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Date | October 29, 2023 | |||||||||||||||
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Venue | Commonwealth Stadium | |||||||||||||||
City | Edmonton, Alberta | |||||||||||||||
Attendance | 55,411 | |||||||||||||||
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The 2023 NHL Heritage Classic (branded as the 2023 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic for sponsorship reasons) was an outdoor regular season National Hockey League (NHL) game. The seventh game in the Heritage Classic series took place on October 29, 2023, at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, with the Edmonton Oilers hosting the Calgary Flames. It was the first outdoor game in the Battle of Alberta rivalry. [1] [2]
During the "32 Thoughts" segment on the December 10, 2022, broadcast of Hockey Night in Canada , Elliotte Friedman initially reported that the NHL was planning a Heritage Classic game between the Edmonton Oilers and the Calgary Flames during the 2023–24 season, marking the 20th anniversary of the first Heritage Classic between the Montreal Canadiens and the Oilers at Commonwealth Stadium. While the 2003 game was held in November, Friedman stated that the league was aiming for October so the weather would be a little warmer; [2] the 2003 contest had been held in temperatures of close to −18 °C (0 °F), with a wind chill of −30 °C (−22 °F). [3] The league officially announced the game on December 31, 2022. [4]
The 2023 Heritage Classic marked the first outdoor game in the Battle of Alberta rivalry and the third one for each team. [4]
A moment of silence for former Pittsburgh Penguins player Adam Johnson was held prior to the game. [5]
Scoring summary | |||||
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Period | Team | Goal | Assist(s) | Time | Score |
1st | EDM | Brett Kulak (1) | Evander Kane (3), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (5) | 04:19 | 1–0 EDM |
EDM | Zach Hyman (3) | Leon Draisaitl (8) | 09:38 | 2–0 EDM | |
CGY | Nazem Kadri (1) (PP) | MacKenzie Weegar (1), Jonathan Huberdeau (3) | 14:55 | 2–1 EDM | |
EDM | Evan Bouchard (3) | Leon Draisaitl (9), Connor McDavid (7) | 16:06 | 3–1 EDM | |
2nd | CGY | A.J. Greer (1) (PP) | MacKenzie Weegar (2), Jacob Markström (1) | 11:28 | 3–2 EDM |
3rd | EDM | Vincent Desharnais (1) | Evander Kane (4), Zach Hyman (6) | 06:16 | 4–2 EDM |
EDM | Evander Kane (2) (EN) | Derek Ryan (1) | 19:13 | 5–2 EDM | |
Penalty summary | |||||
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Period | Team | Player | Penalty | Time | PIM |
1st | EDM | Evander Kane | Boarding | 06:46 | 2:00 |
EDM | Leon Draisaitl | Broken stick | 07:25 | 2:00 | |
EDM | Ryan Nugent-Hopkins | Holding | 12:56 | 2:00 | |
EDM | Darnell Nurse | Roughing | 13:30 | 2:00 | |
CGY | Blake Coleman | Interference | 17:55 | 2:00 | |
2nd | EDM | Vincent Desharnais | Interference | 09:28 | 2:00 |
3rd | CGY | Dennis Gilbert | Holding | 07:05 | 2:00 |
EDM | Evander Kane | Tripping | 12:35 | 2:00 |
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Three star selections | |||
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Team | Player | Statistics | |
1st | EDM | Zach Hyman | 1 goal, 1 assist |
2nd | EDM | Leon Draisaitl | 2 assists, 2 penalty minutes |
3rd | CGY | MacKenzie Weegar | 2 assists |
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Country singer and Alberta native Brett Kissel sang the Canadian national anthem, which marked his second time performing the anthem at the Heritage Classic, after doing so in 2016 alongside Doc Walker. Canadian indie rock band The Rural Alberta Advantage performed during team introductions (and also served as the house band at the game as well). [6]
Following the anthem, the ceremonial face-off consisted of alumni players who played in the 2003 game at Commonwealth. For the Canadiens: Jose Theodore, Steve Begin, and Stephane Quintal and for the Oilers: Charlie Huddy, Ales Hemsky, and Jarret Stoll.
