Preparations are underway at Wrigley Field for what Steve Mayer, NHL president of content and events, called “one of the greatest Winter Classics of all time” earlier this month.

It must be.

As the league’s largest annual seasonal event returns to Wrigley for the first time since 2009 – it’s the fourth outdoor game the Hawks have hosted, including a Winter Classic at Notre Dame and a Stadium Series game at Soldier Field – it’s misery the Blackhawks and the Blues’ mediocrity this season has caused little excitement.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t tickets available for the New Year’s Eve event. The cheapest resale tickets available on Ticketmaster on Monday were $275 (though down from $315 two weeks ago). Regardless of the teams involved, the Winter Classic is huge and popular enough – and hockey fans in Chicago are dedicated enough – that many people want to attend.

From an entertainment standpoint, however, fans will have to rely on the pageantry and atmosphere to make up for the probably substandard and definitely low quality hockey. The fact that both teams have already fired coaches this season says a lot.

The Hawks (10-19-2) sit last in the NHL with 22 points, and although they have shown more life since replacing Luke Richardson with interim coach Anders Sorensen, they are going nowhere this season. The Blues have also improved since signing Jim Montgomery, but at 15-14-3 they are still two points out of a playoff spot and a record around .500 seems fine for their squad.

It’s safe to say that the two points awarded to the winning team won’t matter much. On the other hand, the Winter Classic has always been more about celebrating hockey and providing a spectacle than the intensity of the competition.

“The complexity of activation has changed dramatically for the fan experience today compared to when it was first here,” NHL Chief Brand Officer Brian Jennings said this month. “It’s about making memories, right? It is the generational change from father to son or from mother to daughter. . . . We realized early on that while it’s a two-point hockey game, the players, coaches and everyone else realize there’s so much more.”

The expanded presentation cannot be compared with 2009. A free Winter Classic Fan Fest will be held on Grace Street five hours before the game begins at 4 p.m. The Smashing Pumpkins and Chance the Rapper will perform during the game itself.

The design of the playing field and the ice rink will also be a real eye-catcher. A man-made frozen river will run from the infield to center field, splitting into two arms like the Chicago River beneath the rink itself, flanked by larger-than-life artificial ivy. In the left field, a small additional rink will provide more entertainment on the ice. A New Year’s Eve party is taking place in the right field.

Construction of the playing field and rink base began Monday. The ice itself is formed on December 21st. Everything will be ready in time for both teams’ outdoor practices on December 30th. And four days after the game, the rink will remain in place to host four Big Ten hockey games Jan. 3 and 4.

Since this is the first time in the Winter Classic’s 16-year history that it will be held on New Year’s Eve rather than New Year’s Day, this will be heavily emphasized in the design.

“There’s a lot of competition on New Year’s Day, and there was a point where the sports world got a little quieter on New Year’s Eve,” Mayer said. “They concluded that if there ever was a time, this would be the right time to move the day and take advantage of the creative (opportunities) that come with it.”