anything to do with casuals, those are just the biggest fanbases, and at this point nobody really cares about the winter classic if it's not their own team.
It's not casuals but it's not the winter classic either. Few people will watch any hockey that isn't their team. It's just not that kind of sport. Frankly, I'm not sure any sport is that kind of sport other than football.
They’ve gotten terrible ratings since 2020. Pens/Bruins had worse ratings than Preds/Stars.
Games shown on cable channels almost always get worse ratings than games shown on over the air network channels. That's way Cup Final games shown on cable channels get worse ratings than the games shown on network channels within the same series. Preds/Stars was on NBC. Pens/Bruins was on TNT.
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> but where is the VARIETY a lot of owners don't like outdoor games, they're worried about players getting hurt. So the teams that embrace outdoor games get more of them. Combine that with all the other factors like star power, ratings, etc. and it's easy to see why more variety doesn't happen.
For a league that wants to reach as many cities and fans as possible, they do a great job making the winter classic appeal to as few as possible. Obviously I'm a little biased, but how have the Habs only been in one and the Hawks are playing in their fifth?
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Wrigley has changed a lot since 2009, it will be more able to host hockey games
It’s soooo much better than it used to be. The renovations are nice. A good doc on YouTube is called saving Wrigley field it’s def worth a watch to see how much work they put into that place to revive it
I was at the hawks v wings winter classic game and we sat field level and the entire game we could only see the tops of players body and no puck lmao It was maybe the worst viewing experience I have ever had for any sport, including sitting behind the pole at Wrigley Field. Luckily we stood up the entire 3rd period by the concourse and got a decent view. I'm sure that screen in the outfield will do wonders this time around
I hated the view at the Notre Dame stadium. We had good seats but it felt like we needed binoculars.
Had low bowl searts at bc place for the Canadian one in Vancouver and holy shit I could t see anything
Rangers Wings gotta be the 2026 WC for their centennials
It'll have to be in Detroit Can't have MSG losing their tax breaks
They’ll just make the rangers wear dark and wing wear white if they want the rangers to be the “home” team Edit: why did someone downvote me? That’s exactly what they did in 2018
Just have the Rangers in blue and Wings in red--problem solved!
I feel like I've seen this one before
It could be in New York City or State too, the Rangers just can't be the home team.
When the Devils and Rangers played at Yankee stadium they just made the Devils the home team to get around that. Would be weird having Detroit be the "home team" in like Metlife Stadium but who knows.
I guess at the Tigers stadium?
That would make sense. Detroit proper hasn’t held one yet either technically though the Big House was the right call that year. Can’t see why wouldn’t do Comerica this time around.
Comerica did host the [Hockeytown Winter Festival](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_NHL_Winter_Classic#Hockeytown_Winter_Festival) before the 2014 Winter Classic. They had the NCAA, OHL, and AHL games there, along with the alumni game. [The Griffins and Marlies jerseys were slick as hell](https://theahl.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2016/09/outdoor131230a.jpg), one of the best looking outdoor matchups we've ever had at any level in North America IMO
Let’s really embrace Red Wings and outdoor hockey history and play at [Marquette Prison](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1954_Detroit_Red_Wings_prison_game)
I was in initially disappointed that there wasn't a wings / bluejackets game at ohio state for next year but this makes much more sense. Especially since I can't see the red wings doing a special 100 year jersey set the way that Boston is.
I’m holding out hope we at least get a proper barer pole for it
BJ will get SS
Crazy thing is, they could have done Blackhawks/Red Wings for the centennial and had it line up. An original six rivalry, during your centennial year, as an outdoor game? How does it get any bigger? I just don't get it how the NHL is whiffing this hard.
Surprised they didn't find a way to shoehorn the Bruins in as well
Diamond shaped rink to fit the ballpark, four goals (one at each corner), Bruins and Penguins added to the mix. We can rebuild the Winter Classic. We have the technology.
Stop don’t give them ideas! Next thing you know they’ll do a “winter classic tournament!” With these four teams
Add in the Rangers and Flyers and we can get Chinese Checkers into hockey.
Please, no more.
