Yes, in fact, there was another outdoor hockey game this week and for the second time in its history, it was called the NHL Tim Hortons Heritage Classic. It seems to me that there is the NHL Winter Classic, which is played on New Year's Day, where two American teams play in the United States and the NHL Tim Hortons Heritage Classic where two Canadian teams play on Canadian soil. The first Heritage Classic was in 2003 between the Edmonton Oilers and the Montreal Canadiens at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton.
This year, the game took place this past Sunday at McMahon Stadium in Calgary between the Calgary Flames and again, the Montreal Canadiens. (Canadiens is spelled that way because that is the french spelling.) 41,022 were in attendance to watch a rather lackluster score of 4-0 for the Flames. The wind chill at game time was -5 degrees Fahrenheit, according to a video on Pierre Lebrun's blog. Lebrun also said that "the event once again rocked even if the actual game didn't, and the NHL has patented that familiar script with yet another hugely successful outdoor foray."
Mikka Kiprusoff got the shutout, saving all 39 shots he faced. It was the first shutout in the history of outdoor games and 39 saves is a new record in outdoor games.
Other records were broken. "The game set several records, including most shots by a player (Bourque, 11), saves by a goalie (39, Kiprusoff), and shots by a team in a period (21,Montreal), which broke the record set just a period earlier by Calgary," said Shawn Roarke, NHL.com Senior Managing Editor.
It is that time again, the trade deadline, where teams either stack up for the playoff run, trade players to get rid of player's salaries or trade for the future. Trades have already happened this week with 10 separate trades. The biggest one involved stud Czech defencemen Tomas Kaberle moving from the Toronto Maple Leafs to the Boston Bruins in exchange for Joe Colborne a first round draft pick and a second round draft pick.
The actual trade deadline is this coming Monday so get on your Twitter account or check out Trade Tracker on tsn.ca to find out who is going where and at what cost.
will the trade deadline be just as uneventful as last year? i think so. salary cap has ruined the fun of trades, costs of evening the playing fields i guess
ReplyDeleteI'd say the trade between the Blues and Avs maybe at the same level is not of a bigger trade because Johnson was a past first overall pick. Although the magnitude of the Kaberle deal is just huge because it involved yet again the Bruins and Leafs
ReplyDeleteWow Bourque must be good. And -5 degrees sounds cold, burr.
ReplyDeleteJonnie: Good roundup on your favorite sport (other than golf?). Your lead is way too long. Make it easy on your readers, and keep your lead to a single sentence. Score = 9
ReplyDelete