Jean-Gabriel Pageau gets the scoring started and the #Sens lead the 2017 Scotiabank #NHL100 Classic 1-0 after two periods. #GoSensGo pic.twitter.com/xhP3ZBx7Xq
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) December 17, 2017
Happy 100th birthday NHL. Born in Canada on December 19, 1917, the original teams — 2 in Montréal as well as teams in Toronto, Quebec, and Ottawa — played the first games. The Montréal Wanderers beat the Toronto Arenas 10-9 and the Montréal Canadiens downed the Ottawa Senators 7-4.
The current Toronto Maple Leafs will celebrate that anniversary today with a matinee game at 2 pm hosting the Carolina Hurricanes. The Leafs will dress in throwback Toronto Arenas sweaters. The Leafs are trying to get as many children to come since ticket prices are usually rather expensive. The team has been encouraging season-ticket holders to donate the ticket to the MLSE Foundation to then be given to a child.
2017 NHL 100 Classic preview in Ottawa
The NHL celebrated the anniversary on Saturday with the current Ottawa Senators hosting the Montréal Canadiens. In a battle of teams that can't score to save their seasons, Ottawa did pull out the 3-0 win at Lansdowne Park.
One for the ages. #NHL100 pic.twitter.com/w5hOhc0kSS
— NHL (@NHL) December 17, 2017
Here are some of the highlights:
- The crowd was really energized mostly due to being the second-coldest outdoor game. The first outdoor game in Edmonton rarely gets any credit south of the border. The precious Winter Classic was born out of that experience and deserves some praise.
- Gary Bettman was shown in the crowd once. When Bettman is in Canada, there is an assumption that he is lost. Justin Trudeau was only shown once in the crowd. But even Conservatives in Ottawa probably like Trudeau better than Bettman.
- Justin Trudeau did have a nice interview on the pregame show with his son Xavier along with Ron MacLean. The segment was filled with Pierre Trudeau stories from MacLean. In a cold outdoor setting, snowball questions fit the bill. Trudeau tied the game as a final way to celebrate Canada 150.
- Kyle Bukauskas took us back to the 2017 Grey Cup at the top floor of the condo building in the west end of the stadium. The TSN telecast showed the Grey Cup trophy traveling down from that top floor. Bukauskas gave us the view of the ice rink from that top location. Spectacular, though probably easier to see football than hockey from that distance. Ever since the RedBlacks have joined the CFL, we wondered how much you could actually see from up there.
- Guy Lafleur and Daniel Alfredsson stepped up to represent their respective franchises. We didn't get to see the alumni game and the Canadiens alumni weren't even involved. For the NHL 100 theme, bringing back legendary players was wonderful. Both Lafleur and Alfredsson participated in the ceremonial puck drop and were on the pregame show along with Trudeau.
- Both Coach's Corner and Saturday Headlines had to deal with the concern over Ottawa needing a downtown arena. The Senators have traditionally not drawn as well because Kanata is so far away from downtown and the city not even having a light-rail system to deal with the transportation issues. The timing has been tough given the love for Ottawa over the weekend but Senators owner Eugene Melnyk may have timed his thoughts because there was so much of a spotlight on the Canadian capital. A downtown arena in Ottawa has made sense for some time for entertainment, not just the NHL. Factor in that the NHL100 Classic was the first NHL game in the city of Ottawa in the modern era. The game drew 33,959 on a very cold night; those fans deserve a nearby arena.
- They actually interrupted the game to give away the Greatest NHL Moment. Louis Jean of TVA Sports handled the presentation, likely because they needed someone bilingual. Mario Lemieux beat out Bobby Orr for the greatest moment in the history of the NHL: scoring 5 goals 5 different ways.
- Jim Hughson usually tosses to a commercial break with "Hockey Night in Canada" of late. The tradition would be to say "Hockey Night in Canada on CBC." A few times Saturday, Hughson went back to saying "Hockey Night in Canada on CBC." Nice, especially since the game was also on Rogers Sportsnet and NBCSN.
NBCSN did carry the CBC feed during the game. However, the sense that the crew had back in Stamford, CT was a disconnection to the pageantry of the spectacle. NBCSN blew off Coach's Corner and only brought us a single Bryan Adams song Heaven in the 2nd intermission. The NBCSN commentary wasn't horrible but was too brief and not worth missing the pageantry. When Cuts Like a Knife came on as NBCSN went to break, the audience became sad.
Kathryn Tappen took some classes at the John Forslund School of "always call Ottawa Canada's capital no matter how annoying that sounds." yes, Ottawa is the capital of Canada bit don't use every reference as "Canada's capital."
Jim Hughson and Craig Simpson referred back to the Matt Duchene interview in the 1st intermission. That would have been helpful to the U.S. audience but the need to run extra Discover Card ads was more important to NBCSN.
For those who missed Coach's Corner, click here to watch the video. Saturday Headlines can be found here. The show open can be found here.
The NHL Network would have run the open and the full intermissions. The show was in Ottawa, not Stamford, CT. The NBCSN reach may be wider than the NHL Network reach but the laissez-faire NHL Network coverage is greatly preferred.
NHL the week in preview December 15, 2017
Seeing a CFL game in Ottawa
Ottawa impressions over a 3-day trip
CanadianCrossing.com NHL coverage
Canadian NHL teams in outdoor games
| Year | Date | Stadium | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | November 22 | Commonwealth Stadium | Montréal 4, Edmonton 3 |
| 2011 | February 20 | McMahon Stadium | Calgary 4, Montréal 0 |
| 2014 | January 1 | Michigan Stadium | Toronto 3, Detroit 2 (SO) |
| 2014 | March 2 | BC Place | Ottawa 4, Vancouver 2 |
| 2016 | January 1 | Gillette Stadium | Montréal 5, Boston 1 |
| 2016 | October 23 | Investors Group Field | Edmonton 3, Winnipeg 0 |
| 2017 | January 1 | BMO Field | Toronto 5, Detroit 4 (SO) |
| 2017 | December 16 | TD Place | Ottawa 3, Montréal 0 |
The Canadiens are now 2-2 in outdoor games. The Habs won in Edmonton, lost in Calgary, won in Boston, and lost in Ottawa. Ottawa is now 2-0 in outdoor games, though the game in Vancouver wasn't very outdoors.
There have been 4 shutouts in NHL outdoor games: 3 of them belong to all-Canadian outdoor games (Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa).
Twitter captures: @Senators
photos credit: CBC/Rogers/NHL
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