MSU Hockey To Play At Wrigley Field This Season
Major League Baseball's Chicago Cubs and the Big Ten Conference announced on Thursday that the defending Big Ten champion Michigan State University hockey team will face their Big Ten rivals, the Wisconsin Badgers, at Chicago's Wrigley Field on January 4th, 2025.
It's part of a handful of games that will be played outdoors on New Year's weekend in the Windy City.
The Cubs are calling the festival of hockey "The Frozen Confines": Big Ten Hockey Series. It all starts with the National Hockey League's Winter Classic when the Chicago Blackhawks take on the St. Louis Blues on December 31st.
The college doubleheaders will take place on January 3rd and 4th. The January 3rd games are Big Ten tilts Michigan vs. Ohio State and Notre Dame against Penn State. The January 4th games are Ohio State versus Wisconsin in women's hockey and the aforementioned MSU-Wisconsin game.
Game times will be announced at a later date and tickets to any or all of the games will go on sale on August 30th.
Michigan State is coming off their most successful season in more than a decade. In the 2023-24 season, the Spartans finished with a 25-10-3 overall record. State won the Big Ten regular season and tournament titles and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2012.
MSU won their first NCAA tournament game over Western Michigan, 5-4 in overtime. But lost to arch-rival Michigan 5-2 in the regional finals this past spring.
Head coach Adam Nightengale will begin his third season as MSU's coach this fall. Their full schedule hasn't been released yet. Although that is expected soon.