1st Heritage Classic played 20 years ago brings back warm memories

EDMONTON -- Kevin Lowe was overlooking the field at Commonwealth Stadium this week.

The former player and general manager of the Edmonton Oilers was reminiscing about the 2003 Heritage Classic, and how he helped determine if the Edmonton Oilers and Montreal Canadiens should be playing a regular-season game in temperatures dipping to -22 Fahrenheit game.

Like the rest of the hockey world, Lowe had no idea 20 years ago if outdoor NHL hockey would work, or what it would become.

Next Sunday, on Oct. 29, the Oilers and Calgary Flames will play each other on the same field, this time in the Tim Hortons 2023 Heritage Classic on Oct. 29 (7 p.m. ET; TVAS, SN, TBS, MAX). It will be the 37th NHL outdoor regular-season game – the first of four this season.

The game, a 4-3 win by the Montreal Canadiens, would turn out to be a groundbreaking success, paving the way for the annual Winter Classic and Stadium Series games and more Heritage Classics.

Kevin Lowe, then the Edmonton Oilers general manager, shakes hands with Guy Lafleur before the alumni game at the 2003 Heritage Classic.

Lowe, then the Oilers GM, was taking part in the MegaStars alumni portion of the event against the Canadiens legends, which served as an opening act to the NHL game and felt he could gauge the conditions firsthand.

“There was some concern, the NHL didn’t want to compromise the health of the players and the temperature was a real concern,” Lowe said this week. “I remember saying to (NHL executive vice president) Colin Campbell, I think (NHL commissioner) Gary Bettman was there, and (Canadiens general manager) Bob Gainey and a few others, that we alumni were going out to play first. I told them that we were going to go play for an hour and I would let them know how it was and it would help them make a final decision. We met me right on the ice at the end of the game and I told them the temperature was no problem at all.”

In planning for the game, organizers were hoping the weather would cooperate. They were rolling the dice with the Nov. 22 date in Edmonton as the weather can be extremely unpredictable at that time in Northern Alberta. But outside of the bitter cold, the day was otherwise suitable for hockey with sunny skies and no snow in the forecast.

“We had looked at the historical highs and lows for that day and it was plus-15 (59 F) and minus-30 (-22 F),” Lowe said. “Unfortunately, we weren’t more in the middle, but regardless of the weather, the NHL had all the ice-making capacity and as long as the ice was good, they could play the game.”

Mike Craig prepares the ice for the 2003 Heritage Classic two days before the first regular-season outdoor game in NHL history.

Dan Craig and his small crew, including son Mike, were responsible for the quality of the ice. Craig, who is now retired, was considered one of the best icemakers in the world and Mike followed in his footsteps, taking over from his father as senior director of operations and facilities for the NHL.

“Being a regular-season game, it puts a little bit more pressure on you for sure,” Mike Craig said. “You want to make sure everything goes as well as it can, there are two points on the line, and it matters. You want to make sure it’s as perfect as it can be.”

The ice crew was able to get the surface up to standard for the alumni game, which featured members of the 1980s Oilers dynasty against those of the 1970s Canadiens, and the regular-season game to follow.

“Where the mistake was made was not resurfacing between the two 15-minute periods of the alumni game,” Dan Craig said. “A lot of snow had built up and there are pictures of the players shoveling the snow and throwing it over the glass. They just wanted to get the game over and done with and didn’t want to wait for a resurfacing because it was so cold. What happened was, the ice was starting to chip up and once it starts doing that, it is difficult to fix it.”

Mark Messier and Wayne Gretzky were among the players shoveling snow over the boards. Messier was still an active NHL player with the New York Rangers and needed permission from the team to play with his former Oilers teammates, who were all retired. Edmonton alumni won the game 2-0, which was played in a two 15-minute half format.

“It had been about five or six years since I’d been on the ice,” Lowe said. “We had some ice available at the (Northlands) Coliseum for six weeks leading up to the game for guys who hadn’t been on the ice in a long time. I came out and pulled my groin in the first period of the alumni game.”

NHL legends Wayne Gretzky, Guy Lafleur and Mark Messier all played in the alumni game before the 2003 Heritage Classic.

Considering Montreal’s alumni were older than Edmonton’s, they put up a good battle. The teams delighted the 57,167 fans who showed up to watch and then stayed for the NHL contest.

“It was exciting to be able to get out there with our old teammates, we hadn’t done it in a while,” former Oiler defenseman Charlie Huddy said. “It was pretty special playing against guys like Larry Robinson, Guy Lafleur, and guys that I had watched growing up. To get out there and play against them it was pretty exciting. It was cold, but it was good.”

Because they did not flood the ice between halves of the alumni game, and as Hall of Fame coach and general manager Glen Sather joked, “players are a little heavier than they used to be,” Dan and Mike Craig, along with the rest of their crew, worked hard to get the ice back in shape for the game between the Oilers and Canadiens.

“The problem was the ice was very flakey because it was so cold and it was so brittle,” Lowe said. “I told them I was worried about the quality of the game because it was tough to make a flat pass. That’s when Dan Craig stepped in and said to give him a little more time that he would make a few more passes (on the Zamboni) and he would shave it down a little bit and they would get it to a better level.”

The start of the NHL game was delayed while the crew worked on the ice surface. Once ready, the players came out and Canadiens goalie Jose Theodore captured the spirt of the evening by wearing a toque on top of his mask, which was taped in place.

With the alumni warming up in a private suite following their game, the Oilers and Canadiens got down to the business of playing the regular-season game. Forwards Richard Zednik and Yanic Perreault each scored two goals for the Canadiens in the win.

“They had these big heaters on the bench, and you would sit there, and your feet would be on fire,” former Oilers center Shawn Horcoff said. “Then you would go out on the ice, and they would get cold again. But it was a great atmosphere. It was cold, but no one complained, because it was the same for both benches, and once the game started, your focus was on just playing and trying to win.”

Huddy went from the ice in the alumni game to the bench as an assistant coach with the Oilers. Because of the heaters on the bench, he and the rest of the coaching staff were comfortable.

“Once it got going it was pretty special to be a part of it,” Huddy said. “I remember the fans that came for the alumni game and hung around for the whole time, it must have been so cold. They were there for a long period of time. That’s the thing I remember, is the fans hanging in for such a long time.”

The event was a success and became a catalyst for more NHL games to be held outdoors for the next 20 years. The 37 outdoor games have drawn 1,851,642 fans.

“It was a magical time, no question, the temperature played into I’m sure,” Lowe said. “But Edmontonians and Albertas always show up on mass for big sporting events, and for it to be a sellout and be as successful as it was, we were very pleased for that particular game. At the very next board of governors meeting Gary Bettman made a statement saying it was the single most important event in his time as commissioner, which really made us proud.”

Fans braves the frigid elements to watch the Montreal Canadiens and Edmonton Oilers play the 2003 Heritage Classic at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton.