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The NHL is making itself right at home in Regina, even though the Queen City doesn’t have a team in the league.
“We’re so happy to be here,” Steve Mayer, the NHL’s chief content officer, said Thursday during an appearance on the Greg Morgan Morning Show.
“For us at the NHL, we’ve never really come to a city that doesn’t have an NHL team. The outreach, the response, in Regina has been incredible. I think the energy in the stadium will be outstanding and so, for us, this is exciting playing a neutral(-site) game for the first time in Canada.”
The 2019 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic is to be played Saturday at Mosaic Stadium. The game between the Calgary Flames and Winnipeg Jets is to begin at 8 p.m.
Over the years, the NHL has played outdoor games in such iconic venues as Chicago’s Wrigley Field, Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, New York’s Yankee Stadium and Boston’s Fenway Park.
The Heritage Classic has been played four times previously in Canada, making stops at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton (in 2003), McMahon Stadium in Calgary (2011), BC Place in Vancouver (2014) and IG Field in Winnipeg (2016).
Mosaic Stadium is set to join that list — even though Regina doesn’t have a horse in that race.
“We had our eyes on the stadium when it was announced that it was going to be built and then when it was being built,” Mayer said. “We started to watch the events that were taking place inside the stadium and we couldn’t wait to get here.
“We do these games across Canada, across North America and the U.S. We walked into the stadium for the first time and the reaction was, ‘Wow. This is impressive.’ I don’t care where the stadium is; this is first-rate … The folks in this region should be really proud of it and I think we’re going to show it off on Saturday.”
NHL crews have been transforming the facility over the past two weeks — so much so, Mayer said, that fans of the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders may not recognize the place.
“One of the things we’re really proud of is that when you look at our field and the way it’s designed, you will not see a blade of grass,” Mayer said. “Now, with the CFL field, that’s a lot of blades of grass. We cover the entire environment. We change the look of it.
“It is an ode to this area, it’s an ode to Regina and we will entertain you.”
Mayer encouraged patrons to show up early at Evraz Place on Saturday. Pre-game activities are to begin at 1:30 p.m., with skill events and contests on the agenda.
The Stanley Cup is to be on hand and musical acts are to perform throughout the day. In other words, there’s more to it than just a hockey game.
“It’s an event,” Mayer said. “You’re entertained. It’s got to be way different than going to a game in an arena. For a lot of folks in this area, they don’t get the opportunity to go to NHL games all the time, so we want to do it big and make it very memorable.”
Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff believes that will happen.
The product of Blaine Lake called the NHL’s outdoor game “a real special occasion,” that will be a real treat for the fans.
“There’s lots of teams, there’s lots of cities, that clamour for a game like this,” Cheveldayoff told Jamie Nye on The Green Zone.
“I know that when we go to meetings and the NHL talks about it, there are cities all across the National Hockey League that are begging for an outdoor game. I’m real proud for the province of Saskatchewan to have one.”
Cheveldayoff expects fans from Calgary and Winnipeg to meet in the middle for Saturday’s game. He believes that should create a good atmosphere when those groups join fans from Saskatchewan.
“Kudos to the National Hockey League for thinking outside of the box,” Cheveldayoff said, “and bringing a game to some obviously very, very passionate sports fans as we see very much so with the way they support the Riders.”