Attendance record expected at WHL outdoor game

CALGARY – For only the third time in his life Trevor Cheek will head out on an outdoor rink Monday.

The winger will take to the ice with his Calgary Hitmen teammates in the first ever Western Hockey League outdoor game in Canada.

On Sunday, before the team surveyed the conditions at McMahon Stadium – watching the Calgary Flames take on the Montreal Canadiens in the 2011 Heritage Classic – the Hitmen took their practice over to another Calgary outdoor rink to test things.

"It was a lot brighter," said Cheek, a Vancouver, Washington, native who played hockey in Phoenix, before coming to the Hitmen. "The lighting coming off the ice. The wind, you can actually feel it pushing against you.

"It’s a lot different."

"It wasn’t cold enough where I grew up in Washington," he continued. "I never got a chance to skate on a pond.

"I always wanted to experience it."

Now, he’ll get his chance.

On the heels of Sunday’s NHL outdoor game, the Hitmen (19-36-2-2) get their chance in the fresh air against the Regina Pats (20-32-6-2).

To keep with the Heritage theme, the Hitmen will be wearing grey and black sweaters inspired by the 1926 Calgary Canadians – the first Calgary franchise to win a Memorial Cup – along with a retro grey and pink logo from the early days of the Hitmen.

The Pats will be sporting jerseys designed after the ones worn in the mid-1950s when Regina was the junior affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens. It features a blue and cream colour scheme with a Canadiens patch on the sleeve.

"Everyone’s starting to get pretty excited," said Hitmen left winger Nathan MacMaster. "It’s going to be a bit different, playing outside and ice conditions and stuff like that.

"You’ve just gotta approach it like any other game. Same preparation up until you step on the ice. We definitely have got to keep our emotions in check and not let the excitement get the best of us."

As of Sunday afternoon, just over 20,200 tickets were sold for the WHL outdoor game.

That means, the day will break the Canadian Hockey League attendance record of 20,081 set at a game between the Ottawa 67’s and the Kingston Frontenacs at Corel Centre in 2004.

"That was I was mostly excited about, the big crowd," Cheek said. "I wasn’t really excited about playing outdoors . . . but it’s going to be a fun, different experience."

In January, the Spokane Chiefs hosted the Kootenay Ice before 7,075 fans at Avista Stadium in Spokane for the Rockstar Outdoor Hockey Classic.

Calgary Herald