The 2009 Winter Classic at Wrigley Field possessed a tremendous novelty factor — as just the second edition of the NHL’s premier outdoor event — but the event itself was rather basic aside from the hockey game.
That will not be the case this winter, when the Winter Classic returns to the Cubs’ iconic stadium to host the Blackhawks and Blues on New Year’s Eve.
For one thing, the rink at the “Frozen Confines” won’t be torn down as soon as the NHL game concludes. Instead, it will remain up for a week and host four Big Ten college hockey contests.
On Jan. 3, Notre Dame will face Penn State and Michigan will face Ohio State in a pair of men’s hockey games. On Jan. 4, Wisconsin will face Michigan State in men’s hockey and Wisconsin will face Ohio State in women’s hockey — the latter being a rematch of the last two women’s hockey NCAA Championship games.
Steve Mayer, the NHL’s chief content officer and overseer of outdoor games, estimated Thursday the three days of hockey could bring upwards of 100,000 fans to the venue. The NHL’s ice crew will remain after the Winter Classic and maintain the rink for the Big Ten.
“We’ve gone from the extreme heat to rain to snow, and our ice team is the best,” Mayer said. “We’ve seen it all, we’re ready for it all and Chicago [weather], we do know, can present it all — all in one day. And we’ll be OK with that.”
This will mark the first time Wrigley has hosted college hockey, adding to an expanding list of sports showcased in the iconic stadium — a list ranging “from ski jumping to rodeo, from soccer to boxing,” Cubs business president Crane Kenney said. Northwestern will host two Big Ten football games against Ohio State and Illinois at Wrigley in November, as well.
“We learned [in 2009 that] the ballpark can actually host a winter event,” Kenney said. “The restrooms and concession stands work; our staff can bring people in and out safely. From 2009, we began exercising muscles around things like college football and our ‘Winterland’ [festival]…but bringing back the Winter Classic has always been our goal.”
Hawks fans may be disappointed that Minnesota is the one Big Ten men’s team not participating, since Hawks prospects Oliver Moore and Sam Rinzel will feature prominently on their 2024-25 roster. However, the world junior championships will be taking place at the same time, creating a scheduling conflict for all teams but particularly for Minnesota.
In addition to the college games, the NHL has grand plans for programming and presentation inside and outside Wrigley. The orientation of the rink — from third base to first base, just like in 2009, except pushed slightly further into the outfield — will be essentially the only unchanged aspect.
“Those who attended in 2009 are going to get a completely different experience,” Mayer said. “It’s a big event, so you want to give people that experience that they’ll always remember. The hockey game usually has to be the lead. If it’s not the best game, believe me, people remember that. But we want so many other takeaways.”
Wrigley’s infrastructure and modernity has improved greatly over the last 14 years due to structural renovations, the additions of video boards, the construction of Gallagher Way and more.
The league will take advantage of that to introduce more entertainment and music before and during the game, as well as more staging elements on the field, LED lights and pyrotechnics.
“It’s really important for us, when somebody tunes in and they’re in Utah, they’re in Winnipeg [or] they’re in Europe, that — boom — they know we’re in Chicago,” Mayer added. “[We want] to make sure it’s so obvious that we’re doing a game in Chicago, we’re celebrating Chicago and we’re showing it off to the world.”