The Blackhawks home rink is in place for the 2023-24 season and the Connor Bedard era. Single-game tickets go on sale Thursday.
A handful of fans and media members pitched in on Tuesday to help the maintenance crew at the United Center paint the Chicago Blackhawks logo into center ice for the 2023-24 season.
Meanwhile, single-game tickets to see Connor Bedard and the retooled Blackhawks skate on the United Center rink go on sale Thursday, Aug. 31. at 10 a.m. at Blackhawks.com/tickets.
The team has three preseason games, starting on Sept. 28 versus St. Louis. The Blackhawks launch the regular season with five road games before their home opener on Saturday. Oct. 21 against the defending Stanley Cup Champion Vegas Knights. Chicago will play 25 of its 41 home games on weekends this season.
The United Center ice painting and prep took place under the watchful eye of Dan Ahearn, who's overseen the team's playing surface for 43 years. Ahearn dates back to the Chicago Stadium and the debut of Hall-of-Famer Denis Savard.
The invited painting group grabbed brushes and helped fill in the "Indian Head" crest with black, red, yellow and a splash of green paint. The logo was already stenciled on the ice and painters were instructed to just stay within the lines. See the video below.
Ahearn and the United Center crew already had laid in the blue, red and goal lines, circles, goal creases and other markings that go into a hockey rink. They also had inserted thin sheets that carry advertising and were slowly flooding the surface using hoses.
The ice surface would be ready to handle skaters by the end of this week, although the Blackhawks don't open training camp until Sept. 21 at the nearby Fifth Third Arena. Over the next few weeks, the United Center ice will be layered, smoothed out and tweaked until it eventually is about two inches thick about the chilled concrete floor.