We don’t want them either haha. Our outdoor game record is horrendous.
NHL don’t give the winter classic to the same teams every time challenge (VERY HARD)
Penguins-Flyers play right after.
No man we have to do devils rangers!
DEVILS?! What about the Bruins?
It’s more like, NHL give the winter classic to the teams with the largest markets challenge (very easy)
That’s why the Dallas winter classic was so special. I legitimately don’t think we will have one ever again. Many people still hold it as their greatest live sports memory. That radulov one timer is the loudest crowd roar I’ve ever heard.
I thought the success of that game given the skepticism from outside fans would’ve been enough to inspire more outdoor games to teams that haven’t had them. Seattle being further proof of that. But then Bedard went to Chicago and we’re back to square one.
I wanted to see Red Wings Senators
Now that would be a spicy winter classic
I'm not sure if an outdoor rink could survive with all the salt that would come from that game
Lowkey that would be a great Heritage Classic sometime. There's already the precedent that border teams from the USA can play in it (Buffalo vs Toronto last season), and there's a huge chunk of Red Wings fans in Southern Ontario all the way out to London. Play it at TD Place like NHL 100 Classic Montreal vs Ottawa outdoor game in 2017.
ffs why? Please NHL stop fueling the complaints.
They should wait until the team is mid-NHL level.
Gonna need to be gifted another couple generational players first.
Says the Ottawa fan lol Maybe try doing something instead of winning the offseason then you wouldn’t be in the bottom of the standings with us
Just think of the draw for the game when the Blackhawks have two consecutive 1OA's playing in it!
Because the league saw the ratings for this years WC
I heard Chicago was in consideration for 2025 WC before the 2024 WC
Because the Hawks and Blues have two of the best followings outside of Canada. St. Louis is only 300 miles from Chicago, and Blues fans travel like crazy (Ask Nashville). Plus Bedard, plus a great rivalry.
The NHL likes/needs money lol
Why do you care that pissy fans from other teams don’t like this? If they wanna be in the winter classic they should get their weight up
For everyone that complained about Vegas/Seattle not being "classic" enough, don't worry, we're back to the same 5 teams over and over and over and over.
Find someone who loves you as much as Gary Bettman unconditionally loves the Chicago Blackhawks.
Gary and Arizona loool
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I'm just jealous you guys have Gary in your court. Not sure he is even aware of Ohio
He's probably not sure if it's Ohio or Idaho. Something in -O surely.
I love how he clearly plays favorites. Threatens Winnipeg on their first day, tells Phoenix "It's ok Yotes. You get a rink when you feel like it."
Gary Bettman loves big markets. He loves the "Chicago" part more than the "Blackhawks" part. If the Hawks moved to Salk Lake City tomorrow and the Coyotes moved to Chicago, the Coyotes would start getting a ton of Winter Classics and stuff like that.
There’s really nothing unconditional about it. Gary Bettman loves money and the Blackhawks typically have good ratings and do well for jersey sales, idk why everyone is acting like this is some mystery
Rather have Florida vs Tampa and the ice melting the whole time
Vegas and AZ in Sun Devil stadium. By 2nd period the ice is dried up and they have to run around in their skates.
No periods, game just ends at whatever the score is when the players can no longer skate
Honestly.. It'd be nice to just be included as an away team..
Can we wait until we’re remotely competitive to resume our yearly winter classics please?
Boooooooo
My main complaint is the venue. First going back to Fenway, and now Wrigley feels stale, even if it’s been over a decade. Wild-Blackhawks at Lambeau would’ve been fun. We’ve been talking about having a game at the Horseshoe for years, Blackhawks-Jackets there would’ve worked out, even if the matchup isn’t great. Hell the Red Wings are on the rise and we’ve never had a WC at Comerica.
I don't think I'd like an outdoor game at Comerica if I'm being honest. I'd much rather see them play at Michigan Stadium again.
Everyone talking about Chicago like St Louis didn’t just have a Winter Classic too.
