Heritage Classic
Calgary - Eight years after conducting the first outdoor game in NHL history, Canada will finally get a second crack at it.
The Montreal Canadiens and Calgary Flames have become part of the 2011 Heritage Classic on Feb. 20 at McMahon Stadium, Calgary Stampeders Canadian Football League home. League makes it official during a press conference Wednesday afternoon warm, which took place on the ground that will host the sixth game ever outdoor NHL’s.
“The first game out of regular-season room we played in Canada, and it’s nice to come back,” said NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. “As everyone knows, the root of our game in Canada and the root of our games come from frozen ponds and backyard arena in Canada. If you have a proud heritage and as strong as we do, you want to celebrate .. ”
Had four stages of the Winter Classic was very successful – all out of the room took place on U.S. soil – since 2003 Heritage Classic. The Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres play the inaugural game in Ralph Wilson Stadium in 2008 against the Detroit Red Wings Chicago Blackhawks Wrigley Field in 2009, and the Boston Bruins host the Philadelphia Flyers at Fenway Park this year.
With the Penguins set to face the Capital of Washington in Heinz Field in Pittsburgh on New Year’s Day 2011, the League feels the time is right to bring an outdoor NHL experience back to Canada.
“We want to be responsive we know. How well does the 2003 Heritage Classic game is received, how great that game, “Bettman said. “And we also, despite all the good reviews we got for the Winter Classic in the United States, we hear from fans in Canada, ‘We want the game too.” At the same time, there are some saying, ‘How can you do more than just a game? “But we think of having two games is an absolute right balance and respond to what we hear our fans tell us they want. ”
McMahon Stadium, located on the campus of the University of Calgary, has a listed capacity of 35,650. But for the 2009 Grey Cup – the equivalent CFL with the NFL’s Super Bowl – 46,020 viewers on hand to watch the edge of the Montreal Alouettes Saskatchewan Roughriders 28-27. this arena tends to fall on FieldTurf stadium at the end of the board is placed in each of the 20-page outline, but that may change.
According to Flames president Ken King, there will be additional seating for the Heritage Classic, but due to sightlines and logistics, there will be more people on hand as there is for the Grey Cup. King said approximately 40,000 expected to attend, but there are plenty of activities for those not lucky enough to get caught tickets.
A supporter of the event is the first outdoor game in the history of the Western Hockey League Calgary Hitmen and between the Regina Pats, is scheduled for Monday after the Heritage Classic.
“It provides an opportunity for more people to see us play sports outside the big room,” said King, who said there may be several hundred thousand fans can come to Calgary during Family Day weekend. “We thought of a real hockey heritage festival There are events held around town .. We think this is a wonderful tourist opportunity. We do not see it in any sense as an economic opportunity. It is a business history. It is a legacy of trying. ”
The Flames will pay homage to their heritage by wearing special jerseys designed with the help of Reebok to give a vintage look. The Canadiens will wear the white jersey of their traditional ways, but the changes in player numbers reflect a combination of color in white T-shirt worn them in their history – in particular how the These numbers appear the same in 1986 and 1989 Stanley Cup Finals against the Flames.
Home of the 2011 Heritage Classic
In 2003 Heritage Classic featuring Canadiens and Edmonton Oilers and played in front of 57,167 fans at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton. The game was hotly contested in sub-zero temperatures and perhaps most memorable for pictures Canadiens goaltender Jose Theodore wore a toque to mask than to 4-3 victory in Montreal. Temperature in the match – being played in late November, 171 miles north of McMahon Stadium – minus-4 degrees Fahrenheit. Calgary fans should expect warmer weather in late February, when the average temperature in the region is between 22 and 30 degrees.
McMahon Stadium might not carry the same stamp on the historic Wrigley Field and Fenway Park are not fans in the United States, but 50 years building its share of historic moments. It was built for 100 days in 1960 and later expanded the current capacity in 1988 to serve as a place of opening and closing ceremonies for the Winter Olympics. Grey Cup will be held at McMahon Stadium in 1975, 1993, 2000 and 2009.
Curtis Glencross, Cory Sarich and Steve Staios, who took part in the 2003 Heritage Classic as a member of the Oilers, was on hand Wednesday for Flames GM Darryl Sutter and coach Brent Sutter with. Defenseman Josh cliff, from Kelowna, BC, representing the Canadiens.
Defenseman Andrei Markov was the outstanding player on the list of Canadiens who played the game in 2003.
