WINNIPEG – NHL commissioner Gary Bettman all but confirmed Tuesday that Winnipeg will host a Heritage Classic.
When the outdoor game will happen is still up in the air but all signs point to 2016 to help celebrate the Winnipeg Jets’ fifth anniversary.
“It seems to have taken on a life of its own,” said Bettman. “We had a discussion with (Winnipeg Jets owner) Mark Chipman. He gave us a preference of 2016 but there’s no formal agreement, announcement or anything else. It’s still a work in progress but at some point in the next few years, perhaps 2016, perhaps not, we’ll have an outdoor game in Winnipeg.”
The game will only be the fourth of its kind in Canada. Edmonton hosted the inaugural Heritage Classic in 2003 followed by Calgary in 2011 and Vancouver in March of the following year.
Both True North Sports and Entertainment and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers wouldn’t comment on the potential for an outdoor game at Investors Group Field.
Three players on the Jets’ roster have participated in these ‘pond hockey’ type games before. Olli Jokinen bundled up two years ago when the Calgary Flames beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-0. Andrew Ladd and Dustin Byfuglien played with the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2009 Winter Classic.
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“It’d be great for the city to experience it,” said Ladd. “I had the opportunity to do it in Chicago as a player and it’s pretty neat to be able to do that during the year.”
“It’s kind of a family event,” said Jokinen. “It’s a little bit like an all-star weekend.”
“It’s a positive thing and you also get to let everybody get a good peek at what your city is all about,” said Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz.
By the time the puck drops, Winnipeg will be different. Around 32,000 more people are expected to call this city home and the skyline will change.
The Canadian Museum for Human Rights will be open. Hudson the polar bear and his friends will be roaming the Journey to Churchill. It will also be game on at the University of Winnipeg soccer complex. The RBC Convention Centre will have doubled in size. Various downtown condo projects will be finished and the 46-storey Skycity Centre will be nearly done.
“Winnipeg is going to be a very vibrant and exciting city,” said Katz.
In an ideal world, the Bombers would get the Grey Cup game in the fall of 2015 and then two or three months later, the Jets would host the Heritage Classic. Both events would require about 8,000 temporary seats to be added in each end zone at Investors Group Field to extend the seating capacity to around 41,000. And considering the game would probably be held in February, the weather is one of the biggest concerns.
“To be honest with you, from my experience in Chicago, I think it’s a little tougher for the people watching than the guys on the ice,” said Ladd. “We get the advantage of being able to move and we had heated benches.”
The Heritage Classic is an event that’s perfect for players like Mark Scheifele, who grew up playing shinny on the backyard rink.
“I lived with my skates on in the winter,” said the Jets’ 2011 first-round draft pick. “I was definitely a fan of playing on the outdoor rink. I even played on the outdoor rink every night last year at my billet’s house.”
When the Jets’ head coach was asked about the possibility of taking part in an outdoor game, Claude Noel had his usual witty and sarcastic response.
“As long as it’s dead smack in the middle of January, it would be perfect,” said Noel. “35 below. It’d be perfect.”
But one question remains: who will the Jets face? A geographical rival like the Minnesota Wild makes sense, but they could also want an all Canadian matchup.
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