Heritage Classic: Good Idea or Bad Idea?

Is it just me, or is it chilly in here?

With the NHL re-instating the Canadian Heritage Classic for the season to come, I can’t stop but wonder how much I love hockey and a game held outdoors. Against all the conditions, with points on the line. Beauty is what I can come up to.

When the first ever and only one to date, Heritage Classic held in 2003 at Commonwealth Stadium, I lived in E-Town, and was able to find a pair of tickets to go to the game. It’s something I never regret, and really a moment of a lifetime. Jose Theodore’s picture above describes it all, too bad he’s never going to experience that again.

Click “Continue Reading” to find out what’s good and what`s bad about this season’s Heritage Classic.

This coming season’s Heritage Classic will pit the hometown Calgary Flames against the Montreal Canadiens in the icy winters of Calgary, specifically McMahon Stadium. These two not only are playoff bubble teams if Las Vegas has it right, but when any Canadian team plays another, it’s due to get attention across the league.

First off, about the stadium. McMahon is a huge football field and hoast of the Canadian Football League’s Calgary Stampeders. It’s a bit smaller than Commonwealth, but a whole lot nicer. The track around the stadium isn’t as big as other football fields, therefore bigger space for building sheets of ice.

Of course, it’s Flames and Canadiens fans. Two totally different type of fans, and two different Conferences. But, I always say there’s one negative to every positive. What I find troubling is the actual teams in it. Sure, Montreal may have the greatest fans in Canada (disproved by my previous post), but why are they in another Heritage Classic. They don’t have a storied rivalry with Calgary like they do with Toronto or Ottawa, so why exactly these two teams?

The biggest thing is that the match is being held late February. Is it really appropriate we settle 2 points in a game which would be different under regular conditions? I find it perfectly fine, but not for the fan of either teams, who may or may not be in the playoff picture come February.

And is this whole thing being played right? Is it being over-used? I find it a bit out-done especially since Alberta so far has been the only province to host it. Not as much as the Winter Classic, but I would rather have had Calgary play Vancouver at Empire Park. Now that would have been a treat for Western fans.

And for all you Ontario fans who haven’t got to taste one Classic since it`s inception, don’t worry. Heritage Classic 2012 at the Rogers Centre, Senators vs. Leafs. That is all.

Tags: Calgary Flames, Commonwealth Stadium, Conditions, Edmonton Oilers, Empire Park, Heritage Classic, Heritage Classic 2003, Heritage Classic 2011, McMahon Stadium, Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators, Points, Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks