Report: Blackhawks to host 2025 Winter Classic

The Chicago Blackhawks will host the St. Louis Blues for the 2025 NHL Winter Classic at Chicago's famed Wrigley Field on January 1st, 2025 according to multiple online sources.

From Blackhawks insider Ben Pope:

The Winter Classic is returning to Chicago next season.

The Blackhawks will host the NHL’s annual premier outdoor game at Wrigley Field against the Blues in 2024-25, a source told the Sun-Times on Tuesday.

Despite the Hawks’ poor record this season, rookie phenom Connor Bedard’s star power has proven to be a massive television draw, making the league and its TNT television partner motivated to get him on the biggest possible stage.

Next season will mark the Hawks’ third time hosting the Winter Classic and fifth time participating in it, passing the Bruins for the most of any franchise. The NHL is expected to officially announce the news Wednesday.

- Ben Pope

This will be the Blackhawks' 7th outdoor game and their first since the 2019 Winter Classic where they took on the Boston Bruins at Notre Dame Stadium. The team's record is 1-5 in outdoor games but of course they've got a very different roster this time around.

This is the second time that the NHL has returned to Wrigley, with the Blackhawks hosting the Detroit Red Wings at the home of the MLB's Chicago Cubs in the second ever Winter Classic back in 2009. It's one of the most iconic venues in all of sports and set up beautifully for sight lines with a hockey rink smack in the middle of it all. Boston's Fenway Park is the only other stadium/arena to host a Winter Classic more than once.