Welcome to ASFN Fan Forums! We're glad to have you here. Please feel free to browse the forum. We'd like to invite you to join our community; doing so will enable you to view additional forums and post with our other members.
Registered Members don't see these ads. Register now it's free!
In what is fast becoming the worst-kept secret in hockey, an official announcement appears imminent that the Chicago Blackhawks will play host to the Detroit Red Wings at Wrigley Field on Jan. 1 in the second Winter Classic.
A Blackhawks source told the Chicago Tribune in June that the team was confident it would be awarded the outdoor game, and late Sunday, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported that the matchup and venue were approved last week when NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman met with the Blackhawks, Cubs and Mayor Richard Daley. Hawks officials couldn't confirm the decision has been made.
"We're hopeful it happens, but that has to come out of the league office," Hawks General Manager Dale Tallon said Monday.
The league had hoped to hold the Winter Classic, which would be the third NHL game played outdoors, in Yankee Stadium as the venue's final event, but myriad logistical problems prevented it.
The Red Wings were initially reluctant to play the game in Chicago on New Year's Day because the team traditionally has a home game Dec. 31 and it would also like to host an outdoor game.
The first Winter Classic drew a league-record 71,217 to Buffalo's Ralph Wilson Stadium to watch the Pittsburgh Penguins defeat the Buffalo Sabres 2-1 in a shootout Jan. 1. Edmonton played Montreal in 2003 in the Heritage Classic.
CHICAGO - Wrigley Field is going to be the frozen confines on New Year's Day 2009 when the defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings meet the Chicago Blackhawks outdoors in the home park of the Chicago Cubs.
It will be the NHL's second Winter Classic. Last year in Buffalo, the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Buffalo Sabres before a crowd of 71,217.
"We expect interest to be on an international level for this once in a lifetime event," Blackhawks chairman Rocky Wirtz said.
The game will be televised nationally on NBC.
Linear Mode
