EDMONTON – It was 10 years ago to the day that nearly 60,000 cold hockey fans packed Commonwealth Stadium for an event that would end up paving the way for years of outdoor NHL games to come.
The first ever Heritage Classic was played in Edmonton on November 22, 2003. The event was a double-header, beginning with a match-up between alumni members of the Edmonton Oilers and the Montreal Canadiens, followed by a regular season game between the two teams.
The mastermind behind the classic was Oilers President and COO, Patrick LaForge, who wanted to come up with a special way to mark the Oilers upcoming 25th anniversary.
“Let’s bring the great alumni back to play, right? Have a bit of a challenge match – an alumni game – and then, what if we played it outdoors?” LaForge recalled.
It was that thought, in the fall of 2000, that would spark an idea that has now become an NHL tradition.
The concept was no easy task, though. In the spring of 2001, LaForge approached the Great One himself, Wayne Gretzky, with his idea.
“I told him basically – outdoor game, ice, alumni, 60,000 people, November. And he looked at me and in one minute, one second, he said ‘I’m in. I’m doing that,'” said LaForge.
From there, it took dozens of people the better part of three years to put the big game together.
“It just got so big. Bigger than any of us thought it was going to be,” said Lyle Best, who was on the organizing committee. “The logistics – we had a committee probably of 25 or 30 people.”
And so, after years of preparation, the day of the big game finally arrived.
“The day itself was so cold, it was unbelievably cold,” Best said.
“I remember Lois Hole, wrapped up in a blanket, who had only the day before had some chemo therapy and there she was sitting outdoors at minus 29 or whatever it was.”
“I remember waking up in the morning, I went to Commonwealth, the sun was just barely coming up and it was crisp, boy, Holy mackerel. But there was no wind, it was a picture perfect prairie winter day,” LaForge said, looking back on that November day.
The alumni were first to hit the ice.
“The alumni groups were over the moon,” LaForge said. “They were happy. It was Superbowl Sunday for them. A lot of them had left the rink, never played together again, never even been together again.”
Then the regular season game was played; current Oilers Ryan Smyth and Ales Hemsky were among the players who took part in the classic. Both players vividly remember just how cold it was outside.
“Cold. Very cold,” Smyth said.
“The interesting thing is, is that we had heated benches. And then obviously it being so cold, we couldn’t acclimatize. It was hard to adjust. I don’t know if that caused the loss or not,” he added with a laugh.
“We had some special things from the Eskimos, they gave us little packages they are using for hands and they are using for feet,” Hemsky explained.
Both say the experience of being part of the first outdoor NHL game was definitely something to be remembered.
“We had the older guys playing before us, practicing, so it was pretty cool to see everybody there from Montreal and the Edmonton Oilers,” Hemsky said. “It was pretty special.”
“It’s something you look back on and remember where it all started for most kids – being on outdoor rinks – and (now) you’re playing in an NHL game,” Smyth reminisced. “I’m very appreciative and thankful.”
And despite the bone-chilling temperatures, and a 4-3 loss by the Oilers, the day is still seen as a classic by all involved.
“I thought it was spectacular. I thought it was the best, compliments were gushing,” LaForge explained. “Everybody said it’s a watershed moment for the NHL.”
“It was just magical. It was probably one of the coolest things I’ve ever been involved in,” Best said with a smile. “There’s only one first and we were the first and we’ll always sort of argue we were the best.”
This year the NHL is hosting six outdoor games. The new Stadium Series will see four games played outside. The sixth Winter Classic will be played Jan. 1 between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings. And the third Heritage Classic, set for Mar. 2, 2014, will be played between the Ottawa Senators and Vancouver Canucks at BC Place in Vancouver.
With files from John Sexsmith, Global Sports.
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