In the seventh edition of The Time Travels of the Orange and Blue, we revisit the first outdoor game in NHL history, as well as one of the highest scoring games in (post-Gretzky) Oilers history. You better settle in, this is a long one….
November 22nd, 2003
The Alumni
The 2003-04 NHL season was remembered as the last in the era of no salary cap. It was also the season directly before the 2004-05 lockout with changed the course of pro hockey history forever. With uncertainty in regards to future of the league’s labour future looming over everyone’s heads, the first ever Heritage Classic brought an escape for everyone in the hockey world, first with the MegaStars game between the Oilers and Montreal Canadiens legends.
A true outdoor regular season outdoor game NHL event had been discussed for years and it finally came to fruition at Commonwealth Stadium.
On this incredibly cold Saturday night Oiler fans for the first time since the dynasty days were able to see Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Paul Coffey and many others take to the ice once again in Orange and Blue.
It’s fitting that two teams known for their high powered offenses would combine for just two goals on the afternoon. Ken Linseman and Marty McSorley would do all the scoring in this one in a 2-0 Edmonton win with the original format of the alumni game being two 15 minute periods with halftime in between.
Being far too young to have ever seen any of these players in Oiler or Habs jerseys, it was awesome to get swept up in the nostalgia of the event along with so many others. I watched in the basement and leaped into the air as Grant Fuhr and Bill Ranford held down the fort in the Edmonton net with jaw dropping save after jaw dropping save. For all who watched it was nice to get stuck in a time warp on that Saturday afternoon.
The Main Event – A moment decades in the making.
Who knew that when the Oilers and Habs stepped onto the ice with two points on the line they’d launch an event that would become a yearly crown jewel event for the league?
Everyone gathered in the hockey world had their eyes on Edmonton. It was such a cool moment as 57,167 fans huddled into Commonwealth Stadium to set a then NHL attendance record. I’m sure almost all who attended still are trying thaw out some 13 years later as the temperature that day was in the -20 Celsius range. Ouch. (Editor’s Note: Beer does freeze, and if you stick a plastic knife in it, it becomes a popsicle.)
Although Edmonton would get the better of Montreal in the Alumni game, the Canadiens would leave Commonwealth a little higher in the standings with a 4-3 victory thanks to two goals each coming from Richard Zednik and Yanic Perreault.
Edmonton’s offense would come from Eric Brewer, Jarret Stoll and Steve Staios but a late push wouldn’t be enough as Jose Theodore and that now-infamoustoque on his head would preserve the win for Montreal.
Fun was had by all on a cold weekend in the early 2000s as it showed that going outside and playing for a little bit is a pretty great idea.
November 26th, 1996
By the 1996-97 season, the Oilers were far removed from their days of putting up 10+ goals on a team at will. In that season’s first edition of the Battle of Alberta, the next generation reminded everyone of what times used to be like in the City of Champions with an absolute thrashing to the tune of a 10-1 win over the Flames from TEN different goal scorers.
Todd Marchant, Dan McGillis, Mats Lindgren, Bryan Marchment, Mariusz Czerkawski, Doug Weight, Dean McAmmond, Miro Satan, Andrei Kovalenko and the captain Kelly Buchburger made what was a 60 minute game probably feel like a 160 hour game for both Trevor Kidd and future Oilers savior Dwayne Roloson in between the pipes.
Edmonton would made it 8-0 in the third before they had a reply thanks to a goal from Dave Gagner (the future Oiler foreshadowing is incredible) to break Curtis Joseph’s goose egg.
That would be the first time the Oilers dropped a 10 spot since the 88-89 season and it stands as the last time that the Oilers have put up double digits on a team.
Next Week
In volume 8 of Time Travels we’ll look at a few hat tricks by Oiler icons that further show that this team was playing chess while everyone else in the NHL was playing a dollar store brand of checkers for an entire decade.
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