Best day this year.

[Dr Caleb]

Totally Marauder unrelated, but Canuckleheads will relate...

I was just given tickets to the <a href='http://www.heritagehockeyclassic.com/'>Heritage Classic.</a> I had to share before I explode!

For those that don't know, the Heritage Classic will be the first outdoor NHL game ever. It'll be between the Edmonton Oilers and Montreal Canadiens, but it will be preceded by an 'Oldtimers' match between the Edmonton Oilers and the Montreal Canadiens alumni. Only about 5000 tickets were made available to the public, and those were awarded by random draw. The rest went to seasons tickets holders. The company I work for sponsors the building where the Oilers play, so we have the best box in the house + 20 seasons tickets.

So, one last time I get to see the Gretzky, Kurri, Tikanen line score. Rumours are that Mark Messier will suit up too. Greats like Guy LaFleur (possibly Guy Carbenneau and Patric Roy are rumoured too...) will play for the Habs. (Montreal Canadiens -> Habitants -> "Habs")

They started converting Commonwealth stadium after the Edmonton Eskimos won the western division and headed to the Grey Cup (to win!!) last week. 60,000 screaming fans to enjoy the way hockey is supposed to be played, outside on a pond. No billion dollar salaries.

No one's really saying who's playing for either side..but it's gonna ROCK! I'm gonna be sooooo drunk! :)

[Haggis]

You are soooooo Lucky. Man I wish I could be there, take lots of pictures. I have been a Hockey fan for 30 yrs now. I would love to see Guy LaFleur and Guy Carbenneau play again. WOW. I did get to see Gordie Howe play once, when he was with the Hartford Whalers, he played with his two sons. Good Luck and have fun and dress warm. :banana: :rock: :banana: :rock:

[Dr Caleb]

If you can get it in your area, CBC will be broadcasting it in HDTV! First ever broadcast in HDTV too!

Thanks man, won't need to dress. Lots of beer and scotch. :)

[MapleLeafMerc]

I'd love to be there, too! It should be a heck of a party. Maybe you can take a couple of photos and post them after.

[Dr Caleb]

I'll try to take pics. It'll be tough to focus though :-)

[TripleTransAm]

You G*******d Son of a b*tch...

(ahem... sorry, I'll pull myself together)

Enjoy the match. I'll be watching, here in warm +10 C Montreal. ;)

Don't forget to doodle up one of those great big banners saying "GREETINGS TO ALL at MM.NET" and wave it in front of the cameras! ;)

[Dr Caleb]

"GREETINGS TO ALL at MM.NET"
_{except Steve}
:lol:

[TripleTransAm]

Feel the love...


:lol:

[MapleLeafMerc]

better still... get all your buddies to spell it out with letters on their chests- :lol:

[TripleTransAm]

Originally posted by MapleLeafMerc
better still... get all your buddies to spell it out with letters on their chests- :lol:

Make sure they are female buddies, too. Preferably of "model" proportions (hey, Pamela Andersson did originate from our western regions). I don't mind not being able to make out a few letters here and there... :cool:

[gja]

UGHHHHHHHH!!!,
Just what I needed to put me off my food, the visual of rabid hockey fans with ))))shudder(((( chests painted.......
<as I throw the rest of my breakfast in the garbage>

[Dr Caleb]

Originally posted by TripleTransAm
Make sure they are female buddies, too. Preferably of "model" proportions (hey, Pamela Andersson did originate from our western regions). I don't mind not being able to make out a few letters here and there... :cool:

Yep, Vancouver IIRC.

I don't know about getting anyone to go topless for more than a few seconds. It's snowing to beat the band (the band got run over by a snowplow) and Saturday is expected to be -11c, but I'll sure try! I swear that some of the women that work here are candidates for 'trophy' wives!

But it will be just perfect for pond hockey!

Guy Lafleur, Larry Robinson, Claude Lemieux are all here for the Habs. More to arrive today. Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Dave Hunter, Dave Semenko, Yarri Kurri, Kevin Lowe (current Oliers Coach), Randy Gregg are all here for the Oilers. They held a practice skate yesterday.

Best like I heard yet from Dave Hunter - "Yea, some of are a little out of shape. Of course the game will be competetive, it'll just be <i>slow</i> and competetive."

My seats will be in the grandstand, to the south. (top left in the second pic) Bottom right in that pic are the beer tents.

http://www.edmontonoilers.com/albums/mchcsetup2/20_G.jpg
http://www.edmontonoilers.com/albums/mchcsetup11/DSCN5493.jpg
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2003/writers/jon_dolezar/11/14/notes.column/

[Dr Caleb]

What a great time. Sorry for not posting earlier - been busy.

Just some thoughts. . .

The start of festivities was cool, overfly by the Snowbirds, and a CF-18.

