On January 1, 2008, the puck dropped on an NHL hockey game played outdoors in the snow globe setting of Ralph Wilson Stadium in Buffalo, New York. The tradition that is the NHL Winter Classic was born.

As snow swirled, dusting the ice surface on that wintry Tuesday, Sidney Crosby weaved his way through the white stuff from center ice and scored the shootout winner for the Pittsburgh Penguins, deking Sabres’ goalie Ryan Miller and slipping the forehand shot through his pads. (Yes, this really happened; no, it wasn’t scripted by Hallmark.)

A year later, the NHL chose Chicago’s iconic Wrigley Field as its venue for the second Winter Classic, with the Blackhawks hosting the Detroit Red Wings. Again, it was the visitors spoiling the idyllic moment for the home side; defenseman Brian Rafalski scored the third-period power play winner in a 6-4 win for Detroit.

Fast forward to this afternoon, and Wrigley Field will again host the NHL’s showcase event, this time with the Blackhawks and 2024 Calder Trophy winner Connor Bedard hosting Jordan Kyrou and the St. Louis Blues in a rematch of the 2017 game played at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.

It’s also a matchup of old school Blackhawks super-fan, actor Vince Vaughn and Jon Hamm, who is never among the mad men when he gets to watch his beloved Blues.

Hamm was recently asked about his cherished hockey team and his weathered, nearly 30-year-old music note logoed hat while appearing as a guest on “TNT on NHL.”

“It’s got a few miles on the odometer but it has brought us a little bit of luck,” Hamm said of the tattered, formerly blue-colored lid that now appears “greasy gray.”

“It’s been doused with Bud Light from the Stanley Cup and it’s had a couple good nights out,” he said with a smile. St. Louis won the title in 2019.

Only Fenway Park in Boston has hosted more than one Classic; with today’s game at Wrigley, it’s fitting that two of the most historic venues in North America will have now earned the honor. This edition of the Winter Classic is also the first to be scheduled on New Year’s Eve.

Faceoff for today’s game is set for 5 p.m. ET on TNT, truTV, and Max, with coverage on the Warner Bros. Discovery networks beginning at 3 p.m. ET.

TNT is also planning to host “Barnburner,” a fan experience for game ticket holders, on Gallagher Way near the stadium, featuring multi-platinum singer and songwriter Jon Pardi.

TNT is a division of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), which owns CNN.

Fans events at “Barnburner” will include a fastest slap shot competition and a shooting competition involving pizza slices into a pizza box. Surely, the slices will be Chicago-style.

TNT’s Wayne Gretzky, Paul Bissonnette, Anson Carter and Liam McHugh will broadcast pregame and postgame coverage live from The SAP Stage at “Barnburner.”

When the home side takes the ice at Wrigley for the game, it will mark the franchise’s fifth appearance in the event, making it the leader in games played. Unfortunately for Windy City fans, Chicago is still winless, and the team’s four losses are the most in the Classic’s history.

Maybe the entertainment planned for this year’s game - headlined by Chicago’s own Chance the Rapper and The Smashing Pumpkins, who formed as a band in Chicago - will give the Blackhawks the impetus for their first-ever win. History isn’t in the home team’s favor, though; it’s been the visiting team winning nine of the 15 games played to date.

As it was in the first Classic at Wrigley Field 16 years ago, the actual configuration of the rink for this matchup will be laid out from first base to third, but it’s been moved more onto the field so that the center-ice dot will be located right around where second base would be. Fans will also appreciate the two massive video boards now on site in left field and right field to help them watch the games. Those boards had not yet been constructed in 2009.

And this time at Wrigley, the hockey won’t stop when the Blues and Blackhawks are done battling; three Big Ten men’s games and a WCHA women’s game are scheduled to be played on the outdoor rink on January 3 and 4.

The post-Winter Classic use of the famed landmark has former Blackhawks star defenseman Chris Chelios feeling proud about the expanded use for a college hockey showcase.

“People come from all over the country, the world, to see the setting of Wrigley Field and the beauty of it and it’s special,” Chelios told NHL.com. “There’s no other venue in the world like it. I grew up a Chicago kid, so for me this means even more [with] the Big Ten.”

Surely, you won’t find avid hockey fans complaining about more outdoor hockey. The games may be cold, but they’re not getting old, at least so far.

Whether it’s the NHL’s Winter Classic, its annual Stadium Series (this season featuring the Columbus Blue Jackets hosting the Detroit Red Wings in The Horseshoe at Ohio State on March 1, 2025), the Heritage Classic (a series of occasional regular-season outdoor games featuring Canadian teams that had its start in 2003) or college matchups, the league’s decision to take it outside has resonated.

With apologies to Shakespeare and Steinbeck, these outdoor games for hockey fans just keep adding to The Winters of Our Content.

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