CHICAGO (AP) 鈥� Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks took the train to work on Tuesday.
Carrying their sticks and skates and dressed in custom 鈥淭eam Chicago鈥� gear, the Blackhawks used one of the city's to travel to Wrigley Field for their matchup with the St. Louis Blues in the Winter Classic.
鈥淎 lot of guys haven鈥檛 been here long, haven鈥檛 got to take the train either, take CTA, so it was fun to do that and kind of get an experience of what it鈥檚 like coming to a Cubs game,鈥� defenseman Connor Murphy said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 one of the best ways to spend a summer day ... here at a game. So doing it with a little bit of a different climate is fun in itself, too.鈥�
The Blues dressed in for their bus trip to the home of baseball's Chicago Cubs. The hats had 99 on the front and the shirts had a round emblem with 99 and GRETZKY'S BASEMENT 鈥� a nod to the hockey school connected to Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky.
鈥淲e just thought it would be a great opportunity to honor Wayne and everything he鈥檚 done for the game," Blues defenseman Justin Faulk said. "He鈥檚 obviously an integral part in St. Louis, too. He鈥檚 done a lot for the community there and still does and he鈥檚 great to everyone in the organization and the guys and we thought there鈥檚 no better way to show our appreciation than to do this today for him.鈥�
St. Louis and Chicago are meeting in the 16th edition of the outdoor event. It鈥檚 the second go-round for Wrigley after the ballpark also hosted the Winter Classic in 2009.
It鈥檚 also the first rematch in the history of the game. The Blues beat the Blackhawks 4-1 in the .
鈥淚 think since the Blues came into the league, Blackhawk-Blues have been a great rivalry,鈥� St. Louis coach Jim Montgomery said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 one of the top rivalries in the league.鈥�
The Blackhawks used their pregame gear to highlight the connection between the franchise and the city. The clothes had patches paying tribute to Chicago's first responders, and each player picked a charitable or community-based organization for their hat.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a neat thing to bring our community together, right?鈥� captain Nick Foligno said. 鈥淎nd one of the big things we talked about was our first responders, too, and what they mean to our community and what they do for us. And we wanted to kind of highlight that and also highlight what means a lot to us.鈥�
___
AP NHL:
Jay Cohen, The Associated Press
