The Frozen Confines was a series of outdoor college hockey games played at Wrigley Field in Chicago January 3–4, 2025. The event was held in conjunction with the 2025 NHL Winter Classic that had been played at the same stadium days earlier. Three men's games were played between programs of the Big Ten Conference (Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State, and Wisconsin). One women's game was played between the Western Collegiate Hockey Association women's programs from two of the participating universities (the Ohio State and Wisconsin women's teams).
Each day of the event was ticketed as a double-header, with ticket holders having admission to both games on a given day. The two days of the Frozen Confines amassed a cumulative attendance of 50,497, with each day being attended by approximately 25,000 spectators.
Background
On February 7, 2024, it was announced Wrigley Field (a Major League Baseball stadium that is the home venue of the Chicago Cubs) would host the NHL Winter Classic (an annual outdoor NHL game) the following season. Wrigley Field had previously been the site of the 2009 NHL Winter Classic. In August 2024, it was announced that the Big Ten Conference would organize an ice hockey event on the same ice as the Winter Classic, featuring most of its men's ice hockey teams as well as two women's programs from Big Ten schools.
The matches were the first college hockey matches to be held at Wrigley Field. The event's name was a derivative of Wrigley Field's nickname, "The Friendly Confines".
Since the Big Ten Conference has an odd-number of men's ice hockey teams (seven), one of the conference's teams (Minnesota) did not participate in the Frozen Confines.
While 67 collegiate outdoor ice hockey games had been played in the United States between 2001 and 2023, prior to the Frozen Confines it had been two years since any college hockey team had played an outdoor game.
Previous outdoor games featuring the participating teams
The event was: Michigan men's ninth appearance in an outdoor game Michigan State men's fifth appearance in an outdoor game Ohio State men's fifth appearance in an outdoor game Notre Dame men's fourth appearance in an outdoor game Wisconsin men's fourth appearance in an outdoor game Wisconsin women's second appearance in an outdoor game Ohio State women's first appearance in an outdoor game Penn State men's first appearance in an outdoor game
+ Previous outdoor games featuring the participating teams Event Team Opponent played Venue Notes Date Event name Photo Name Location Description October 6, 2001 Cold War Michigan men vs. Michigan State Spartan Stadium East Lansing, Michigan College football stadium First outdoor game appearances of both Michigan and Michigan State February 11, 2006 Frozen Tundra Hockey Classic Ohio State men's vs Wisconsin men's Lambeau Field Green Bay, Wisconsin NFL professional football stadium First outdoor game appearances of both Ohio State men's and Wisconsin men's February 6, 2010 Camp Randall Hockey Classic Michigan vs. Wisconsin men’s Camp Randall Stadium Madison, Wisconsin College football stadium Second outdoor game appearances of both Michigan and Wisconsin men's, first outdoor game appearance of Wisconsin women's Wisconsin women’s Bemidji State December 11, 2010 The Big Chill at the Big House Michigan vs. Michigan State Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, Michigan College football stadium Third outdoor game appearance of Michigan, second outdoor game appearance of Michigan State; set the all-time record for ice hockey attendance January 15, 2012 The Frozen Diamond Faceoff Michigan vs. Ohio State men's Progressive Field Cleveland, Ohio MLB professional baseball stadium Michigan's fourth outdoor game appearance, Ohio State men's second outdoor game appearanceFebruary 17, 2013 OfficeMax Hockey City Classic Notre Dame Miami of Ohio Soldier Field Chicago, Illinois NFL professional football stadium Double-header; first outdoor game appearance of Notre Dame, third outdoor game appearance of Wisconsin men's Wisconsin men's Minnesota December 27, 2013 2013 Hockeytown Winter Festival/ Great Lakes Invitational Michigan Western Michigan Comerica Park Detroit, Michigan MLB professional baseball stadium Double header; fifth outdoor game appearance of Michigan, third outdoor game appearance of Michigan State; the 2013 Hockeytown Winter Festival was held in conjunction with the 2014 NHL Winter Classic at Michigan Stadium. On other days at Comerica Park, it featured other college games, an AHL professional hockey game, and a OHL major junior game. Michigan State Michigan Tech January 17, 2014 2014 OfficeMax Hockey City Classic Ohio State men's Minnesota Huntington Bank Stadium Minneapolis, Minnesota College football stadium Ohio State men's third outdoor game appearance; part of a double-header January 4, 2014 Frozen Fenway 2014 Notre Dame Boston College Fenway Park Boston, Massachusetts MLB professional baseball stadium Notre Dame's second outdoor game appearance; part of a double-header. Frozen Fenway 2014 featured further matches on other days as well. February 7, 2015 2015 OfficeMax Hockey City Classic Michigan vs. Michigan State Soldier Field Chicago, Illinois NFL professional football stadium Michigan's sixth outdoor game appearance, Michigan State's fourth outdoor game appearance; part of a double-header January 5, 2019 Let's Take This Outside Michigan vs. Notre Dame Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, Indiana College football stadium Michigan's seventh outdoor game appearance, Notre Dame's third outdoor game appearance; held in conjunction with the 2019 Winter Classic at the same venue February 18, 2023 Faceoff on the Lake Michigan vs. Ohio State men's Huntington Bank Field Cleveland, Ohio NFL professional football stadium Michigan's eighth outdoor game appearance; Ohio State men's fourth outdoor game appearance
Alternate jerseys worn Most teams wore special alternate jersey which took design cues from baseball jerseys. The exception was Michigan State, which opted to instead wear their usual white "home" jerseys for the games.