I was too far away to see the puck, but the players easily made up for it. I took lots of pictures, but at -25C my camera (digital) froze and lost all the pics. :bigcry:

The stadium looked spectacular. Like someone dropped a frozen pond in the middle of the stadium. We got there around 1 in the afternoon, and it was chilly, but I had on 4 layers of clothing, including insulated coveralls. I heard later that only 7 people (out of 60,000) suffered any hypothermia or exposure. I had lots of 'antifreeze' (Laphroaig) that I smuggled in my insulated chair cushion.

Tom Cochrane did a fantastic performance of his hit "Big Leauge", which was appropriate :)

One guy ran across the stadium wearing *only* a toque and one sock, strategically placed. What a nutcase.

Biggest suprise of the evening: Paulina Gretzky, daughter of Wayne and Janet. She's only 14, looks like her mom (Janet Jones) did, and what a voice! She sang "I will remember You". In a few years, watch out! She's gonna be a real looker! Unlike Shania last year at the Grey Cup, Paulina actually sang!

We were there till after 9 pm, when the fireworks were over.

The Legends Game:

1 Hour long. The place went *nuts* when they introduced the Oilers, and the volume went from roar to Deafening when #99 was introduced. Same for the Habs, and when Lafleur was introduced.

It was a spectacular game. Classic. Even at the mid point, when the old pond hockey rule "You play on it, you clean it" applied, Gretzky, Fuhr, Lafleur, Coffe - all of 'em grabbed a showshovel and and cleaned off the ice. No Zamboni for those guys!

The even had a mic on Glenn Sather and caught a conversation between him and the slightly overweight Dave Hunter:
G Sather: " How's the Ice?"
D Hunter: "A little chippy"
G Sather: " Chippy? Are you sure you're just not too heavy for the ice?"
D Hunter: "He he he"
G Sather: "Skate Softer!"

The 'Enforcer" Semenko even made a faux-drop down on Lafleur, and almost checked Lafleur into the boards, just for old times sake.

Fuhr made some classic saves, and I got to hear "Gretzky to Tikkannan, Tikkannan back to Gretzky over to Semenko" with out the "*scoooores**" one last time. Score was classic too, Montreal made 40 shots on net, Fuhr and Ranford held them scoreless. 2-0 final for the Oilers.

The regular game:

Fast! Clean! Totally unpredictable!

Most players were on a 30 second rotation, rather than 1 minute. Can't say as I blame them, it was cold! There was talk that if the wind picked up, the game would be postponed until the next day and played indoors. But the guys played it!

There were no fights, and very little rough play. Again, getting hit at all when it's that cold just amplifies it, so the game went fast!

The ice was so cold, the puck so cold, it was totally unpredictable. Mostly the play was to just dump it in, go to the corner and get the puck. Trying to pass it or board it wasn't working because of the cold.

Jose Theodore stole the night when he wore a <a href='http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2003/11/22/Sports/outdoor031122'>toque </a> over his goalie's mask. It was totally classic.

It ended 4-3 for the Habs.

I did take a "Hi MM.NET" sign, with the mm.net logo on it, but I recorded the game and watched it again and again. I don't think it made it into the broadcast. At least not the CBC broadcast. And only CBC had the rights...

And no, I didn't put the "Except Steve" on it :)

[MapleLeafMerc]

Sounds like you saw a couple of great games- what a treat to see Gretzky, Lafleur, etc one more time. Too bad about the pictures, but your description makes it easy to imagine.

"One guy ran across the stadium wearing *only* a toque and one sock, strategically placed."

Where was Steve last Saturday? :lol:

[Paul T. Casey]

I am sooooooo jealous. Sounds like a great time, and to get to see "99" on the ice again. I can understand why you called it the best day this year! And the added bonus of seeing Steve in his toque and favorite sock.....

[TripleTransAm]

Glad you enjoyed it, I've been waiting to hear your side of the story for a few days now... I figured you'd imbibed too great a quantity of "Canadian Fuel" and ended up head first in the ice. Sometime in spring, the area'd thaw out and they find your cold lifeless but smiling corpse.

The Classic Oilers played a fantastic game. I was secretly hoping to see 99 score one more. Alas. The Habs' lineup didn't seem to have the same spark as the Oilers did... a sure-fire indication of the 5 or so years that separated the two "winning" teams. Oilers worked hard for that win and deserved it.

I missed the Tom Cochrane act, I suspect because they only started broadcasting the event just before game time.

The initial Bryan Adams performance (Can't Stop this Thing we Started?) disappointed me. I play predominantly bass, and I found myself having a hard time following the beat in my head. Then Sam Roberts came on and surprised the heck out of me with a very solid performance from his band... they had their zhit together! All I could think of was how the old rich rocker was having his azz handed to him by this fresh new generation that could brave that type of cold AND keep glued rock-solid to the beat. But then Bryan had his chance to make up for it with a ripping performance of Summer of '69, maybe he had a little *chat* with his musicians and/or sound people during Sam Roberts' song about not getting upstaged by a young 'un. They delivered this particular song nice and tight.

