The ball was dropped on the NHL's experiment to stage the Winter Classic on New Year's Eve. Tuesday's game between the St. Louis Blues and the Chicago Blackhawks in the open air at Wrigley Field garnered the worst viewership ratings in the 17-year history of the annual event,

After having the worst ratings in the history of the NHL’s Winter Classic, something’s got to change for the NHL.

The Winter Classic has been a long-standing tradition in hockey, but the 2025 NHL Winter Classic at Wrigley Field will be the first time the game is set to be played on New Year’s Eve.

Will Bundesliga stadiums host the NHL Winter Classic in the future? A report by Sportsnet suggests that it might be possible.

Classic is an annual hockey game that has taken place since 2008. Learn more about its history, all-time results and other stats now.

St. Louis Blues at Chicago Blackhawks (5 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS)

But of the 41 outdoor games the NHL has put on since the 2003 Heritage Classic in Edmonton, the ones NHL president of content and events Steve Mayer — the mad scientist behind the games — gets asked about are the ones nobody could attend: Golden Knights – Avalanche and Flyers -Bruins at Lake Tahoe during the Covid-19 pandemic in February 2021.

Wrigley Field also hosted the 2009 edition of the event, which was won by the Detroit Red Wings in one of the wildest games the annual tradition has produced.

This year's NHL Winter Classic was an absolute dud, recycling two teams (the Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues) that have already played in multiple outdoor games in a venue (Wrigley Field) that has already been used.

The New Year’s Eve matchup drew fewer than one million viewers. The post NHL Shouldn’t Panic About Worst-Ever Winter Classic Ratings appeared first on Front Office Sports.