Battle of Alberta: Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers face off for first time in Heritage Classic

A combined photo of Edmonton Oilers' Connor McDavid, left, and Calgary Flames goalie Jacob Markstrom at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton. (Courtesy NHL, Jeff Vinnick)

By Mark Strashok and Steven Sandor, The Canadian Press

Posted October 29, 2023 1:43 pm.

Last Updated October 29, 2023 1:54 pm.

The Calgary Flames and the Oilers have played each other 259 times in the regular season, but they will do so for the first time outdoors on Sunday at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton.

The Oilers (1-5-1) will be hosting the Flames (2-5-1) in the classic “Battle of Alberta,” which will also commemorate the 20th anniversary of the NHL’s first outdoor game in 2003.

The conditions for Saturday night’s Flames and Oilers practices were around the 0 Celsius mark. That’s a far cry from the first Heritage Classic held 20 years ago at Commonwealth Stadium.

Montreal beat Edmonton 4-3, but what people most remember is how cold it was. The temperature was -18 C with wind chills that made it feel like -30 C.

Overall, it’ll be a whole lot warmer with temperatures around zero compared to that time.

Watch: NHL Fan Park opens up ‘Battle of Alberta’ Heritage Classic weekend

Craig Tkachuk is looking forward to the game. He was the Oilers’ director of operations for the first Heritage Classic, and the team invited him to attend Sunday’s game.

A little more than 20 years ago, Tkachuk stood on the green turf of Commonwealth Stadium alongside then-Oilers president Patrick LaForge. The two men were taking a lay of the land.

“I said to Patrick, this is going to be something special,” Tkachuk told The Canadian Press.

This will be the seventh outdoor game in Canada and will be the 38th regular season outdoor game.

“It’s amazing to be part of something that has grown like it has,” Tkachuk said. “It gives me a real sense of pride.”

Thinking back to 2003, Tkachuk admitted a lot of the planning the Oilers had done went out the window when the temperature plummeted.

“The game took on a different spirit,” he said. “We got to game day, and cables were freezing and stuff wasn’t working. It was hard on the soul, because it was hard to breathe. But I was outside for that entire game, I didn’t sleep for a week before it, and yet it all still flew by.”

Canadian Music Hall of Fame members Nickelback will play during the second intermission, and alternative-rock stars Beaches will headline the pre-game show.

Questions heading into Heritage Classic

The Oilers have the same record after dropping the first-ever classic but won in Winnipeg in 2016.

Flames forward Nazem Kadri has the most outdoor experience of any player, as he laced them up four times so far.

But the big question is, will either team score a goal? Both were shut out in their last games Thursday and are two of the worst teams in the league right now.

Meanwhile Oilers captain Connor McDavid has missed the last two games with an upper-body injury. However, he was at the team’s practice at Commonwealth Stadium on Saturday evening.

The attendance figure set in 2003 was 57,167, so will the Oilers and Flames get close to that number?

As of Saturday night, Ticketmaster still had hundreds of unsold seats, with prices ranging from $541 for seats underneath the press box on the first level to $151 for seats in the top corner of the stadium.

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