The day has arrived. It is the NHL Winter Classic which will be played at historic Wrigley Field between the visiting St. Louis Blues and hometown Chicago Blackhawks. This game is the big event in town to kick off New Year’s Eve.
These two teams have met up in the Winter Classic once before when the Blues beat the Blackhawks 4-1 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.
Each team extended losing streaks in their final games indoors before the big outdoor event at Wrigley. The Blues come in with a record 17-17-4 while the Hawks are 12-23-2. Despite being the lower-ranked team, the Hawks would love to pull off the upset.
This is what the line combinations project to look like:
Blackhawks
Hall-Bedard-Bertuzzi
Foligno-Dickinson-Donato
Teravainen-Nazar-Mikheyev
Maroon-Reichel-Smith
Allan/Vlasic-Jones
Brodie-Kaiser
Martinez/Murphy-Crevier
Mrazek
Söderblom
It sounds like Craig Smith is going to be good to go for the Winter Classic. However, it is unclear if Alec Martinez is going to play as he is still considered to be day-to-day.
Connor Murphy didn’t practice at Wrigley Field but it is said to be because of maintenance. It seems like he is going to go in the big game.
Connor Bedard centering Taylor Hall and Tyler Bertuzzi is a great way to make sure that the young center has what he needs to show up on the big stage.
Petr Mrazek is going to get the start for Chicago. This is his fifth outdoor game but it will be his third time starting one. After being a great number one on this team for a couple of years now, this is a well-deserved moment.
Blues
Saad-Thomas-Buchnevich
Holloway-Schenn-Kyrou
Neighbours-Sundqvist-Bolduc
Toropchenko-Walker-Texier
Fowler-Parayko
Broberg-Faulk
Suter-Tucker
Binnington
Hofer
Brandon Saad has played in a couple of these as a member of the Blackhawks. Now, he will play against them as a member of the Blues on the top line with Robert Thomas and Pavel Buchnevich.
St. Louis recently made a trade with the Anaheim Ducks to acquire Cam Fowler who has been a great NHL defenseman for a long time. He will skate on their top pair with Colton Parayko. This game will also be the 1000th in the career of Fowler. That’s a great way to celebrate that milestone.
Jordan Binnington will make the start for the Blues. There will also be other good veterans playing in front of him like Justin Faulk and Ryan Suter. It is the type of game that players like this should be able to take in and enjoy while also remembering that there are valuable two points on the line.
How To Watch
Fans in the United States can watch the game on TNT and stream it on MAX. In Canada, the game will be on Sportsnet.
Stats
St. Louis Blues –
2.61 goals per game
3.03 goals against per game
14.9 % power play percentage
74.5 penalty kill percentage
Chicago Blackhawks –
2.51 goals per game
3.32 goals against per game
22.3 power play percentage
85.5 penalty kill percentage
The St. Louis Blues score more per game and give up fewer goals per game but the Hawks have a distinct special teams advantage. If they want to win, they might want to stay out of the box while capitalizing on their power play chances.
The Winter Classic is a special event on the NHL calendar every year. No matter how many times it is done, it never gets old. This one, despite the state of each organization at this time, promises to be just as good as the rest.
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