Wrigley Field hosts a fan fest with food, drinks, giveaways, and the Stanley Cup prior to the NHL Winter Classic.

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.

As a chilly mist hovered over Wrigley Field on Friday afternoon, construction workers moved boxes across a large graphic of ivy where the third-base line normally would be. Four days before a Tuesday afternoon puck drop for the NHL Winter Classic,