NHL Heritage Classic

Heritage Classic

The Canadiens and Flames face off at the 2011 Heritage Classic in Calgary
National Hockey League
First played November 22, 2003
Times Held 4
Teams Participated 6
Most Appearances 2: Montreal Canadiens Edmonton Oilers
Most Recent 2016 Heritage Classic
Most Recent Winner Edmonton Oilers

The Heritage Classic is a series of outdoor games played in the National Hockey League (NHL). Three games have been played in the series, with a fourth scheduled for the 2016–17 NHL season in Winnipeg.[1] To date, the match-ups have been exclusively between Canadian teams and the event serves as a counterpart to the Winter Classic. The inaugural Heritage Classic, hosted by Edmonton at Commonwealth Stadium in 2003, was the first outdoor regular season game in NHL history and its success served as the precursor to outdoor hockey games played around the world. The second, hosted by Calgary in 2011, set sponsorship and revenue records.[2][3] The third was hosted in Vancouver's BC Place stadium in 2014. The fourth game was hosted by Winnipeg at Investors Group Field in October 2016.

History

The first Heritage Classic was played in 2003 and hosted by the Edmonton Oilers. The Oilers had suggested the idea of hosting an outdoor game as early as the mid 1980s,[4] but the genesis of the 2003 event was the "Cold War" outdoor game played two years prior between Michigan State University and the University of Michigan.[5] The first regular season outdoor game in NHL history, it was held at Commonwealth Stadium between the Oilers and the Montreal Canadiens.[6]

Demand for tickets to the game was unprecedented in the history of Edmonton sports events.[5] After sales to Edmonton's season ticket holders and league sponsors, the Oilers held a lottery for the remaining 7,000 seats that awarded 1,750 persons the opportunity to purchase four tickets each. The team received over 750,000 entries from around the world.[7] The game attracted a crowd of 57,167 that set an NHL single-game attendance record that more than doubled the previous mark.[8] The event featured an alumni game between past greats of the Canadiens and Oilers, including Wayne Gretzky and Guy Lafleur.[9] The game itself was played at a temperature of −19 °C (−2 °F); the Canadiens defeated the Oilers by a score of 4–3.[8]

The success of the Heritage Classic led to the 2008 Winter Classic, which was played in Buffalo between the Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins.[10] A new league record crowd of 71,217 watched the Penguins defeat the Sabres in a game that quickly became the NHL's showcase event.[11] The Winter Classic became an annual event but focused on American teams. Faced with increasing criticism at the lack of Canadian participation in the Winter Classic, the NHL revived the Heritage Classic in 2011 and pitted the Canadiens against the host Calgary Flames.[12] It marked the first time the NHL held two outdoor games in the same season, a decision that some commentators, including ESPN's Scott Burnside, argued would dilute the spectacle of the Winter Classic.[13]

Like the Edmonton game, the 2011 Heritage Classic was a success, as the Flames defeated Montreal 4–0 in front of 41,022 fans at McMahon Stadium.[14] The game achieved high television ratings in both Canada and the United States and, due to record sponsorship,[2] grossed the highest revenue for a single event in NHL history.[3]

The third Heritage Classic was played at BC Place in Vancouver in 2014 between the Vancouver Canucks and Ottawa Senators. It was part of a six-game outdoor set during the 2013–14 NHL season that included the 2014 Winter Classic and the four-game Stadium Series.[15]

The Winnipeg Jets announced that they had reached an agreement with the NHL to host a fourth Heritage Classic at Investors Group Field, the home of the CFL's Winnipeg Blue Bombers, which they hoped to hold during the team's fifth anniversary in 2015–16.[16] However, a disagreement occurred between the NHL and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers over the game's exact date: the league wanted it held in December 2015 while the football team became concerned that this date was too close to the 103rd Grey Cup being held at the stadium on November 29.[17] In January 2015, the Jets announced that they could not reach an agreement to finalize a date for the Heritage Classic during the 2015-16 season and that they were now looking for a new date during the 2016-2017 season.[1] On March 6, 2016, the NHL officially announced that the Jets will host the Oilers in the 2016 Heritage Classic during the 2016–17 NHL season.[18]

