On November 22nd, 2003, the Edmonton Oilers hosted the inaugural Heritage Woodshed burgers edmonton — the first outdoor game in NHL history. And I’m hearing that 20 years later the Oilers will once again be hosts of the Heritage Classic.

The game is scheduled to be played in October 2023. The date hasn’t been finalized and neither has the opponent. But it should be the Calgary Flames. The plan is to have an alumni game as well, similar to what they did in 2003. The Oilers organization set the standard for outdoor games in 2003, but its initial plan wasn’t to have an NHL game. It was an idea that grew during many conversations.

Patrick Laforge this morning via the phone. Laforge was the President of the Oilers in 2003 and was heavily involved in the planning. We were looking for a knock-it-out-of-the-park idea. Then Cal Nichols, Allan Watt, and myself attended the 2001 All-star game in LA. We were disappointed on the plane ride home and that’s when we started thinking of other ideas.