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NHL: Red Wings to face Hawks at Wrigley in second 'Classic'

Major League Baseball's Wrigley Field has been chosen to stage an ice hockey game between the Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Blackhawks on New Year's Day, the National Hockey League’s second "Winter Classic" game out of doors.

Last season in Orchard Park, New York, the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Buffalo Sabres 2-1 before a crowd of 71,217 at the home of the National Football League’s Buffalo Bills. Snow fell during the game.

“We expect interest to be on an international level for this once-in-a-lifetime event,” Blackhawks chairman Rocky Wirtz said.

The matchup will be the 701st meeting between the Red Wings and Blackhawks.

It will be the third regular-season outdoor game in NHL history. The Edmonton Oilers hosted the Montreal Canadiens on Nov. 22, 2003.

“The NHL is delighted to bring its most historic rivalry to one of the most historic venues in sports,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said.

Wrigley Field is home to the Chicago Cubs and the second-oldest park in Major League Baseball behind Boston’s Fenway Park.

Wrigley Field opened in 1914. The park hosted two Sting concerts during the MLB All-Star break last year and patches of the outfield grass were torn and roughed up.

Bettman said the league would continue discussions with MLB’s New York Yankees and the city of New York to perhaps bring an outdoor game to the new Yankee Stadium that opens next year.
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