How the Blues turned a Winter Classic win over the Blackhawks into a Wrigley Field party

CHICAGO — The celebratory, rhythmic sounds emitted from section 228 at Wrigley Field three ticks after 7 p.m. on Tuesday night. They drowned out the sounds of the bucket drummers behind the grandstand on Addison Street. They silenced whatever noise Blackhawks fans could muster. They reached down toward the first base dugout in an effort to vocally embrace a Blues team that was polishing off a 6-2 win in the Winter Classic.

“Oh when the Bluessss ... go marching innnn ... Oh when the Blues goes marching innnn ...”

On Tuesday night, for the Blues fans in attendance at Wrigley Field, they were in that number.

The Blues treated their fans and the general hockey world to a drubbing that kept the franchise perfect in outdoor games and meant the Blues have now beaten the Blackhawks in baseball stadiums in both cities (including their 2017 victory at Busch Stadium).

Cam Fowler scored twice in his 1,000th career NHL game. Jordan Kyrou scored in his second straight Winter Classic. Justin Faulk and Dylan Holloway were part of a second-period onslaught that gave the Blues a 5-1 lead going into the second intermission. Alexandre Texier riled up the St. Louis fans once more with an add-on goal in the third period.

Jordan Binnington made 28 saves to win his second outdoor game, and his save on a Taylor Hall partial breakaway in the second period preserved a two-goal Blues lead and allowed them to extend it.

“It’s hard to describe what the experience is like being a player in a game like that, brings you back to the outdoors,” Blues captain Brayden Schenn said. “You’re looking around. You know you don’t get many moments like this playing in the NHL, playing in front of that many fans at Wrigley.”

Of the 40,933 fans at Wrigley Field, the cream, gold and aviation blue-clad Blues fans were easy to spot. They stuck out in a sea of black and red, largely dotting the stands down the right field line. They were also easy to hear, even through the boos that joined the water droplets in raining down on the Blues when warmup started.

When the organist would hit three notes, Blues fans responded with a reactionary “Let’s go Blues,” as if it was meant for them as part of their home game on New Year’s Eve. The Towel Man, a fixture at Enterprise Center after Blues goals, made his way to Chicago, leading counts up to six when Texier scored with less than four minutes remaining.

“We could hear them trying to override ’Hawks chants,” Blues forward Jake Neighbours said. “The Towel Man doing his thing with the goals. That stuff just gives you chills. I remember after the sixth one, it was a pretty surreal feeling hearing them chant that in Chicago at Wrigley Field. That’s a pretty special moment to be a part of.”

Blues owner Tom Stillman watched the evening unfold from a suite behind where home plate normally would be. He could look to his right and see a hoard of Blues fans, even if he said through laughter: “The Towel Man, that was almost too much, but I loved it.”

“Unbelievable,” Stillman said. “What a showing. One of the top NHL guys was so impressed with how many St. Louis fans were here and how loud they were. That was really impressive. I thought the ‘Let’s go Blues’ chants were as loud as the ‘Let’s go ’Hawks.’”

For many of the Blues, the emotions began during the national anthem.

Sung by Jim Cornelison, the anthem in Chicago has become legendary for the fans cheering throughout the song. And so the Blues and Blackhawks flanked the Winter Classic stage, filed in one row of red and one row of cream, facing the fireworks and the oncoming flyover of four Fairchild Republic A-10C Thunderbolt II aircraft.

“During the anthem, it was goosebumps,” Neighbours said. “That singer is iconic in Chicago, how they make noise throughout it, then the fireworks. Just everything about it, it was so amazing. You take a second to look around, soak it all in before that puck drops and things get serious.”

Binnington: “We were saying guys were getting emotional, just thinking about everything that’s led you to this moment. You have your family with you. The NHL did an incredible job putting together this production, and we’re all very, very grateful.”

The Blues spared no detail for Tuesday’s game. The wives and girlfriends received custom-made jackets for the family skate the night before. Equipment manager Rich Matthews designed Wrigley-inspired nameplates for the Blues dressing room modeled after the green scoreboard that is perched in center field, complete with the clock set to 4 p.m. for the game time. Players used throwback graphics on their sticks to hide their composite sticks in a hardwood facsimile.

Of course, the details are made memorable with a win.

Fowler scored just 100 seconds into the game, the Blues’ first five-on-four goal in three weeks. Kyrou followed less than seven minutes later. For all the crowd-riling, decibel-pumping pregame programming, the Blues quieted the crowd less than 10 minutes into the game. Kyrou, who scored twice in Minnesota in 2022, was familiar with the feeling.

“It’s just a lot of people watching the game and I think you just get a little more hyped up for the game, and you want to perform well,” Kyrou said.

Even when Hall’s power-play goal drew the Blackhawks closer, injecting energy into the crowd and sparking Chicago to the last nine shots of the first period, it didn’t seem to really matter. The Blues responded with three goals in the second and cruised during a third period that turned into a party deep into foul territory.

After the game, Blues players found a Bud Light sitting in each of their stalls, apparently placed there by a member of the coaching staff. Through the walls of the visiting clubhouse, they could hear familiar sounds echoing through the concourse to seep through the cracks of the 110-year old building.

“It’s awesome; it’s awesome,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. “Blues fans are awesome. It’s a special place for me, a special place for my family, and I know how much this organization loves playing for Blues fans.”