The regular game: honestly, sometimes I couldn't really tell they were dumping the puck more often than usual. Seemed like every other Habs game... skate to the blue line with a thunderous charge then ALL OF A SUDDEN just dump it in as far as it'll go (sometimes they'll follow it up with a line change, too!) and then rush the boards hoping to confuse the crap out of the defense and somehow hammer that puck into the goal. I HATE that style of playing, I don't think it's graceful, I don't think it's professional, I don't think it's consistent... and yet there seems to be some sort of sacred rule that says every iteration of the Habs HAS to play this way. :mad2:

Felt sorry for you guys down there... I was watching the game in my "family room" on my couch with the patio door open, enjoying the fresh +13C breeze. ;)

[TripleTransAm]

Originally posted by Paul T. Casey
And the added bonus of seeing Steve in his toque and favorite sock.....


Wasn't me... would have required more than just a measly sock.

:cool:


ps: hey, I'm sure I've got pics of my brother and I from the mid to late 70s wearing that exact style of toque, complete with pompom and Habs logo. Heck, maybe my mom still has them stashed away, I'll have to ask her tonight. Victor... oh Victor, daddy's got a surprise for you... :cool:

[Dr Caleb]

It was a good time. The sound was really strange. Since I'm used to timing things in milliseconds, I could tell there was a visible delay in the audio.

I don't know if you could see on TV that there were REALLY HUGE TV screens on the South side of the building for some fans in the stands to see the leeeetle tiny performers on, but the audio in the stadium was in synch with the video on the screen, and out of synch with the actual performer by just of a fraction of a hair of a whisker.

Even the echo of the audio was in synch. Really cool mixing. Sam Roberts just seemed to rock, and Tom Cochrane was the schizz! That boy can belt them out! Too bad that didn't make it to TV.

Bryan Adams didn't sound too good from the stands ethier. Mostly because the echos from the stage clashed with the echoes from the main sound system. I guess they got the sound together for Sam Roberts.

+13. How could you stand it? :) The trick to being that cold was to drink more whiskey than beer. The line up for the head was 45 minutes, and it took 15 minutes to unzip, so excess beer was not good. Plus, beer was 7.50 a glass! Not even a pint! Whiskey I smuggled in.

Really weird but true story. I used to have one of those hats too. Grandma lived in Montreal, and sent it to me, before the Oilers were NHL. Some kid knocked me down one day while we were playing street hockey and pulled the pom off my hat. Guess who the kid was? Grant Fuhr. We lived a couple blocks away from each other, and played all the time.

And Paul, some mental images should be illegal!

[Haggis]

Too bad about the camera, but just your visual descripton of the game is great, minus Steve with toque and sock. I would have loved to have been there, but then again my blood is not as thick as yours, would have needed more anti-freeze. Glad to hear you had a good time they are memories that will last forever.

Still jelous,
Haggis

[TripleTransAm]

Originally posted by Dr Caleb
Some kid knocked me down one day while we were playing street hockey and pulled the pom off my hat. Guess who the kid was? Grant Fuhr.


Did you beat the ****z outa him like a good little Canadian hockey player? Anyone touched my pom while I was a young 'un, they were unlikely to be viewing anything in a stereoscopic manner for a few days, if you get my drift. ;)

Good to know it wasn't just me that had a hard time finding a steady 'beat' to Adams' music on that first tune. 10 years ago, I wouldn't have noticed (maybe) but since getting involved in music as a bassist, it was really grating on my nerves.

+13... yes, just a fond memory now. Sudden drop in temps, freezing rain and snow mixed with vicious winds... my 2003 F-season is but a memory now...

http://www.tripletransam.com/2003/DSCF9339.jpg http://www.tripletransam.com/2003/DSCF9340.jpg

[Ladyhawke]

Hi Steve ... time to put the poor girl in the garage. I know you get more snow then we do here in Maryland, but we wanted to share our experience of the snow storm of February 15-17, 2002. Here is Gordon's Ram Air buried in the snow. :help:

[Ladyhawke]

Later after the car was almost free. Too bad we couldn't use :flamer: to melt the snow.

[Dr Caleb]

Originally posted by Ladyhawke
Later after the car was almost free. Too bad we couldn't use :flamer: to melt the snow.

My MM looks more like your TA, but that's where it's going to stay until march. :(

Yea, I got him back Steve. We graduated to broomball in Junior High, nothing like bones and blood and calling it a 'sport' :-)

[TripleTransAm]

Mom's birthday this past weekend, and Dad managed to find the toque I was referring to last week.

Sheer fashion masterpiece, I say...

http://www.tripletransam.com/S2/DSCF9470.jpg


http://www.tripletransam.com/S2/DSCF9472.jpg

[MapleLeafMerc]

Aha! I think I found Dr. Caleb (aka Shaun Majumder)

http://www.mercurygallery.net/mmnet/watermark.php?file=500/1197Heritage_game_photo_crop2-med.jpg

[Dr Caleb]

SSSShhhhhhhhh! Shut up! Squealer!