Blues, Blackhawks set to take bitter rivalry outside at Winter Classic

Intimidation. Grit. Intensity. Animosity.

These words aren't used lightly in the hockey world. They're reserved for moments in the history of the game, rivalries that have led to decades-long feuds on the ice, in households, among friends, across state and country borders.

These words perfectly define the longstanding and heated rivalry between the Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues, a rivalry that will gain a new chapter on New Year's Eve when the two Central Division foes meet in the Discover NHL Winter Classic at Wrigley Field in Chicago (4 p.m. CT; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS).

"You get indoctrinated into that rivalry right away," former Blues defenseman Chris Pronger said. "The love, or should I say the hatred for the Blues and Blackhawks among the two cities is quite spirited."

The rivalry is fueled by geography with 300 miles separating the cities connected by I-55.

"It just feels like there is more at stake when the Hawks are in town," former Blues forward Bernie Federko said. "The atmosphere is there, and you can feel it when you walk into the game."

The Blackhawks have the edge, with a record of 155-130-35-11 against the Blues, 1,071 goals for and 1,022 against. They've won eight of 12 playoff rounds against the Blues.

But those statistics are brushed aside when the puck drops in the next game between the rivals.

"Lots of great memories playing in St. Louis and at home, playing in the playoffs," former Chicago defenseman Duncan Keith said. "Even just the regular November, December, midseason games against St. Louis, they're always high energy, and you hear that bell ringing. It was always going to be a battle against St. Louis."

The rivalry began to simmer in the early days, after the Blackhawks helped pave the way for the Blues to enter the NHL as an expansion team.

Chicago's owners at the time also owned St. Louis Arena. The Blackhawks would play the odd preseason game there and stick minor-league teams there.

Soon enough, St. Louis was looked at as a major-league city and the Blackhawks owners pushed for the NHL to establish a team in the city.

The Blues joined in 1967 and the Blackhawks, then known as the Black Hawks, quickly became their nemesis.

They joined the same division for the first time in 1970-71, with Chicago finishing first in the NHL West Division with 107 points and St. Louis second with 87.

They played in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in 1973, the Black Hawks defeating the Blues 4-1 in the quarterfinal round.

Their playoff rivalry renewed in 1980, then again in 1982 and 1983. Chicago won each.

"The intensity came up so much more in the playoffs," Federko said. "There was always that message for the next game from whoever was losing. I remember everybody had to grab someone and one night I ended up with John Marks, who was three times as big as me, but luckily he wasn't an idiot, otherwise I don't know what would have happened to me. I would have just been hanging on for dear life. A lot of those games were like that, and you would just hope you got paired with someone who wasn't really into fighting and wouldn't throttle you."

The Blues and Blackhawks moved into the Norris Division together in the 1981-82 season and started a Boxing Day tradition the following season, playing every year on Dec. 26 from 1982-94.

Family holiday celebrations would be ruined by the divide between the cities.

"A lot of people who live here are transplant Chicagoans and they've changed their loyalty, so they really want to beat the Hawks," Federko said. "I think the fans were into it more than the players sometimes.”

It was in the late 1980s and early 1990s that the rivalry boiled. The Blues and Blackhawks met in the playoffs in 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992 and 1993.

"It was the old days of playing interdivision playoffs, the 'Chuck Norris Division,' and it created so much animosity," former Blackhawks forward Jeremy Roenick said. "The closeness of Chicago and St. Louis too, there are so many people that were in between because of the proximity of the two cities.

“But their toughness with Kelly Chase, Tony Twist and Darin Kimble. Ours with Stu Grimson and Mike Peluso. You knew what you were in for when you were going into that building and they knew when they came into ours. And they both had unique auras about them. Both had organs. Both old-school buildings. Both had a musty middle-class mentality. It was a grinding battle. Every single time on the ice you knew you were going to get hit, slashed, yelled at, called names. The voices that came from the stands, from the fans, it was electric."

The rivalry boiled over late in the 1990-91 season in what became known as the "St. Patrick's Day Massacre" on March 17, 1991.

The top of the final box score reads a 6-4 Blackhawks win at Chicago Stadium, but the information below it tells the story of that game.

There were 276 penalty minutes, 12 majors, with 11 for fighting, and 17 misconducts, including 13 game misconducts.

