New Year's Day outdoors? That's how Chicagoist usually spends it—but on a Mexican beach. At least until the Rose Bowl kicks off. We're not quite so sure we'd want to spend it outside in Wrigley Field, which could be a little cold. On the other hand, watching two of the "Original Six" NHL teams face off in the open air does sound pretty damn cool. Standing inside temporary baseboards approximating where the rink will sit,......

We'll get to the All-Star lineups in a moment. First, who's stoked at the thought of hockey outside on New Years Day? The Tribune reports that the Black Hawks and Red Wings will face off at Wrigley Field in the follow-up to this year's amazing Penguins-Sabres matchup in Buffalo. It's yet another coup for the Hawks as they quickly climb back to respectability. Club President John McDonough lobbied NHL commissioner Gary Bettman for the game......

The Blackhawks will be playing the Red Wings this January at Wrigley. Exciting! Initially, plans were to have the Blackhawks play a game at Soldier Field, and that could still be a possibility. [Comcast Sports, S-T, original photo by dwward]......

The listed events were chosen by the editors of Chicagoist and brought to you by the 2009 Toyota Corolla. Music Pat McCurdy is one of those people who have been around forever. Seriously. Literally forever. His everyman songs appeal to a wide swathe of the population, which would explain his loooong-running Monday night residency at Beat Kitchen. He's sort of like a cross between Robbie Fulks and Jimmy Buffet, if you can imagine that.......

Cubs third baseman Aramis Remirez finally arrived at Spring Training on Tuesday, but when asked by reporters what he did on his winter vacation, he refused to answer. In fact, he wouldn't even allow for the reporter to finish asking the question. Of course, we all know what he was up to back home this off-season. Last week, the New York Times profiled cockfighting and its popularity in a land known for its prolific export......

Who wants to go ice skating a Soldier Field? We do! We do! A plan for just that is in the works from management company SMG. The Park District supports SMG's bid, which includes an outdoor Blackhawks game at Soldier Field, and the Park District Superintendent Timothy Mitchell says he wants a weeklong rink-ed out skate fest to include a college hockey game and time for "pleasure skating," as the S-T put it. Mmm, pleasure......

Blackhawks coach Denis Savard read his team the riot act last week and dropped the phrase "Commit to the Indian"--and it's making a meme of itself. Enough so that team prez John McDonough said he'd consider using it in an official capacity. [Trib] The Blackhawks' current slogan is "Red Rising." Bleeeh. So far, Chicagoist writers and associates have thought "Red Rising" was.... ++ Racist ++ Something about periods ++ A horrible Soviet revolution ++ "I......

In a day packed with college football bowl games, the coolest televised sporting event on New Year's Day had to be watching the Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins play an NHL game outside in Buffalo, in front of over 71,000 fans. It brought the game back to its roots, played outside on frozen ponds and lakes throughout the Midwest and Canada. Now imagine that same game outside, only featuring two of the NHL's "Original......

In a surprising move, John McDonough resigned as Cubs president on Tuesday to become president for the Blackhawks. Isn't that like if Da Mere were to resign so that he could fill a vacancy on the water reclamation district board of trustees? McDonough had spent nearly 25 years with the Cubs organization, working his way up the marketing org chart before landing atop the front office when Andy MacPhail resigned following the 2006 season. McDonough's......

For the first time in a long while, Chicago is seeing success from both the Chicago Blackhawks (NHL) and the Chicago Wolves (AHL). The Wolves are off to a 13-1-1 start, giving them the best winning percentage in the league--which should come as no surprise to their faithful fans. On the other hand, it is a surprise that after a quarter of the season, the Blackhawks aren't breaking their fans' hearts. The Hawks have skated......

The Blackhawks are three games into their 2007-2008 NHL Campaign, and so far it looks like it could be another tough year for hockey fans here in Chicago. They've yet to find a way to sound the horn on power plays--hell, they've have had trouble scoring at all, with just four goals in three games, none while having the man advantage. No surprise though as the Hawks have been the worst in the NHL on......

Conventional wisdom says that we should not speak ill of the deceased, but that's a tall endeavor if we're to take the pundits' criticisms of William Wirtz as law, although one has surprised us with his restraint. The longtime Blackhawks owner and liquor magnate passed away early this morning at the age of 77 from cancer. It's easy to say that Mr. Wirtz was stuck in a bygone era, treating his beloved hockey franchise as......

It's still sunny and warm outside, so it's hard to believe the NHL has taken the ice again in preparation for a new season. Last year, Chicagoist made our yearly mistake of getting excited about the offseason moves and preseason successes of the Blackhawks, only to be let down once again. So this year we have vowed not to analyze the preseason too carefully and instead to wait to see how the Blackhawks look when......

The Blackhawks, whose season ended on Sunday with a 3-2 loss to the Dallas Stars, won off the ice today. The NHL Draft Drawing took place in Columbus, Ohio, today, and the Blackhawks won the number-one draft pick for the 2007 NHL Draft. Amazing stuff, 'cause their chances of winning the top pick were about the same chance as them winning a game, 8.1%. The Blackhawks, who have missed the playoffs eight times in the......

After months of speculation that the Cubs might be put up for sale as part of a restructuring or sale of Tribune Co., almost immediately after the board's approval of Chicago billionaire Sam Zell's offer, news came that the team would in fact be sold. Now the handicapping can begin on who the new owner will be. There has certainly been no shortage of potential bidders mentioned. Of course, that was before the Cubs went......

Who do we believe -- Radar Magazine or Mark Cuban? Radar reported on Wednesday that billionaire tech entrepeneur, blogger and owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team is preparing to make a $625 million bid for the Chicago Cubs. A source supposedly familiar with the situation claims, "Mark is desperate to buy the Cubs. He wants this so bad." However, Cuban's response to the Trib via email stated that the rumor was "not true." In......

After two years of testing, the NHL and Reebok unveiled a new uniform system yesterday that will be used during the NHL All-Star game on Wednesday. The fact that they are referring to the new uniform as a "uniform system" tells us this is not your father's hockey sweater. Supposedly, during the multi-year testing phase, the Rbk Edge Uniform went through almost 100 versions of the design that will be worn during an NHL game......

Peter Bondra saw his first minutes with the Blackhawks and helped propel them to a 3-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues. Bondra, a sixteen-year veteran of the NHL, signed with the Blackhawks on Sunday and was suited up for Tuesday night's game. Chicagoist was excited to see his contract was based on performance. Bondra earns $500,000 for showing up but can earn an additional $1 million in performance-based incentives if he produces for the......

Denis Savard can make Blackhawks history with a victory at Minnesota on Tuesday night. On Saturday night when the Blackhawks came from behind to defeat the Nashville Predators 4-3 in OT, Denis Savard became only the second Blackhawks coach to win his first three games as head coach, the first being Sid Abel (1952-53 season). No Blackhawks coach has ever won their first four games as coach of the team. Prior to Savard's promotion the......

If you're hiking, consider charging up your iPod, as Seattlest finds out that a man lost during a hike was found by the glow of his iPod. That cleverness seems to be devoid in cops who were using police cruiser instant messaging clients - although we imagine IMs "so are you nakie" to be included in cop shows, just for realism. If only the cops were busting the Hummer-driving jerk who made a poor......

Seriously, is there anybody in this town's upper tax bracket who hasn't thrown their hat into the ring of interested buyers, should the beleagured Tribune Company decide to sell the Cubs as part of their fire sale? Even before the Trib's latest troubles, some notable bidders went on record expressing interest in buying the team — including the likes of Ernie Banks, Mark Cuban and Donald Trump. While Chicagoist would be all for a Cuban......

Last year, the Blackhawks won just 26 games, ahead of only two teams in the NHL. Although it is just the preseason, Blackhawk fans have to feel good about the upcoming season. The Chicago Blackhawks have played five of their eight preseason games and are off to a perfect 5-0 start. The Blackhawks have not had troubles sounding the horn, scoring 19 goals for an average of 3.8 goals per game. In four of the......

A Civic Federation study released today makes recommendations that promise relief for major cultural institutions in fiscal decline since 2001 and overburdened property owners who have been whining for even longer. The study tracked a dozen major cultural organizations linked to Museums in the Park and the Forest Preserve District of Cook County, including the Field Museum, the Shedd, the Brookfield Zoo, and the DuSable Museum, and discovered a major economic engine whose 2004 attendance......

Starting in the fall, Chicago will add yet another pro hockey team to the area, as the Chicago Hounds join the UHL. They'll begin play in October, playing their home games at the Sears Centre -- currently under construction in suburban Hoffman Estates. Is there enough of a market to support a second minor league hockey team, in addition to the NHL's Blackhawks? Chicagoist believes there is. There are certainly a lot of hockey fans......

The Blackhawks join the rest of the NHL in their return to the ice tonight after losing the entire 2004-2005 season to labor strife. In the opener, the Blackhawks face the Anaheim Mighty Ducks at the United Center. A lot has changed, both for the NHL and the Blackhawks. The Hawks have a new GM in Dale Tallon, a new coach in Trent Yawney and many new faces on the roster. Their biggest signing was......

With the NHL's new labor deal finally in place and the league's new financial structure known, teams are busy shopping for new talent. The Blackhawks intend to be active shoppers in coming days. They landed their first big-name free agent with yesterday's announcement that Adrian Aucoin signed with the Hawks for $16 million over 4 years. One of the most sought after free agents, Aucion is a defenseman who spent the past three seasons......

In a move that seems akin to re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, the Blackhawks hired Dale Tallon as their new General Manager today, who fired Hawks Head Coach Brian Sutter within 10 minutes of beginning his new position. Tallon, who had served as former GM Bob Pulford's assistant since Pulford retruned to the GM job for the third time in 2003, had been groomed for this promotion. Director of Player Personnel for the......

Wouldn't it be nice if you got a raise every year? How about twice a year? Most Cook County employees do. Guaranteed. As part of union-negotiated contracts, union employees in Cook County, which amounts to 80% of the 26,000-strong force, receive twice-a-year cost-of-living increases to their pay. Union employees also get a nice health insurance package costing them only $208 a year. All this adds up to big costs for the county, and because for......

Did anybody even realize that there had been no hockey this year? With its limited fan base and the Blackhawks never on TV, Chicagoist sees how the whole lockout might have passed you by. So then it probably doesn't concern you that following a 153-day lockout, the NHL pulled the plug on the 2005-2004 season. In spite of some major concessions in recent days by both sides, commissioner Gary Bettman annouced this afternoon that the......

For the three of four Blackhawks fans left in Chicago, they are surely getting more and more concerned that the NHL season will be wiped out entirely. For most Chicagoans we really haven't noticed there's been no hockey, what with Bill Wirtz keeping the games off TV and all. With the worst record in the league last year, he was really doing us all a favor. But in some places, they do care about NHL......