The Hottest Ticket in Town May be the Coldest

The city is abuzz about the possibility of a Chicago cross-town world series. But in our office the biggest sporting event occurring in Wrigley Field won’t happen until January 2009. On New Year’s Day, my beloved Blackhawks will battle the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Detroit Redwings in the NHL 2009 Winter Classic. I say “my beloved Blackhawks” because this sentiment is not shared by all in the office. In fact, I’m woefully outnumbered by Redwings fans 3 to 1. The only way I survived all the Stanley Cup gloating was by reminding them of the one game we attended together where the Hawks beat the Redwings 6 t o 2.

NHL 2009 Winter Classic in Wrigley Field

The January 1st game will be just the second winter classic ever, after the Sabres vs. Penguin match-up last year in Buffalo. Hopefully, it will go a little more smoothly this time. For the 2008 game, the ice was choppy, the bounces were unpredictable and the rink turned into a glorified pond. And the fans loved every imperfect minute of it.