Classic Indeed

The day Flames fans had been eagerly awaiting all year has now come and gone.  Sunday, playing in rather chilly conditions, the Flames were able to beat the Canadiens 4-0 in the Heritage Classic at McMahon Stadium.

First and foremost, the win got the Flames a big two points, and they now find themselves tied with the Nashville Predators for fifth place in the Western Conference.  I think the result speaks volumes for the Flames and how much this team has changed in the past two months.  It would have been very easy to get lost in all the hoopla that goes with playing in an outdoor game.  With all the off ice activities and the extra attention the games was receiving, it would have been east to get distracted and lose focus, forgetting that this game counts as much in the standings as 81 others on the schedule this year.  The team deserves full credit for playing a good game, dominating parts of it, and in the end getting a shutout and a victory.

Of course for the fans, this wasn't just another game on the schedule, but instead the biggest game on the schedule this year.  The Heritage Classic serves as an exhibition for the league and the Flames, a chance to showcase the game in a unique setting and give the fans something a little out of the ordinary.  Well, it didn't disappoint.

Really, there weren't many negatives on the day.  Yes, it was cold, and that did put a damper on things at times.  Personally, I found me feet getting pretty cold near the end of the 2nd period.  But, they rebounded by the end of the intermission, and the rest of my body was staying warm.  I also couldn't really see the game, as in, I couldn't tell what was happening.  While I was in row 52, I'm pretty sure I was lower than my seats in the Saddledome.  However, we were simply too far away to really see a lot of the action.  It was difficult to follow the puck and even tough to tell the players apart.  But, as I've been saying for the past few weeks, if I wanted the best view of the game, I would have stayed home.  This event was about the atmosphere, not seeing the game.  There was also a higher-than-normal amount of jersey fouls.  It drives me crazy when people where the jersey of a team that isn't playing.  At this game, I saw Leafs, Canucks, Oilers, Flyers, Penguins, Senators, Bruins, Capitals, Blues, Roughrider, and Coyotes jerseys.  You can see a few of the these at TSR's jersey fouls site here.

But everything else seemed to be working just fine.  McMahon stadium has never looked better and I'll give full credit to the NHL for prettying up that pig.  Heritage Classic logos everywhere, Flames logos, even pine tree down at ice level, all made McMahon look much better than we all know it is.  The spectator plaza on the East side of thee Stadium, although quite crowded, was also well executed, providing fans with concessions, merchandising, activities and live music.  It was a perfect way to start the day, arriving at the plaza from the train and feeling the buzz coming from a packed area.

Another excellent idea, and one I hope the Stampeders consider, was expanding the 'ticketed area' and having additional concessions stands and port-a-potties outside the stadium.  Our seats were in section M, in the NE corner, and instead of having to fight McMahon's always congested concourses, we could simply walk through what are normally exit-only gates, and down to a concession area and port-a-potty set-up, without having to have our tickets scanned.  I can't imagine what the line-ups would have been like for the bathrooms without this area being opened up.  McMahon is actually even worse than the Dome for bathroom queues.  But the NHL's set up provided the extra room necessary to get around and spend money during the intermission.  Job well done.

The actual presentation of the game also featured some enhancements from the league.  First off, the NHL put up their own jumbotron, one that was larger and better than the one normally used at McMahon.  It provided crystal-clear replays of the game in glorious HD.  Secondly, I enjoyed that the sounds from the ice and game were played over the loudspeaker, meaning we could hear the scraping of blades against ice, pucks and players hitting the boards, etc.  With visibility being so poor, the sounds were what really kept you into the game.

Nothing beats free swag...

There was also some good swag being thrown about, unusual for the Flames, who normally only give out magnetic schedules or the odd poster.  Every seat featured a Tim Horton's Heritage Classic seat cushion, which was great for keeping my ass warm, but also providing me with some comfort.  I took ours home of course, as everybody did, and marvelled at how great they were.  However, now that I think about it, I'll probably never use them ever again.  But they're still nice.  Canadian Tire was also giving out hand and foot warmers to everybody who wanted them.  I was wearing about five layers of clothing, and never really felt that cold, but the pocket warmers did provide a nice touch to my gloves and boots, and helped make the weather a little bit more bearable.

All and all, I thought it was a great event.  I had so much fun, and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it.  But, having said that, I'm also glad there aren't 41 outdoor games a year, because I'd bee staying home to watch on TV a lot more.  Now let's see if the Flames can avoid a post-Heritage hangover, and continue their good play into the playoff in April.

-TheRev


twitter.com/TheRevBW
thesportsroundup@gmail.com
Agree? Disagree? We want to hear from you! Click below to comment