Hawerchuk. “Tere were many nights while I was playing here that some teammates and I would sneak out to an out- door rink in Charleswood and have a little outdoor game. We had a lot of fun. Once a couple kids figured out who we were and managed to draw a pretty big crowd. Tat was back in the day when there were no cell phones. I’m sure we’ll have a bigger one (crowd) in October.” Te return of the Jets and the planning of the Heritage Classic have largely been due to the work of True North Sports and Entertainment chairman Mark Chipman, who spoke both at the press conference on March 6 as well as at the jersey and alumni roster unveiling on Aug. 5 at Portage and Main. “To step out and see this kind of support — for the first time it feels real,” said Chipman. “When we announced it back in the MTS Centre it was kind of sterile, but this is real now. It feels really good, and it’s getting super exciting for our organization.” Winnipeg Jets forward Blake Wheeler was there to help model the newly unveiled jersey and spoke very highly of the support the team receives, even when there’s no ice to be seen. “It’s awesome. In the middle of summer, to see the kind of support we get, even now, it’s incredible. Being a part of this game is going to be a cool experience for us and for our whole city. Getting that many of our fans into one stadium to see us play is going to be really awesome,” said Wheeler.
Tis will be the fourth Heritage Classic, the Canadian counterpart to the Winter Classics and Stadium Series that are held in American NHL cities. Te first Heritage Classic in 2003 was played during a cold snap in Edmonton, with wind chill at game time at -30 C. Te iconic image of Jose Teodore of the Montreal Canadiens wearing a toque over his goalie mask will be an image etched into the minds of hockey fans for years to come. Te 2011 edition in Calgary was also quite nippy, with the wind chill around -25 C. Wind wasn’t a factor for the 2014 edition, as the game was played in the enclosed B.C. Place in Vancouver. While Winnipeg may get a reputation for being very cold,
the reality is that temperatures in late October are usually quite mild. Te daily high for Winnipeg on Oct. 23 last year was 9 C with a low of 3 C, and in 2014, on that date the day- time high was 17 C with a low of 9 C. Playing outdoor games when the weather is above freezing is not uncommon for the NHL, and their ice-makers are very well versed in dealing with such conditions. Te hottest outdoor NHL game that has been played was between the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks at Dodgers Stadium in 2014, when tem- peratures were 17 C and humid. For fans heading to the alumni game and Heritage Classic, the promise of warm weather, a state-of-the-art stadium and two up-and-coming teams can only boost the level of excite- ment this coming October in Winnipeg.
The 2011 NHL Heritage Classic took place at the McMahon Stadium in Calgary, where the Calgary Flames played the Montreal Canadians.
26 • Fall 2016
The Hub
Photo by John Johnston.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80