The Winter Classic -- a regular-season NHL game played outdoors -- has become one of the most popular events on the hockey league's schedule. And this season's version brings the New Year's Day game to one of the most hallowed venues in all of sports: Chicago's Wrigley Field.

The 2009 Winter Classic features the Chicago Blackhawks battling the Detroit Red Wings and takes place Thursday, Jan. 1st at 1 p.m. and will be shown on Fox TV, among other channels.

How do you transform a baseball stadium into an outdoor hockey arena for the Winter Classic? You can find a great gallery of photos of the Wrigley transformation at the Chicago Tribune's Web site.

In most hockey seasons, the host Blackhawks are performing as poorly as Wrigley's tenants, the Chicago Cubs (though the Cubs did make if to the postseason this year, however briefly). But this year the Blackhawks are on a tear, having one eight games in a row. So the 2009 Winter Classic should be quite an entertaining game.

The NHL's Web site has plenty of statistics on the two teams, on outdoor games, on the Winter Classic, and more.