2003 Heritage Classic

The Heritage Classic was an outdoor ice hockey game played on November 22, 2003, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, between the Edmonton Oilers and the Montreal Canadiens. It was the second National Hockey League game to be played outdoors, and the first as part of the regular season. The Heritage Classic concept was modeled after the success of the Cold War game between the University of Michigan and Michigan State University in 2001.
The event took place in Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium in front of a crowd of 57,167, despite temperatures of close to -18 °C, -30 °C (-22 °F) with wind chill. It was held to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Edmonton Oilers joining the NHL in 1979 and the 20th anniversary of their first Stanley Cup win in 1984. The CBC television broadcast also set the record for most viewers of a single NHL game with 2.747 million nationwide. This was the first NHL game broadcast in High-definition television on CBC.
First, the MegaStars game was played between some of the best former players from both clubs. The Oilers were represented by the best players from their 1980s dynasty, led by Wayne Gretzky. The Canadiens were represented by players from their 1970s dynasty, led by Guy Lafleur, and a few members of the 1986 and 1993 championship squads. Both teams were composed of players who had won Stanley Cups with the Oilers or Canadiens, except for the Oilers' first NHL captain Ron Chipperfield and the Canadiens' Russ Courtnall who Réjean Houle said was selected for his speed. Mark Napier was the only player that played for both the Oilers and the Canadiens during his NHL career and won Stanley Cups with both teams. Napier played for the Canadiens during the Heritage Classic game. Mark Messier, the only active player at the time, got special permission from the New York Rangers front office to compete for Edmonton in the game. The MegaStars game consisted of two fifteen-minute halves rather than three 20 minute periods, and was won by the Oilers by a score of 2–0. After the game, Messier jokingly called the low-scoring contest "a typical Oilers win," a reference to the numerous high-scoring games of the Oilers' heyday in the 1980s.
The second game was between the Edmonton Oilers and the Montreal Canadiens. Montreal won the game 4 to 3. Richard Zednik of the Montreal Canadiens scored the first goal of the game, and also scored the game-winner. Goalie Jose Theodore wore a Canadiens tuque over the top of his goalie mask.
The game was released to DVD by the CBC, and included special features such as player interviews.
Following the success of the Heritage Classic, in 2008 the league began a series of Winter Classics, an outdoor regular season game played annually on New Years Day. The very first NHL game to be played outdoors was an exhibition game on September 28, 1991, when the Los Angeles Kings played the New York Rangers outside Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. 
== Game summary ==
===Scoring summary===
Period	Team 	Goal 	Assist(s) 	Time 	Score
1st 	No scoring	No scoring 	No scoring 	No scoring	No scoring
2nd 	MTL 	Richard Zednik (5) 	Patrice Brisebois (7), Michael Ryder (7)	0:39 	1–0 MTL
2nd 	MTL 	Yanic Perreault (6) (PP)	Patrice Brisebois (8), Mike Ribeiro (11)	10:53 	2–0 MTL
2nd 	EDM 	Eric Brewer (1) 	Jarret Stoll (1), Steve Staios (7) 	13:45 	2–1 MTL
3rd 	MTL 	Yanic Perreault (7) 	Niklas Sundstrom (3), Craig Rivet (4) 	2:22 	3–1 MTL
3rd 	EDM 	Jarret Stoll (4) 	Steve Staios (8) 	13:06 	3–2 MTL
3rd 	MTL 	Richard Zednik (6) 	Sheldon Souray (3) 	14:18 	4–2 MTL
3rd 	EDM 	Steve Staios (3) 	Radek Dvorak (9) 	14:57 	4–3 MTL
===Penalty summary===
Period	Team	Player 	Penalty 	Time 	PIM
1st 	EDM 	Cory Cross 	High-Sticking	13:49	2:00
2nd 	EDM 	Ryan Smyth 	Hooking 	9:31 	2:00
2nd 	MTL 	Chad Kilger 	Hooking 	11:42	2:00
3rd 	MTL 	Francis Bouillon	Roughing 	12:58	2:00
3rd 	EDM 	Jason Chimera 	Roughing 	12:58	2:00
== Team rosters ==
Montreal Canadiens	Montreal Canadiens	Montreal Canadiens 	Montreal Canadiens 	Edmonton Oilers	Edmonton Oilers	Edmonton Oilers 	Edmonton Oilers
# 	 	Player 	Position 	# 	 	Player 	Position
5 	 	Stephane Quintal 	D 	1 	 	Ty Conklin 	G
11 	 	Saku Koivu 	C 	2 	 	Eric Brewer 	D
15 	 	Darren Langdon 	LW 	10 	 	Shawn Horcoff 	C
20 	 	Richard Zednik 	RW 	14 	 	Raffi Torres 	LW
22 	 	Steve Begin 	C 	15 	 	Brad Isbister 	LW
24 	 	Andreas Dackell 	RW 	16 	 	Mike York 	C
25 	 	Chad Kilger 	LW 	18 	 	Ethan Moreau 	LW
30 	 	Mathieu Garon1 	G 	20 	 	Radek Dvorak 	RW
37 	 	Niklas Sundstrom 	RW 	21 	 	Jason Smith 	D
38 	 	Jan Bulis 	LW 	23 	 	Cory Cross 	D
43 	 	Patrice Brisebois 	D 	24 	 	Steve Staios 	D
44 	 	Sheldon Souray 	D 	27 	 	Georges Laraque 	RW
51 	 	Francis Bouillon 	D 	28 	 	Jason Chimera 	C
52 	 	Craig Rivet 	D 	32 	 	Scott Ferguson 	D
60 	 	Jose Theodore 	G 	34 	 	Fernando Pisani 	RW
71 	 	Mike Ribeiro 	C 	36 	 	Jarret Stoll 	C
73 	 	Michael Ryder 	RW 	40 	 	Steve Valiquette1 	G
76 	 	Andrei Markov 	D 	47 	 	Marc-Andre Bergeron 	D
90 	 	Joe Juneau 	C 	83 	 	Ales Hemsky 	RW
94 	 	Yanic Perreault 	C 	94 	 	Ryan Smyth 	LW
 	 	Head Coach: Michel Therrien	Head Coach: Michel Therrien	 	 	Head Coach: Craig MacTavish	Head Coach: Craig MacTavish
:1 Garon and Valiquette served as reserve goaltenders and did not see playing time.
Category:2003 in hockey
Category:Edmonton Oilers
Category:Montreal Canadiens