Hitmen head outdoors
Posted Feb 21, 2011 10:26 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The Heritage Classic weekend continues with Monday afternoon’s Western Hockey League clash between the Calgary Hitmen and Regina Pats at McMahon Stadium.
At last word, more than 20-thousand tickets had been sold, and with the mild weather and affordable prices, organizers expected a good Family Day walk-up crowd for the 1:00 p.m. puck drop.
The largest crowd in CHL history was expected on McMahon’s outdoor ice for the Family Day event.
Hitmen play-by-play man Brad Curle says the players are excited.
He tells 660News the anticipation was obvious when the players took to an outdoor rink in Springbank Sunday to gear up for the Monday event.
“You couldn’t wipe the smiles off their faces and many of them are admitting they’re going to be extremely nervous today, extremely excited. This is the biggest stage that many of them have ever played on and may ever in their entire lives,” says Curle.
The Spokane Chiefs actually beat the Hitmen to the punch with an outdoor game of their own last month but that one was in a 7-thousand seat baseball stadium.
Today’s game is the first outdoor major junior game ever in Canada.
