WINNIPEG — Thousands of fans attended practice sessions for the Edmonton Oilers and Winnipeg Jets alumni teams ahead of this weekend’s Heritage Classic.
T he Jets Alumni took the ice first at 11:45 a.m. and the Edmonton Oilers Alumni began their skate at 12:35 p.m.
Despite the number of superstars from yesteryear participating in the event, many fans were most excited to see Teemu Selanne.
“He was one of my favourite players, if not my favourite player, growing up and I’ve saved these all these years and I was hoping to get them signed,” said Dan Leclair who brought two ticket stubs from a game in the early 1990’s.
Selanne was given the key to the city by Mayor Brian Bowman after he got off the ice.
READ MORE: Mayor gives former Winnipeg Jet star, Teemu Selanne key to city
“Every time you see … a little fan behind the glass, those are good feelings,” said Selanne of his latest return to Winnipeg.
The practice session ended with the Oilers alumni holding a brief team scrimmage, a tradition from the Wayne Gretzky/Mark Messier era.
RELATED: Wayne Gretzky opens up about rarely playing hockey anymore ahead of Heritage Classic weekend
“We didn’t want to do anything different today. We wanted to at least put on a little bit of a show for the fans,” said Messier.
READ MORE: Getting to and from the NHL Heritage Classic games in Winnipeg
The Heritage Classic Alumni game happens at Investors Group Field on Saturday at 3 p.m. while the regular season game between the Oilers and Jets happens on Sunday at 2 p.m.
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