"It culminated into Dave Manson and Scott Stevens starting with their gloves off below the goal line and skating to center ice to literally have one of the best heavyweight brawls that I've seen in my lifetime," Roenick said. "It was intimidating to watch, and I still watch it on YouTube and I'm still in awe. I remember sitting on the bench in fear of what's going to happen to me the next shift.”

A few years earlier, in Game 5 of the 1989 Norris Division finals at St. Louis Arena, Glen Featherstone of the Blues cross checked Roenick in the face, knocking out his front teeth.

"I had 15 stitches above my mouth in the previous period from getting hit by a skate in the nose, and then in the third period I got my teeth wretched out," Roenick said. "But I scored the game-winning goal. There's a picture of me in the locker room with a smile, no teeth, my nose is a mess, hair all over the place and I'm smiling like the happiest guy in the world."

Pronger got to St. Louis in 1995, when the Blues and Blackhawks were still each of playoff caliber.

"I recall the veterans being like, 'This is the focal point, the matchup that we are always up for,' " Pronger said. "I remember them saying, 'If there is any game you need to be keenly aware of it's these Chicago games.' Just seeing 'Twister' and Basil McRae and some of the guys we had my first year in St. Louis preparing and getting ready to do battle knowing what was in store was something. Certainly, bragging rights between the two cities was something that very important and something made aware to me by the players when I got there."

By fans in the community too.

"There was that unspoken look of you know who is coming into town and let's make sure we're ready tonight," Pronger said. "All I needed was to see the look, the wink and the nod, and it was, 'OK, Chicago is in town, let's make sure we're bringing our best tonight boys and putting a stamp on this one.' "

The Blackhawks eventually fell on hard times in the late 1990s, missing the playoffs each season from 1998-2001 and again from 2003-08, a time that coincided with Pronger's years in St. Louis (1995-2004).

In fact, the Blues' biggest playoff rival at the time became the Detroit Red Wings.

"I think three years in a row we played Detroit and we played Dallas a couple years, Colorado a few years, and that's when those rivalries really kicked off," Pronger said. "So maybe the St. Louis-Chicago rivalry takes a step down. It's still there, but when one of the two teams is struggling it can be a little bit of a 'Debbie Downer' if you will. But I think with the proximity and old 'Chuck' Norris Division and things of that nature with Chicago it's always brewing under the surface and waiting to explode."

It did again when Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Keith got to Chicago, re-invigorating the franchise and starting a run of three Stanley Cup championships in a six-season span from 2010-15.

The Blackhawks defeated the Blues in six games in the first round of the 2014 playoffs. The Blues got the Blackhawks back in a seven-game first-round series in 2016.

The game was played differently than it was in the 1980s and 1990s, the pugilistic style giving way to speed and skill. But there was still that aura of intensity.

They played in the Winter Classic at Busch Stadium in St. Louis on Jan. 2, 2017, St. Louis winning 4-1. Two days before, New Year's Eve, there was a Blues-Blackhawks alumni game that was played in front of more than 40,000 in attendance at Busch Stadium.

St. Louis won 8-7.

"It was unbelievable to have Busch Stadium full for an alumni game and we really did care about who was going to win and so did they," Federko said. "We played it differently than we used to play, but we were still playing to win."

It was friendly, though.

The enemies indeed became friends. Respect is the word to use now.

"I did an autograph signing in St. Louis not long ago and in the same room with me came Kelly Chase, Tony Twist, Geoff Courtnall and Brett Hull, and it was hugs and kisses and love all over the place," Roenick said. "When I covered St. Louis in the Stanley Cup Final against Boston my job was to do the reporting on the outside in the stands with the fans.

“I was so impressed because going into St. Louis as an ex-Blackhawk who put so many beatings on that team I expected so many people to say things as I was walking through the stands. You know, not one person said one disparaging thing to me through the whole Final, through all seven games. It was one of the most respectful and kind fanbases. It was amazing. What happens on the ice stays on the ice. And it was a respect and love for a generation of a rivalry."

The rivalry is in a quieter mode these days with the Blackhawks rebuilding and the Blues trying to stay a playoff contender in their sixth season following their 2019 Stanley Cup championship.

Maybe the Winter Classic sparks a reboot of it. Something will.

"It's always fun playing Chicago," Blues forward Brayden Schenn said. "You just feel the energy in the building no matter what. It's special to have the Blues vs. Chicago in the outdoor game, Wrigley Field. The whole thing just adds up."