The NHL’s Winter Classic just hit a new low, and fans aren’t happy about it.
St. Louis may have beaten Chicago 6-2 at Wrigley Field, but the real story was everything wrong with this year’s outdoor showcase.
Since 2008, the Winter Classic has been the NHL’s biggest regular-season event. Taking hockey outdoors to iconic stadiums on New Year’s Day was a brilliant idea that turned ordinary mid-season games into must-watch events.
But this year? The league completely dropped the ball.
Let’s start with the obvious – nobody wanted to watch two struggling teams face off. Both the Blues and Blackhawks are having terrible seasons, and everyone knew that going in.
Then there’s Chicago’s outdoor game fatigue. Would you believe this was their seventh outdoor game? And their fourth Winter Classic alone? That’s more than any other team in the league.
“It’s just lazy scheduling,” said one frustrated fan on social media. “There are teams that haven’t played in a single outdoor game yet.”
The Blackhawks haven’t even been good lately. Besides their exciting young star Connor Bedard, they’ve been one of the NHL’s worst teams since 2016. Yet here they are, back in the spotlight again.
Making things worse, this wasn’t even an original matchup. We’ve seen Blues-Blackhawks in the Winter Classic before. We’ve even seen a game at Wrigley Field before. What happened to showcasing new teams and exciting venues?
But here’s the real head-scratcher: The NHL buried its own showcase event.
For years, the Winter Classic owned New Year’s Day. Sure, it had to compete with college football, but it was the NHL’s special day. This year? They moved it to New Year’s Eve and scheduled 12 other NHL games at the same time.
The league barely promoted it. They didn’t try anything new. They just went with the safe, boring choice.
There’s still plenty of potential for outdoor hockey. Fans love these special games when they’re done right. There are countless exciting venues and matchups we haven’t seen yet.
Instead, we got recycled teams, a recycled stadium, and a game that felt more like an obligation than a celebration.
The NHL can do better. Its fans deserve better.
