I saw my first live hockey game in 1966: a family friend, Rick Kissack, had a Sunday afternoon Peewee game on the Lynnwood community rink, a slap shot north of 84 Avenue just east of 156 Street.
The sounds. That’s what struck me.
Pucks hitting the boards made a deep, thundering thud before crashing to the lightly snow-dusted ice, making a swooshing sound before it is scooped up by a player.
When the puck zings a goalpost or crossbar, an unmistakable “ping!” reverberates around the rink, and then some.
That soundtrack was seamlessly transferred to night outdoor games.
The lights were bright. Crisp. And not only for hockey games and practices, but also inviting friendship, shining brightly over rink shacks, outdoor parking lots and nearby sidewalks.
I watched my brother Brad play defence in many outdoor games.
When he entered Bantam, all Brad’s games were played in arenas.
They were warmer and more comfortable, absolutely.
But I remember missing the sense of community outdoor hockey games brought: parents huddled — usually at the end of an outdoor rink — stomping their feet, clapping their hands, covering their ears and whatever other physical activity they chose to stay warm.
The intermissions were welcomed. Parents followed their kids’ hockey team into the rink shack to get warm and rub their child’s feet before heading out for another period.
Those memories, however cold they are, always warms the spirit of where hockey comes from.
It’s grassroots, covered with frozen ice: outdoor hockey rinks.
The Tim Hortons Heritage Classic will be a the National Hockey League’s collective centre ice Sunday at 5 p.m.
North of 50,000 people will trudge into Commonwealth Stadium to watch the Calgary Flames and the Edmonton Oilers on outdoor ice.
Spectators might not be as warmly dressed for this year’s version of the classic as they were for the original.
Twenty years ago, with temperatures dipping well below -20 C, fans had as many coats, toques, gloves, mitts, scarves and earmuffs as humanly possible while keeping enough mobility to walk into the stadium and up or down countless steps to get to their seats.
Perhaps the NHL sent the Environment Canada folks a little somethin’ somethin’.
As of 4:20 p.m. Saturday the forecast for Sunday — highs of -2 C, and lows of -7.
Storylines, well, there are lots of them.
Will Connor McDavid return from his week-old injury to play in the game?
Will the floundering Oilers, desperately needing a win, turn things around?
That’s what I’m especially interested in.
We often hear, that, when things are not going your way, look at the basics: the little things, often overlooked, but the nuts and bolts needed to be successful.
In hockey it’s skating, passing, shooting and scoring.
And on Sunday the sounds of pucks slamming against the boards, shifting through the soft snow, goalpost and zingers off the iron and the bright lights beaconing throughout the McAuley neighbourhood.
Let’s see if, once again, Edmonton shows the hockey world just who we are.
(For Five More Points on the 2023 Heritage Classic, visit camtait.org.)
camtait58@gmail.com
TAIT: Return of Heritage Classic evokes outdoor games from childhood
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30.10.2023
I saw my first live hockey game in 1966: a family friend, Rick Kissack, had a Sunday afternoon Peewee game on the Lynnwood community rink, a slap shot north of 84 Avenue just east of 156 Street.
The sounds. That’s what struck me.
Pucks hitting the boards made a deep, thundering thud before crashing to the lightly snow-dusted ice, making a swooshing sound before it is scooped up by a player.
When the puck zings a goalpost or crossbar, an unmistakable “ping!” reverberates around the rink, and then some.
That soundtrack was seamlessly transferred to night outdoor games.
The lights were bright. Crisp. And not only for hockey games and practices, but also inviting friendship, shining brightly over rink shacks, outdoor parking lots and nearby sidewalks.
I watched my brother Brad play........
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