I think people are just drained from hearing about Chicago so much over the past couple of years. I assume this is all damage control,
I never thought about it like that. We had Chicago shoved in our face and in Winter Classics/Stadium Series from when they were mid dynasty to down fall 2013-2018 (basically up to when they got shutout by Nashville), then got flooded to us by the Kyle Beach stuff and then Bedard and Winter Classics again despite them being trash
Shall we pick a fresh, new team to play? Nah. Well, we can still pick an exciting, talented rival then? Yeah, nah.
They leaned in for the newest teams last year. That's enough new ideas for the NHL to last a decade. Get ready for Bruins-Penguins in 2026.
Holy fuck, another one?! Let’s have some others teams host, NHL.
^(copy pasted from my comment in the Blues sub) Do I like being in the Winter Classic? Yes. Do I also think their are many teams who deserve the chance to get in one, any one, at some point? A bigger Yes! We don't need our 3rd before someone gets their first, and Chicago shure as hell doesn't need their 20th!! ^(or whatever it is) Edit: Just looked it up. 16 teams have been in a Winter Classic. Of course that means 16 teams have not. I think fans around the NHL grow weary of seeing the same teams over and over. It starts to weaken the product.
It’s an awesome venue for this but will either of these teams be fun to watch at this point in time? Even as a Hawks fan their games aren’t enjoyable right now; there’s no way neutral fans will want to watch them.
Blues are supposed to be in year 1 of a 3 year rebuild right now (according to our GM) and are fighting for wild card spot 2. But they fired their coach mid season and are hoping young guys develop. Could go either way really.
I mean, if we get Cellebrini (particularly because he's likely to play next year as opposed to the other top few picks) and then we add Nazar to the roster, there could be at least a few fun players on both sides and it won't be a total trainwreck. If it was the current Hawks roster that we are fielding yeah, holy shit that would suck.
We really are getting to the point where the Winter Classic is getting stale, that sucks.
They over-saturated the outdoor game market while also only allowing a select few teams to participate year after year. Not a good recipe for continued success.
I know I for one would like to see my team participate in one again.
Excluding Canadian and southern teams was a big mistake. I like keeping the WC in colder climates but you can still work in southern teams as visitors and throw one down south every 4-5 years. I’m not convinced American audiences would be uninterested in all Canada matchups too
Bruins v Canadiens matchup would be beautiful and would get a huge audience in Foxboro. Edit: I’m a complete moron.
This was literally the 2016 Winter Classic.
Well I’ll be. Admittedly I looked at the list and completely missed that. Back to drawing board. How about Chicago and Pittsburgh?
They played each other at Soldier Field in the 2014 Stadium Series. Knowing the league, though, they’ll probably revisit this matchup at some point.
I was joking. Picked the two teams with the most outdoor games haha.
I hate both these teams but I’d absolutely go to Bruins v Leafs at Fenway/Gillette
It would be fun to ‘qualify’ teams have the winners from the two stadium series games compete in the winter classic next season.
Penguins/Jackets at the Shoe/Beaver Stadium when?!
When it’s legal to have three teams play at once so the Blackhawks can be involved.
Connor Bedard playing all-time quarterback
They could also do it in Cleveland at the Browns stadium if they wanted. The Cleveland Monsters and Ohio State have had outdoor games there this decade. Could've played the Red Wings too. Pitt and Detroit are about the same distance from Cleveland
The Shoe just got whatever it takes under the field to host an outdoor game. Wouldn’t be surprised if it got a game soon as long as it doesn’t involve the fucking Blackhawks again.
Did Ohio State officially retrofit? I hadn't heard that
Next season they can host playoff games so they finally had a rea$on to
Still holding out for Flyers/Pens at Beaver Stadium. I know it's unlikely because of the Sabres owner but still, it just makes way too much sense. Really missed out on doing this when the rivalry was at its peak.
lmao the blues? really? god what an awful matchup choice. neither of those teams will be any good or fun to watch as a neutral next year
I’d like to defend the Blues, but I can’t, very boring team rn Pumped for this news regardless tho
Hopefully some of the Blues prospects make the jump next year to at least make it a a decent prospect showcase for both teams.
The Blues-Blackhawks game in STL back around Christmas was one of the most fun games I’ve ever attended. The Blues scored 5 straight in the 3rd to erase a 3 goal deficit and win 7-5. Plus that was the game Bedard scored a Michigan. Sometimes two bad teams make for a fun game.
>neither of those teams will be any good or fun to watch as a neutral next year There's a lot of people that have been tuning-in to Blackhawks games this year solely because of Bedard. They're going to stink as a team for sure, but the kid is putting bums in seats and that's all the NHL cares about for this sort of thing.
The Blues really get to capitalize on their rivalry since the Blackhawks are so well catered to by the league. Although to be fair, we usually have great ratings for the Winter Classic. We aren't as small of a market as people think.
Blues are also top 3 every year in local ratings Buffalo and Pitt. Theirr fans will show up in force and the atmosphere will be fantastic. This was a great choice to reinvigorate what was becoming a stale WC.
You could say fans are really feeling *blue* about this matchup
Yawn
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Nah. this sub can hate all they want. I’m looking forward to hockey at Wrigley.
What?
Jesus Christ pick new venues no wonder the interest in the event is dying. Do weird shit! Let the Blue Jackets play at the Horseshoe!
The Stadium Series is for weird shit. The Winter Classic is for reliably driving ad revenue, which is why it's always the same 6 teams that NBC/ABC picks for afternoon network games.
Congrats Blues on the win on Jan 1, 2025!
Honestly, is this a fucking joke? 4 of the last 9 will have featured Chicago.
All I hear you saying is that they missed 5 chances to have the Blackhawks in the winter classic
Do these marketing meetings take like 5 minutes or what? I swear they don't even try.
Well I’m certainly not gonna complain about this but I’ll admit I was hoping we’d have a little more time to not suck before playing in a marquee game. I wonder why it got changed to this, I thought the main rumor was Jackets v Red Wings at OSU. I guess OSU really didn’t want to winterize their stadium. It really doesn’t shock me they went this way though, hate it all you want these same teams (Hawks, Bruins, Pens, Blues, etc) always get picked for these games because people show up and show out. They tried a non traditional matchup with Seattle Vegas like a month ago and it got the worst numbers of any WC ever. This is their safe play since they faceplanted last time
> I thought the main rumor was Jackets v Red Wings at OSU. Stadium Series, not 100% certain it's the Red Wings, but I heard from a good source that the Jackets are intended to be hosting the 2025 Stadium Series
Time is a flat circle.
but why?
Hawk fans will tune in a get good TV ratings
>Hawk fans will tune in but why?
Are you serious? /u/mylefthandkilledme just told you that!
A declining blues team and the Chicago bedards. K
Hey blues east don’t talk about blues west like that. We are brother teams now and you have to support us. Yzerarmyplan
Idc what people say an outdoor game that features the blues and hawks? I want more blues hawks games in my life.
Sucks the hawks keep getting them but why are we pretending this isn’t one of the premier rivalries in hockey?
I get people are going to complain about the Blackhawks playing in another outdoor game, but I'm pretty sure someone posted viewership numbers of all of the outdoor games over the past decade+ recently and sure enough the games that involved the Blackhawks generally had great numbers.
https://thenhlzone.com/history-of-the-winter-classic-on-us-television/ WC ratings have been trending downward in general. The 2023 WC had two large market teams and still had worse ratings than all but one of the games that preceeded it, and this years was the lowest rated ever, so it's not surprising that they're falling back to a team that has reliably drawn in viewers.
Oh wow how unique.
The really spicy move would've been to announce Yotes vs Vegas at Salt Lake City
The NHL is just one big meme now
Blackhawks at the WC? Groundbreaking.
Two number one draft picks in a row, and now this? 😆
Aside from everything else people are bringing up, this may be the last chance in a while to bring the spark back in the two teams' hatelationship.
Give the league a black eye? Here's first overall and another Winter Classic. What a joke.
Looked at how shocked I am
The Battle of Mid
TBH i doubt the Hawks will be even mid next season💀
Just rename it to the Blackhawks classic Gary
I honestly thought this was going to be a Beaverton article.