Fans, in the less traditional sense, will be returning to the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary Thursday night when the Flames take on the Montreal Canadiens.
While in-person attendance at Flames games is still restricted due to COVID-19, those watching the game Thursday night will see cardboard cutouts of hockey fans fill the seats inside the dome.
The Flames Foundation initiative is in support of #SnowyStrong for ALS.
For $125, hockey fans can purchase a cutout of themselves, a family member or friend, which will be placed in the stands for the remainder of the season. Fans can choose to have the cutout version of themselves wear a Flames home jersey, away jersey, reverse retro jersey or no jersey.
Proceeds from every cutout will go toward the #SnowyStrong initiative.
The Flames can’t guarantee fans will see themselves on TV during games, but said the fan cutout sections will be highlighted on various media platforms.
There are a limited number of cutouts available for purchase. Anyone who buys one will have the cutout shipped to them at the end of the season for a keepsake.
Thursday night also marks the first for the Flames’ new, but familiar, head coach Darryl Sutter.
Sutter held his first practice with the club on Tuesday after the team announced his hiring after Calgary’s 7-3 win over the Ottawa Senators last Thursday night. Geoff Ward was fired that same night.
The 62-year-old native of Viking, Alta., is in his second stint with Calgary. Sutter served as Flames head coach from 2002-06, guiding them to the ’04 Stanley Cup final before a heartbreaking, seven-game loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Sutter was also Calgary’s GM from 2003-2010.
Thursday’s game starts at 7 p.m. MT.
For more information on the cutouts or to purchase one, visit the fan cutouts website.
—With files from The Canadian Press.