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Walkin’ in a Winter Wonderland: Blackhawks vs. Blues Winter Classic Preview

Posted on by Dave Melton
Credit: Daniel Bartel-Imagn Images

What once seemed like an annual rite of passage for the Blackhawks has returned after a six-year hiatus, with Chicago heading up to the north side of the city to face the St. Louis Blues at Wrigley Field for the 2025 Winter Classic.

The Blackhawks are 0-3 in these games, most recently losing to the Boston Bruins at Notre Dame Stadium on the first day of 2019. One of the teams to beat Chicago in a Winter Classic is this St. Louis side, which has won just three of its last nine games (3-4-2) while sitting in sixth place in the Central Division with 38 points in 38 games, a point-per-game pace that isn’t going to be enough for a postseason appearance. St. Louis has been only slightly better since firing coach Drew Bannister (9-12-1 pre-firing) back in November and bringing in veteran Jim Montgomery, who’s 8-5-3 at the helm of the Blues. Outside of that coaching change, there isn’t a ton which stands out about St. Louis right now. The 5-on-5 numbers are all subpar, the offense isn’t great (2.61 goals per game, 28th in the league) and the defense is more average than good (3.03 goals against per game, t-14th).

There is a fairly young offensive trio leading St. Louis on offense, though, with 26-year-old Jordan Kyrou at 31 points (15 G, 16A) in 38 games, 25-year-old Robert Thomas at 28 (8 G, 20 A) in 26 and 23-year-old Dylan Holloway at 24 (13 G, 11 A) in 38. Holloway came to St. Louis after Edmonton couldn’t match the offer sheet the Blues sent to the restricted free agent last summer, which was the same tactic used to bring in 23-year-old Philip Broberg, who’s the only sign of youth on an otherwise aging blue line that includes Colton Parayko (31), Justin Faulk (32), Cam Fowler (33) and old friend Nick Leddy. It says here that Leddy is 33 now as well but surely that cannot be accurate. He won’t play in this game due to an injury but 39-year-old Ryan Suter will, and let’s just go ahead and draw the connection that if a guy who’ll be 40 in a few weeks is averaging 21:34 of ice time per game this season, there’s a decent chance your blue line isn’t very good.

Having this game played on a baseball field gives St. Louis goalie Jordan Binnington extra space to hurl water bottles in frustration when he gives up yet another soft goal, as his .895 save percentage and 2.93 goals-against average are behind that of backup Joel Hofer’s .905 and 2.75, respectively. Binnington is expected to start in this game, as is old friend Brandon Saad, who was one of two players expected to play on Tuesday that skated during Chicago’s last Winter Classic appearance:

The Blues don’t seem like a very good team right now and those offseason offer sheets are indicative of a team that seemed to recognize its aging roster and is efforting a youth movement as much as it can. How much that coaching change can help expedite things will be something to keep an eye on over the course of the next few seasons, as that wider lens will give a better glimpse of how things are unfolding in St. Louis over the next little while as compared to tighter game-to-game glances.

As for the Blackhawks, Connor Murphy is the other remaining player from the Blackhawks roster this team’s last Winter Classic appearance but he’s obviously still with Chicago for this game. The nearly total overhaul of the roster in the last six years underscores the total rebuild ongoing with this franchise and its slower pace is felt by the lack of buzz this particular game has created around Chicago. A four-game losing streak doesn’t help, of course, and it’d be damn near impossible to recapture the hype heading into the Hawks’ first Winter Classic, when a team on the verge of three Cups in six seasons was facing its biggest rival while said rival was coming down from its own run of dominance in the prior decade-plus. Perhaps this whole process kicks into another gear over the next few seasons and another Winter Classic at a new venue in Chicago results in a bit more interest than this one feels like it’s created in the last 24-48 hours. But a matchup of two teams in the bottom third of the NHL standings is always going to be a tough sell, even if one of those teams has a talent as exciting as Connor Bedard on it.

The Blackhawks took to the Wrigley Field ice on Monday and here’s the expected lineup based on that practice:

Our man on the scene had a few player comments following Monday’s practice. Even if there’s a lack of excitement regarding this game from an exterior perspective, there’s still plenty of anticipation of getting the chance to play hockey outside from inside the locker rooms:

“You feel like you can play forever.” Nick Foligno on the differences in playing (and breathing) in the outdoor air.

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— Eric Gegenheimer (@ericgeg.bsky.social) December 30, 2024 at 11:22 PM

Jason Dickinson said he’d be ready for Tuesday’s forecast of a wintry mix which, as of this writing, was not affecting Tuesday’s scheduled 4 p.m. puck drop.

“Every outdoor game is different.” Jason Dickinson will be ready for whatever weather conditions get thrown his way tomorrow.

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— Eric Gegenheimer (@ericgeg.bsky.social) December 30, 2024 at 11:19 PM

The first few shifts should be fairly indicative of which players take the unique setting of the game to find an extra gear in hopes of making the 60 minutes that follow a more memorable day than most. Early odds here feel like No. 98 may be especially energetic given this being his initial professional game in an outdoor setting.

The Blackhawks hit the ice for afternoon practice.

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— Eric Gegenheimer (@ericgeg.bsky.social) December 30, 2024 at 11:16 PM

And a win over the Blues is always welcome around these parts.

Let’s go Hawks.

Blackhawks — Statistic — Blues
45.23% (31st) — 5-on-5 Corsi For — 47.74% (26th)
45.30% (30th) — 5-on-5 Expected goals for — 47.43% (26th)
2.51 (30th) — Goals per game — 2.61 (28th)
3.32 (t-26th) — Goals against per game — 3.03 (t-14th)
43.7% (31st) — Faceoffs — 48.5% (t-24th)
22.3% (14th) — Power play — 14.9% (28th)
85.5% (3rd) — Penalty kill — 74.5% (27th)
(All stats from this season)

How to watch

When: 4 p.m. CT
Where: Wrigley Field, Chicago
TV: TNT/TruTV
Webstream: MAX
Radio: WGN 720

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