Regina to host Jets and Flames in Heritage Classic in October

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This article was published 01/01/2019 (2563 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Jets are heading outdoors again — going on the road for the NHL’s 2019 Heritage Classic.

The Jets will “host” the Calgary Flames on Oct. 26, at Regina’s Mosaic Stadium, home of the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders (official start time yet to be determined).

The announcement was made Tuesday, during the second intermission of the Winter Classic — an annual outdoor game played New Year’s Day — between the Chicago Blackhawks and Boston Bruins at Notre Dame Stadium.

“Winnipeg and Calgary — a great rivalry and two very competitive teams — playing at Mosaic Stadium: we think it’s going to be fun,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in an interview with NHL on NBC, confirming multiple reports that had surfaced Monday.

“A lot of travelling by the home fan bases, but we think it’s going to be another special event on the calendar.”

Other details about the game — including ticketing and broadcast information — have yet to be revealed. There also was no word as to whether an NHL alumni game — one of the main attractions for Winnipeg in 2016 — is planned.

Regina is some 570 kilometres west of Winnipeg, and some 750 km (by car) southeast of Calgary. Mosaic Stadium seats more than 33,000 for CFL games, and is expandable to 40,000. How many seats will be available for the Oct. 26 game was not yet clear.

Winnipeg was the site of the last Heritage Classic: Oct. 23, 2016, against the Edmonton Oilers, at Investors Group Field. Edmonton won the regular-season game, 3-0, in front of a sold-out crowd of 33,240, with temperatures hitting a high of 9 C.

The 2019 event also marks the second time Calgary will play in the outdoor game, after hosting the event in 2011 (a 4-0 win over the Montreal Canadiens).

Besides the use of a football stadium and everything else that comes with playing hockey outdoors, another notable part of the Heritage Classic is the use of a throwback jersey. The version used by the Jets in 2016 was lauded, and there’s reason to believe — though not yet confirmed — the team may unveil a new design for the 2019 game.

“The jerseys are awesome,” said Jets centre Adam Lowry, who was wearing one of the vintage-style jerseys Monday in a 4-3 win over the Oilers in Edmonton. The Jets didn’t practice Tuesday, but did stage off-ice workouts.

“It’s a fun event, you get to enjoy it with friends and family, and it’s always fun to play on a little bit of a bigger stage.”

The neutral-site Heritage Classic will mark the third time in four years the Winnipeg franchise has been part of a league-run initiative to grow the game in other regions. Earlier this season, the Jets were part of the NHL Global Series, playing two games in Finland against the Florida Panthers.

Jets head coach Paul Maurice said it’s important the league embraces other hockey-crazed markets currently without an NHL team.

“It’s critical, and I’m a big believer in going over to Europe, too — for the same idea,” he said. “The excitement in that Canadian town (Regina) for this game will be huge.

“Everybody is going to remember that weekend and it’s nice to be a part of it for the players. It is a bit of a showcase for them, and they get to enjoy the game a little different.”

What will be different from the previous Heritage Classic is how the Jets’ regular-season schedule will handled by the NHL. In 2016, Winnipeg had three days off from game-action before playing the Oilers, in order to accommodate various events, including the alumni game, putting the squeeze on the Jets.

“I think that one’s different, with my understanding of how this one is going to fit into our schedule. First of all, it’s kind of a road game, whether it’s credited as a home game or not, it’s a part of a road trip. (Last time), they had a big buildup for the three of four days and pushed a bunch of other games around it out,” Maurice said. “And then, really what happened to us was it was the start of the most egregious schedule in the history of the National Hockey League.

“We played 28 games in 49 days, with six sets of back-to-backs… It, well, killed us that year; we had 135 man-games lost and we were three games under .500 by the time we got out, in the middle of December,” he said.

“I don’t think the (2019) outdoor game has to be that big of a distraction… I like it as part of your schedule; a little bit of a break and a change is as good as a rest sometimes… We’re looking forward to it.”

The NHL also Tuesday unveiled a number of other events planned for 2019-20, including the 2020 Winter Classic in Dallas (Stars versus a team to be announced); All-Star Weekend will be in St. Louis (Jan. 24 to 26, 2020), and the NHL Stadium Series, which will be hosted by the Colorado Avalanche at U.S. Air Force Academy’s Falcon Stadium, is set for Feb. 15, 2020.

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

twitter: @jeffkhamilton