Professional hockey outdoors in St. Louis in early January frankly sounds terrible to me, but apparently it’s a big deal and some of you people are totally into it. Whatever, I guess. It’s your thing.

At this morning’s completely unnecessary press conference at Busch Stadium, representatives from the Blues, the Blackhawks, the Cardinals, and St. Louis Mayor (and Quincy University alumnus) Francis Slay announced what we’ve all known for five months now.

But in case you missed it, here are the deets…

In celebration of the NHL's 100th anniversary, the ninth annual Bridgestone Winter Classic will take place at Busch Stadium on January 2, 2017 as the St. Louis Blues (in their 50th season) take on the rival Chicago Blackhawks. A virtually guaranteed sellout, the game is expected to draw the largest crowd for a Blues game in franchise history. This marks the Blues first appearance in the Winter Classic while the six-time champion Blackhawks have played in three before.

On New Years Eve, Busch will host an alumni game featuring greats from the Blues and Blackhawks past including Brett Hull, Bernie Federko, Chris Pronger, and Al Macinnis.

That evening will feature a concert by Kid Rock. Details will be released as the date nears.

Tickets go on sale at a later date. They won’t be cheap and they’ll be gone in about five seconds because hockey fans are crazy.

UPDATE: A small number of tickets will go on sale October 18 at 10:00 am via Ticketmaster.com.

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