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McMahon Stadium To Host First Outdoor NHL Game In Canada Since 2003.
NEW YORK (August 4, 2010) – Representatives from the National Hockey League, the Calgary Flames and the Montreal Canadiens met today at Calgary’s McMahon Stadium in advance of the 2011 NHL Heritage Classic™, the regular-season outdoor game to be played Sunday, February 20, 2011. The League, the Flames and the Canadiens today also unveiled the game-day jerseys specially designed for each team for the event.
The 2011 NHL Heritage Classic marks the first regular-season NHL game contested outdoors in Canada since the Edmonton Oilers hosted the Canadiens at Commonwealth Stadium on November 22, 2003. CBC and RDS will carry the game in Canada and VERSUS will telecast the outdoor match in the United States. NHL Radio™ will have the live action across North American radio. NHL Network™ will provide pre- and post-game programming, and NHL.com will provide extensive digital coverage.
"The Flames and Canadiens, two teams with so much history, will resume a rivalry that is so much a part of the National Hockey League’s proud heritage. Our first regular-season outdoor game was played in Canada, and we're excited to be coming back for the 2011 NHL Heritage Classic at McMahon Stadium Feb. 20," said Gary Bettman, Commissioner of the National Hockey League.
The Flames and Canadiens are the only clubs to have contested an all-Canadian Stanley Cup Final in the 40-plus years of the NHL's expansion era (since 1968), doing so twice in a four-season span. The Canadiens captured their 23rd Stanley Cup by defeating the Flames in five games in 1985-86 and the Flames won their first and only Stanley Cup in a six-game triumph over the Canadiens in 1988-89.
Both clubs boast a strong cross-country following and own long home sellout streaks. The Canadiens have drawn capacity crowds at Bell Centre for each of their past 248 regular-season and playoff games since January 2004, while the Flames have posted 230 consecutive sellouts at Pengrowth Saddledome since April 2004. These two teams will have one match-up prior to the 2011
NHL Heritage Classic when the Canadiens host the Flames on January 17th. “The Calgary Flames are honoured to be hosting the Heritage Classic at McMahon Stadium. Calgary and Montreal have a storied past having faced each other in two Stanley Cup finals and we are pleased to be able to restore that rivalry on this grand stage with an outdoor game,” said Ken King,
President and CEO Calgary Flames. “The Flames organization, the city of Calgary and Flames fans everywhere are very excited about this very special event highlighted by the opportunity to see NHL action in a classic winter setting.”
“The entire Montreal Canadiens organization is thrilled to be part of this exciting event. We look forward to this celebration of hockey on Canadian soil and welcome the opportunity to revive our longtime rivalry with the Calgary Flames,” said Pierre Boivin, President of the Montreal Canadiens. “We had the privilege of playing in the first Heritage Classic, back in 2003, and we are pleased and honoured to have been invited for this outdoor showdown at McMahon Stadium.”
