‘Once in a lifetime’: Fans, players alike enjoy historic, snowy Heritage Classic

In an event enjoyed by all, the Winnipeg Jets completed the comeback and knocked off the Calgary Flames 2-1 in a historic NHL Tim Hortons Heritage Classic at Mosaic Stadium on Saturday.

It was a night filled with gusting wind, falling snow and sub-zero temperatures but that didn’t stop a sold-out crowd of 33,518 from watching the showdown between the two NHL clubs.

It was the first time ever that the Tim Hortons Heritage Classic was held at a neutral-site. It was also the first time the NHL has held a regular-season game in Saskatchewan in 25 years. The last time was on Jan 24, 1994 when the Vancouver Canucks beat the Edmonton Oilers 5-4 in overtime in Saskatoon.

Jets centre Bryan Little tapped in the pass from left-winger Kyle Connor at the 3:04 mark of overtime to give Winnipeg the win and an all important two points on the season.

“It was pretty cool. I felt like it was just one of those games where I pretty much didn’t have any chances then you get a two-on-one in overtime and I’ll admit I didn’t really do to much,” Little said following the game. “I just went to the net and Kyle made a great pass but it was definitely a great feeling.”

For many from Regina or those who made the trek to the Queen City, it was a chance to see the spectacle of an NHL outdoor game.

Jeff Young has been a Flames fan for 15 years and made the trip from Moose Jaw to cheer on the squad that hails from west of Saskatchewan.

“I have a son that lives in Calgary and whenever we’re there we try to take in a flames game but they came to us finally,” Young said. “This is great. Regina’s done a heck of a lot of neat stuff all throughout this week to get ready for this thing. It’s too bad the weather isn’t really co-operating but I guess it’s an outdoor game so you’ve got to expect something.”

Devin Loewen made the 573 kilometre trip from Winnipeg to Regina to cheer on the Jets. Winnipeg hosted the Heritage Classic in 2016 but for Loewen, the game in the Queen City was his first outdoor experience.

“(It’s) snowy but awesome,” Loewen said. “The atmosphere is great.”

“It was amazing, once in a lifetime,” said Hailly Nicklom, who made the trip from Kindersley.

Jets head coach Paul Maurice said the scene was a special one.

“The best seat is right behind the bench because you get to see it all. The fireworks are going off and those jets come over and ‘Oh Canada’s’ just done and it’s snowing and I had said earlier, you just needed Santa and the reindeer blasting over and it would have been the perfect scene,” Maurice said. “It’s about the only thing that could’ve topped that one was a drive-by. It was really good is what I’m trying to say.”

Hockey fans were also treated to a game that kept fans wondering who would walk out the winner the entire time.

Flames left-winger Johnny Gaudreau nearly opened the scoring early with a breakaway in the first 20 seconds of the game but Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck shut the door on him. Hellebuyck stopped 29 of the 30 shots he faced in the game.

While each team would get scoring chances throughout the first period, it would end scoreless.

Despite the layer of snow that would form in-between shovel breaks, Flames Captain Mark Giordano didn’t have any complaints about the playing surface.

“Honestly the ice was really good,” Giordano said inside the Flames locker room. “The ice was fast, you could make plays. I only thought there was a few moments in the game where it was bouncing around a bit but for the most part, it was really good.”

While Calgary opened the game with a 9-1 advantage in shots, by the end of the first the Jets had taken an 14-11 advantage.

Late in the second period, a crowd that was growing increasingly restless for a goal was treated to one. Due to a hooking penalty by Jets forward Andrew Copp, the Flames found themselves with a man-advantage.

Calgary centre Elias Lindholm secured the feed from Gaudreau in front of the net and tapped it past Hellebuyck with 5:13 left in the period. While Maurice challenged the play for a high-stick by Flames left-winger Matthew Tkachuk, the referees ultimately upheld the goal. Centre Sean Monahan was awarded the secondary assist.

Tensions were high between the two teams at the end of the period, with left-winger Adam Lowry delivering a hit to Calgary defenceman Oliver Kylington that caused Flames players to come to the aid of their teammate. Lowry was given a boarding penalty for the hit.The Jets would come out on the third period furiously looking to find the equalizer.

Flames goaltender David Rittich set a new record for an outdoor game with 43 saves in total. He was perfect for 55:49 of the game but defenceman Josh Morrissey accepted a pass from right-winger Patrik Laine and blasted it past the Calgary goaltender on the power-play. It was Morrissey’s first goal of the season.

Morrissey scored a lot of big goals while playing in Saskatchewan while he was a member of the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders.

“When I turned pro and made the NHL, I didn’t anticipate necessarily we’d get a chance to play back here in Saskatchewan so really tried to soak it in,” Morrissey said.

The goal was the equalizer that forced overtime and allowed Little the opportunity to knotch his first goal of the 2019 campaign.

The 24-year-old defenceman also had his grandparents on his mind during the game, with both being from Regina and season-ticket holders for the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders.

“My grandparents passed away before I made the NHL and they would have had a chance to watch me so to kind of come back here where they lived your whole lives, it was pretty special,” Morrissey said.

While disappointed the team only came away with a point while in Regina, Tkachuk said Regina was “Unbelievable” when it came to putting on the entire event.

“It was first-class in how they prepared this event and how they executed it,” Tkachuk said. “I’m sure the weather wasn’t exactly how they drew it up but it didn’t matter, they were awesome.”