Panoramic view of McMahon Stadium prior to the 2011 Heritage Classic

List of games

Bolded teams denote winners

Year Season Date City Stadium Away Team Score Home Team Attendance Ref
2003 2003–04 November 22 Edmonton, Alberta Commonwealth Stadium Montreal Canadiens 4–3 Edmonton Oilers 57,167 [8]
2011 2010–11 February 20 Calgary, Alberta McMahon Stadium Montreal Canadiens 0–4 Calgary Flames 41,022 [14]
2014 2013–14 March 2 Vancouver, British Columbia BC Place Ottawa Senators 4–2 Vancouver Canucks 54,194 [15]
2016 2016–17 October 23 Winnipeg, Manitoba Investors Group Field Edmonton Oilers 3-0 Winnipeg Jets 33,240

References

  1. 1 2 "Jets to host 2016 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic". NHL.com. 2016-03-06. Retrieved 2016-03-07.
  2. 1 2 "Heritage Classic sponsorship trumps Winter Classic, surprises NHL". The Hockey News. 2011-02-04. Retrieved 2013-11-19.
  3. 1 2 Francis, Eric (2011-02-28). "Heritage Classic success sparks talk of five NHL outdoor games a season". QMI Agency. Retrieved 2013-11-19.
  4. ↑ Dolezar, Jon A. (2003-11-14). "The great outdoors". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2013-11-19.
  5. 1 2 "It's Nice Outside—Oilers Stage Heritage Classic". Edmonton Oilers Community Foundation. Archived from the original on 2012-02-06. Retrieved 2013-11-19.
  6. ↑ Cohen, Tom (2003-11-21). "Old-time hockey as Oilers, Canadians play in first outdoor NHL game". Associated Press. Retrieved 2013-11-19. – via Highbeam (subscription required)
  7. ↑ Allen, Kevin (2003-11-19). "Backyard memories revived for a night". USA Today. Retrieved 2013-11-19.
  8. 1 2 3 Dolezar, Jon A (2003-11-23). "Instant classic". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2013-11-19.
  9. ↑ Snow, Chris (2003-11-22). "History heads outdoors; Alumni game part of festivities for stadium duel". Minneapolis Star Tribune. Retrieved 2013-11-19. – via Highbeam (subscription required)
  10. ↑ Pinchevsky, Tal (2013-11-17). "Sunday Long Read: '03 Heritage Classic starts boom". National Hockey League. Retrieved 2013-11-19.
  11. ↑ "NHL, Penguins winners in Winter Classic". Associated Press. 2008-01-02. Retrieved 2013-11-19. – via Highbeam (subscription required)
  12. ↑ Johnson, George (2011-02-13). "Taking it outside". Calgary Herald. p. F6.
  13. ↑ Burnside, Scott (2010-12-30). "Put Heritage Classic back on shelf". ESPN. Retrieved 2011-02-13.
  14. 1 2 Wharnsby, Tim (2011-02-20). "Flames blank Canadiens in NHL Heritage Classic". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2013-11-19.
  15. 1 2 "Gary Bettman says 6 outdoor NHL games is what fans want". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 2013-08-08. Retrieved 2013-11-19.
  16. ↑ Lawless, Gary (2013-12-10). "Winnipeg lands Heritage Classic". Winnipeg Free Press. p. D3. Retrieved 2013-12-10.
  17. ↑ Johnston, Mike (2015-01-20). "Winnipeg Heritage Classic postponed until 2016". Sportsnet. Retrieved 2015-05-31.
  18. ↑ "2016 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic coming to Winnipeg". NHL. March 6, 2016. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
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