Drafting a generational talent appears to have put the Blackhawks back on the league radar.
According to the report below from Ben Pope of the Sun-Times, the Blackhawks will host the St. Louis Blues at Wrigley Field for next year’s Winter Classic:
There’s no need for a deep discussion here on why the Blackhawks are going to be hosting this game again because the tweet below from ESPN’s Greg Wyshyhski explains it all, detailing the low ratings for the 2024 Winter Classic while also pointing out what was the most-watched NHL game this season:
The one disappointing part here is that the Blackhawks don’t seem to have any intention of being too good of a team by next season, so the quality of hockey in this matchup may not be so great. It’ll be miles from that 2009 Winter Classic when an upstart Blackhawks side faced its oldest rivals in the Detroit Red Wings, who were the defending Stanley Cup champions at that time and would finish that season playing for another one.