The Winter Classic will return 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 proved to be a massive draw, making the league and TV partner TNT motivated to get him on the biggest possible stage.
The Winter Classic this season — a Kraken victory against the Golden Knights on Jan. 1 at T-Mobile Park in Seattle — drew lower TV ratings than Bedard’s NHL debut on Oct. 10, marking the first time since its inception in 2008 that it hasn’t been the most-watched game of the regular season.
‘‘My last outdoor-game memory was playing outdoor hockey when I was a kid, so it’s an exciting opportunity,’’ Hawks coach Luke Richardson said.
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 make the news official Wednesday.
The Hawks previously hosted the Red Wings at Wrigley Field in 2009, visited the Capitals at Nationals Park in Washington in 2015, visited the Blues at Busch Stadium in St. Louis in 2017 and hosted the Bruins at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana, in 2019. They lost all four games.
They also have participated in two other outdoor Stadium Series events, hosting the Penguins at Soldier Field in 2014 (their only outdoor victory) and visiting the Wild at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis in 2016.
The Hawks’ roster will look a lot different next winter than it does now, but they still will be a very young team and most likely not yet a playoff contender, so they might be hard-pressed to snap their Winter Classic losing streak.
Meanwhile, there’s a reason Wrigley Field was chosen to host the second Winter Classic in 2009. It’s one of the most iconic venues across all sports in North America, and a hockey rink constructed across the infield makes for a beautiful scene.
Wrigley will become the second location to host multiple Winter Classics, following Fenway Park in Boston (2010 and 2023). The extensive renovations to and modernization of Wrigley and the surrounding area during the last 15 years should make the fan experience better this time around.
Hawks forward Jason Dickinson, who played for the Stars in the 2020 Winter Classic at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, said he was excited to see the news pop up on his phone Tuesday morning.
‘‘You feel like a kid again playing hockey,’’ Dickinson said. ‘‘It’s just a whole different feel. It’s unbelievable. I can’t really describe it to the guys, the opportunity that’s there.’’
The unpredictability of the weather is always a concern with outdoor games, but the NHL has managed to adapt to all types of climates in the past, as Dickinson learned.
‘‘The day-before practice [in 2020], the ice was garbage,’’ he explained. ‘‘All of us were worried, [thinking]: ‘This is going to be a very simple game. You’ll just chip and chase.’ That next day, the ice was crisp. It was perfect. There was nothing to complain about. So you didn’t have to make adjustments; you could play it as if it was any other game.
‘‘The problem is, when it gets really sunny and humid, the ice gets sticky and doesn’t slide the same, so you do have to be a little more cautious at times. But we’ve got some great ice-makers in the league.’’
