The National Hockey League is kicking off the new year with a time-honored tradition: the NHL Winter Classic returns tonight, December 31, at 5pm Eastern Time, with a spirited showdown between Central Division rivals the Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues. The New Year's Eve game continues the annual Winter Classic series, which sees teams play an outdoor ice hockey game — usually at a football or baseball stadium — during the league's regular season at the turn of a new year. This year's proceedings will take place at the iconic Wrigley Field, home to the Chicago Cubs.
Hockey star Connor Bedard — the 19-year-old center who selected first overall by the Blackhawks in the 2023 NHL entry draft — recently talked to CHGO Sports about the excitement of getting to play in the historic Chicago stadium. "For me, it's just about, you know, the cool part, playing outside, playing it regularly here, and getting that different experience. That's what excites me," Bedard said. "It's not really about, you know, maybe more people tuning in. But it's obviously great for us, more people in the crowd. You know, it's gonna be an exciting atmosphere. So that's always fun."
The 2025 NHL Winter Classic marks the return of the Chicago Blackhawks to the sports series after a five-year absence, while the Blackhawks have made four previous appearances in the annual outdoor game. And it's not the first time that the two midwestern teams have gone helmet-to-helmet in a Winter Classic match-up: the Blues beat the Blackhawks in the 2017 game at St. Louis' Busch Stadium. If the St. Louis Blues continue that winning streak tonight, they would share the League record of most Winter Classic wins (three) with the Boston Bruins.
To watch the 2025 NHL Winter Classic on Tuesday, December 31, at 5pm ET, you're going to need access to TNT. (The cable network is one of the two TV homes for the NHL throughout the 2024-2025 NHL season, with NHL on ESPN being the other.) TNT is available on every major cable and satellite pay-TV provider. In addition, live TV streaming services like DirecTV Stream, Hulu with Live TV, Sling TV and YouTube TV all provide live viewing of TNT through at least one of the available subscription packages. The Winter Classic will also be available to simulcast on truTV and stream on Max.
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