DALLAS — The Blues and Blackhawks will play in the Winter Classic, and then you can ring in the new year.
The NHL announced Wednesday afternoon that next season’s Winter Classic at Wrigley Field between St. Louis and Chicago will be played at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 31. It will be the first Winter Classic held in December.
Each of the previous 15 events were held in January, with 12 on Jan. 1 and three on Jan. 2. When the Blues hosted the Blackhawks at Busch Stadium in 2017, it was on Jan. 2.
The New Year’s Eve date and time helps the NHL avoid conflicts with the newly expanded College Football Playoff. There is one quarterfinal at 7 p.m. Dec. 31, followed by three more Jan. 1.
In February, the NHL announced the venue and teams for the Winter Classic but waited until Wednesday to announce the date and time.
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It will be the Blues’ third appearance in the Winter Classic, following 2017’s game against the Blackhawks and 2022’s in Minnesota against the Wild. Chicago will be playing in its fifth Winter Classic and second at Wrigley Field.
In 2009, Wrigley Field hosted the second-ever Winter Classic, between Detroit and Chicago.
The Blues announced season ticket holders on “multi-year deals for the 2024-25 season will receive priority access to purchase tickets.†Additionally, fans can enter to win the tickets through .
Iron men
Seven Blues players did not miss a game the entire season, the most players in franchise history to play 82 games. The previous high was four players, last done in 2008-09.
Robert Thomas, Jordan Kyrou, Brayden Schenn, Brandon Saad, Nick Leddy, Colton Parayko and Alexey Toropchenko appeared in every game this season. Schenn is the only Blue to appear in every game across the past two seasons.
“Need some luck on your side, and fortunate to be one of a few guys on this team to play 82,†Schenn said. “A lot of daily maintenance and routines that go into it, and you need some bounces to go your way to play all 82. There’s bumps and bruises along the way, and just lucky to be back-to-back years of 82 games.â€
Until the last two weeks, the Blues had two more players on track to play all 82. Jake Neighbours missed the last five games of the season with an upper-body injury suffered in San Jose. Kevin Hayes was scratched three times down the stretch.
“A lot of these guys have probably played through injury, you just don’t hear about it,†Blues interim coach Drew Bannister said. “They’re able to fight their way through it. Certainly, we had a lot of guys fighting their way through injury when we were playing a lot meaningful games and keeping us in that hunt right to the end.â€
This season, the Blues have been one of the healthiest teams in the league and had just three man-games lost in the fall of 2023. They once went 31 consecutive games with a fully healthy group of players to choose from.
The last three games of the season were the only ones in which the Blues were without four players due to injury. In total, they had 57 man-games lost across the entire season.
Schenn nominated for King Clancy
For the second straight year, Schenn was the team’s nominee for the King Clancy Memorial Trophy, which is given to the player who “best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in his community.â€
Schenn is active in the community with a variety of causes: Friends of Kids with Cancer, Blues Special Hockey, firefighters, military and visiting children’s hospitals.
“When you’re putting a Blues jersey on like we are, you can brighten up people’s day,†Schenn said. “If we get a chance to do that, you try and do that as much as possible. Every time, win or loss, after a game meeting kids out of the hospital, it just puts the whole thing into perspective where a win or loss isn’t really that big a deal in the grand scheme of things. You just try and help people as much as you can.â€
On Wednesday, Schenn finished his first season as Blues captain.
Only one Blues player has ever won the King Clancy Trophy: Kelly Chase in 1997-98.