Michigan uniforms Michigan players wore uniforms which took design cues from Chicago Cubs baseball uniforms of the 1980s. The jerseys took inspiration from road jerseys which the Chicago Cubs wore in the 1980s. The hockey jerseys were primarily yellow ("maize") and featured a navy blue version of the University of Michigan's "Block M" emblem on its left chest, placed similarly to where Cubs jerseys typically local a "C" logo. The jerseys featured a white collar with a navy blue trim. The right sleeves featured player numbers in navy blue (with white outlines) using the Chicago Cubs jersey font. This same font and color scheme was also used for the jersey numbers on the back of the jersey. Player names on the backs of the jerseys were also in navy blue with white outlines, and featured text which arched over the player number. The left sleeve featured a patch with the likeness of Biff, the Michigan Wolverine. The hockey socks worn by the school's players were primarily yellow, but featured navy blue panels on the front and the back meant to mimic the shape of Baseball stirrups. The right sleeve featured the player number (which was also included on the back of each jersey). The collars of the jerseys were typical of hockey jerseys. Michigan players also wore helmets with blue-and-yellow "winged" patterns. The hockey pants and gloves worn by their players were navy blue. The pants featured a yellow ("maize") "Block M" logo on the right leg. The jersey design was regarded to be unconventional for the sport of ice hockey.
Notre Dame uniforms Notre Dame wore white jerseys that featured a depiction the school's leprechaun mascot inset inside of a C that resembles the Chicago Cubs logo. The sleeves took design cues from the flag of Chicago, while also featuring iconography associated with its university. The sleeves featured light two blue blue stripes and one white stripe, which that resembled the layout of the flag. Four golden shamrocks were located within the white stripe, resembling the placement of the four red stars that are featured on the flag of Chicago. The shoulers of the jerseys also featured gold-colored "ND" insignias. Player numbers were also included on the sleeves (for easier television-viewer identification of players), colored in light blue and outlined with a black and navy border.
Ohio State men's uniforms Ohio State men’s look for their Wrigley Field matchup against fierce rivals Michigan borrows heavily from the school’s baseball team, with a script “Ohio State” logo across the chest and a player number underneath on the front of the jersey.
Like many of the other jersey designs, the Ohio State men's jerseys also were influenced by the school's baseball team's kit. The jersey featured an "Ohio State" script wordmark across its chest, with player numbers beneath. The main color of the jersey was a dark grey. The script and numbers on the front were white with red outlines. The numbers on the back were done in the same manner, but the player names were solid white without any outline. Each shoulder had a patch with a buckeye leaf inside of a circle. The same circular insignia was also located at the front of the collar, but was rendered at a smaller size there. The collars also featured a thin red trim. Red, white, and black stripes (similar to those featured on the school's football team jerseys) were included near waist-level on the torso and on the sleeves of the jersey.
Players wore grey hockey pants with a team logo on the right leg. Players also wore red gloves. They also wore predominantly grey stockings that featured a red, white, and grey striping matching those on the jersey sleeves and waist. The team wore their standard helmets, which resembled the school's football helmets (predominantly silver, featuring a red, white, and grey stripe down its center. Players sported Buckeye leaf merit stickers on their helmets. Player numbers were included on the front of the helmets.
Ohio State women's uniforms The Ohio State women's team wore its own special alternate jersey, with a design unique from that worn by the men's team.
Penn State uniforms Penn State wore navy bluejerseys which took minor design cues from the baseball jerseys of the Chicago Cubs and of Penn State Nittany Lions baseball. The jerseys' belly featured diagonally angled script reading "Nittany Lions", in reference to the design of the university baseball team's own alternate jerseys.The jersey referenced Cubs jerseys by using Cubs jersey fonts on its nameplates (which were arched), lettering, and numbers. The jerseys also featured rendered ivy leafs in reference to the famous ivy on Wrigley Field's outfield walls.
The jerseys also featured a white yoke on the shoulder, as a tribute to the jerseys previously worn by Penn State's club hockey teams in the 1950s. The sleeves had two broad white strips, in reference to the design of the jerseys worn by the 1979–80 Penn State Icers team. The waist of the jerseys featured a single white strip. The collars of the jersey were navy blue and white, with white laces at their front. The inside of the collar featured a white baseball stitching-inspired pattern set atop a navy blue background.
The shoulders of the jerseys also featured a "walking lion" logo, with the lion rendered atop a navy blue letter "S". This lion logo referenced the "walking bear" logo of the Chicago Cubs. Team captain Simon Mack's jersey featured a captain's "C" which was rendered using the leter-C team logo of the Cubs.
Goaltender Arsenii Sergeev wore a goaltender helmet which featured artwork containing ivy leaves and the aforementioned "walking lion" logo on its sides; with the logo of the Frozen Confines being rendered on the backside of the helmet.