Rock group and Alberta natives Nickelback performed during the second intermission. The setlist included their version of "Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)" by Elton John and their chart topping songs "How You Remind Me" and "Rockstar". [7]
In Canada, the 2023 Heritage Classic was broadcast on Sportsnet. In the United States, the game was broadcast on TBS in lieu of TNT, due to the latter airing the second game of a women's international soccer friendly series between the United States and Colombia. The game marked TBS' first NHL regular season broadcast. The game was streamed on Sportsnet+ in Canada and on Max in the United States. [8] [9]
The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which opened in 2016. Kris Knoblauch is the head coach as of November 12, 2023, and Ken Holland was named general manager on May 7, 2019. The Oilers are one of two NHL franchises based in Alberta, the other being the Calgary Flames. Their close proximity has led to a fierce rivalry known as the "Battle of Alberta".
The Heritage Classic was an outdoor ice hockey game played on November 22, 2003, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, between the Edmonton Oilers and the Montreal Canadiens. It was the first National Hockey League (NHL) game to be played outdoors as a part of regular season play. The Heritage Classic concept was modeled after the success of the "Cold War" game between the University of Michigan and Michigan State University in 2001. The game was given the tagline "A November to Remember".
Commonwealth Stadium is an open-air, multipurpose stadium located in the McCauley neighbourhood of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It has a seating capacity of 56,302, making it the largest open-air stadium in Canada. Primarily used for Canadian football, it also hosts athletics, soccer, rugby union and concerts.
The Battle of Alberta is a term applied to the intense rivalry between the Canadian cities of Calgary, the province's most populous city, and Edmonton, the capital of the province of Alberta. Most often it is used to describe sporting events between the two cities, although this is not exclusive as the rivalry predates organized sports in Alberta.
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The NHL Heritage Classic is one of the series of regular season outdoor games played in the National Hockey League (NHL) that is held in football stadiums based in Canada. Unlike the NHL's other two series of outdoor games, the NHL Winter Classic and the NHL Stadium Series, the Heritage Classic has been held infrequently: only seven games have been played in the series so far, and the first five match-ups were exclusively between Canadian teams. The inaugural Heritage Classic, hosted by the Edmonton Oilers at Commonwealth Stadium in 2003, was the first outdoor regular season game in NHL history and its success served as the precursor to outdoor hockey games played around the world. The second Heritage Classic, played at McMahon Stadium in Calgary in 2011, set sponsorship and revenue records. The third Heritage Classic was hosted in Vancouver's BC Place stadium in 2014. The fourth game was hosted by Winnipeg at Investors Group Field, now known as IG Field, in October 2016. The fifth game was held on October 26, 2019, at Mosaic Stadium in Regina, Saskatchewan.
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The 2011 Heritage Classic was a regular season outdoor National Hockey League (NHL) game between the Montreal Canadiens and the Calgary Flames. The game was played at McMahon Stadium in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, on February 20, 2011. The Flames defeated the Canadiens by a score of 4–0 before a crowd of 41,022 spectators. It was just the second time in six NHL outdoor games that the home team won.
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The 2016 NHL Winter Classic was an outdoor ice hockey game played in the National Hockey League (NHL) on January 1, 2016, at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. The eighth edition of the Winter Classic, it matched the Montreal Canadiens against the Boston Bruins; the Canadiens won, 5–1, a significant event in one of the NHL's best-known rivalries. A Bruins and Canadiens alumni game was also played on December 31, 2015. The Boston Pride women's professional hockey team played before the alumni game against Les Canadiennes of the Canadian Women's Hockey League to a 1–1 tie in the first ever 2016 Outdoor Women's Classic.
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