Charity exhibition game marks one of the Coliseums last games

Two post-secondary teams said a charitable good-bye to the Coliseum Saturday night.

The University of Alberta Golden Bears played the NAIT Ooks, with 20 per cent of the ticket revenue going to the Stollery Children’s Hospital.

The Golden Bears blanked the Ooks 4-0 in what was one of the very last hockey games the arena will see.

For fans like Trevor Craft, the Coliseum has been an Edmonton staple for him and his family.

“My dad was an (Oilers) season ticket holder for about 25 years,” he said. “I carried the tradition on for a little bit after that.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "My dad was an (Oilers) season ticket holder for about 25 years," he said. "I carried the tradition on for a little bit after that."

He wasn’t the only attendee with family ties to the arena.

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“Very first NHL game, my dad brought me here. It was the Oilers and the Colorado Rockies in a 4-4 tie, so I’ll never forget that,” Owen Melsness said. He was at the game Saturday with his 7-year-old son Zack.

“I’ve watched Stanley Cup Playoff hockey here, seen Iron Maiden concerts. So, it’s really cool being here one more time.”

Next month the city will take over the building and council has voted to close it down.

Brenden Bennett was there to say farewell. He says it’s difficult and saddening to imagine the building simply being torn down.

“It’s kind of sad, there’s a lot of memories in this rink. Coming here with my parents when I was young, coming here with buddies when I grew up,” Bennett said. “I remember the playoffs. There were a lot of bad years with the Oilers but it was still always fun to come out for a night. So it’s sad, but it’s fun.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It's kind of sad, there's a lot of memories in this rink. Coming here with my parents when I was young, coming here with buddies when I grew up," Bennett said. "I remember the playoffs. There were a lot of bad years with the Oilers but it was still always fun to come out for a night. So it's sad, but it's fun."

Lucas Nickels of the Golden Bears was Player of the Game. He says that while he doesn’t have a ton of memories at the Coliseum, playing one of the last games it will see gave the night an interesting atmosphere.

“It’s pretty cool, all the history here—Gretzky, the Oilers. It’s cool to get one last game in here knowing it’s going to be torn down,” he said. “I’ve played two games here in my WHL career, when we played here it was in the paper that it was one of the best games they’ve ever seen in Rexall.”

About 2,000 fans came out to see one of the final games in the former home of the Oilers.