The 2023 NHL Heritage Classic (branded as the 2023

Tim Hortons Tim Hortons Inc., known colloquially as Tim's, Timmies, or Timmy's, is a Canadian multinational coffeehouse and restaurant chain with headquarters in Toronto; it serves coffee, Doughnut, donuts, sandwiches, Breakfast sandwich, breakfast egg mu ...

NHL Heritage Classic for sponsorship reasons) was an outdoor regular season

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL) game. The seventh game in the Heritage Classic series took place on October 29, 2023, at

Commonwealth Stadium Commonwealth Stadium is an open-air, multi-purpose stadium located in the McCauley, Edmonton, McCauley neighbourhood of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It has a seating capacity of 56,302, making it the largest open-air stadium in Canada. Primarily ...

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

, with the

Edmonton Oilers 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 (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

hosting the

Calgary Flames The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The ...

. It was the first outdoor game in the

Battle of Alberta The Battle of Alberta is a term applied to the intense rivalry between the Canada, Canadian cities of Calgary, the province's most populous city (since 1976), and Edmonton, the capital of the province of Alberta (since 1905). Most often it is us ...

rivalry.

Background

During the "32 Thoughts" segment on the December 10, 2022, broadcast of ''

Hockey Night in Canada ''Hockey Night in Canada'' (often abbreviated ''Hockey Night'' or ''HNiC'') is a long-running program of broadcast ice hockey play-by-play coverage in Canada. With roots in pioneering hockey coverage on private radio stations as early as 1923, ...

'',

Elliotte Friedman Elliotte Friedman (born September 27, 1970) is a Canadian sports journalist. Since 2014, he has been an ice hockey reporter for Sportsnet and an insider for the NHL Network. He is a regular panelist on CBC's ''Hockey Night in Canada''. Early l ...

initially reported that the NHL was planning a Heritage Classic game between the

and the

during the 2023–24 season, marking the 20th anniversary of the first Heritage Classic between the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal Canadiens (), officially ' ( Canadian Hockey Club) and colloquially known as the Habs, are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. The Canadiens compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic D ...

and the Oilers at

. 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; the 2003 contest had been held in temperatures of close to , with a wind chill of . The league officially announced the game on December 31, 2022. The 2023 Heritage Classic marked the first outdoor game in the

rivalry and the third one for each team. A moment of silence for former

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. The Penguins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), E ...

player Adam Johnson was held prior to the game.

Game summary

:''Number in parentheses represents the player's total in goals or assists to that point of the season''

Team rosters

: Jack Campbell dressed for the Edmonton Oilers as the back-up goalie and did not enter the game.
Dan Vladar dressed for the Calgary Flames as the back-up goalie and did not enter the game.

Scratches

*Calgary Flames: Rasmus Andersson, Adam Ruzicka,

Jordan Oesterle Jordan Oesterle ( ; born June 25, 1992) is an American professional ice hockey defenseman for the Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League (NHL). Early life Oesterle was born on June 25, 1992, in Dearborn Heights, Michigan, U.S. He at ...

*Edmonton Oilers:

Mattias Janmark Mattias Janmark Nylén (born 8 December 1992) is a Swedish professional ice hockey Centre (ice hockey), centre for the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He has previously played in the NHL for the Dallas Stars, Chicago Blackh ...

Entertainment

Country singer and Alberta native

Brett Kissel Brett Kissel (born May 27, 1990) is a Canadian country music, country singer. He has achieved four number-one hits on the Canadian country chart with "Airwaves (Brett Kissel song), Airwaves", "Drink About Me", "A Few Good Stories", and "Make a L ...

sang the Canadian national anthem, which marked his second time performing the anthem at the Heritage Classic, after doing so in

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

alongside Doc Walker. Canadian indie rock band

The Rural Alberta Advantage The Rural Alberta Advantage is a Canadian indie rock band that formed in 2005 in Toronto, Ontario. The band consists of Nils Edenloff on lead vocals and guitar; Amy Cole (Robin Hatch between September 2016 and January 2018) on keyboards, bass, an ...

performed during team introductions (and also served as the house band at the game as well). 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 Stephane may refer to: * Stéphane, a French given name * Stephane (headdress) A stephane (''ancient Greek'' στέφανος, from ''στέφω'' (stéphō, “I encircle”), '' Lat.'' Stephanus = wreath, decorative wreath worn on the head; cro ...

and for the Oilers:

Charlie Huddy Charles William Huddy (born June 2, 1959) is a Canadian former NHL defenceman and former assistant coach of the Winnipeg Jets. He is also one of only seven Edmonton Oilers to be a member of all 5 of the franchise's Stanley Cup-winning teams (1984, ...

, Ales Hemsky, and

Jarret Stoll Jarret Lee Stoll (born June 24, 1982) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings, New York Rangers and Minnesota Wild. Stoll is a two-time Stanle ...

. Rock group and Alberta natives

Nickelback Nickelback is a Canadian Rock music, rock band formed in 1995 in Hanna, Alberta, Hanna, Alberta. Throughout its history, it has consisted of lead guitarist and lead vocalist Chad Kroeger, rhythm guitarist, keyboardist and backing vocalist Ryan ...

performed during the second intermission. The setlist included their version of " Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)" by

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...

and their chart topping songs "

How You Remind Me "How You Remind Me" is a song by Canadian rock band Nickelback. With lyrics written by lead singer Chad Kroeger and music composed by the band, the power ballad was released on July 17, 2001, as the lead single from their third studio album, ' ...

" and " Rockstar".

Broadcasting

In Canada, the 2023 Heritage Classic was broadcast on

Sportsnet Sportsnet is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language Discretionary service, discretionary sports broadcasting, sports specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media. It was established in 1998 as CTV Sportsnet, a joint venture betw ...

. In the United States, the game was broadcast on TBS in lieu of

TNT Troponin T (shortened TnT or TropT) is a part of the troponin complex, which are proteins integral to the contraction of skeletal and heart muscles. They are expressed in skeletal and cardiac myocytes. Troponin T binds to tropomyosin and helps ...

, due to the latter airing the second game of a women's international soccer friendly series between the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

. The game marked TBS' first NHL regular season broadcast. The game was streamed on

Sportsnet+ Sportsnet is a Canadian English-language discretionary sports specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media. It was established in 1998 as CTV Sportsnet, a joint venture between CTV, Liberty Media, and Rogers Media. CTV parent Bell Globe ...

in Canada and on

Max Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (American dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (British dog), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of the OBE) * Max (gorilla) ...

in the United States.

References

External links

* {{Edmonton Oilers NHL Heritage Classic Heritage Classic Calgary Flames games Edmonton Oilers games Ice hockey competitions in Edmonton 2000s in Edmonton