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2025 NHL Winter Classic Chicago
The first NHL outdoor game on New Year’s Eve will pit Connor Bedard and the host Blackhawks against Brayden Schenn and the rival Blues at Wrigley Field in Chicago, with puck drop slated or 5 p.m. ET on TNT, MAX, truTV, Sportsnet and TVA Sports.
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NHL WINTER CLASSIC PREVIEW DECEMBER 31, 2024

BLACKHAWKS, BLUES BEGIN NEW YEAR’S EVE COUNTDOWN WITH WINTER CLASSIC

The Blackhawks and Blues lead the New Year’s Eve countdown by starting the celebration early by squaring off outdoors in the Discover NHL Winter Classic at the iconic home of the MLB’s Chicago Cubs, Wrigley Field. The 42nd regular-season outdoor game in League history, and first-ever Winter Classic rematch, will be available on TNT, MAX and truTV in the United States as well as Sportsnet and TVA Sports in Canada.

  • Connor Bedard leads the Blackhawks into their seventh regular-season outdoor game – the most by one team in NHL history and one more than the next closest (PIT & PHI, both w/ 6 GP). The 19-year-old (32-61—93 in 105 GP) has found the score sheet in four straight games and sits one point shy of tying Patrick Kane (29-65—94 in 99 GP) for the second-most career points by a Blackhawks teenager.
  • Bedard owns the second-longest point streak by a teenager entering any outdoor game, behind only Auston Matthews’ five-game stretch ahead of the 2017 Centennial Classic with the Maple Leafs (4-3—7 in 5 GP). He would go on to score twice, which included the overtime winner with 80 seconds remaining in the extra frame.
  • St. Louis is 2-0-0 in their previous two outdoor game appearances to date after first defeating Chicago at the 2017 Winter Classic and then Minnesota at the 2022 Winter Classic – an event that watched Jordan Kyrou (2-2—4) set an NHL record for most points in an outdoor game. The Blues can join the Rangers (5-0-0 from Jan. 2, 2012 – present) and Capitals (3-0-0 from Jan. 1, 2011 – March 3, 2018) as the third franchise to win each of its first three or more appearances in an outdoor game.

NHL in ASL, an alternate telecast dedicated completely to the Deaf community using American Sign Language (ASL), returns for the Discover NHL Winter Classic, airing exclusively in the U.S. on MAX and Sportsnet+ in Canada. Intermission guests will include Kevin Delaney, President of American Hearing Impaired Hockey Association (AHIHA), and David McGregor, a Deaf hockey referee with over 1,700 games officiated.

Road To The Winter Classic finale premieres today

The final episode of the four-part docuseries “Road To The Discover NHL Winter Classic presented by Enterprise” chronicling the Blackhawks and Blues leading up to the Discover NHL Winter Classic premieres today (3:30 p.m. ET on TNT in the U.S. & 4:30 p.m. ET on Sportsnet in Canada). Cameras visit the pediatric floor of Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, a not-for-profit physical medicine and rehabilitation research hospital in Chicago, as Pat Maroon and his teammates encourage nine-year-old Cameron Baugh, while newly acquired Cam Fowler is adjusting to life in St. Louis after starting his career in Anaheim in 2010-11.

HOME TEAMS SWEEP SECOND-LAST DAY OF 2024

The Jets, Panthers and Kraken all won at home Monday – three of the 1,415 games played since New Year’s Day 2024 (including playoffs) – with two of those clubs contesting their last game of 2024. Winnipeg will aim to add to its League-leading regular-season win total (both in 2024-25 and in the calendar year) during today’s 13-game slate.

  • Connor Hellebuyck’s list of 2024 achievement grew ever longer Monday as the reigning Vezina Trophy and William M. Jennings Trophy winner extended his point streak to 10 games (9-0-1) and winning streak to six games to lift the Jets (27-10-1, 55 points) back into first place in the NHL standings, supplanting the idle Golden Knights (25-8-3, 53 points). Hellebuyck did so via his League-leading fifth shutout of 2024-25 and ninth since Jan. 1, 2024 – the most ever by a U.S.-born goaltender in a calendar year and most by any netminder in one year since 2015. Hellebuyck became the first netminder in NHL history with three winning streaks of six-plus games before New Year’s Day – with more than half to season to add to his totals.
  • The Panthers overcame a pair of tying goals by the Rangers to secure their 69th win of the calendar year (including playoffs), a franchise record and among the highest totals by any club over the past 39 years.
  • After sparking a three-goal comeback victory Saturday, Jaden Schwartz (1-2—3) again ignited the Kraken by netting the go-ahead, game-winning goal in the third period to help his team win its first-ever showdown with the Utah Hockey Club. Schwartz helped Seattle stage its 10th comeback win of the season and second in a row – the third time in 2024-25 they’ve rallied to win consecutive contests (also Oct. 10-19 and Nov. 8-12). The Kraken have never claimed three straight wins, all via comeback.

NHL SET TO RING IN THE NEW YEAR WITH 11 HOURS OF ACTION

With the Discover NHL Winter Classic serving as the focal point on the final day of 2024, a 13-game slate in the NHL will provide 11 hours of continuous action as part of the New Year’s Eve countdown, beginning at 12:30 p.m. ET on Sportsnet when Alex Ovechkin continues The Gr8 Chase in his first home game in nearly seven weeks.

Stars Fined $100,000 for Violating Collective Bargaining Agreement

The National Hockey League announced today that it has fined the Dallas Stars’ organization $100,000 for the team’s practice on Dec. 26, 2024. This team activity was in violation of Article 16.5(b) of the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NHL and the NHL Players’ Association. The fine money goes to the NHL Foundation.

Blackhawks’ Maroon Fined for Elbowing

Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Maroon has been fined $3,385.42, the maximum allowable under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, for elbowing Dallas Stars forward Mavrik Bourque during NHL Game No. 577 in Chicago on Sunday, Dec. 29. The incident occurred at 15:37 of the third period. Maroon was assessed a minor penalty for roughing. The money goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.

Flyers’ Michkov Fined for High-Sticking

Philadelphia Flyers forward Matvei Michkov has been fined $2,473.96, the maximum allowable under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, for high-sticking Los Angeles Kings forward Quinton Byfield during NHL Game No. 585 in Los Angeles on Sunday, Dec. 29. The incident occurred at 11:35 of the third period. Michkov was assessed a minor penalty for high-sticking. The money goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.

RED WINGS SIGN ONDŘEJ BECHER TO THREE-YEAR, ENTRY-LEVEL CONTRACT

Ondřej Becher, 20, has recorded three points (1-2-3) and six penalty minutes in 19 games with the American Hockey League’s Grand Rapids Griffins to begin the 2024-25 season. The 6-foot-1, 190-pound forward spent the entire 2023-24 campaign with the Western Hockey League’s Prince George Cougars and ranked among the team leaders with 32 goals (4th), 64 assists (2nd), 96 points (4th), a plus-38 rating (4th), 48 penalty minutes (6th), eight power play goals (4th), 29 power play points (4th), four shorthanded goals (T1st) and 166 shots (5th) in 58 regular-season games. Becher also tallied 19 points (5-14-19) and 14 penalty minutes in 15 postseason contests, helping the Cougars reach the Western Conference Final. Selected by the Red Wings in the third round (80th overall) of the 2024 NHL Entry Draft, Becher compiled 134 points (48-86-134), a plus-69 rating and 85 penalty minutes in 121 WHL games with Prince George from 2022-24.

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Guest Writer